Household Management
Charlotte Mason said that education is "an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life". Mason wasn't referring exclusively to school lessons, though. In fact, we can find all three of those pillars of education in the upkeep of our households!
What qualifies as a reasonably tidy home will vary greatly with the size of your family and the ages of your children, but most of us know that at some point clutter starts to affect our mood, trickling down to the mood of our family members, and finally changing the whole atmosphere of our homes. It takes discipline in repeated small (and sometimes large) doses to keep reasonable control of the chaos. However, if we work to develop good habits in ourselves and our children, it will be life-giving both to our families and to everyone who visits our homes.
Developing these habits as a family is important enough that we’ve included three books on household management in our programs for grades 1-8 . We also have a Circle in the Alveary Hive named “Atmosphere of our Homes” where you can share tips and advice on children’s chores, household management, hospitality, and more. Join us! Your tips and ideas may be just what another member needs to hear!
Notes
1. We are award-winning thanks to you! Alveary was voted a top-three educational website on homeschool.com in several categories, including Multiple Subject Educational Websites, All-in-One Curriculum, Literature, History and Social Studies, Geography, and Music. These "grass-roots" awards are especially meaningful to us because they are nominated and voted on by homeschoolers like you. Thank you for your continued support!
2. Survey: 2023-24 members, please check your email or use this link to complete the survey by March 1 for a chance to win Alveary+!
3. RightStart Math: Use MATH15 for a discount. Expires March 31.
4. Blue Open Door Course: Join Dr. Shannon Whiteside in a deep dive on Mason’s relational approach to studying the Bible. This 6-week intensive starts the first week of March. No prerequisites required to participate!
5. CORE: The spring cohort runs February 27-April 29 and class meets on Mondays from 8:30-9:30 p.m. EST. Only a few spots left!
6. Practicing School Observation and Training: Join us for this three-day event hosted at Blue Willow Tutorial—an Alveary/Charlotte Mason school—located in Athens, Tennessee. See more details here.
7. Office Hours: Kim Keel will be with us at 3:30 EST on February 28 to talk about using our free Alveary digital tools to make a personalized program and schedule.
8. Employment Opportunity: Gillingham Charter School, a CMI-accredited school in Pottsville, PA, has multiple job openings. Learn more here. (To see job openings, “Click Here to Apply.”)
Query
My oldest will be a 9th grader next year, and I’m concerned about Chemistry. I was intimidated by the large Chemistry textbook when it arrived this week (though I haven’t looked at it deeply yet). Tell me how you will be making this text approachable and living for students who may not love the sciences.
This is definitely a case where the old adage of not judging a book by its cover is good to remember. The authors designed this text for everyone because, as they state in Chapter 1, “chemistry is useful to doctors, lawyers, mechanics, business-people, firefighters, and poets”. They do this by focusing very quickly on observations and problem-solving rather than overly abstract theories. We have enhanced the living-ness of their style even further by incorporating the foundational Michael Faraday lectures, accessible lab work and hands-on activities, citizen science projects, and our pilot video companion. Mason didn’t run from textbooks and neither should you. A good one really can feed this stage of the relationship in a way that no other text can. So take a deep breath, lean in, and join us on this adventure in chemistry!
