Homeschooling and parenting are intertwined in such a way that they can hardly be seen as separate concepts, and each of them brings fulfillment and enriching experiences. Both endeavors involve much responsibility, one in the area of academics and the other in raising a child from youth into adulthood. As one overlaps with the other, we find that all parents are home educators to some degree.

When I was new to homeschooling, I did not have the time for gimmicks and empty promises. My first attempts to duplicate school at home were not successful and left me feeling that my children were not going to be well-equipped for life. There was also the boredom, the tedious sameness to each day, followed by early onset burn-out. This led to frustration, which nearly ended my homeschooling experience after only one year. More on this in the article entitled "Introduction to Practical Charlotte Mason."

I owe much to A Charlotte Mason Education for bringing life and variety into my home. Her approach augmented my education and made the process and the days enjoyable. I searched through her out-of-print articles available at that time through the Library of Congress. There were ample practical solutions to my educational questions. At times, I was skeptical. However, I kept on reading and trying the new techniques with my children, and to my constant surprise, they worked. We added art appreciation, poetry, classic literature, nature sketching, and knowledge to our lives. The content was great, but there was even more to it than that. Mason knew how children learned and had countless ideas on how to create a love for learning itself. I learned from her how to allow my children to be children, how to motivate them, and how to arrive at retained knowledge, which was not simply filling out meaningless pages in a workbook.

I quickly changed into a well-adjusted homeschooling parent, and I was so excited by my little triumphs that I wanted to share these techniques and practical methods with my fellow homeschoolers. The name Charlotte Mason was beginning to have some acclaim as a philosophy, but for many, that was the extent of it. I made every attempt to bring this method into people's lives in a practical way that could be done easily and with the first attempt.

Many of the articles you will find here are filled with these practical aspects. I have learned a lot through practice and studying the written works of Charlotte Mason. My years have also taught me the need to be both practical and realistic as an author and educator. My intention is to help you with your homeschooling.

May you and your children enjoy all of your homeschooling days,

Catherine Levison