Charlotte Mason

A Charlotte Mason education is a relational education. It is an education that honors the child as a person, created in the image of God, who is deserving of personalized learning that incorporates a wide variety of subjects. These subjects are taught in short, varied segments, which allows for focused attention, encourages natural processing time, prevents brain fatigue, inspires best effort, and maintains a positive attitude toward learning.

The following subjects are included in the Gateway Learning feast:

  • Bible + Scripture Memory

  • History

  • Foreign Language

  • Mathematics

  • Language Arts

  • Literature + Poetry

  • Science + Nature Study

  • Geography

  • Handicrafts + Life Skills

  • Citizenship

  • Physical Education

  • Art Appreciation + Art Instruction

  • Music

  • Composition + Grammar

  • And more!

Charlotte Mason’s principles of education are a measuring stick used to measure the everyday routines and structures of our school. If you would like to learn more about this philosophy, visit the Charlotte Mason Institute.

 
 

Curriculum

Gateway Learning uses Charlotte Mason’s Alveary, a curriculum and teacher training program published by the Charlotte Mason Institute (CMI). CMI is a research-driven organization that has been dedicated to providing a wealth of resources for the 21st-century Charlotte Mason educator. Alveary curricular content reflects current education and brain research in coordination with the preservation of Mason’s principles.

Additional resources used according to the needs of individual students include:

  • Under the Home Phonics program

  • McGuffey readers

  • Book Clubs or other shared reading opportunities

  • Beauty & Truth Math

  • Math games and manipulatives

  • Notebooking/journaling

  • Guest speakers/teachers

  • Field trips

  • Requests from the families we serve

  • Anything else we believe will support any of our students’ learning journeys!

 

Whatever tools we use, a few things are non-negotiable:

  • daily reading of the very best books (living books)

  • introduction to a variety of subjects and ideas (the feast!)

  • daily opportunities to express our ideas through oral narrations, writing, and art

  • exposure to the world outside our home, school, town, and country

  • short, gentle lessons

  • celebration of creativity and imagination

  • integrated learning (the idea that all knowledge is connected and deep knowledge is developed by making connections across content areas)

  • critical thinking fostered by exposure to multiple perspectives and open-ended questions/discussions

  • whole-body learning, which involves learning with our eyes, ears, hands, and entire bodies

A Note About Grading

I believe in teaching to a child’s current ability level.  Therefore, students’ progress will be shared in the form of a narrative progress report three times each year.

 Supplies

I believe in providing individualized supplies and tools that match the needs of the learner. Your registration fee covers all supplies needed for class. That means no school supplies shopping- your child only needs a backpack, a healthy snack and hearty lunch, and a refillable water bottle each day!