The Early Years

by Sonya Shafer

What do the preschool years look like in a Charlotte Mason approach? In this book you will find Charlotte's sensible, gentle, and practical counsel to mothers of preschool children, presented in bite-size chunks with modern-day examples.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Education

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Sonya Shafer is a popular homeschool speaker and writer, specializing in the Charlotte Mason Method. She has been on an adventure for more than 20 years studying, researching, practicing, and teaching Charlotte’s gentle and effective methods of education. Her passion for homeschooling her own four daughters grew into helping others and then into Simply Charlotte Mason, which publishes her many books and provides a place of practical encouragement to homeschoolers at https://simplycharlottemason.com/.

Reviews

[Staci · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is so straight-forward and helpful. At times, I felt like some of the instructions were a bit too straight-forward and idealistic. However, I have learned so much from this book! I plan to immediately go back through it, chapter by chapter, and put into practice most of the suggestions. It is a completely different philosophy from what I was raised with (Pre-K at a public school), but I see that it has SO much merit. I have loved the Charlotte Mason methods that I have implemented with my oldest, and I am looking forward to implementing many of these points with my younger two.

[Katie Groom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introduction to Mason’s educational philosophy and writing style. This book is just charlotte mason’s writings in quotes organized by topic. I will be reading some of her original writings after this.

[Millie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a nice condensed version of Charlotte Mason’s ideas on educating preschool aged children. It is essentially quotes from all her books organized by main ideas. I would have liked to see more practical ways of using her ideas. For busy parents who don’t have to time to read all her works, I would highly recommend this as an introduction to her philosophy.

[Willow · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, Sonya Shafer presents Charlotte Mason's writings, principles, and methods to us in a straightforward, accessible way.

Easy to read, but pithy, this book is perfect for brief daily readings. The margins include occasional explanations of archaic language found in the passages, or a quick background for people mentioned, as well as space for note-taking as desired.

I love CM's method, and while a lot of her ideas make perfect sense and come naturally to me (both personality-wise and philosophically), there has also been a lot for me to learn (and unlearn) about education, which has made my journey within the CM philosophy always interesting and convicting.

I cannot recommend CM's method highly enough; it has been the loveliest thing for our family. I still implement it quite imperfectly, but desire to improve my self-discipline in this area and be more faithful to the method. This book has been helping keep me on track and reject those all-too-common mentalities that push too much on littles too soon.

My highest of recommendations always include all of Sonya Shafer's excellent books and resources which teach, explain, and expound upon the CM method. Sonya has been a lifeline for me and I appreciate her wisdom immensely!

[Amber Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charlotte Mason is a great educational philosopher who's lessons are timeless. Authors Shafer and Smith have transformed her work into practical and useful skills to start in the preschool years. If you are looking for a preschool curriculum this is the only resource you should open. It is rich and good and loving. I wish that I had this curriculum with my eldest, perhaps I would not have succumbed to the myth and pressures of finding the "right and best" preschool for my children.

[Aggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a good introduction to Charlotte Mason and her philosophy on educating children without reading all of her books. It has even given me some good tips/ideas to help me on my journey into homeschooling.

[Ardyth · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a compilation of quotes from Miss Mason's original works. If you've read those, skip this.

[klagan]

Unable to finish due to health issues. What I did read was good though

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well written summary of early childhood ideas from Charlotte Mason. I recommend to those with young children that are interested in homeschooling, especially from a Bible centered viewpoint.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent!