Charlotte Mason Homeschooling On A Budget Part 1

So, we have begun to follow the Charlotte Mason curriculum Higher Up and Further In (HUFI), put together by Linda Johnson. Most of the homeschool day posts so far have been about our HUFI work, but we also have our Core Knowledge and Singapore (and other) materials.

Following Charlotte Mason education on a budget is not hard to do. Often, Charlotte Mason living books (and her own books) are available free online. What follows is what I have learned as a Charlotte Mason newbie, so there is still much to discover and learn.

Reading her Original Homeschooling Series, one can see her examples for how to teach beginning geography and nature study for no money at all. (They include careful observation, helpful but rare comments from the teacher, measuring a student's stride and then using that as a measurement for distances near the home, and observing and naming the sun's movements during a day, among others.) I was able to find several of her recommended books for free online (list to follow in Part 2). The study of artists and composers can be well done using library resources.

Another example from the HUFI curriculum: We have not set aside money to buy Paddle to the Sea, at least not yet, but I found the short film free here. Xander loved it (in fact both boys did) and we were able to track Paddle's progress with a clay canoe moving across our laminated map (though we did a much-abbreviated version using the film, I can tell).

I am still looking for and collecting resources, but this is what we bought this year for the HUFI curriculum:

• two nice photo albums for the boys' Picture Studies (will be used for years)
• one deck of Go Fish for Art Renaissance Artists (should have bought two if I wanted a copy of each picture for each of the boys)
• two small sketchbooks
• one deck of vintage Norman Rockwell playing cards
• a small globe
• 1 pack of nice watercolor pencils
• James Herriott's Treasury for Children
• Progressive Recorder Method for Young Beginners (tip: the CD does not come with this book, only instructions for ordering one for $10)
• Yamaha recorder
• 3 binders (will be used for years)
• 1 large notebook (will be used for years)
• Learning Spanish & English flashcards

The approximate total we spent for this was $94.00 (USD).

Here is what we already had that is compatible with HUFI:

• control notebook for me
• index cards
• The Nutcracker
• iTunes and various classical music albums
• Doctor Dolittle
• Tales from Shakespeare
• The Aesop for Children
• Pippi Longstocking
• The Children's Book of Heroes
• A Child's Garden of Verses
• When We Were Very Young
• lots more literature that will be appropriate at older ages
• computer and Internet access
• small dry-erase boards
• pencil boxes
• a printer
• a small chalk board
• some art supplies and paper
• several books by C.S. Lewis
• several books by Madeleine L'Engle
• several books by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Story of the World, Volume I 
• one trees nature guide
• two birds nature guides
• buttons, coins, beans, etc. for math manipulatives

In Part 2, I'll type up what we've borrowed from the library for HUFI and give links to free online sources I've found.