Archives

Geography: Upper Forms, Europe

Charlotte Mason had very deliberate ideas about how geography should be taught. Like other subjects, geography must present living ideas to the students. Yet, unlike other subjects that rely on living books, the principle ideas in geography come from the map–the living book serves a subordinate role by painting the “flesh on the bones” of those initial ideas through vivid description. The P.U.S. was privileged to use a set of “Geography Readers” written by Miss Mason herself, and those of us trying to implement her method, specifically in this “most delightful subject” have felt the lack of adequate books very keenly.

While in other subjects like history or literature it may make sense to use some of the same books Miss Mason used, the same cannot be done in geography. First, her principle of starting where the child is, requires us to begin our study from other places than England. Additionally, boundaries have drastically changed in the intervening 100 years since Miss Mason’s death, and the British Empire, which features so strongly in her own books, would be unrecognizable to her today. For these reasons, today in the 21st Century we can’t simply use the Ambleside Geography Books as written in the 19th Century.

After World War I, Miss Mason’s books went into revision and were temporarily out of print. It’s interesting to look at the Programmes of Work, the curriculum of the P.U.S., from this time and note how Miss Mason, after trying to use different books, term after term, failed to find good substitutes and reverted to using her outdated Readers alongside updated maps–a process familiar to many of us educating students today trying to bring her books up to date. Along with a few fellow home educating mothers, we revised the Geographical Readers: Book IV and Carpenter’s Geographical Reader: Europe, bringing the facts up to date and reflecting the dramatic changes to the political map that have occurred since originally written in 1883.

Though still needing some editing before going to print, these lessons are useful now, and we sincerely hope these updates will be a useful addition to your geography lessons! We had the help of many of our fellow CM mothers and teachers who are members of our Patreon community in revising these lessons–thank you all!

Year 1 includes chapters 1-9 of Geographical Readers: Book IV  and the section on “The British Isles” from Book II, both by Charlotte Mason. Also included are some original sections on countries not included by Miss Mason. It covers the British Isles, France, Monaco, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Italy, and Germany.

Year 2 includes chapters 23-28, 37-56 of Carpenter’s Geographical Reader: Europe, again including some original sections on countries not included by Mr Carpenter. It covers the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Greece, Macedonia, Albania, Malta, San Marino, Liechtenstein, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland.

Additional Resources Needed

Each of these Teacher Helps include *everything* needed for a full year’s worth of Geography Study for the “Geography Reader” portion. You will need a good atlas, though some maps have been linked in the Teacher Help. To round out the full scope of the Geography portion of the curriculum in the upper forms, you will need a book of Travel Tales and a book of Physical Geography as well as map questions for the weekly “10-minutes Map Exercises.”

Updated 8/1/2024

This resource now includes separate teacher and student copies. The student copy only includes map questions (without answers) and the text to be read. The Teacher Manual provides answers to the map questions, links to maps, and exams for each term. The exam questions are from the exams Charlotte Mason sent her Form 3 students. We have edited several typos and corrected links for both Parts. If you have previously purchased this resource, the newest edition is automatically included in your purchase history. We have also included a change log for the Student Handbooks so you can determine if you’d like to reprint those, or simply correct the errors. The edits made to the Student Handbooks were minimal.

*Note: If you are interested in using these materials with a co-op or group, please email us at contact@adelectableeducation.com for group rates.

Samples:

Sample Europe Part 1

Sample Europe Part 2

Geography: Form 1A

Charlotte Mason had a unique way of presenting a map to the children. She used Map Questions before each lesson in their Geography Reader. Unlike typical comprehension questions that quiz a child’s previous knowledge, we Charlotte Mason educators use these questions much like an object lesson in Natural History. By asking methodical questions about a region that will come into that day’s reading, our child directs his gaze and intentionally takes in the features of the land, both its physical and political properties. The map is placed before the child and the teacher asks each question, one at a time, while the student finds the answer on the map. 

This Teacher Help has been created to make implementing this crucial practice easier for the busy educator. This resource corresponds to The Guyot Geographical Reader by Mary Pratt, and The Children’s World Atlas (2006 or later) by Colin Arrowsmith or the DK Compact World Atlas, 7th edition (choose which version to download). Each term is broken down into appropriate length lessons with the six map questions to be asked before every reading in Form IA. Containing an entire year’s worth of map questions that covers North America: The United States, Canada, Mexico, and Central America. I’ve included an additional couple of lessons from Miss Mason’s own Geographical Reader, Book II, that are still relevant for this year’s study, to bring a deeper richness to the study of this portion of the world. Specific maps to use are noted in each corresponding lesson. I highly recommend this atlas because its maps have both physical and political features on the same map, which is unusual in most children’s atlases. You are welcome to use another atlas, but you may have to adjust some of the questions or ask some different ones as all the information may not be included in your atlas. 

Year 1 covers North America.

Year 2 covers South America and Beyond.

The Complete Form IA Map Questions contains both Year 1 and Year 2 for a bundled price.

Additional Resources Needed

Each year’s resource includes everything you need to implement map questions, apart from your text (The Guyot Geographical Reader) and atlas. Specific maps to use are noted in each corresponding lesson. You are welcome to use a different atlas than the one we’ve recommended, but you may have to adjust some of the questions or ask some different ones as all the information may not be included in your atlas. To round out the geography portion of a Form IA curriculum, you’ll also need to add lessons from Charlotte Mason’s first Geographical Reader (also published as Elementary Geography).

