In this episode of The Mason Jar, Cindy chats with her friend and frequent Mason Jar guest, Dawn Duran, and Cara Williams, editor of the new Common Place Quarterly, a Charlotte Mason-themed journal. Cara is the creator of the Quarterly and so they chat about the goals of the publication, some of the topics it will cover, and much more. *** Don't forget to join the Mere Motherhood Facebook group and to subscribe to the Mason Jar feed wherever you get your podcasts! If you like this show - and...

In this episode of The Mason Jar, Cindy chats with her old friend Renee Mathis about the value of friendship for the homeschooling mom. *** Don't forget to join the Mere Motherhood Facebook group and to subscribe to the Mason Jar feed wherever you get your podcasts! If you like this show - and would like to gain access to some great bonus content - please consider supporting it on Patreon. *** This episode is brought to you by our friends at The Homegrown Preschooler.

In this episode of The Mason Jar, Cindy and David chat about reading hard books, especially with late-readers. Conversation touches on topics like how to know which books to persevere with, which books to set aside, using audio books with late readers, and much more (including Cindy's comments on her time at the Wild + Free conference last weekend). *** Don't forget to join the Mere Motherhood Facebook group and to subscribe to the Mason Jar feed wherever you get your podcasts! If you like...

In this episode of The Mason Jar, Cindy and David chat about building a habit of Bible-reading in the homeschool. Topics of conversation include the value of letting your kids see you reading the Bible, the necessity to have faith in the Bible's power, reading plans and translations, and much more. *** Don't forget to join the Mere Motherhood Facebook group and to subscribe to the Mason Jar feed wherever you get your podcasts! If you like this show - and would like to gain access to some...

In this episode of The Mason Jar, Cindy and David chat about the challenges of homeschooling during the high school years. Topics of conversation include the value of reading widely, how to empower kids to take ownership of their day, lessons she learned along the way, preparing young children for those upcoming years, the challenge of letting go, and more. Show notes:  As promised, here is Cindy's plan for the tenth grade year *** Don't forget to join the Mere Motherhood Facebook group...

In this episode of The Mason Jar, Cindy chats with her old friend, Dawn Duran, about the value of Swedish Drill, a new Charlotte Mason magazine, the various things going on (and the ideas being discussed) in the world of Charlotte Mason, and much more. Show notes:  During the show Dawn discussed Swedish Drill Revisited. You can learn more about that here. *** Don't forget to join the Mere Motherhood Facebook group and to subscribe to the Mason Jar feed wherever you get your podcasts! If...

In this episode of The Mason Jar, Cindy and David chat about Cindy's plans for this school year. Topics include: composter study, artist study, spelling, history, poetry, using third-party curricula, and much more. Show notes: http://shakespeare.mit.eduTo Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie WillisThree Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome Spelling  http://www.draardsmasdrills.comhttp://amblesideonline.org *** Don't forget to join the Mere Motherhood Facebook group and to subscribe to the Mason...

In this episode of The Mason Jar, Cindy and David chat about including grammar-study in Morning Time. Topics include how Cindy learned to love grammar, why grammar is love-able, when to start with grammar with your kids, the nature of sentence diagramming, grammar resources to use, and much more. Resources mentioned in this episode: Michael Clay Thompson's practice books The Mother Tongue Books from Blue Sky Daisies Sentence Sense from Cottage Press Know and Tell by Karen Glass Drawing...

In this episode of The Mason Jar, Cindy and David chat about the frustrations and anxieties that can arise when self-assessment factors into our teaching. They chat about the universality of this struggle, the ways that plannings can actually cause problems in creating a positive educational atmosphere, the relationship between fear and franticness, and more. *** Don't forget to join the Mere Motherhood Facebook group and to subscribe to the Mason Jar feed wherever you get your...

In this very special episode of The Mason Jar, Cindy chats with Mystie Winckler, Pam Barnhill, and Brandy Vencel, her friends from the Schole Sisters, for part one of a two-part conversation about self-education for moms. And once you've listened to this part of the conversation head over to the Schole Sisters podcast for part 2! In part one, discussion touches on Charlotte Mason's views on self-education and how that applies to moms. In part two, the ladies take it all a step further with...

Join Cindy and David for a chat about the essential nature of poetry and why it's the most important part of any child's education other than Scripture. They discuss the best anthologies to keep in your home's library, how to use those anthologies, how poetry can change the lives of our students, and more. Anthologies mentioned:  The Oxford Book of English Verse, edited by Sir Arthur Quiller-CouchThe Classic Hundred Poems, edited by William HarmonThe Harp and Laurel Wreath,edited by Laura...

