Piney Woods Homeschool

Why do we teach children about history (or literature or any of a number of subjects)?  What is the best way to teach these subjects?  How do we know if we have taught them successfully? In Consider This:  Charlotte Mason and the Classical Tradition , Karen Glass explains the choices facing all of us who have the responsibility of teaching children.  When we choose to present or not present certain topics, even more so when we choose to present topics in particular ways, we are making philosophical choices whether we know it or not.  These choices have a profound effect on the way each child views the world. Karen explains that today's preferred methods of teaching resemble the old story of the blind men and the elephant, as we present children with disconnected bits of information without ever showing them the whole.  Without that view of the whole, children do not come to care about the subjects of their studies or to care about the process of learni...

I've blogged about different aspects of this process at different times.  Here are the key posts, all in one spot!  (Updated in April 2026) Sample Term Schedules - See a sample (for each AO year I've scheduled so far) of the schedules I create for my own family. How I Scheduled Year 3 - Walk through the process of planning Year 3. How I Scheduled Year 4 - Walk through the process of planning Year 4. How I Scheduled Year 5 - Walk through the process of planning Year 5. How I Scheduled Year 5 (Another Version) - Walk through the process of planning Year 5. How I Scheduled Year 6  - Walk through the process of planning Year 6. How I Scheduled Year 7 - Walk through the process of planning Year 7 for an 8th grader. How I Scheduled Year 7 (Fifth Time) - Walk through the process of planning Year 7. How I Scheduled Year 10 - Walk through the process of planning Year 10. A Natural Reward - Guest post at Afterthoughts. Planning Our Ambleside Year   - What res...

Today we transformed a diaper box into a Road Trip Treasure Chest by covering it with pages from a worn out picture book.  Inside, we stowed interesting items, bundled in groups of four similar items, which will make their appearance during our next long road trip.  For a long trip (more than 3 hours), every 100 miles we get out a bundle of items.  Each time it's a different child's turn to pick first from that bundle, but each child gets an item from each bundle.  (Unless that child has seriously misbehaved during the previous 100 miles.  In that case, no item from that bundle.) This provides frequent changes in activities, something interesting to look forward to, and regular opportunities for logical consequences to reinforce helpful behavior. What do we have in our treasure chest?  I gather items all the time, from stores, garage sales, thrift shops, bookshelves and toy bins at home--anywhere! small chalk boards with chalk and eraser magne...

18. The way of reason : We teach children, too, not to 'lean (too confidently) to their own understanding'; because the function of reason is to give logical demonstration (a) of mathematical truth, (b) of an initial idea, accepted by the will. In the former case, reason is, practically, an infallible guide, but in the latter, it is not always a safe one; for, whether that idea be right or wrong, reason will confirm it by irrefragable proofs. - Charlotte Mason, Volume 6  Charlotte Mason suggested two guides to "moral and intellectual self-management": 'the way of the will' and 'the way of the reason.'  Teaching a child to recognize and use the strength of his own will power allows him to manage his thinking and behavior.  Teaching a child to recognize and beware the limitations of reason helps him to avoid being deceived by his own mind. Reason can be a powerful tool.  But when reason is used to provide support for an idea, it can find support for...

When each child reaches K or 1st (depending on the child and what all is going on), we begin slightly formal musical instruction with a lap harp.  Lap harps work well for early music instruction because each string makes one note, so the child doesn't have to try to make the instrument produce the right sound, and the song sheets lie under the strings and show the child where to pluck.  I've used three different lap harps, one for children, one for adults, and another one for children that I just bought.  This last is by far my favorite for this type of instruction:   Hape Early Melodies Happy Harp .  During our lap harp phase, I expect to work on rhythm, music reading (just learning to read the different types of notes), and hearing the scale.  I tune the instrument myself and sit with the child during each lesson and most practices. After a year or two of lap harp, each child has moved to a recorder.  I never have bought a recorder because I was gi...

Our organizational system for this year's school has worked excellently, which happens to make life so much easier as I am physically unable to keep school running by myself this year.  We have finished our first term and are working on exams, although since I really can't sit at the computer for more than a few minutes at a time exams may drag on for awhile this term. One facet of our system that may not be clear from the original post is the way we categorize our work.  I thought I'd give some examples.  For Ambleside's Year 7 , Term 1, we sorted the work this way: Devotional Bible Mere Christianity Saints and Heroes Enrichment CM's "Ourselves" How To Read a Book Story of Painting Whatever Happened to Penny Candy Extras Artist/Composer Chess Drawing Handicraft Geography The Brendan Voyage Lay of the Land Map Drill Map Work History Asser’s life of King Alfred Bede Book of Centuries Churchill's Birth of Britain Histo...

Let's explore this wealth of topics, from what it means to study history to how to save our children's imaginations! Dewey's Treehouse:  Tell Me Another Story -  History is supposed to be a great story. Surviving Mexico:  Parenting Challenge-Living History - This was dead history, no heroes, no battles, no great achievements to remember. Letters from Nebby:  Learning History -  When we study history, we study human beings. ...where the blacktop ends:  Tendrils of Attachment -  A well written tale of history really comes alive and I'm looking forward to reading them with my son.    Living Books Library:  Anything New? -  Do books have to be "old" to be worth reading, are there any "good" new books, and how can we offer contemporary books to children to interest the "modern" child? Classically Charlotte:  The Nature of Children - A development of Charlotte Mason's second principle of education Joyo...