Welcome to my blog, The Gentle Garden!
The purpose of this blog is to educate and encourage moms of young children. Being a mom of five children myself and having always worked around children, I have a passion for helping others to educate their own children. I also enjoy helping others who teach children in a variety of settings. After years of reading and researching different educational philosophies, I have found myself leaning towards the Charlotte Mason method of educating children. If you are familiar at all with her methods, you will probably be able to recognize them in future posts.
If you are not familiar with Charlotte Mason and her methods, then I would encourage you to do a little digging to find out. You can read all of her volumes online for FREE at the Ambleside Online website HERE. I have been reading and re-reading Volume 1 as well as sections from other Volumes as my children have grown. There are times that I wished that I had discovered this method before we began our homeschool journey. Another resource to learn more about the Charlotte Mason method is from Sonya Shafer at Simply Charlotte Mason. Anytime I need a quick overview or want to learn a new aspect of this method, I head over to watch the Simply Charlotte Mason YouTube channel. You can find it HERE. And last, but not least I have enjoyed reading Karen Andreola's book "A Charlotte Mason Companion". It is a large tome, but also a great way to dig into learning more about this method.
I know just how tempting it is to try to learn all the things, but please don't discourage yourself by trying to go "whole-hog" in a short time. Charlotte Mason wrote six volumes to explain her method. Pray and trust God with your journey. If you have any questions about the Charlotte Mason method, just drop them below.
