Welcome to the Simply Charlotte Mason podcast. I'm Sonia Schaefer. Many of us are gearing up for a new school year,

so I wanted to pass along three quick tips that will help you have a successful year of homeschooling.

Tip number one, plan for variety. We all know how tedious life can become when we're stuck in a rut, performing the same tasks

in the same way at the same time every day.

When Charlotte Mason said that education is a life, she didn't mean that kind of a life.

She said life should be all living and not merely a tedious passing of time. School

Education, page 170. One of the key identifiers of a Charlotte Mason-style school is the variety

of subjects that the students get to enjoy.

So along with the usual studies, plan to include variety in your schedule, singing,

picture study, nature walks, poetry, art, music study, Shakespeare, handcrafts, dancing,

foreign language.

Don't try to crowd every subject into every day. Instead, take

advantage of the vast array of options to add variety throughout your week. One or two different

subjects tucked into the mix each day will go a long way toward keeping things fresh and spreading

a delightful feast of ideas.

Give your students a wide variety of subjects.

That's tip number one.

Tip number two, shop with purpose.

Just as it is difficult to complete a building project without the proper

tools, it is well-nigh impossible to have a successful homeschool year without the right resources.

Make sure you end up with a stack of useful resource tools as you do your school shopping.

Shop with purpose.

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