Secular Charlotte Mason

I have 4 children ages 11,8,5, and 11 mos. We've been hsing for 5 yrs with a pretty ecelctic CM style.

I don't do any "formal" work for K. We do lots of reading and interest based projects and playing games. We play lots of card games that promote counting and problem solving.

For the early grades we have focused on the 3"R"s and lots of nature study. We keep lessons short at 20-30 min tops. We have done composer study by way of the fun series Classical Kids. We do copywork but have been lax with narrartion this last year and need get back to that more consistently. I do feel it's important though and have seen it help with retention and comprehension with my auditory learner.

We do most of our "book work" from 10am-12pm and play, do Girl Scouts, extra classes like art, and field trips, etc in the afternoon. I let the kids do their reading throughout the day. My husband does a lot of problem solving and critical thinking activities with them as well in daily activities.

When we started hsing we lived in WA and while our yard was small and not conducive to a lot of nature study, we lived minutes from the beach and a short drive to the mountains. It was a wonderful area to learn.

Now we live in Iowa and have an acreage in the country with a creek running through our yard. It's ideal for nature study and we have watched many frogs and toads lay eggs, turn to tadpoles, and the whole cycle of growing. We also have tons of birds, bats, rodents, and bugs to observe.

I try to always start the day with read a louds and end it before bed with read a louds and asking the kids about something they liked that day or that was special. This sparks some great discussions.

So that's our loose style of hsing. With 3 kids actively doing work this fall, I'll be trying to tighten up the "routine" a little just to save my sanity I'm sure.