[.ca] A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal Reflections on the ... (ISBN 1889209023)

HOMESCHOOLING PARENTS: Put This Book On Your Wish List!:
I have had the pleasure of hearing Karen Andreola speak in person. She is a lovely, energetic person whose words have the power to encourage the most downhearted homeschooling parent. This element of encouragement is strong throughout A Charlotte Mason Companion, and I highly recommend that any parent considering a literature-based approach to their children's education read this book as soon as possible. Those of you who have read -- or have attempted to read -- the original writings of Charlotte Mason can attest to the fact that her books are not an easy read! Mrs. Andreola has distilled the wisdom and direction of Charlotte Mason into an easily read and easily digested format. In short, the author has made Charlotte Mason much more accessible. Far from using a dry-bones, facts-only approach, the author has instead infused her writing with a sense of "you can do this." Indeed, the sensitive reader will most likely exclaim, "Why, yes, I CAN do this!" Karen Andreola MAKES SENSE of Charlotte Mason's philosophy of education. This book belongs on the libary shelves of all homeschooling families! ---- Jill Schafer Boehme, Author of MY LIMA BEANS ARE ALLERGIC TO MY SPOON and Editor of MOMMY! The Internet Lifeline for At-home Moms (a free Ezine)

praise for Karen Andreola!:
A few years ago I read Karen's book and it has stuck with me since. It is without question, the BEST book to inspire the BEST homeschooling ever! When I felt most discouraged, I would pick up her book and get the encouragement I needed. Now, two college grads later (one Summa Cum Laude and one Magna!) and three kids that are younger, later, I am still holding onto the Charlotte Mason principles. Karen is like a cool breeze after a hot, humid day! Please get this book, some herbal tea, a relaxing chair and some time to yourself. It will be an investment in your family, I promise!

This has made me excited to keep homeschooling!:
After homeschooling for four years and hearing a lot about Charlotte Mason, I decided I probably should read something about her so I picked up this book. I can only wish I would have read this about four years ago! I have been loosely following the Well-Trained Mind (classical) method for educating my children, and while this is a great proven method, I have felt like it takes so much time and that something is missing. Charlotte Mason Companion has helped me more clearly define what it is that I've needed. First of all is the ultimate goal of Charlotte Mason education is self-education. We want our children to love learning, and Karen clearly describes how to accomplish this through reading many living books and having the children narrate back what they have heard. Well Trained Mind advocates both of these, but I didn't truly understand how and why narration works. Charlotte Mason also recommends narrating a lot (the method is described wonderfully in this book) between the ages of 6 and 10 and soon thereafter, the child will have the capabilities to start writing. I struggle with having my 9 year old son write and I've come to realize that he hasn't had enough narration practice. I've decided to make this a main focus of my homeschool and to really make it a habit. I can really see the value of him being able to orally re-tell a story well before requiring him to write a report. Another thing I have loved about this book is the description of nature study. When I'd heard about nature study, I always just thought, "oh yuck, who wants to do that." Well, after reading how it should be done and why, I want to! Another part of this book is all about discipline in the home. Charlotte Mason recommended your child have at least twenty good habits established before adulthood. I only wish I had that many, that's what makes my job so hard! Karen describes many ways to help accomplish this. The other thing I really love is the premise that children should have three things: Something to love, Something to do and Something to think about. For Something to do, I've realized we've been so busy running around the kids have no time to do anything creative or on their own. I like that Charlotte recommends finishing all schoolwork by 1p.m. and leaving the afternoon literally to the imagination. One glaring omission is that Karen doesn't talk about copywork or dictation at all. I think that two more chapters these subjects would have made this a complete book.

Rest for the Weary:
After reading dozens of books related to homeschooling, I discovered this oasis. It heads my list of Top Ten Books About Homeschooling. I refer to it often for encouragement and inspiration and highly recommend it.

Disorganized, rambling account:
While I found this book a great encouragement with its many anecdotes and personal experiences, I feel it failed miserably as a "guide" to the Charlotte Mason "method". Nowhere in the book is there a precise, or even an imprecise, definition or outline of what exactly constitutes the "Charlotte Mason Method", which is what I was looking for when I bought the book. The author does however provide many glimpses of the "method" in practice and offers plenty of encouragement for weary homeschooling parents, but I found the book much too long for the material covered. In short, I found it to be a disorganized, rambling account of one woman's efforts to homeschool according to some fuzzy, ill-defined ideal. This is not to say, however, that Charlotte Mason's ideas or "methods" are fuzzy or ill-defined, only that this book fails to convey them effectively. If you're looking for information rather than encourgement, this is not the book for you.