A Philosophy of Education that is working for my family:
Charlotte Mason believed that education is an atmosphere, a discipline and a life. In a similar vein, I see homeschooling as a lifestyle. Homeschooling is integrated into every part of life when it is viewed this way. I call it family schooling, because the whole family is educated together and hopefully learns how to build strong, healthy relationships.
And we have a lifestyle of learning. Most of us love to research and share what we learn with each other and share information, ideas, opinions, experiences, and thoughts with each other.
We live life together. Using this method makes learning natural and enjoyable, fun and lasting.
We follow our interests and learn more about the things that delight us. We dive deep into a subject and learn as much as we want to know about it and spend as much time and effort on it as we deem appropriate or adequate.
Then we rather naturally move on to something related or totally unrelated that somehow strikes our fancy or in some way comes to our attention.
I see this philosophy of learning as very similar to what Charlotte Mason taught. I also view it as a way to make homeschooling sustainable since it is more natural and organic and uses our interests and delights to direct our studies.
So there is less stress, resistance, and control that occurs, and the learner and the teacher (or facilitator of learning, as I like to call myself) are working together to make learning happen instead of having an adversarial or authoritarian relationship that can stifle learning and happy relationships within a family.








"Oh that God would give every mother a vision of the glory and splendor of the work that is given to her when a babe is placed in her bosom to be nursed and trained! Could she have but one glimpse in to the future of that life as it reaches on into eternity; could she look into its soul to see its possibilities; could she be made to understand her own personal responsibility for the training of this child, for the development of its life, and for its destiny,--she would see that in all God's world there is no other work so noble and so worthy of her best powers, and she would commit to no other's hands the sacred and holy trust given to her." -JR Miller






