You probably have never heard of her. I hadn't until just a couple of months ago. However, now I'm in the process of rethinking all of my homeschooling plans.
I had planned to follow the Well-Trained Mind. I bought the book, decided that this is how I want my children educated. They would be smart, able to think, and well-read. I also liked the focus on history and phonics.
Unfortunately this hasn't seemed to go as well as I had hoped. The cornerstone of the history studies--a four-year rotation beginning with the Ancient World and ending with the Modern seems really forced. It gives the same weight to Sumeria as the US. While I do think we are incredibly ethnocentric in studying only the US for many years, I do think my kids would enjoy studying the history of the US more than the ancients right now.
So I hunted around some more and stumbled upon this 19th century educator, Charlotte Mason. She is known for short lessons (approx. 15 min in length), copywork, narration, nature studies every afternoon, and a "twaddle"-free life. I can't go into depth right now everything that attracts me to CM, but I will say that I am making some changes in our routines and plans. I am so very happy about this. Things are going swimmingly right now. We don't do all of the big projects we might've, but Harry and Sam are learning so much from just telling me back what they've heard or read.
I'll post more later, but if you are curious, here is a sight with an overview of Charlotte Mason's ideas: http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/methods/CharlotteMason.htm
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