A Delectable Education Charlotte Mason Podcast

What made Charlotte Mason craft her curriculum around the subject of history? Why is the subject important for today's students? Join us on the podcast for our discussion today as we begin our series on Charlotte Mason history lessons. Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!) ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List History Rotation Diagrams Video Explaining History Rotations Episode 11: Why Study History Episode 12: The Chronology of History ADE on YouTube  

If you've been following along with our series on Charlotte Mason Bible lessons, you likely have some lingering questions. Where should I place my students in the progression if they've not been doing Charlotte Mason from the beginning? Or where can I, and where ought I not, combine my children? What about specific translations or how to assess my child's progress? We'll do our best to answer these and more in today's podcast. Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!) ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List Episode 224: Combining Multiple Students Episode 290: Bringing Older Children into the Charlotte Mason Method Episode 17: Bible 2.0 ADE on YouTube  

In today's podcast we are taking a close look at Charlotte Mason Bible lessons for high school students. Which portions of the scripture did Ms. Mason reserve for our oldest students? How are they equipped to continue reading the Bible on their own after the full feast of Bible lessons from their whole education? And where do they go from here?  Listen as we discuss! Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!) ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List Scripture Journals (ESV and CSB options) on Amazon or here The One Volume Bible Commentary JR Dummelow* The Saviour of the World by Charlotte Mason (Amazon for Vol 1-3 or Riverbend Press for all 5 volumes) The Gospel History of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by C.C. James ADE Bible rotation ADE Schedule Cards Episode 128: Form 1 Bible Immersion Lesson ADE on YouTube *For OOP (out of print) or hard to find texts, try BookFinder.com  

How do Charlotte Mason Bible lessons change as students get older? Join us for today's discussion on the podcast as we turn to middle school students and answer some common questions like, why can't we continue Bible lessons with the whole family? And how can I help facilitate separate Bible lessons for my older students?  Tune in to hear some insight to help navigate these issues, and more! Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!) ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List The Old Testament History by Costley-White and Hardwich (online version or hard copy at Living Library Press) Commentary on the New Testment: The Four Gospels by W. Walsham How* Scripture Journals (ESV and CSB options) on Amazon or here Acts of the Apostles by Ellen M. Knox The Gospel History of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by C.C. James The Saviour of the World by Charlotte Mason (Amazon for Vol 1-3 or Riverbend Press for all 5 volumes) ADE Bible rotation Bible: Forms 1-2 Lesson Breakdown Episode 128: Form 1 Bible Immersion Lesson ADE on YouTube *For OOP (out of print) or hard to find texts, try BookFinder.com

This episode of the podcast focuses on what Bible lessons look like in elementary school. You'll learn how often and for how long Charlotte Mason Bible lessons last at this age, how to teach the lessons, and we will share some of our favorite resources with you. Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!) ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List Paterson Smyth commentaries Scripture Journals (ESV and CSB options) on Amazon or here Bible Art Resources: Bible Picture Portfolios   Bible in Art: New Testament, Richard Muhlberger*   Bible in Art: Old Testament, Richard Muhllberger* Bible Atlas Favorites: Holman Bible Atlas    Golden Bible Atlas* ADE Bible rotation Bible: Forms 1-2 Lesson Breakdown Episode 128: Form 1 Bible Immersion Lesson ADE on YouTube *For OOP (out of print) or hard to find texts, try BookFinder.com

Why did Charlotte Mason think that the Bible was the most important subject in a child's school lessons? What portions of the Bible are appropriate for children to read? And why should I include Bible as a lesson if our family already does regular Bible reading or devotions? In today's podcast we are tackling these questions and more as we look at the Bible as a school subject in the Charlotte Mason curriculum. Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!) ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List Episode 17: Bible 2.0 ADE on YouTube

