A Charlotte Mason Primer: A Simplified Approach to Real Education by Cindy Rushton

This book was delicious. I loved it. If you want to know about the Charlotte Mason method, then this is the book to read! I feel so happy to have found it. There were things in this book that really helped open my eyes to the way children learn and how to go about homeschooling. I have found that there are many things that I love about Charlotte Mason’s philosophies, and this book gave me a lot of confidence.

This book starts with a quote by Mason; “Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.” This quote struck a cord with me and why exactly it pertains to homeschooling. I grew up feeling like school actually stifled my learning. One of my goals with homeschooling is to create a love of learning in my children. This book shares great insight as to how to do this.

I now feel as though I am more equipped to homeschool. I also learned that I love Charlotte Mason’s views of education! I feel I have a much clearer understanding of what her philosophy was all about. This book is written in an upbeat and easy to follow format.

There were many things I liked in this book that I will try to incorporate into our family’s homeschooling experience.

The first aspect that stuck out to me is the advice to use only “whole” books. So many textbooks contain only tiny snippets of information from all different sources. Instead of learning only a tiny bit about things in which a child will never remember, I love the concept of reading and learning about one subject in its entirety. Letting children spend their time reading entire books by great authors will help them gain a depth of insight not found in standard textbooks.
I also love the stress of importance on nature, and the need for children to be in nature every day. Children are so far removed from nature in our typical society. This is sad. Children will develop a deep respect for the Earth if they spend time seeing its beauty.

I like the fact that homeschooling allows for children to have a lot of balance in their lives. Everything they do can be a learning experience, but not all their time will need to be spent studying. It really should only take up a small part of their day, especially at a young age. Children need time to play and think, and I feel this is just what homeschooling enables.

I also liked the book’s advice to get to know their children and their individual learning styles. So many parents are so far removed from their children’s learning. I truly do not feel comfortable with having someone else responsible for my child’s learning. I feel it is my responsibility as well as everything else concerning my child. Homeschooling also enables a child to really know their parent. Many families are closer because of homeschooling, and the time spent together is wonderful. There is a lot of misconception about children not receiving socialization if they are homeschooled. This is false. Children still have opportunities to socialize outside of the home, but truly parents are the best socialization for a child there is. When children are around peers all day, children the same age as them, it is somewhat a case of the blind leading the blind. Children do and act as their peers do. Homeschooled children are often noted that they are more likely to think for themselves before reaching a conclusion.

This book gives a lot of examples of activities and an outline of a typical day of homeschooling in their family. I loved to hear someone else’s ideas. There were many ideas that showed how enriching, rewarding, and wholesome homeschooling can be.

There is a lot of information packed into this little book! I recommend it to anyone considering homeschooling. It is a good resource.