This week’s podcast illuminates the Charlotte Mason method as it is being practiced in its country of origin: The United Kingdom. Emily interviews, Leah Boden, who discovered Mason and has been implementing her method in her own life and, like us, is working to support and encourage home educators in the knowledge and practice of Charlotte Mason.
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I hate to admit it, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to listen to this podcast. Boy was I wrong! After a couple of minutes I was greatly interested and realized I had questions and you asked them. Great interview! I was wondering if we know if there are any more schools in England inspired by Charlotte Mason and still going? Also, when did her teaching college end? I guess these questions aren't really related to today's podcast, but I did start wondering about the "end" of CM in England and why.
I am having trouble with the audio – ie. i can hardly hear Emily but Leah is TOO LOUD?? anyone else having issues??? or is it something on my end?
There was a difference in the loudness of each person, but I didn't have any problems with it. Try with ear buds or without . . . . . I usually can fix sound problems by using earbuds. But, I didn't use them (broken) with this episode and I had the volume turned up loud (lots of background noise at my house) so that may be why I was able to hear Emily but didn't notice the Leah being too loud with all my background noise.
Thank you for the idea of doing what is freeing for your family. I have been trying so hard to stick to the timetables, but I usually have a baby crawling on the table.. So my thought was, what if I waited to do the more disciplined studies until he went down for a nap? Thank you for reminding me that it is about the heart of the method. Also I have been focusing so much on my form 1b, that I have been neglecting my littes and feeling they are interruptions; I am praying about how I can have peace in my home.
Loved this! I love the idea of getting it into the hands of less pivilege. I have a dream of one day being able to "homeschool" children of single moms. It is so sad when you see the beauty that children are being robbed from.
Alexandra,
These are challenging years, but it sounds like you have a heart to keep trying new ways of making it work. I also have the challenge of a one-year-old during school time this year and sympathize. The timetable should be your friend, not your task master; I encourage you to keep your form 1b child's lessons short, take breaks, engage littles in fun activities simultaneous with lessons, and patience with all of them. The students must learn patience as well as you tend to the needs of others, and this will build character. Let non-school children participate as much and whenever possible. The outdoor time in afternoons can be enjoyed by all.
-Liz
Alexandra,
Keep your dreams for helping others in your prayers and watch what God will do in His time.
-Liz
Cassie, I don't know all the particulars in detail, but do know the world wars had a lot to do with the decline in popularity of her method. There is still a college there today, but it is not affiliated with her ideas. There have always been cottage schools that followed her method, however, which is how Susan Schaeffer Macaulay ended up discovering one when she and her husband moved to England and For the Children's Sake ultimately got written and published. Her daughter-in-law, Elaine Cooper, has a CM school and you may have heard of her book, When Children Love to Learn.
We are so glad you enjoyed the episode.
-Liz
Hannah,
I'm sorry you had a hard time with the audio on this. I didn't experience the volume disparity, but I listened in my car and found that Emily came out of my left speaker and Leah out of my right. It was kind of funny as I felt they were really having the conversation with me right there in the car. 😉 With that in mind, I wonder if one of your speakers is not working as well as the other?
~Nicole
I loved everything about this and it took me back to my trip a wee bit. I cannot stop kicking myself 😉 that I didn't end up meeting Leah. I'm getting depressed just thinking about it again. LOL!
I hope you can find a way in future interviews to make both people audible to both right and left speakers. I listen with earbuds as I walk and it is very off-putting to have one person talking in each ear.
Jen,
We are sorry our technology equipment produces some annoying results
sometimes. You probably know that we are attempting to keep this podcast going by our own means, however limited, and that it costs us money every time someone downloads an episode. We are very happy to do this, but unfortunately, we do not have resources as yet to upgrade to more sophisticated sound technology. Right now we are very thankful for a sound studio for regular podcast recordings that is being volunteered as a gift of love by someone who also gains nothing from taking the time to do this for us. Some interviews are by phone and some by computer and some in person, so they aren't very consistent and we apologize for that inconsistency.
-Liz