Charlotte Mason wanted children to set good intellectual habits, and these begin in the first year of formal lessons. A. A. Milne said, “Now we are Six,” Mason said, “Now it’s time to read,” and this episode will describe the scope of the first year of school and its lessons.

Listen Now:

“We (of the PNEU) begin the definite ‘school’ education of children when they are six; they are no doubt capable of beginning a year or two earlier but the fact is that nature and circumstances have provided such a wide field of education for young children that it seems better to abstain from requiring direct intellectual efforts until they have arrived at that age.” (Vol. 6, p. 159)

“But we are considering, not the religious life of children, but their education by lessons; and their Bible lessons should help them to realise in early days that the knowledge of God is the principal knowledge, and, therefore, that their Bible lessons are their chief lessons.” (Vol. 1, p. 251)

“Children between six and nine should get considerable knowledge of the Bible text. By nine they should have read the simple (and suitable) narrative portions of the Old Testament, and, say, two of the gospels.” (Vol. 1, p. 248)

“But let the imaginations of children be stored with the pictures, their minds nourished upon the words, of the gradually unfolding story of the Scriptures, and they will come to look out upon a wide horizon within which persons and events take shape in their due place and in due proportion.” (Vol. 1, p. 249)

“Next in order to religious knowledge, history is the pivot upon which our curriculum turns.” (Vol. 6, p. 273)

“Every day’s walk gives him something to enter…While he is quite young (five or six), he should begin to illustrate his notes freely with brush drawings.” (Vol 1, pp. 54-55)

“Children who are too small to write dictate their notes which are written down for them.” (“The Work and Aims of the P.U.S.” Parents’ Review)

“The first buttercup in a child’s nature note book is shockingly crude, the sort of thing to scandalise a teacher of brush-drawing, but by and by another buttercup will appear with the delicate poise, uplift and radiance of the growing flower.” (Vol. 6, p. 217)

J. Paterson Smyth Commentaries (or, in ebook format here)

Elementary Geography, Charlotte Mason

Eyes and No Eyes Series, Arabella Buckley

(Contains affiliate links)

Charlotte Mason’s Bible Rotation

Nicole’s Out-of-Door Geography post

The New Handwriting

Mathematics: An Instrument for Living Teaching

Special Studies Rotation

Subjects by Form Page

Charlotte Mason advice to your frequently asked questions, this time on narration with non-Mason students, required standardized state testing, and the long-awaited, “What do we do in the summer?”

Listen Now:

“Such prescribed reading should be a real change from ordinary school work, should be very moderate in quantity, and its quite optional character especially enforced.” (Holiday Tasks, PR)

“In this way. School work leaves so little leisure for girls or boys to be occupied with anything beyond their immediate school duties, and these become more and more absorbing as they get older. This is quite right, because the main object of school days is to enable one to become acquainted with those things which make life worth living and enable us to make the lives of others fuller and happier. But in acquiring this knowledge, there is little leisure left to think of other people, and this is a great danger in this egotistical age.” (Useful Holidays, PR)

Holiday Tasks, Parents’ Review Article

Useful Holidays, Parents’ Review Article

Charlotte Mason was a proponent of the instruction in Sloyd. What is it, and when and how is it taught? Emily interviews guest Brittney McGann, who has researched the topic and practiced this subject in her home and has many practical tips to share and resources to recommend.

Listen Now:

Paper Sloyd: A Handbook for Primary Grades

The Teacher’s Handbook of Sloyd

Mathematics: An Instrument For Living Teaching

Books Charlotte Mason used for teaching Sloyd:

• Paper Folding by H.G. Paterson
• Paper Modelling by M. Swannell (or direct from Living Library Press here)
• Cardboard Modelling by W. Heaton (or direct from Living Library Press here)

Grace to Build Retreat

Charlotte Mason Poetry Blog

Home Education on Audio

History of Sloyd Video

North Bennett Street School

Doug Stowe’s Woodworking Blog

More History of Sloyd

Parents’ Review Article on Sloyd

Wood Sloyd Projects