What to Focus on in a Charlotte Mason Preschool
Ahhhh, the preschool years! It seems we mommies have a love-hate relationship with the thought of our little ones’ first day of school! Sometimes we cry inside to think they’re already big enough to do school, but other times we’re also excited and proud to tell the world that they’re in school!
Of course, when they’re homeschooled, it gets rid of a lot of the separation issues. But it’s still a milestone not to be taken lightly!
But before you stock up on workbooks and math manipulatives, let’s take a look at what a Charlotte Mason preschool looks like. If you read her books, you will find that she recommends formal academics to begin at age 6, but that doesn’t mean our kids don’t “learn” important skills before then! In fact, we can go as far as to say that a lot of the foundation is laid before the child ever reaches 6 years old.
So what do the preschool years look like in a Charlotte Mason homeschool? Take a look at what she says in Home Education Volume 1:
In this time of extraordinary pressure, educational and social, perhaps a mother’s first duty to her children is to secure for them a quiet growing time, a full six years of passive receptive life, the waking part of it spent for the most part out in the fresh air. And this, not for the gain in bodily health alone––body and soul, heart and mind, are nourished with food convenient for them when the children are let alone, let to live without friction and without stimulus amongst happy influences which incline them to be good.
Did you catch that? The first six years are designed to be a quiet growing time, a time of passive receiving, and spent mostly out in the fresh air!
Charlotte Mason’s Focus During the Early Years
Here are some of the things we need to focus on during our children’s early years:
Plenty of outdoor time.
The preschool years are a foundational time to give our children an appreciation for nature. Consider this the precursor of nature study, where you and your child can spend hours together outdoors, just enjoying the wonders of creation! Who else but a child (and a poet, perhaps!) can respond with awe at the shining drops of dew on the grass, or a field of wildflowers just waiting to be picked? Nurture this natural interest by spending lots of time in the outdoors.
In her book, Home Education, Miss Mason is often quoted as encouraging parents to have their children spend as many as four to six hours a day everyday out of doors! And what better time to develop this habit as when they are still young and not cooped up with formal school lessons!
But don’t underestimate this time: they will be learning in leaps and bounds through this experience, forming a crucial foundation for future science lessons.
Lots of active play.
Tied up with Miss Mason’s recommendation of maximum outdoor time is for our children to be actively running around and getting their blood warmed up! Do you know that Charlotte Mason dedicates a whole section in Home Education to taking care of the physical life of children? She goes into detail about the importance of ventilation, fresh air, sunshine, and “free perspiration,” as a way to “secure that the brain be nourished by healthy blood.”
Habit training.
Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life. We believe that setting good habits from a young age will serve our children in good stead as they grow older. The early years are the best time to instill in our kids the habit of obedience, the habit of attention, and the habit of gratitude, among others.
Songs and rhymes.
Do you know that nursery rhymes are more than just silly lines we memorize and sing? They actually introduce children to the lyrical quality of language and help form literacy through the rhyming words!
Handicraft.
Handicraft in the Charlotte Mason method does not refer to cut-and-paste-and-throw-away activities, but rather to actual craftwork that ends up with something useful or beautiful. Children below 6 years old are perfectly capable of creating pottery, finger-knitting, Origami paper-folding, weaving, and many other handicrafts.
(On a side note, it also helps strengthen their fine motor skills in preparation for writing.)
Play-based literacy.
Learning to identify letters and letter sounds can be a fun activity for preschoolers, but these are done in an atmosphere of play, and not as formal lessons. You might be playing with blocks, and you can ask your child, “Can you hand me letter B over there?” Or you might pick up a letter block and ask, “Oh, look, can you tell me what sound this letter makes?”
Practical Math.
When it comes to numbers and math, the preschool years are a great way to practice counting in a practical way. For example, you might have him count out the place settings for a family dinner. Or, when you’re cleaning up his toys, he might sort them according to category, such as keeping all the cars together; or you might help her sort her dolls’ clothes together by color.
Building things with blocks.
Do you know that letting our children play with blocks like LEGOs actually helps build a foundation for math? It helps their visual and spatial intelligence, teaches them patterns, and many other intangible math principles that will serve them well in the future.
Life skills.
The preschool years are also a good time to help your child learn practical life skills, such as cleaning up or preparing basic meals like a sandwich, or baking cookies together with Mommy. These involve measuring things, also helping her form positive association with numbers from an early age.
Stories, stories, stories!
Children love stories! In the preschool years, Charlotte Mason recommends Mama to tell stories in her own words. If you don’t have a steady repertoire, you can read fairy tales yourself and tell them in your own words.
Stories also include those that you read aloud to your child. Living picture books are a great way to bond with your preschooler. They also enjoy having Bible stories read to them. (One of our personal family favorites is the Jesus Storybook Bible!)
Laying Important Foundations in the Early Years
Remember, just because Charlotte Mason recommends formal academics to start at age 6 does not mean that your child is not learning anything before then. If you want to see how it can look, we have our Charlotte Mason International Kinder open-and-go guide, where you can download a FREE one-week sample.
The truth is that these are very formative years, and we encourage you to maximize what’s truly important, before worrying about reading and ‘riting and ‘rithmetic, which we believe have their right place at the right time!
