The "desire" part comes primarily from a longing to see Lucy enjoy her early childhood as much and for as long as possible. For her, that looks like more time to play and be outdoors, less time in a classroom or doing homework.
Now that the WHY has been covered, I am much more excited to talk about the HOW. There are so many different educational philosophies and methods, and all of them have something different to offer. I was initially drawn to Montessori and Waldorf methods of early childhood education, but there are a lot of aspects of Classical education that appeal to me as well. Enter Charlotte Mason.
Charlotte Mason was a Victorian-era educator whose philosophies were centered upon the idea of "children as persons", which would have been quite counter-cultural in her day and age, when it was commonly held that children should be seen and not heard. This fundamental belief in the "personhood" of children is counter-cultural for us too; in our statistics-based education system, children are reduced to test scores.
Charlotte Mason emphasized the importance of allowing young children to enjoy their early years (ages 0-6) without any formal schooling. She believed young children should be allowed hours of unstructured time outdoors in the fresh air. And she believed in the nourishing of little minds with only the most wonderful of books. At the risk of oversimplifying, that's what we're going to be doing this year. I'm excited to share more with you as we get started.
"Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life."
- Charlotte Mason
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