Why a Charlotte Mason approach works well for us...

As we go through the years of homeschooling and trying differing approaches, I keep coming back to Charlotte Mason, a turn-of-the-last-century British educator. Why? Because her methods suit us to a tee.

First, living books. NOT textbooks. Not dry, dull books, but books that engage my children and draw them in. We love reading, and the kids especially love being read to, but I doubt most textbooks would keep their attention for long.

Second, short lessons. There are two parts to this that work for us. To begin with, my kids are still young, and don't have the world's longest attention spans, so short lessons are brief enough to keep their attention. The second part of this is that Charlotte Mason recommended switching it up - sandwiching math, for example, between poetry and picture study, so as to engage different parts of the mind. I try to switch back and forth between written and oral work, so a morning might look like this:
calendar/weather charting (half oral, half written)
copy work (written)
poetry (oral)
math (written)
history or science read aloud and narration/Q&A (oral)
phonics/writing (written)
hands-on projects/exeriments/crafts (not really oral or written, but falls under C handicrafts to a degree)

Third, outdoor time. I try to make sure my kids are outdoors for part of the day nearly every day, unless the weather is really bad.

Fourth, art and music appreciation, as well as an appreciation for nature, are worked in through picture studies, listening to classical music, nature journaling, etc. As we enjoy nature, music and art, having these as a part of our curriculum is important. Resources I have found useful include Famous Paintings, Handbook of Nature Study/Outdoor Hour Challenges, and Composer of the Month from Classics for Kids.

Fifth, variety of studies. A Charlotte Mason education is rich in variety. Some families study as many as 21 subjects per week, NOT all on the same day. We don't do that many, but since we study a fair number, including two paths through history simultaneously (as do many followers of CMmethods, including Ambleside Online, a free online version of CM), the flexibility of CM works well. I love the idea of what is essentially a liberal arts education for my children - the exposure to good writing, art, music, history, nature, and more is very appealing.

What I also like is that I can easily combine Charlotte Mason with my other favorite approach to homeschooling, Classical education via The Well Trained Mind. The two are easy to blend since they emphasize so many of the same points, as written here in a review by Susan Wise Bauer, though there are some small differences.

So there, in a nutshell, is why I appreciate CM methods so much, and plan to implement them further in our home education. Having tried unit studies, (accidental) unschooling, Waldorf methods and more, Charlotte Mason feels like home.