Are you lacking confidence in choosing your Charlotte Mason curriculum? In today’s podcast we are talking about what a Charlotte Mason curriculum isn't by examining the principles Miss Mason gave us, so we can spread the feast of a living education with confidence. Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!) ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List Episodes on the curriculum: Episode 193: The Interdependence of a CM Curriculum   Episode 266: The Utility of the Charlotte Mason Method   Episode 280: The Simplicity of the Charlotte Mason Method Episode 168: Habit Training Episode 264: The Time-Table ADE on YouTube

Have you ever wondered what makes a curriculum Charlotte Mason or not? Charlotte Mason herself gave us principles based on her idea that children are born persons. This season of the podcast, we are going to be working our way through chapter 10 of volume six and answering that question: What is a Charlotte Mason curriculum? Join us in this episode as we start to answer that question by exploring points 11-15 of her educational principles. Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!) ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List ADE's Short Synopsis Episodes Episode 204: Short Synopsis Points 9-12 Episode 206: Short Synopsis Points 13-15 Episode 5: The Science of Relations Episode 8: Narration ADE on YouTube

We're back for season 11 of the podcast! Listen to hear about everything that is new at A Delectable Education along with a unique opportunity to read Charlotte Mason along with us. Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!) ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List ADE on YouTube! Teacher Helps 10 Minute's Map Exercises   Scansion Lessons - Extra Practice   Literature Forms 3-4 (English Literature for Boys & Girls and Age of Fable)   Citizenship Forms 3-4 (The Young Citizen's Reader and Ourselves) Teacher Training Videos High School Algebra demonstration lesson   Form 1-2 Bible demonstration lesson   A Method for the Madness: Organizing Home and School workshop   Imagination, The Missing Ingredient workshop   Conducting a Special Study workshop   A Point or Two of Correction and Critique: Assessing Your Students’ Compositions workshop   The Habit of Remembering workshop   School Planning, One Bite at a Time workshop ADE’s Patreon Community ADE at HOME {Virtual} Conference (First weekend in February, access for 3 months following) Theo of Golden, Allen Levi Every Moment Holy, Vol. 3, Douglas Kaine McKelvey

The end of the school year and the end of this podcast season is cause to pause and reflect. The ADE ladies review the past year and encourage you to not just slam the books closed, but pause to remember the good and give thanks. We also encourage you to take some time this summer to listen to old episodes as you plan for the upcoming school year. Finally, we have a big announcement to make about the coming season. We close this episode with a fitting devotional to help you gain perspective on the value of the past year and inspire you for what lies ahead. Episode 241: Seasonal Reflections Seasonal Reflection Questions Episodes by Topic Numerical Listing of Episodes ADE at HOME {Virtual} Conference (First weekend in February each year, access for 3 months following) Teacher Training Videos Teacher Helps ADE's Patreon Community

This season, as we explore finding balance in the Charlotte Mason Method, we are interviewing people who have been able to find balance in their various contexts. This episode is an interview with Sarah Potter who made a big change in her homeschool after graduating the first of her six children and enrolling her remaining students in a not-so-local hybrid CM Cottage School. Sarah shares the factors that led her to make this decision, the hard parts as well as the wonderful benefits her family has experienced being a part of Living Education Academy. www.livingbookpress.com Use code "delectable" at check out to receive 10% off your order Living Education Academy ADE's Teacher Helps ADE's Patreon Community

