Home Education (Charlotte Mason's Homeschooling Series) Paperback – March 26, 2009

Content is 100% excellent. Print is HORRIBLE!! Teeny tiny font in a magazine sized book. Makes it difficult to read, and I I have 20/20 vision. Do yourself a favor and look for a different edition of this important book!

I am reading it with friends who have copied off the originals. They're have been times my wording of this Kindle version has been different than theirs in a way that affected the outcome of meaning in a minor way. But otherwise I appreciate having it in an easily accessible format on Kindle and it is mostly an accurate writing of it.

I got this because of a recommendation from a homesteading blog. Not only are the notions VERY outdated i.e. little girls benefit most from learning about nature because "she is most tempted to indulge in ugly tempers (as a child and as a woman) because time hangs heavy on her hands; she, whose idler, more desultory habits of mind want the spur and bridle of an earnest absorbing pursuit; whose feebler health demands to be braced by and out-of-door life full of healthy excitement." blaw blaw blaw It is kind to "lift them out of themselves and out of the round of petty personal interested and emulations which too often hem in their lives." Well wouldn't ya know! According to her girls are prone to ugly tempers because they are idle and bored, they are feeble in health, selfish and petty, and are not able to have interests that benefit themselves nor others! Did she jump ahead in time and get dropped into a room full of ditzy 14 year old valley girls or something? Moreover this book is insanely boring with only theory about how a child should be taught, not actually lessons of any sort. It says nothing of how to coax a child who hates learning to find the joy in it. There is no practical application to this "highbrow" theory junk. One section even says you shouldn't talk very much and just observe the child learning... How are they supposed to learn if you just toss them into a situation without being a part of it yourself?! Anyway this book seems to think that if you make very little effort to teach and just take the kids places that are mildly educational locals then they will learn by default. Rubbish. Now I am all for learning naturally but they will not learn to read by examining leaves, having moving air always around them, and eating beef broth. These things should be in addition to and partnered with real learning not taking it's place. What drives me crazy most is the constant - this is super important and children must do it, but I am not giving you details nor instructions on how to teach it/do it - theme. It is like the Habit of Attention section that talks about how important it is to have a habit of attention and how important people like lawyers and such need to have a decent attention span. Ok... how do you get a nice robust attention span out of a six year old? Where do you even start?Yeah... I hate this book. Good thing it wasn't even 2 bucks. I wish it was free since I would have rather bought a juice or pack of gum than this useless bunch of blaw. I'd have learned more about how to educate my kids by taking a nice thoughtful walk in the -18 degree winter a couple months ago.

Refreshing and true - she speaks to the heart of a mother! This book shows the unchanging beauty of human (child) nature and the beautiful way in which we as homeschooling mothers should approach our most solemn task of teaching, raising, nurturing our beloved gifts from God!

About the reviews that claim this is plagruizim from the amblesideonline.com website, they do not understand that the AO website links to many books, including Charlotte Mason's writings. This isn't plagruizim, but a hard copy of her letters.This is a must read for all parents, homeschooling or not. It offers great insight into the minds of children as well as their metal physical, emotional, and spiritual needs that have been at the least marginalized today, if not completely disregard for the convenience of the parent.As for typos, I've read the book three times and found none. However, I'm not an editor and read for content not necessarily grammar, though too many errors is a turn off for me as well.As for empty pages. There is one awkward empty page in the preface to my copy, but that's it. There are several blank pages at the end of the book for note taking.

I am glad I.finally completed this book. I don't agree with all her methods. I am a decided eclectic homeschool mom. I think we should read these older books and clean what wisdom is useful.

As a homeschool graduate, and author of  Homeschooling: The Bigger Picture (your conversation with a homeschool graduate)  I know a thing or two about homeschooling. I also know that while things have changed a lot from the times of Charlotte Mason, the way that children learn naturally and are provided with the best "education" is not something that changes over time. This book is an excellent resource and I would highly recommend it.Personally I loved the chapter on foreign language as I studied Latin in high school. The works of Charlotte Mason are truly remarkable and a much needed education in itself.

so gifted, what an instructor! she has such a heart for children and incredible insight into what they need. education should be exciting, and she helps you "lay the feast" so children love learning. i'm so happy to be able to get a hold of these books. i can't understand why educators today aren't using her methods. she really helped me to understand where my kids are developmentally so i'm no longer frustrated with them not "behaving" and not paying attention.

This is pretty much just Charlotte Masons unedited original text. It needs bearing in mind the age she lived in - for example she always refers to 'the mother' not the parent, and also we get passages in the style of 'if your children spend too long talking to servants' :) So a little selective editing is needed for the modern day. Also Christianity was a big part of her life, and much of her teaching is based around this - I've seen reviewers of other books about her style complain that they wanted something secular, but Charlotte Mason is not a secular educator. That said, the book is interesting and thought provoking and has much to offer the modern home educator in terms of inspiration. It's still very much worth a read.

Sadly disappointed in the quality of the printing. The book itself is such a great book. Charlotte Mason is amazing to read but the print is hard to read and the layout is more like a textbook with the lines being off so parts are almost illegible. It’s worth spending the money on a better printed version.