The New Mason Jar with Cindy Rollins

For today's episode of The New Mason Jar, Cindy and Dawn welcome back Sheila Carroll of Living Books Press to discuss all things nature study. Why Sheila believes nature study to be so crucial to a Charlotte Mason education How the mother's interest in the natural world can inspire her children What did Charlotte Mason mean when she said we were all meant to be naturalists? Where to start if you really haven't done any nature study yet? What was the nature study movement in America and it's possible influence on Mason? Restoring a vision for the primacy of God's creation in our families What changes has Sheila seen in families when nature study becomes a regular part of their lives? What could nature study look like for a family just starting out? For the full show notes on this episode, please visit https://thenewmasonjar.com/142.

On The New Mason Jar Podcast today, Cindy has a conversation with her friend Rachel Kovac, veteran homeschooling mother of 6 and author of several books on home education, about her newest book Their Future Is Shining Bright What was the learning curve like for Rachel as she homeschooled and then graduated her oldest children? Why Rachel wrote this new book to encourage parents How can we keep cultivating close family relationships through the teen years? Being a great "guidance counselor" for our high-school students Are homeschoolers missing out on the "high school experience"? Who can benefit from this book? What are some of the benefits home educated high school students have over their traditionally schooled counterparts? To view the full show notes for this episode, please visit https://thenewmasonjar.com/140.

On this episode of The New Mason Jar, Cindy and Dawn talk with Amy Snell, veteran homeschooling mom of 5 and co-founder of the CMEC, about studying history in the Charlotte Mason paradigm How Amy first discovered Charlotte Mason's philosophy What is the role of history in the CM philosophy of education? How is that different from the typical approach to how history is being taught today? Why is pointing to the moral in a history lesson a problem? What is unique about the CM history sequence? How does the curriculum change as a student grows older? Encouragement for teaching history using the CM method For the full show notes for this episode, including books and links mentioned, please visit https://thenewmasonjar.com/138.

On The New Mason Jar Podcast today, Cindy and Dawn chat about homeschooling through hard times with Stacy Halley, homeschooling mother of four and wife of a pastor and Air Force Reserve chaplain How Stacy first heard about homeschooling and Charlotte Mason's philosophy The circumstances in which Stacy's family found themselves due to hurricane damage and flooding How Stacy dealt with homeschooling in the immediate aftermath and throughout the renovation process The assurances we have in God's providence that Stacy relies on in times of difficulty How trials can help shape and sanctify our children For the full show notes for this episode, please visit https://thenewmasonjar.com/136.

On today's episode of The New Mason Jar Podcast, Cindy and Dawn welcome Emily Raible back to the podcast, this time to share her own self-education journey as part of our Morning Time for Moms series How Emily first found out about Charlotte Mason and her principles Emily's education as a child and books she remembers loving once she found her way to enjoy reading When did Emily realize the importance of continuing her own education, even after her formal schooling had come to an end? What sorts of gifts and talents does Emily seek to cultivate? What is the value of reading slowly? What are Emily's possible future plans for her education? Be sure to check out all the show notes for this episode on our website at https://thenewmasonjar.com/134.

On The New Mason Jar Podcast this week, Cindy and Dawn chat with Angel Revie, homeschooling mom of three, about doing handicraft fairs with children How Angel first learned about Charlotte Mason What is a handicraft fair, and who participates? What are some examples of items students bring to handicraft fairs? How Angel got the idea for starting a handicraft fair for her local homeschool community What are some of the benefits for students participating in handicraft fairs? How Angel organizes these fairs annually Don't forget to visit our website for the full show notes for this episode at https://thenewmasonjar.com/132.

This week on The New Mason Jar, Cindy and Dawn welcome Summer Smith back to the podcast with a fun discussion about her USA's 250th Birthday Book List What Cindy remembers about the celebrations surrounding America's bicentennial when she was young How Summer first came up with the idea for creating this book list Why Summer tried to include a greater number of positive books than those that highlighted negative parts of America's history Some examples of the types of books that made it onto the list How Dawn is adding American patriotism resources across Cindy's Patreon and on her own Substack For the full show notes of this episode, please visit https://thenewmasonjar.com/130.

On The New Mason Jar Podcast this week, we bring you a conversation Cindy and Dawn had with Sheila Carroll, founder of Living Books Press How Sheila first heard about Charlotte Mason's philosophy How Sheila started developing the curriculum and resources that became Living Books Press What is narration, and what makes it such a powerful practice? How do we keep the idea of a child's personhood from steering us toward a child-centered education? Sheila's advice for beginning narration and dealing with pushback from your child How to prepare young children who are not yet school age for narrating later Why is nature study so important for today's children? How do nature study and living books work together for a full education? How is composition taught in the Charlotte Mason paradigm? To view the full show notes for this episode, including resources mentioned, please visit our website at https://thenewmasonjar.com/128.

On The New Mason Jar Podcast this week, Cindy and Dawn talk with Querida Thompson about Handel's Messiah How Querida first heard about Charlotte Mason Who was George Frederic Handel? How did Handel come to write the Messiah oratorio? How should we first approach listening to Messiah? More historical context for this piece of music What is the shape of the whole work? What are some recommendations for recordings of Handel's Messiah? For links to all the resources mentioned in today's episode, please visit our website at https://thenewmasonjar.com/126.

This week on The New Mason Jar, Cindy and Dawn are joined by the members of the AmblesideOnline Advisory, which includes Donna-Jean Breckenridge, Anne White, Karen Glass, and Leslie Laurio How does the education offered through AmblesideOnline apply to mothers and fathers, too, not only to the children? Why is it so important for moms to take the time to read Charlotte Mason's volumes and learn her method for themselves? What encouragement would you offer to help the mom do so? Can you speak to this desire, for homeschool material to be "open and go," specifically with respect to AO? What can you tell us about the AO 25th anniversary celebration? Get the full show notes for this episode with links to everything discussed at https://thenewmasonjar.com/124.

This week on the New Mason Jar, Cindy and Dawn talk with Blossom Barden, veteran homeschool mom and founder of and online course coordinator for Wildwood Learning Center How Blossom first learned about Charlotte Mason Why and how Blossom started her first homeschool co-op How the Wildwood Learning Center operates What some of the classes at Wildwood look like in format Examples of the connections made through Wildwood How the teachers at Wildwood stay aligned in their philosophy and methods To view the full show notes for this episode, please visit https://thenewmasonjar.com/122.

On this week's episode of The New Mason Jar, Cindy and Dawn talk with Julie and Diana about their book discussion group, which recently celebrated its 20th year of meeting and reading together: How the group started and how they choose new books for the group to read Some of the ways they make book discussion nights special How Diana and Julie divide up roles and duties to share the load A little about the format of each book club meeting Why the ladies stick to classic literature and biographies instead of contemporary novels Julie and Diana's tips for running a similar book club with their friends For full show notes, including links to books and podcasts mentioned, please visit https://thenewmasonjar.com/120.

Today on The New Mason Jar, we bring you a conversation Cindy and Dawn had with Anthony Coafield, Australian homeschooling father of three boys and founder of Living Book Press How Anthony and his wife found out about Charlotte Mason's philosophy How stories shaped Anthony's life from a young age Why and how Anthony started Living Books Press How Anthony juggles the publishing work and homeschooling his boys What Anthony has done to accommodate his children's various learning needs What might people mean when they say they use a Charlotte Mason approach? What is some advice Anthony has for dads who are the primary home educators? Be sure to visit our website at https://thenewmasonjar.com/118 to view the full show notes for this episode, including links to all the resources mentioned in the show.