One thing that has drawn many of us to the Charlotte Mason Method is our love of books.

And naturally, we want our children to love books as much as we do.

But Charlotte held that our children are their own persons.

We cannot and should not force our own preferences onto them, for that would be disrespectful

of their personhood.

We can, however, use three instruments of education to encourage them in good and helpful

paths.

And those three instruments are the atmosphere of our homes, the discipline of good habits,

and the living ideas that we choose to convey.

And there's that three-legged stool that summarizes the Charlotte Mason philosophy, atmosphere,

discipline, and life for living ideas.

So here's the question for today.

How can we help our children cultivate a joy of reading in our homes, in our habits, and in our lives?

Welcome to the Simply Charlotte Mason podcast. I'm Sonia Schaefer.

Atmosphere, discipline, life. Let's look at each one.

Let's start by talking about the atmosphere of your home as it relates to reading.

Remember that the atmosphere is very much dependent on the attitudes and ideas that influence you every day.

How you look at life, at home schooling,

at your child, at your home. All of those ideas will create an atmosphere that your child

will grow up inhaling, as it were. So what kind of atmosphere will help to cultivate a joy of reading?

Now, first, read aloud to your child often, every day, even after he can read on his own.

Reading books together is a simple and lovely way to form family bonds around good ideas. And the more enjoyable those read-aloud

...