*Note: If you are interested in using these materials with a co-op or group, please email us at contact@adelectableeducation.com for group rates.

Sample Page:

Bible: Forms I-II Lesson Breakdown

6/3/2023 Update: The Bible Lesson Breakdown Files have been updated to include exam questions for each term, taken from Charlotte Mason’s original P.U.S. examinations. If you have previously purchased any of the breakdowns, the updates may be downloaded from your Purchase History.

Term by Term, Charlotte Mason assigned the Scripture passages to be read according to The Bible for the Young by Dr. Paterson Smyth (also printed as The Bible for Home and School). These commentaries were written for Sunday School teachers, the author giving passages to read and discuss along with some insights as to what ideas and points should be brought out for the students. In Home Education Miss Mason said, “I know of no better help in the teaching of young children than we get in Canon Paterson Smyth’s Bible for the Young…It is rather a good plan occasionally to read aloud Mr Smyth’s lesson on the subject after the Bible passage has been narrated. Children are more ready to appropriate lessons that are not directly levelled at themselves; while the teacher makes the teaching her own by the interest with which she reads, the pictures and other illustrations she shows, and her conversational remarks.” (pp. 251-252) And in her final volume she says, “I know of no commentator for children, say, from six to twelve, better than Canon Paterson Smyth (The Bible for the Young). He is one of the few writers able to take the measure of children’s minds, to help them over real difficulties, give impulse to their thoughts and direction to their conduct.” (p. 162) 

We have found his commentary helpful for the teacher, in preparing the lessons, and for an occasional paragraph read to the children, but whether you decide to use these particular commentaries or not, it was his selection of Bible passages that Miss Mason assigned. However, since his lessons were designed for a much longer lesson time, and the Scripture passages are not always quickly apparent, it can take some work on the part of the CM teacher to map out the terms’ reading. This Teacher Help was created to save the teacher time in plotting out which passages to read for each lesson and to align the particular section of Paterson Smyth’s books illuminating that passage. 

Additional Notes:

Luke — Paterson Smyth didn’t write a commentary specifically devoted to the Gospel of Luke, and Charlotte Mason did not assign an alternate for Forms 1-2. However, we thought for those who have found the other Bible Lesson Breakdowns helpful that a suggested breakdown for the three terms over which Luke is assigned would be useful.

Samuel & Kings — An important thing to note about the Prophets and Kings readings is that they follow Paterson Smyth’s chronology–which we see Miss Mason adhering to in her programmes. He examines each king of Israel (and, subsequently, the Divided Kingdom) singly, so rather than reading straight through I Samuel, first we read about Saul, then about David, etc. While untraditional, we feel this is in keeping with the age of the students and provides a foundational understanding that will serve them in subsequent readings.

Curriculum Templates

Our aim here at A Delectable Education is to encourage and equip families to implement an authentic interpretation of Charlotte Mason’s life-giving method. We hope that our new tool, Curriculum Templates, will enable individual families to build their own Charlotte Mason curriculum.

A Delectable Education has spent hundreds of hours researching and acquiring the specific knowledge teachers need regarding the content of each subject, which subjects are offered at each age level, how each subject is presented, and the quantity and frequency of specific lessons in Miss Mason’s  balanced curriculum. They have taken the guesswork out of this massive gathering of information and have now distilled the basics for teachers. The ADE Curriculum Templates help teachers build their individual curriculum with confidence that no part of the feast is neglected nor are they over-scheduled or under-achieved. Form by form, each subject is presented with the relevant details necessary to plan a cohesive and comprehensive school year.

Each Curriculum Template:

  • Outlines the scope for that Form (or Forms)
  • Goes subject by subject
  • Includes links to resources for training as well as content
  • Shows ideal lesson lengths and frequency
  • Provides detailed explanations of what content should be covered in each subject area
  • Please note, the only specific book recommendations included in the template are those that Miss Mason consistently assigned year after year for that particular subject

No family must feel bound to a box curriculum, or one-size-fits-all programs anymore as long as the teacher is willing to put a personal plan together with the guidance that this curriculum builder provides. All essential background information for making the wisest selection for living books is included. With the download, you will be able to use these templates year after year for children in all forms. As you grow in your experience and knowledge and your children grow and develop, these templates give an ongoing baseline from which to organize your ever-changing school needs.

It is possible to gather and organize your school lessons on your own, though full consultation appointments are still available from ADE when you need individual guidance for specific book choices in combining multiple ages, accommodating special learning challenges, and where other unique circumstances requiring assistance is helpful. Additionally, “Curriculum Reviews” are available after you’ve worked through the template and chosen books if you’d like feedback on the choices you’ve made. Please note that the Curriculum Review Consultation is a one-time service and does not include the year-long email support and follow up help as the full consultation service provides.

We do not offer refunds on any digital products, therefore, please read the description of this product carefully before ordering. Please feel free to contact us at contact@adelectableeducation if you have any questions.

Form 2 Curriculum Template Sample

History: Dorothy Mills Breakdown

While Dorothy Mills’ history “spines” are our favorites for Ancient History in Forms 2-3 (and even beyond), they are too long for the lessons allotted to them. Thus, we have broken each volume into an appropriate number of pages and assigned specific chapters to be read each term. We hope this Teacher Help saves you much time and energy in your planning.