Friday, September 3, 2010

Robinson & Charlotte Mason

In the past when I have written about my struggles wrapping my brain around various homeschooling teaching styles, I have had readers comment that the Lord should lead my homeschooling. Just as individuals in the new church said, "I am of Apollos. I am of Paul." Not so, really, as believers we aren't of this church or that, of this group of that, of this belief or that, but rather we belong to Christ. I am of Christ. And, so my homeschool is of Christ as well. Well said. Yet...my explorations of various educational styles...Robinson, Charlotte Mason, Classical...is just that an exploration, and a struggle to find the right balance for me.

This year, I have purchased the Robinson curriculum. I don't intend to teach solely from the Robinson curriculum, although I think if I did my homeschooling experience would be easy and my kids would be well off having done so. The Robinson curriculum has one key factor that I love, love, love. The principle is to teach your children to teach themselves. I think it is a principle it shares deeply with the Charlotte Mason educational philosophy.

But, Charlotte Mason teaching is more parent intensive and therefore less child independent. That is, by default, I don't think most children would learn that they are to struggle to learn things themselves using the Charlotte Mason philosophy. This is mainly because Charlotte Mason is such a broad curriculum. Charlotte Mason did not believe in limiting a child's exposure to a few key areas, but she believed in exposing children broadly. Charlotte Mason includes:


  • Reading
  • Literature
  • Poetry
  • Copywork
  • Writing
  • Grammar
  • Spelling
  • Math
  • Nature Study
  • Geography
  • Art
  • Artist study
  • Music Practice
  • Music Study
  • Foreign Language
  • Latin
  • Physical Education
  • Hands-On Skills
  • Etc.


Yet, instead of using traditional teaching methods employed by modern schools to teach these subjects, Charlotte Mason encourages us to use good, quality books; a natural learning environment; and frequent changes in our schedule to avoid boredom, in order to encourage the children to be fully invested in these subjects.

Robinson is all about math, writing, and reading, with an emphasis on math and reading. All other pursuits are supposed flow out of the reading the child is doing, or else out of the child's own free time (which Robinson suggests be free of such things as superfluous toys, tv, computer access, and video games).

Just as Robinson himeself added a systematic vocabulary study and examinations to the reading portion of his curriculum, I would argue for an effort to be made to include such things as ancient languages, geography, and art and music study to the reading time. Robinson does not address geography. He sees classical education pursuits such as Latin as irrelevant in modern times, because one has so much available in math and science to expand ones horizons with. Yet, I see Latin as something foundational to our language and therefore of value. I also see memorization of certain classic literature, poetry, and speeches as being of value. Yet, I think, Robinson's warning about adding too much to a young child's plate so that they truly don't learn to teach themselves, is a good admonition. This is not to mention the homeschooling teacher's tendency to wear herself thin. This isn't good for anyone.

Here is a summary of Robinson's teaching method as I see it so far:

1st Year (Age 5 or 6 depending on readiness)


  • Work with the child to learn to read with strong phonics teaching
  • Have child memorize all math tables (+, -, x, /) using flash cards

2nd Year (Age 6 or 7 depending on readiness)


  • 1-2 Hours Math

    • Have child begin Saxon Math 5/4 – teaching self
    • 1/2 lesson per day at first, up to 1 lesson per day during first year
    • Aim for 5% or less error rate
    • Child corrects their own math lessons
    • Child tracks their own error rate

  • 1/2 hour copywork (or essay if desired)

    • Parent corrects grammar, spelling, and punctuation
    • Must redo writing without errors before next day

  • 2 1/2-4 1/2 hours reading (to total at least five hours of studies each day)

    • Vocabulary should be mastered as part of this time
    • When applicable, examinations on book should be taken as part of this time
    • To verify reading compression a written narration can be done on book readings that don’t have examinations to go with them


3rd Year On


  • 1-2 Hours Math

    • Continue in Saxon Math Program Until Finished With Calculus, then move on to College Level Chemistry and Physics – teaching self
    • 1 lesson per day, up to 2 lessons per day depending on speed and accuracy
    • Aim for 5% or less error rate
    • Child corrects their own math lessons
    • Child tracks their own error rate

  • 1/2 hour copywork (or essay if desired, minimum 1 page essay required for age 10 and above)

    • Parent corrects grammar, spelling, and punctuation
    • Must redo writing without errors before next day

  • 2 1/2-4 1/2 hours reading (to total at least five hours of studies each day)

    • Vocabulary should be mastered as part of this time
    • When applicable, examinations on book should be taken as part of this time
    • To verify reading compression a written narration can be done on book readings that don’t have examinations to go with them


Other studies – music, cooking, art, dance, nature study, latin, foreign language, etc. should be done as an extracurricular pursuit after the 5-6 hours are completed. Do 5-6 hours of work, 6 days a week, 12 months a year – taking time off as needed for excursions outside the home. On days when you will be out in the afternoon, at least do math to keep their brain used to working. Taking more than one day off for the weekend causes Mondays to be primarily retraining their brain to work. The most important aspect of the curriculum is that the child takes responsibility for their own learning.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Sleep, Or Lack Thereof

Sleep, sleep, I need some sleep. Josiah is not very cooperative...albeit sweet...just knows with a certainty and persistence right where he wants to be. I tried to have him sleep in his crib last night. He ended up crying too long as I collapsed and fell asleep. When I went back in he had moved entirely to the other side of the crib and had his bundling off. It seems every time I would have him asleep and leave the room, he knew about it and started crying. His crying was sweet though, no edgy screaming like my first and third children. But, it still breaks your heart.

I'm wishing right now all the scary talk about SIDS and warnings from the drs. about not having babies in bed with you didn't scare me and cause me to wake up in a panic after I drift off feeding or cuddling him. I suppose having them in bed with you, if you aren't totally sold on the idea, would be difficult anyhow, because either you wait till their ready (age five or more?) or at some point you have to break them of it. This will all pass I know...And I will miss my newborn. Sometimes I just wish I could enjoy my newborn without the fog. But, such is life.