May 27, 2026 – How to Teach the Charlotte Mason Way

Hey, Mama!

Gena Suarez, Publisher of TOS

Charlotte Mason at Your Kitchen Table

Hey, Mama.

You’ve probably heard the name Charlotte Mason tossed around in homeschool circles. Maybe you nodded along like you knew exactly what it meant. Maybe you didn’t. Either way, let’s talk about it.

Charlotte Mason was a British educator in the late 1800s, and her philosophy was simple: children are whole people with real minds, not blank slates waiting to be programmed. She valued short, focused lessons, books that actually tell a story, time outdoors, and the quiet, daily work of building character. No fluff. No filler. Just good ideas and the space to think about them.

What does that look like at your kitchen table? It means swapping the dry textbook for a living book that tells the story of history instead of listing dates. It means sending your kids outside with a nature journal and letting them draw what they see. It means reading a passage aloud and then asking, “Tell me what you remember,” and letting them do the thinking.

Lessons are short. Attention is respected. Beauty matters. And for Christian homeschoolers, the Charlotte Mason method pairs beautifully with Scripture as your foundation.

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6, KJV). Education isn’t just academics. It’s the shaping of a soul. It is discipleship.

You don’t have to do it perfectly. Start with one living book. Take one nature walk. Ask one narration question. That’s enough for today.

“But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18, KJV). That’s the goal, Mama. For them and for you.

His hand is on your head, Mama. Always.

—Gena

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Want to teach the Charlotte Mason Way? Enjoy living books, short lessons, and faith-filled days with Jeannie Fulbright Press’ resources and easy-to-follow curricula. Visit jeanniefulbright.com. 

Stephanie Morrison

For the Love of Lifelong Learning

Homeschooling makes many educational approaches viable and adaptable. There are five to fifteen different education methods depending on how detailed the different methods are described. That makes for a lot of opportunities to create a truly customized learning experience for your child. 

When I first researched homeschooling as an educational option, I read several books about the different approaches and philosophies of education, one of them being A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal Reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning by Karen Andreola.

The title alone may have been what really inspired me to wholly commit to home education for my children. “The gentle art of learning” is a phrase that you can focus on to guide you in educational choices. I’ll add another one that I find a Charlotte Mason education encourages: the gentle art of teaching. 

Both of these phrases depict education as a natural process to be developed, practiced, and nurtured. Time spent engaged with your child as they grow and develop over the years will produce benefits that last a lifetime—for all involved! When you beautifully mesh their learning style with your teaching style, you’ll foster a love of learning for life. Teaching them to read well, write well, and think well is artfully achieved through the principles of educator, Charlotte Mason. As wisely stated by Charlotte Mason, “Self-education is the only possible education: the rest is mere veneer laid on the surface of a child’s nature.” 

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About the author

Pursuing her calling to help parents enjoy the responsibility of educating their children, Steph works with clients in the home education industry and helps entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses from home. She and her family are perfectly placed in the prairies of Saskatchewan, Canada. She loves being a homebody and building up her permaculture property. www.CreatingWorkandPlay.com

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Sherri Seligson

It’s All About Relationship

The Charlotte Mason educational method involves creating an atmosphere of learning, nurturing the child’s mind, body, and soul, and building slow daily rhythms which foster wonder and awe. If you’re like me, you want a checklist of all the rules and regulations so you can put together a specific “how to” and mark off the boxes as you complete them. But that just creates stress. So let me sum up how to teach using this method: build relationships with your children.

This method involves not just covering facts and figures, but teaching the whole story in history, natural science, language, and more. It involves exposing your children to many experiences: poetry, music, art, discussion, reading (both independently and aloud to others), and more. This awakens interests in your children that they may not know they had. It also gives them exposure to the world and how it works, which fosters wonder in creation and in the God who made and upholds all things. 

As you go about your days, teaching and learning with your children about the world, you ultimately are building memories, growing your relationship with them and their relationship with their siblings. You’re spending time outdoors, exploring, illustrating, writing, reading good books. Your routine becomes more of a slow rhythm that sets the tone of education as one of learning from interest and curiosity instead of just adding data to your brain to score well on an exam.

Don’t worry if each day doesn’t look exactly like this, but with this model as your goal, you’ll narrow down your curriculum, schedule, and education choices so you focus on a love for what is good and beautiful, building close relationships with your children as you learn together.

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About the author

Sherri Seligson, MEd is a twenty-one-year homeschool mom and marine biologist. Authoring Apologia’s science courses, instructional videos, and more, Sherri loves encouraging moms and teaching families the wonders of God’s creation. www.facebook.com/SherriSeligsonAuthor

Christine Weller

A Feast!

Charlotte Mason’s philosophy invites us to view education as a rich, living experience rather than a race to check off curriculum boxes. Teaching the Charlotte Mason way emphasizes short, focused lessons; beautiful literature; time outdoors; and nurturing a child’s natural curiosity.

At its heart, it is the idea of spreading a “feast of ideas” in front of our children. Instead of dry textbooks, you read living books which are stories written with passion and depth. This allows children to connect emotionally and intellectually with the subject. Narration replaces worksheets where students retell what they’ve learned after reading, building attention, comprehension, and communication skills.

Nature study is another pillar. Regular outdoor time helps children develop observation skills and a sense of wonder. Even simple walks give endless opportunities to learn from God’s creation.

Building good habits also plays a key role. Charlotte Mason encouraged training children in attentiveness, responsibility, and obedience. Habits like these support lifelong learning.

Teaching this way doesn’t mean you need a perfectly curated home or hours of prep. It simply means slowing down, choosing quality over quantity, and trusting that children grow best when we feed both the mind and the spirit.

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About the author

Christine Weller has been homeschooling her two boys, ages 10 and 6, since birth in the lovely province of Ontario, Canada. She is also a mom blogger and children’s book author. She is currently working to support homeschoolers everywhere through various roles at The Old Schoolhouse®.

There has been a resurgence of homeschoolers learning more about and following the principles of the Charlotte Mason philosophy of education. If your family would prefer reading great books over completing worksheets and nature journaling over textbook learning, a Charlotte Mason education may be just what you’re looking for! SchoolhouseTeachers.com is a great place to start with the Charlotte Mason Homeschool Help page and the Charlotte Mason Focused Learning Center that includes a course list to curate your own living education.