"What is the best curriculum for a well brought up person? Whatever the specifics for the curriculum used in your home, be sure that your children each day have:
*Something or someone to love
*Something to do
*Something to think about."-Karen Andreola
Since the above statement is what turned me into a die hard fan of the Charlotte Mason method, I would like to expound on the idea even further. We'll skip "something or someone to love," because I am pretty sure that if you are homeschooling, then you have a love for your family and for God that runs deep, and you will have no trouble creating a loving learning environment in your home. However, I would like to include that giving your children service projects can help them to offer comfort and love to others in their community. This year, the Princesses set up a temporary tattoo booth during the community Halloween festivities to raise money and non perishable food items for the local food bank. Before the event was over, they were already making huge plans among themselves for similar projects. The next item that we need to have in our Charlotte Mason education is something to do.
It is our job as home educators to expose our children to beneficial activities. There has to be more to school than paperwork and books. Here are some ideas of things to do that can be incorporated into the school day:
*Photography
*Drawing
*Handicrafts
*Cooking/Baking
*Community service projects
*Organized activities (church groups, scouting, playgroups, 4H, sports, etc)
*Running errands
*Family event planning
*After school jobs
There are thousands of things that could be added to my list, but I included things that the Princesses do on a regular basis. If you started a journal to help organize your homeschool, you might create a page of ideas of things to do that your children already do, and those things that you would like for them to do for the upcoming term. I am not a big fan of over scheduling (although I have been guilty of this many times), but I do think that if we provide our children with plenty of quality activities, it makes learning more fun and keeps them out of trouble. As I type out this blog, you must know that Melody is working at her after school job. Abbey is making bracelets that she will sell when she has enough made, and Tarja is trying to take apart something with a screwdriver that she found in the kitchen. For the next term, what are your children going to do? Next time that we get together, we will discuss "something to think about."
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