Often when we encounter a difficulty in our Charlotte Mason education, the problem lies not in the books and materials, but rather in a mismatch between our expectations and the reality we see before us. In this episode of the podcast, we explore the unbalanced expectations we consciously and unconsciously embrace that are at odds with the outcomes Charlotte Mason expected. In returning to the principles of our educational method, we can find balance, and thereby, peace. "If we realise that the mind and knowledge are like two members of a ball and socket joint, two limbs of a pair of scissors, fitted to each other, necessary to each other and acting only in concert, we shall understand that our function as teachers is to supply children with the rations of knowledge which they require; and that the rest, character and conduct, efficiency and ability...take care of themselves." (6/241) "We need not ask what the girl or boy likes. She very often likes the twaddle of goody-goody storybooks, he like condiments, highly-spices tales of adventure. We are all capable of liking mental food of a poor quality." (3/168) "It is a wide progamme founded on the educational rights of man; wide, but we may not say it is impossible nor may we pick and choose and educate him in this direction but not that...Our part it seems to me is to give a child a vital hold upon as many as possible of those relationships proper to him." (6/157) "Therefore, if the business of teaching be to furnish the child with ideas, any teaching which does not leave him possessed of a new mental image has, by so far, missed its mark. It is not too much to say that a morning in which a child receives no new idea is a morning wasted, however closely the little student has been kept at his books." (1/173)"If it is the best a child can do and shows interest and effort, then it is satisfactory or 'good'" (Exam Pamphlet) Beauty & Truth Math Episode 272: CM on Children Liking Their Books Notes of Lessons: Sample lessons from CM trained teachers in her training college Episode 233: Method of Lessons Episode 229: Exams Examination and the P.U.S.Pamphlet ADE's Exam Planner: A Teacher Help for preparing and executing exams for all Form Levels Living Book Press ADE Teacher Training Videos

Charlotte Mason viewed all educational possibilities as fitting into one or the other of two schools of philosophy: Materialism and Idealism. Instead, she offers a "middle way," a new path that draws on the strengths of both schools. The portion of Parents and Children where she discusses these ideas is dense. In this episode of the podcast, Jessica Becker guides us through what Miss Mason had to say, and, more importantly, why it is essential for parents and teachers to find balance between these two educational extremes.   Parents and Children (Volume 2), Charlotte Mason, chapters 11-13 "Probably the chief source of weakness in our attempt to formulate a science of education is that we do not perceive that education is the outcome of philosophy. We deal with the issue and ignore the source. Hence our efforts lack continuity and definite aim. We are content to pick up a suggestion here, a practical hint there, without even troubling ourselves to consider what is that scheme of life of which such hints and suggestions are the output." (2/118)  "Method implies two things-a way to an end, and step-by-step progress in that way." (1/8) "We need not aspire to a complete and exhaustive code of educational laws. This will· come to us duly when humanity bas, so to speak, fulfilled itself. Meantime, we have enough to go on with if we would believe it. What we have to do is to gather together and order our resources ; to put the first thing foremost and all things in sequence, and to see that education is neither more nor less than the practical application of our philosophy. Hence, if our educational thought is to be sound and effectual we must look to the philosophy which underlies it, and must be in a condition to trace every counsel of perfection for the bringing-up of children to one or other of the two schools of philosophy of which it must needs be the outcome." (2/119-120) "Is our system of education to be the issue of naturalism or of idealism, or is there indeed a media via?" (2/120) "The truth is, we are in the throes of an educational revolution ; we are emerging from chaos rather than about to plunge into it; we are beginning to recognise that education is the applied science of life, and that we really have existing material in the philosophy of the ages and the science of the day to formulate an educational code whereby we may order the lives of our children and regulate our own." (2/119) "The functions of education may be roughly defined as twofold : (a) the formation of habits; (b) the presentation of ideas. The first depends far more largely than we recognise on physiological processes. The second is purely spiritual in origin, method, and result. Is it not possible that here we have the meeting-point of the two philosophies which have divided mankind since men began to think about their thoughts and ways? Both are right ; both are necessary; both have their full activity in the development of a human being at his best." (2/125) "For a habit is set up by following out an initial idea with a long sequence of corresponding acts. You tell a child that the Great Duke slept in so narrow a bed that he could not turn over, because, said he, ' When you want to turn over it's time to get up.' The boy does not wish to get up in the morning, but he does wish to be like the hero of Waterloo. You stimulate him to act upon this idea day after day for a month or so, until the habit is formed, and it is just as easy as not to get up in good time." (2/125) "You may bring your horse to the water, but you can't make him drink; and you may present ideas of the fittest to the mind of the child; but you do not know in the least which he will take, and which he will reject." (2/127) "Our part is to see that his educational plat is constantly replenished with fit and inspiring ideas, and then we must needs leave it to the child's own appetite to take which he will have, and as much as he requires." (2/127) "We shall not be content that they learn geography, history, Latin, what not,-we shall ask what salient ideas are presented in each such study, and how will these ideas affect the intellectual and moral development of the child." (2/127) "We shall probably differ from him in many matters of detail, but we shall most likely be inclined to agree with his conclusion that, not some subject of mere utility, but moral and social science conveyed by means of history, literature, or otherwise, is the one subject which we are not at liberty to leave out from the curriculum of' a being breathing thoughtful breath.'" (2/127-28) "Two things are necessary. First, we must introduce into the study of each science the philosophic spirit and method, general views, the search for the most general principles and conclusions. We must then reduce the different sciences to unity by a sound training in philosophy, which will be as obligatory to students in science as to students in literature. . . • Scientific truths, said Descartes, are battles won ; describe to the young the principal and most heroic of these battles; you will thus interest them in the results of science, and you will develop in them a scientific spirit by means of the enthusiasm for the conquest of truth; you will make them see the power of the reasoning which has led to discoveries in the past, and which will do so again in the future. How interesting arithmetic and geometry might be if we gave a short history of their principal theorems; if the child were mentally present at the labours of a Pythagoras, a Plato, a Euclid, or in modern times of a Viete, a Descartes, a Pascal, or a Leibnitz. Great theories, instead of being lifeless and anonymous abstractions, would become human, living truths, each with its own history, like a statue by Michael Angelo, or like a painting by Raphael." (2/128) Atomic Habits, James Clear String, Straightedge and Shadow, Julia Diggins Men, Microscopes and Living Things, Katherine Shippen Nicole's Form 3-4 Biology Science Guide AWAKEN: A Living Books Conference Episode 167: Method vs. System Raphael's School of Athens Living Book Press ADE Teacher Training Videos

