Give Them Beauty
Protecting and nurturing childhood through Charlotte Mason home education
FREE Daily Chicken Wellness Exam Sheet
We lost our sweet Leaf to gapeworm a few days after Christmas 2020. I’ve had this flock for only 6 months and simply didn’t know which signs of illness to look out for. She was always the runt chicken and there may have been some genetic components that simply made her more susceptible to diseaseContinue reading “FREE Daily Chicken Wellness Exam Sheet”
Who was Charlotte Mason and Where do I start?
I was introduced to Charlotte Mason and her revolutionary way of education through the book For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macauley by a hippie friend in Saint Louis. No, Charlotte Mason was not a hippie, she was a British Educator and reformer at the turn of the twentieth century, but many mothers whoContinue reading “Who was Charlotte Mason and Where do I start?”
- FREE Daily Chicken Wellness Exam SheetWe lost our sweet Leaf to gapeworm a few days after Christmas 2020. I’ve had this flock for only 6 months and simply didn’t know which signs of illness to look out for. She was always the runt chicken and there may have been some genetic components that simply made her more susceptible to diseaseContinue reading “FREE Daily Chicken Wellness Exam Sheet”
- Who was Charlotte Mason and Where do I start?I was introduced to Charlotte Mason and her revolutionary way of education through the book For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macauley by a hippie friend in Saint Louis. No, Charlotte Mason was not a hippie, she was a British Educator and reformer at the turn of the twentieth century, but many mothers whoContinue reading “Who was Charlotte Mason and Where do I start?”
- Homeschooling with LittlesS.E.R.V.E Your Guide to Homeschooling with Littles Underfoot My children are 7, 5, 3, and 1 right now during this Christmas season in 2020. We also have 10 chickens and 2 kittens! Our tiny home is busy, full, and always moving in one way or another. But how to manage formal lessons for bigger kids,Continue reading “Homeschooling with Littles”
- Reading ResourcesI thought I’d share about the different reading resources we have in our home! I hope you find something that might fit for your learner or something you would want to recommend to a friend. We have used All About Learning Press and A Gentle Feast Sight and Sound Lessons. Other resources are Dash intoContinue reading “Reading Resources”
- Protecting Your Heart (reflections on “end times”)“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:6 ESV Friends, yes indeed our world/country currently is a mess. ButContinue reading “Protecting Your Heart (reflections on “end times”)”
- A Gentle Feast ReviewHello! We are just about to finish our first year with A Gentle Feast (Cycle one, Form one) and wanted to share our honest, yet simple review for anyone considering the curriculum. WHY “GENTLE”? I think back to a post I wrote about the word “Gentle” a while back. I think the name “A GentleContinue reading “A Gentle Feast Review”
- Reasons for a SchoolroomYou do not NEED a designated schoolroom; education is an atmosphere of real world living and feeling and it starts within a mother’s heart and attitude. Once lessons begin, connections, narrations, and conversations will flow from your studies and your whole space will be touched with memories of learning. But at this point for us,Continue reading “Reasons for a Schoolroom”
- Our Gentle (second child) Kinder YearThis post is meant to empower and encourage you if you are in the similar situation of having a second child that is learning very differently from your first and your wondering, oh my goodness, do I need to buy all these new things? For me, it felt overwhelming to juggle my first grader’s lessonsContinue reading “Our Gentle (second child) Kinder Year”
- 10 Reasons Not to HomeschoolYou probably already do homeschool but you’ve also probably realized by now how insanely hard it is (or can be) so I’ve made you a list of a *few* more reasons why it’s probably not a good idea. 10.) You’ll know the librarians by name and you’re so introverted. This will be really hard onContinue reading “10 Reasons Not to Homeschool”
- What is and How to Use a Book of CenturiesWHAT IS A BOOK OF CENTURIES? A Book of Centuries is simply a book to document all of your historical learning throughout your home education journey. Starting a Book of Centuries (BoC) is an excellent way for any homeschool to keep record of all the people, places, and events that they are learning about! ThereContinue reading “What is and How to Use a Book of Centuries”
- How to Establish a Quiet-Time with your Children and Why it’s ImportantEvery single morning in our home starts out like the opening scene to Love Actually. You remember, loved ones embracing in the airport like they haven’t seen each other in years. Yes, that’s us first thing in the morning. The two year old will say, “I misst yoooouuu” as I scoop her up, bed-head andContinue reading “How to Establish a Quiet-Time with your Children and Why it’s Important”