In this episode of The Mason Jar, Cindy chats with Maria Bell about recitation. Topics include why Charlotte Mason's views on recitation were distinctive even in her own day, Shakespeare and recitation, the Bible and recitation, principles of recitation, and much more. *** Don't forget to join the Mere Motherhood Facebook group and to subscribe to the Mason Jar feed wherever you get your podcasts! If you like this show - and would like to gain access to some great bonus content - please...

In this episode of The Mason Jar Q&A, Cindy answers listener questions. Topics include how to balance the demands your put on your kids and their own independent work, the relationship between writing programs and narration, whether kids should be rewarded for reading, Charlotte Mason for dummies, and much more (including baseball and Mother's Day talk). Don't forget to join the Mere Motherhood Facebook group and to subscribe to the Mason Jar feed wherever you get your podcasts!

In this episode of The Mason Jar, Cindy chats with Dawn Garrett (also known online by the romantic moniker of Lady Dusk) about the ways she and her family have changed, grown, and evolved over the years - and why that kind of journey is good and healthy for any homeschooling family. *** Don't forget to join the Mere Motherhood Facebook group and to subscribe to the Mason Jar feed wherever you get your podcasts! If you like this show - and would like to gain access to some great bonus...

In this episode of The Mason Jar Q&A, Cindy answers listener questions. Topics include poems for little boys to memorize, favorite journals and art supplies, great baseball books, getting started with Shakespeare, moving from narration to writing more intentionally, homeschooling while pregnant, combining kids in Ambleside online, and how to determine which of the many amazing ideas out there are best for your situation and family. Don't forget to join the Mere Motherhood Facebook group...

In this episode of The Mason Jar Q&A, Cindy chats with her friend Jeannette Tulis, a nature study expert, about doing nature study during the spring. Topics of conversation include what resources to use, flowers to look for, some personal stories, and much more. Don't forget to join the Mere Motherhood Facebook group and to subscribe to the Mason Jar feed wherever you get your podcasts! --- A note from Jeannette: As referenced in the episode, here is the link to The Charlotte Mason...

In this episode of The Mason Jar Q&A, Cindy answers listener questions. Topics include whether there should be a distinction between being a mom and being a teacher, overcoming school-choice insecurity, and the renaissance of the Danish Hygge trend. Don't forget to join the Mere Motherhood Facebook group and to subscribe to the Mason Jar feed wherever you get your podcasts!

In this episode of The Mason Jar Q&A, Cindy answers listener questions. Topics include:  Setting high expectations The day-to-day for large families and  more Don't forget to join the Mere Motherhood Facebook group and to subscribe to the Mason Jar feed wherever you get your podcasts!

Join Cindy and David as they chat about Charlotte Mason's belief that "children are born persons," focusing, in particular, on the idea that children are not things to be "molded" or "shaped." How does literature and the way that great stories form the moral imagination play into this concept? What about discipline? Would Vigen Guroian's classic book, Tending the Heart of Virtue jive with Mason's ideas? And much more!  This episode is brought to you by our friends at Grove City College, a...

In this episode of The Mason Jar Q&A, Cindy answers listener questions. Topics include:  Homeschooling through upheaval Good age to start nature notebooks Cindy's approach to the overwhelming mountain of classic books out there 2017 in reading and much more  Don't forget to join the Mere Motherhood Facebook group and to subscribe to the Mason Jar feed wherever you get your podcasts! This episode is brought to you by our friends at Grove City College!

On this episode of the Mason Jar, Cindy Rollins is joined by Karen Glass, author of Consider This: Charlotte Mason and the Classical Tradition, to discuss the topic of Narration and her forthcoming book, Know and Tell.   This episode is brought to you by our friends at The Homegrown Preschooler!  NOTES: Learn more about Karen at her website Find a copy Consider This here. 

In this episode of The Mason Jar Q&A, Cindy answers listener questions. Topics include:  what to do with little kids when older kids are studying When to start morning time everyday Independent reading lists and much more  Don't forget to join the Mere Motherhood Facebook group and to subscribe to the Mason Jar feed wherever you get your podcasts! This episode is brought to you by our friends at The Homegrown Preschooler! 

Join Cindy Rollins and special guest Pam Barnhill for this special cross-over episode between Pam's Your Morning Basket podcast and the Mason Jar. Drawing on their vast experience, Cindy and Pam chat about which subjects are best for Morning Time plus a whole lot more.  Make sure you search out for the Morning Basket on your favorite podcast app to get the rest of the story!

We know you've got errands to run and a ton of cooking to take care of this week, so this Thanksgiving week we'll be bringing you two episode of the Mason Jar! Up first: Cindy chats with Gayle Boss and friend of the show, Megan Hoyt, about Gayle's new Advent resource which combines Advent and Nature Study. It's called All Creation Waits, and is available now. 

In this bonus mini-pod, Cindy and David introduce Hallelujah: A Journey through Advent with Handel's Messiah.