Charlotte Mason firmly believed that novels are our greatest teachers, hence why she included them as a major serving in the feast that nourishes our children's education. This episode was recorded live at the ADE At Home conference, February 7, 2025, with Nicole, Emily, and Liz leading a discussion with attendees who had read the book and come to what they gleaned from Miss Gaskell's groundbreaking and somewhat controversial novel, Ruth. If you have read the book, you will enjoy listening to what we all gleaned from this story, and if you have not, you will be inspired to read it. Ruth, Elizabeth Gaskell Sabbath Mood Homeschool's Living Science Curriculum A Delectable Education's Teacher Helps

This season, as we explore finding balance in the Charlotte Mason Method, we are interviewing people who have been able to find balance in their various contexts. This episode is an interview with Angie Cole, a home-educating mom from Arizona, who has cultivated unique learning communities for herself and her four children. We understand the need for balance in determining how to incorporate social time and group learning while homeschooling and protecting morning lesson time. Angie has a lot of wisdom and experience to share with us!   Charlotte Mason Simple Languages Charlotte Mason in Community ADE's Teacher Training Videos www.livingbookpress.com Use code "delectable" at check out to receive 10% off your order ADE's Patreon Community

It goes without saying that life is full of transitions, and a Charlotte Mason Education is no exception. From beginning school lessons with one child to adding subsequent students, moving into higher levels, or bringing older students into the Method for the first time, this episode discusses the multitudinous transitions we, and our students, make over the course of our education and how to avoid pitfalls while seeking balance.   AWAKEN: A Living Books Conference Episode 292: Balancing Time--School Schedules Transcript Planner Subjects by Form Page -- See what subjects CM assigned for each Form (grades) level, and find the relevant podcast episodes on each subject. Episode 274: Gaining Independence Living Book Press ADE Teacher Helps

In today's podcast episode, we bring you a session from the 2024 ADE at HOME {Virtual} Conference. LaShawne Thomas presented a session full of ideas and possibilities for navigating homeschooling when seasons of transition arise (and sometimes hang around) in our lives. A long-time Charlotte Mason educator and former Navy wife, LaShawne has experienced her fair share of upheavals and transitions and has much wisdom to share with us. Our Country and Its People, Monroe & Buckbee Strayer-Upton Practical Arithmetic ADE at HOME 2025 {Virtual} Conference Living Book Press -- Our Season Sponsor Picture Study Portfolios Simply Charlotte Mason's Elementary Arithmetic Series ADE'S Teacher Training Videos ADE's Patreon Community

