Thinking Love

Reading aloud is important, even when you follow Charlotte Mason's philosophy. But why don't we talk about it much in the CM community? 

Amy and Leah discuss Charlotte Mason's approach to math, and what makes it different than other approaches. 

Charlotte Mason's Method of a lesson, from Home Education, is seldom talked about. But, if we followed this method, we would probably never say the words, "My child just didn't like the book!" Preparing living-book lessons can make book reading more engaging and meaningful. Don't miss Amy and Leah's free printable cheat sheet for your homeschool binder. 

Amy and Leah discuss what they did to prepare their families for formal lessons. 

In this special podcast, we catch up on what habit training looks like in our homes right now. As it turns out, we are both seeing how habit training our children really starts with ourselves: we need to find the inspiration to cultivate discipline in our own lives in order to help our kids with their habits. Be sure to check out the Habit Training Workshop! We are hosting a live seminar and follo...

What is Christmas like in a Charlotte Mason home? How can we focus on Christ and not the excess? Amy and Leah address these questions in this episode of the Thinking Love Podcast. 

In episode 13, Amy and Leah discuss Charlotte Mason's 20th principle. If everyone believed this one, it could transform or homeschools, and our relationships with others! 

In our last episode, we discussed preparing the ground for reading. Now, Amy and Leah talk about reading instruction the Charlotte Mason way. Head to the show notes for a sample lesson. 

We often assume that waiting for formal lessons until the age of six means that there is nothing to do to help our child prepare for reading. However, Charlotte Mason gave many suggestions for "preparing the ground for reading" in her first volume, Home Education.  

Are Charlotte Mason's views on authority outdated? Your hostesses at Thinking Love don't think so. The idea of being in authority over our children is Biblically based, and also supported by modern research. Charlotte Mason urged us to be authoritative parents because God put us in authority over our children. He didn't do this because we are amazing or capable, he did this because we are mothers...

The season two opener of the Thinking Love podcast circles back around to the first Charlotte Mason quote that we used in our very first episode: "The mother is qualified."  Homeschool moms often receive this question like nails on a chalkboard; How are you qualified to homeschool if you don't have a teaching degree?  But Charlotte Mason says that we ARE qualified. Even if a university hasn't qual...

In our final episode before summer break, Amy and Leah discuss how getting our little ones outside builds a foundation for their future education. We talked about a guiding principle for time outdoors, and how we handle less-than-ideal circumstances. 

In this episode, Leah and Amy discuss the Charlotte Mason idea of masterly inactivity, and how we navigate this "letting alone" in a helicopter-parent world. 

Many people come to Charlotte Mason's philosophy because they are book enthusiasts. And, after following her wisdom for awhile, non-enthusiasts are quickly swayed. Charlotte Mason used the term living books to describe books filled with life-giving ideas that feed the mind. In this episode, Amy and Leah discuss living books, how to recognize them, and how to choose them.     

Amy and Leah discuss Charlotte Mason habit training, combined with modern habits research.  Children will form habits, whether they are good or bad. Instead of just allowing them to develop habits on their own, we can help them develop good habits. It's important to cultivate those habits starting in infancy.  While this isn't a complete list, some of the habits we can work on include:  habits of...

What are the areas where we as parents make active choices to structure our kids' time? Having a plan for the early years is important. While young kids don't need strict schedules, having a daily rhythm is helpful for many children and their families.  We want our children to build relationships: with the natural world, with their family, with the community they live in. Fortunately, Charlotte Ma...

Charlotte Mason believed that young children didn't need formal lessons - that academic study could wait until the age of 6. As it turns out, a lot of modern research agrees! If you want to understand why it's great to wait, be sure to tune in.

While we often think about providing our children with a Charlotte Mason education, the philosophy can also inform how we view and raise our infants. After all, children are  born  persons.

What does it mean to utilize a thinking love in home education? How do we accept and reject ideas to create a homeschool that is truly led by the Holy Spirit and unique to our family's needs? This and so much more in the first episode of Thinking Love.

A new podcast just for Charlotte Mason homeschoolers. Meet your hosts, Leah and Amy, as they share their background and their hearts for home educating the Charlotte Mason way.