list of attainments

Sitting here tonight mulling over education. I now have three 'school-aged' children and am beginning to think about and plan a kindergarten year for Elias.

I want it to be magical and rich and full of out-door time. I plan on keeping formal academics to a minimum and want instead to provide him with context and experience upon which his future education will be based upon.

I have read Charlotte Mason's Volume 1 (Home Education) of Charlotte Mason's Original Homeschooling Series and someday hope to complete my reading of the other five volumes. They are full of ideas and principles that support true education and have really encouraged me to create an environment that is filled with good habits, plenty of time spent out-of-doors, full of rich and living ideas through quality literature and attention paid to the body, mind and soul of my children.

Of course though, I am only human, and my broken humanness is seen not only, but even more intensely, during our homeschooling experience. And although I strive daily for this vision, there are rare moments when I see the fruits of my labor coming to life and those are the moments that keep me traveling on this homeschool journey!


One of the lists that I read nearly five years ago still inspire me today as I read through it. It is a list of attainments for a six-year old child educated the 'Charlotte Mason' way.

It is old, perhaps outdated and 'unattainable' to some nowadays. But nonetheless, it is a pure joy and inspiration to read through!

"A Formidable List of Attainments for a Child of Six"

1. To recite, beautifully, 6 easy poems and hymns
2. to recite, perfectly and beautifully, a parable and a psalm
3. to add and subtract numbers up to 10, with dominoes or counters
4. to read--what and how much, will depend on what we are told of the child
5. to copy in print-hand from a book
6. to know the points of the compass with relation to their own home, where the sun rises and sets, and the way the wind blows
7. to describe the boundries of their own home
8. to describe any lake, river, pond, island etc. within easy reach
9. to tell quite accurately (however shortly) 3 stories from Bible history, 3 from early English, and 3 from early Roman history (my note here, we may want to substitute early American for early English!)
10. to be able to describe 3 walks and 3 views
11. to mount in a scrap book a dozen common wildflowers, with leaves (one every week); to name these, describe them in their own words, and say where they found them.
12. to do the same with leaves and flowers of 6 forest trees
13. to know 6 birds by song, colour and shape
14. to send in certain Kindergarten or other handiwork, as directed
15. to tell three stories about their own "pets"--rabbit, dog or cat.
16. to name 20 common objects in French, and say a dozen little sentences
17. to sing one hymn, one French song, and one English song
18. to keep a caterpillar and tell the life-story of a butterfly from his own observations.