- Protecting our Children from Zombie-MommyI get it. You’re a mama desiring to give your children a beautiful, magical childhood and education through Charlotte Mason homeschooling but you think, “how can I possibly be around them all the time.” They’re little now and you’re sleep deprived and you are giving and giving and giving, only to wake up to doContinue reading “Protecting our Children from Zombie-Mommy”
- Narrations + Recitation; Cycle I Term II ExamsWe completed exams for A Gentle Feast for this term. Hooray! We will have a family celebration next week with grandparents and treats as a way to celebrate their work. She will recite all of her work, verse, poetry, etc, and display all of her drawings, nature journal, handicrafts, etc. By having these little end-of-termContinue reading “Narrations + Recitation; Cycle I Term II Exams”
- Kindergarten with the Peaceful PressI simply wanted a place to share and document what our early (early!) years looked like. We use A Gentle Feast now but wanted to keep a place dedicated to what our learning time prior to “formal lessons” looked like. This time was very child-led and is not what I would recommend if your childContinue reading “Kindergarten with the Peaceful Press”
- Avoid this Mistake when TeachingThe Hiding Place, by Corrie Ten Boom was the first living book I vividly remember reading. I was about eight or nine years old and I stumbled upon it in our basement while searching for yarn or something in the many random bins we had down there. I’m sure I read books previous to thisContinue reading “Avoid this Mistake when Teaching”
- How to do a Picture StudyPicture Studies are apart of our Morning Time routine and they can take anywhere from 10-15 minutes. You can find Miss Mason’s steps for a “Picture-Talk” in her Home Education volume on pages 310-311, but I will lay out the steps here for you as well. In addition to a formal picture study during lessons,Continue reading “How to do a Picture Study”
- Home Birth(*This Post contains some raw Birth Photos from our phone so please view with discretion.) My Birth stories start at conception, but for documentary purposes and time, I’ll be sharing about the time in general time leading up to the births and the births themselves. For our third child, we knew we wanted a homebirth.Continue reading “Home Birth”
- Black + White Spiral SableTotally not home school related but hey, just something fun! We love these little biscuit cookies and the recipe yields so many so they’re perfect for around the Holidays, sending little baggies off to whomever to say “hello, just thinking of you.” So here ya go! This recipe is from my favorite cookbook: Cook’s Illustrated.Continue reading “Black + White Spiral Sable”
- Language Arts the Charlotte Mason waySo before you read this, yes we do Language Arts in our jammies sometimes and yes, my daughter is eating Cinnamon Squares from Trader Joe’s while doing it. 😉 Just keeping it real for you guys. Second thing I’d like to preface is WHY did I choose the CM way of home education/Language Arts specifically.Continue reading “Language Arts the Charlotte Mason way”
- Blending A Gentle Feast History + Beautiful Feet BooksSo we are into week six of cycle one form one of A Gentle Feast (see link in menu). This will be our last week before taking a nice long maternity leave and starting back up around Labor Day most likely. A Gentle Feast is our main curriculum and then we are adding in BeautifulContinue reading “Blending A Gentle Feast History + Beautiful Feet Books”
- Homeschooling ResourcesA flourishing homeschool does not need to include any particular item on this list. A homeschool requires a few essentials; a cheerful mother, a library card, access to outdoors, possibly a few local used-book stores, and probably some form of a curriculum of your own choosing. However, today I’m sharing other items that we areContinue reading “Homeschooling Resources”
- Honeycomb CakesSo my son loves to bake with me and since we aren’t doing anything too formal in the schoolroom yet, I always welcome his help. He remembers those times so vividly and I secretly wish that he’ll be on Chef’s Table one day. 😉 I meant to make these for Summer Solstice week with ExploringContinue reading “Honeycomb Cakes”
- Our Daily RhythmJuggling lessons and mealtimes and naptimes is not for the faint of heart. Every child has different needs, abilities, and “schedules”. This is how WE balance it all but I’d first preface this post with the fact that you as the Mother will know what it best for your child(ren). I cannot express enough theContinue reading “Our Daily Rhythm”
- Recommended booksWhether you are just starting on the homeschooling journey or you need that one refresher book every year to help sustain you on the path, here’s a list of books I’d recommend. Most I have read, others I haven’t yet but know they’re good ones from other mamas I trust and respect. Mother Culture/Homeschooling Booklist:Continue reading “Recommended books”
- The Journey BeginsHello and thanks for joining! We’ve just begun our First Grade year of home education using A Gentle Feast curriculum and we couldn’t be more excited. In the past, I’ve used the Peaceful Press curriculum (Peaceful Preschool, Playful Pioneers for Kindergarten). I plan to use Habitat Schoolhouse (Pre-K) and the Ambleside Online booklists for myContinue reading “The Journey Begins”
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