This week on the podcast, we are discussing the principles behind Charlotte Mason's School Schedules. First we look at the whole year's schedule, why three terms, and options we have for today's students. Then, we turn our focus to the daily schedule and how we can bring much needed balance to our education. We hope you take away principles, rather than rules, and gain clarity on how our seemingly mundane choices have such a large impact on our students. “It is impossible to overstate the importance of this habit of attention. It is, ..., ‘within the reach of everyone, and should be made the primary object of all mental discipline’; for whatever the natural gifts of the child, it is only so far as the habit of attention is cultivated in him that he is able to make use of them.” (1/146) “...if the [student] is to get two or three hours intact [in the afternoon], she will owe it to her mother's firmness as much as to her good management. In the first place, that the school tasks be done, and done well, in the assigned time, should be a most fixed law. The young people will maintain that it is impossible, but let the mother insist; she will thereby cultivate the habit of attention." (5/195) “It is well to make up our mind that there is always a next thing to be done, whether in work or play; and that the next thing, be it ever so trifling, is the right thing; not so much for its own sake, perhaps, as because, each time we insist upon ourselves doing the next thing, we gain power in the management of that unruly filly, Inclination. … "At first it requires attention and thought. But mind and body get into the way of doing most things; and the person, whose mind has the habit of singling out the important things and doing them first, saves much annoyance to himself and others, and has gained in Integrity. ...  "In the end, integrity makes for gaiety, because the person who is honest about his work has time to play, and is not secretly vexed by the remembrance of things left undone or ill done.” (4-1/171-2) Deep Work, Cal Newport The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt (Contains affiliate links) ADE at HOME 2025 {Virtual} Conference Episode 82 on Holiday Pursuits and Activities Episode 287: Finding Balance in Life with Michelle Reisgraf Episode 264: The Time-Table The Parents' Educational Course List Episode 258: Afternoons Living Book Press ADE Teacher Helps

This season, as we explore finding balance in the Charlotte Mason Method, we are interviewing people who have been able to find balance in their various contexts. This episode is an interview with Helen Swaveley, a seasoned home-educating parent, as she offers her perspective on how the Charlotte Mason's method gives balance to our students in high school and beyond. Waverley, Sir Walter Scott A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens ADE at HOME {Virtual} Conference 2025 www.livingbookpress.com Use code "delectable" at check out to receive 10% off your order ADE's Teacher Training Videos ADE's Patreon Community

This Charlotte Mason podcast episode is a re-aired, re-visit to a common question we receive: bringing children into the Mason method from previous school experiences. What are the approaches that help children of various ages transition, what are realistic expectations, and how do we help them adjust to a different way of doing lessons? "The success of such a school demands rare qualities in the teacher––high culture, some knowledge of psychology and of the art of education; intense sympathy with the children, much tact, much common sense, much common information, much 'joyousness of nature,' and much governing power..." (Vol. 1, p. 178) "Our aim in Education is to give a Full Life.––We begin to see what we want. Children make large demands upon us. We owe it to them to initiate an immense number of interests. Thou hast set my feet in a large room; should be the glad cry of every intelligent soul. Life should be all living, and not merely a tedious passing of time; not all doing or all feeling or all thinking––the strain would be too great––but, all living; that is to say, we should be in touch wherever we go, whatever we hear, whatever we see, with some manner of vital interest. We cannot give the children these interests; we prefer that they should never say they have learned botany or conchology, geology or astronomy. The question is not,––how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education––but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him?" (Vol. 3, p. 170-171)  I Buy a School, Marion Berry (Contains affiliate links) ADE at HOME 2025 {Virtual} Conference Living Book Press ADE Teacher Training Videos