Charlotte Mason Resources
A Charlotte Mason Education
More Charlotte Mason Education
A Literary Education
and Audio tapes
Review by Martha Robinson
Charlotte Mason books by Catherine Levison. Published by Champion Press. Please support HomeschoolChristian.com by buying these books through our affiliate link to Amazon.
Three of Mrs. Levison's books were reviewed.
In A Charlotte Mason Education, Mrs. Levison gives a brief overview of Charlotte Mason's methods. She summarizes the basic goal with each subject and then provides a "how to" section with suggestions to apply the method in today's homeschools. In addition to the expected academic subjects, chapters cover handicrafts, citizenship and morals, the formation of habit, and narration. The appendix includes Charlotte Mason's example schedules for different grade levels, along with Mrs. Levison's schedule from her homeschool. Paperback, 104 pages, $8.95 list price.
Recommendation: A Charlotte Mason Education is a quick read and whets the appetite for more information. It is an overview, rather than an in-depth look at Charlotte Mason's ideas.
In More Charlotte Mason Education, Catherine Levison provides a much more detailed "how to" manual for implementing Charlotte Mason's methods at home. Using quotations from Charlotte Mason's books, she offers ideas and tips based upon her experience homeschooling her children. Short lessons, the Century Book, choosing curricula and books, and high school are the topics of some of the chapters. Commonly asked questions and their answers are also included along with references for further study. Schedules used in Miss Mason's school and Catherine Levison's sample schedule offer parents a solid view of how a school day could progress. Paperback, 160 pages, $13.95 list price.
Recommendation:More Charlotte Mason Education offers easy to follow advice for implementing Charlotte Mason's methods. Parents will appreciate the straightforward, folksy style of Mrs. Levison's writing and her practical suggestions.
A Literary Education is Catherine Levison's effort to aid parents in choosing books to use with the Charlotte Mason method. Brief descriptions of books that Mrs. Levison can personally recommend appear in the categories of literature, history, science, poetry, art, music, biographies, and a miscellaneous category for books that did not fit elsewhere. The book ends with a suggested scope and sequence for today's homeschools, based upon general education requirements. Paperback, 128 pages, $12.00 list price.
Recommendation: Veteran homeschooling parents will find many of the books listed here to be familiar. Many were mentioned in Mrs. Levison's other books and more of them may be found on the Ambleside site or the 1000 Great Books list. A Literary Education could be a valuable resource for newer or off-line homeschoolers.
Catherine Levison audio tapes -- Mrs. Levison has recorded a number of her lectures at homeschooling conventions and offers these on cassette tapes. With an informal and jovial style, she recaps much of the material in her books and offers examples to illustrate her points. The tapes are reproduced in an unedited format so the listener will experience all of the activity that happened in the room at the time. The following tapes are available for $9 each:
- An Overview of the Charlotte Mason Method
- Balancing Act, To Structure or Not to Structure
- The Language Arts for (almost) Free!
- History and Science, The Charlotte Mason Way
Recommendation: While the lecture room noise and activity can be distracting, these audios give the busy homeschooling parent the opportunity to increase her knowledge about the Charlotte Mason method while on the go. They are an outstanding way to learn more or simply to rekindle interest and enthusiasm.
Other HomeschoolChristian resources related to this review:
HomeschoolChristian.com's Classical and Charlotte Mason Homeschooling Section
with resources, links, and ideas for implementing the Charlotte Mason's methods
Review of Charlotte Mason Study Guide
Review of Italics, Beautiful Handwriting for Children
Review of The Story of the Middle Ages
Review of the Famous Men series
Review of Helene Guerber's living history books
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