I'm excited to share that I've been blessed to weave Charlotte Mason's living educational methods into my days working at our local elementary school. Here's the background story🧵 1/ After 19+ yrs, our home educating journey is at its end as our youngest has graduated from High School. 2/ In fact, I've been more of a principal this last year. My husband has taken on the responsibility of guiding our son's independent studies as I'm working away from home. I provide the materials, lessons plans, etc. My husband is the day-to-day facilitator as he works from home. 3/ In fact, 2 years ago when our eldest was a senior, I earned my K-12 substitute certificate and started subbing in the local public schooldistrict. @CMI_Alveary lessons are so well-written and organized, that my upper high school students didn't need me ALL the time. And I'm an educator at my core…  4/ So, I subbed 1-2 days a week. In addition, I wanted to experience what public school was like for both teachers & students: locally, NOW, hands-on, K-12, not just hypothetically. Half-way through the year, I was requested to take a long-term sub job as an elementary special education paraprofessional. 5/ Which turned into a full-time position. I continued merging what intervention lessons I was tasked to teach with Charlotte Mason methods and was even invited to collaborate in class with a few gen ed. teachers about artists, poetry, grammar, etc.  6/ This position was a pivot point for me: I thoroughly enjoyed inspiring struggling students to read LIVING books. I wove in strategies for comprehension and reading based on Charlotte Mason's methods and by the end of the year, two students 'exited out' of special ed because they improved by at least two grade levels in comprehension and fluency! 7/ And to add to the excitement, with my husband’s support, I enrolled in a Masters of Arts in Teaching, Special Ed. program to continue learning.  6/ I have continued in this supporting role full-time and I am experiencing where the intersection of Charlotte Mason’s educational philosophy and application can impact public education. 7/ I remain an advocate for homeschooling, and alongside it, hold fast to the commitment to bring living, vibrant lessons to students in the public school I have the opportunity to guide. My MAT work is providing even more insight into current practices/instructional strategies and mindsets toward learning and students. It is quite a lot! So if it seems like I’m absent at times from X, and when I'm here there's a mix of homeschooling and public Ed considerations, it is simply because this space is now reflecting a full life happening off-line. I will continue to post considerations, images of beauty, and ideas to inspire a living education rooted in Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of education!

Episode 1 of Sold a Story, Season 2: apmreports.org/episode/2026/… It's Not Just Reading

A former student stops me in the hallway and says, “Mr. Benson, thank you so much for teaching me that method last year. It’s working great in all my classes.” I asked her which method she was talking about. Retrieval practice. Explicitly teach students how they learn, then explicitly show them what they should do based on that knowledge. Many of them will take it from there. We shouldn’t underestimate what happens when we equip students with the knowledge and strategies to take ownership of their own learning.

To those who do not know mathematics it is difficult to get across a real feeling as to the beauty, the deepest beauty, of nature. If you want to learn about nature, to appreciate nature, it is necessary to understand the language that she speaks in.

C. S. Lewis on why you NEED to read old books. This has never been more vital than it is today

Sold a Story Season 2 is coming October 15th. youtube.com/watch?v=4YDq-AB_…

Imagine being the generation that lost the art of reading. Resist!

Handwriting activates a broader network of cognitive brain regions compared to typing.