Charlotte Mason and me

I was rereading one of my favorite homeschool books yesterday, A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola. I actually had to bring it home from the library. My original copy was given to my daughter a few years ago, along with Karen's delightful book, Pocketful of Pinecones.

Gosh did reading that book bring back memories. I've mentioned before that I chose to use "Charlotte Mason" because it worked with my personality. Those first couple of years we homeschooled, I read everything I could about Charlotte Mason and other styles of homeschooling. I just knew the CM approach was something I could stick with over the long haul. Back then, my son's junior year seemed light years away.

A friend of mine bought me The Well Trained Mind. She was uneasy about homeschooling but she could possibly see using the Classical approach. I did get a lot out of it but I knew CM would work better for us. It was much easier to teach an ADHD child with Charlotte Mason. We needed to be as creative and hands on as possible. I read and re-read For the Children's Sake, having purchased and given away more copies than I want to remember. It also spoke to me where I was at the time.

I hadn't intended to homeschool but I knew it was the only way our son was going to be able to get off ADHD drugs. I can vividly remember our first day of "school" when all of his friends were heading back to the building where he had attended school for Kindergarten and First Grade. He and I sat down at our kitchen table to look at the books we had purchased, for that is (as he explained to me with his second grade knowledge), what teachers do on the first day.

We spent many days at that table, sometimes taking everything to the dining room so we didn't have to clear the project, or the math manipulatives, or our books. We both loved the nature studies aspect of Charlotte Mason. It went well with active boys. Legos went well with reading aloud with Mom reading and Student building "things". He just told me recently that architecture was one of the career options he was considering because of the enjoyment he had building with Legos all those years. (I just watched a documentary about a famous architect who said it was building with wooden blocks at his grandmother's side that sparked his interest in being an architect.)

Things did not always go as I'd like. They weren't perfect. There were books we purchased and "didn't work". There were projects we tried and "didn't work". I can't tell you how many history timelines we tried to start. I learned to "try and try again" to find what would work with his learning style. Teaching only one has its' own challenges, too. Mom has to get involved in a LOT (especially when Dad used to travel a great deal). I had to have his dad teach driving, though. I don't ride with new drivers...

He's turned out to be one remarkable young man. I am constantly (and I mean...all the time), having people tell me what an "interesting" person he is. He is well read, articulate, kind, loves fencing (I think it started with that pirate stage as a preschooler), holds down a part time job to help pay his expenses for fencing and the junior college, and is generally easy to get along with. We still have some "teenager-mom" moments but they have been few. I have to laugh (or cry) when people ask me about socializing. He has all kinds of friends and he socializes (and I drive).

Re-reading Karen's book just brought back so many of these memories. These past years have flown by. I wasn't sure how they'd turn out, especially when he was still hyperactive and I wasn't. It works...it really does. It works even if you aren't perfect, the curriculum isn't perfect, the books aren't perfect, your lifestyle has challenges (illness, moving, finances, etc.)...it works. It just takes a whole lot of patience and prayer but then again, so does everything else in life that is worthwhile. It really does work. I will miss it when we "finish" next year.