Branches & Vine Cottage School
  • ABOUT US
    • Welcome From the Director
    • B&V Distinctives
    • Calvary South Dayton
    • Charlotte Mason Resources >
      • CM's 20 Principles
      • AmblesideOnline
      • The New Mason Jar Podcast
      • A Delectable Education Podcast
      • Charlotte Mason Poetry
      • The Literary Life Podcast
  • LIVING CURRICULUM
  • WHY CHOOSE US
  • *23-24 UPDATES
  • ENROLLMENT
    • Full Day & Half-Day Options
    • 2023-2024 FEES
    • Next Steps
    • Application Form
  • Returning Student Form
  • Parent Reading

 PARENTS' REQUIRED READING LIST

1) For the Children's Sake, by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay

Shows parents and teachers how children's learning experiences can be extended to every aspect of life, giving them a new richness, stability, and joy for living. Every parent and teacher wants to give his or her children the best education possible. We hope that the education we provide is a joyful adventure, a celebration of life, and preparation for living. But sadly, most education today falls short of this goal.
​For the Children's Sake is a book about what education can be, based on a Christian understanding of what it means to be human-to be a child, a parent, a teacher-and on the Christian meaning of life. The central ideas have been proven over many years and in almost every kind of educational situation, including ideas that Susan and Ranald Macaulay have implemented in their own family and school experience.

2) In Vital Harmony, by Karen Glass

Charlotte Mason looked at the world and saw that it was governed by universal laws, such as the law of gravity. Then she wondered. What if there were similar laws that governed the way people learn? If we knew what those laws were, we’d be able to pursue education along the most promising lines. She devoted her life to finding the key principles of education and then developing methods to make the most of them. The result is a comprehensive picture of living and learning that breathes life into education at every level—from babyhood to the adult years. It’s not a rote system, but a flexible set of ideas that keep education in focus. These principles are for everyone concerned with teaching and learning. They are no more difficult to implement than the principle of gravity which allows you to walk, run, and even--when you know what you are doing--to soar.

3) Know & Tell: The Art of Narration, by Karen Glass
​Narration, the art of telling, has been used as a pedagogical tool since ancient times. Over one hundred years ago, Charlotte Mason methodized narration and implemented it in scores of schools in Great Britain. This book discusses the theory behind the use of narration and then walks through the process from beginning to end, to show how simply "telling" is the foundation for higher-level thinking and writing. People are narrating every day, and this book will show you how to make that natural activity a vital part of education that enhances children's relationship with knowledge and allows them to grow into skilled communicators.

Highly Recommended

Consider This: Charlotte Mason and the Classical Tradition, by Karen Glass
​The educators of ancient Greece and Rome gave the world a vision of what education should be. The medieval and Renaissance teachers valued their insights and lofty goals. Christian educators such as Augustine, Erasmus, Milton, and Comenius drew from the teaching of Plato, Aristotle, and Quintilian those truths which they found universal and potent. Charlotte Mason developed her own philosophy of education from the riches of the past, not accidentally but purposefully. She and the other founding members of the Parents’ National Educational Union in England were inspired by the classical educators of history and set out to achieve their vision in modern education. They succeeded—and thanks to Charlotte Mason’s clear development of methods to realize the classical ideals, we can partake of the classical tradition as well.
Classical education is an education of the heart and conscience as much as it is an education of the mind. This book explores the classical emphasis on formation of character and links Charlotte Masons ideas to the thinkers of the past. This is not a “how to” book about education, but a “why to” book that will bring clarity to many of the ideas you already know about teaching and learning.
The Living Page, by Laurie Bestvater
​We all have need to be trained to see, and to have our eyes opened before we can take in the joy that is meant for us in this beautiful life." Charlotte Mason
​"Composition books and blank journals are readily available at every big box and corner store, available so inexpensively as to be common and ironic as we reach that digital dominion, the projected 'paperless culture.' Shall we despair the future of the notebook? Is the practice an anachronism in an age where one's thoughts and pictures, doings and strivings are so easily recorded on a smartphone or blog,and students in even the youngest classrooms are handed electronic tablets with textbooks loaded and worksheets at the ready? Or is there something indispensable in the keeping of notebooks without which human beings would be the poorer?" THE LIVING PAGE invites the reader to take a closer look in the timeless company of 19th century educator, Charlotte Mason.
EMAIL US ABOUT A Tour!
APPLY TO BRANCHES & VINE COTTAGE SCHOOL
All applicants and BVCS parents are expected to have read: For the Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay and In Vital Harmony by Karen Glass. Our families must be supportive of Charlotte Mason principles and methods to ensure that your hopes for your children resonate with our vision and priorities for B&V, and are in keeping with the philosophical distinctives of our work.
INFO@BVCOTTAGESCHOOL.COM
​(937) 618 3030
​
3150 W ALEX BELL
​LIVING CURRICULUM
OUR DISTINCTIVES
ENROLLMENT STEPS
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​RETURNING STUDENT REGISTRATION FORM

Picture
Branches & Vine Cottage School is a four-day classical Charlotte Mason Cottage School walking alongside families located in Dayton, Ohio.

Abiding in Christ and His Word, informed by Charlotte Mason principles, and in partnership with parents ... we spread the feast of a "life-giving education" reflective of truth, goodness, and beauty, to be used by the Holy Spirit in transforming students who will bear much fruit for the glory of God.
​John 15:1-11
“I am the VINE, you are the BRANCHES. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." John 15:5

​​

An educational ministry initiative of 
Calvary South Dayton
  • ABOUT US
    • Welcome From the Director
    • B&V Distinctives
    • Calvary South Dayton
    • Charlotte Mason Resources >
      • CM's 20 Principles
      • AmblesideOnline
      • The New Mason Jar Podcast
      • A Delectable Education Podcast
      • Charlotte Mason Poetry
      • The Literary Life Podcast
  • LIVING CURRICULUM
  • WHY CHOOSE US
  • *23-24 UPDATES
  • ENROLLMENT
    • Full Day & Half-Day Options
    • 2023-2024 FEES
    • Next Steps
    • Application Form
  • Returning Student Form
  • Parent Reading