Over a year ago, I decided to step away from a Charlotte Mason education and lean towards another popular method/book as a spine. (For the sake of this post, I will call that method/book "The Wonderbook".) I was intrigued by the academic thoroughness and organization this book had to offer. The Wonderbook seemed ever so advanced, so well thought out in its cyclical approach to many of the subjects it covered. No longer would I cover language arts through dictation, copywork and narration but rather would teach each one with a separate text or workbook; a spelling book, a writing book, a grammar book, a handwriting program, etc.
While I pondered whether an elementary or middle school student could ever keep up with the workload suggested in The Wonderbook, I told myself that perhaps the gentle approach to learning that we had been using was too lenient, too old fashioned and romantic to really provide a fine education. Maybe I was fooling myself that things had worked well thus far. In fact, my kids rarely complained about their lessons which was a sure sign in my mind that I was being too easy on them. Perhaps the systematic absorption of knowledge by means of a meticulously planned curriculum was the road to take. It was sure not to fail, right?
Hmmm... I should have known.
The years prior, we had really been enjoying our Charlotte Mason education. Locksley loved learning and was growing secure in his ability to narrate. His spelling and punctuation were coming along nicely due to the short phrases and paragraphs he was writing during dictation. There was a comfortable rhythm to our days, structured but not severe, learning without cramming, full of opportunities to pursue our interests and enjoy time together as a family. We had been having a daily tea time, listening to stories of the saints, spending an afternoon each week in nature study at our local Arboretum. The boys were keeping beautiful notebooks of poetry they had memorized, bible stories they had illustrated, nature notebooks full of sketches of their latest finds. We were studying an artist and a composer each term and making connections with both.
All of this came to a screeching halt when I decided justlikethat to follow The Wonderbook. After using it for just two months, there was no longer any time for the things we loved. We were barely scraping the surface trying to keep up with the recommendations. Lessons were taking most of the day (when we did them) . The other days we did nothing rather than attempt the impossible. Gone were our free afternoons. I began to see that while my children were learning bits and pieces of information to regurgitate, they did not know any of it intimately. The scope was broad but shallow.
All the while that we used The Wonderbook, we continued to read great literature at bedtime. I found that whenever the children read from their book lists (or were read to aloud), they formed relationships with the characters and the stories. They remembered people and places in history and their love of learning shone like a candle flickering in the darkness.
Last month, I shelved The Wonderbook. It was high time to do so.
We have since reacquainted ourselves with some comfortable old favorites: narration, dictation and copywork. We have reinstated a daily teatime. Together, we sit and read aloud on the sofa each day: History, Latin, Bible stories, Catechism and more. We have begun a study on Monet since there is an exhibit in town highlighting his artwork. The kids who had grown rusty from over a year of not paying very close attention, of information overload, are remembering the small details of the stories as they narrate them back to me.
I have hope. Returning to a Charlotte Mason education has been like getting together with a friend whom I hadn't seen in a long while.
I have missed you, my friend, and am glad to be back in your midst.
