The New Mason Jar with Cindy Rollins

On The New Mason Jar Podcast today, Cindy and Dawn chat about homeschooling through hard times with Stacy Halley, homeschooling mother of four and wife of a pastor and Air Force Reserve chaplain How Stacy first heard about homeschooling and Charlotte Mason's philosophy The circumstances in which Stacy's family found themselves due to hurricane damage and flooding How Stacy dealt with homeschooling in the immediate aftermath and throughout the renovation process The assurances we have in God's providence that Stacy relies on in times of difficulty How trials can help shape and sanctify our children For the full show notes for this episode, please visit https://thenewmasonjar.com/136.

This week on The New Mason Jar Podcast, Cindy and Dawn have Nate and Jess Roberts on to talk about singing together as a family How Jess and Nate first learned about Charlotte Mason's philosophy What is Nate's role in teaching other families and students about folk music and musical discipleship? Why should we sing? What is the importance of folk songs and hymns in musical education? Why should the whole family be involved in singing? A little about Solfa or Solfege What are canons and why are they so valuable to sing? To view the full show notes for this episode, including quotes and links to the resources mentioned, please visit https://thenewmasonjar.com/135.

On today's episode of The New Mason Jar Podcast, Cindy and Dawn welcome Emily Raible back to the podcast, this time to share her own self-education journey as part of our Morning Time for Moms series How Emily first found out about Charlotte Mason and her principles Emily's education as a child and books she remembers loving once she found her way to enjoy reading When did Emily realize the importance of continuing her own education, even after her formal schooling had come to an end? What sorts of gifts and talents does Emily seek to cultivate? What is the value of reading slowly? What are Emily's possible future plans for her education? Be sure to check out all the show notes for this episode on our website at https://thenewmasonjar.com/134.

Today on The New Mason Jar, Cindy and Dawn are back with their friend Erin Kunkle for another episode in our America250 series, focusing on presidential biographies and libraries How Erin became interested in US history in general and in the presidential libraries specifically How a membership to the presidential libraries works How Erin deals with things she disagrees with from various presidents' lives and work Notable presidential biographies Erin has read For the full show notes on this episode, please visit https://thenewmasonjar.com/133.

On The New Mason Jar Podcast this week, Cindy and Dawn chat with Angel Revie, homeschooling mom of three, about doing handicraft fairs with children How Angel first learned about Charlotte Mason What is a handicraft fair, and who participates? What are some examples of items students bring to handicraft fairs? How Angel got the idea for starting a handicraft fair for her local homeschool community What are some of the benefits for students participating in handicraft fairs? How Angel organizes these fairs annually Don't forget to visit our website for the full show notes for this episode at https://thenewmasonjar.com/132.

Welcome back to The New Mason Jar podcast with Cindy Rollins and Dawn Duran! Today's guest is theologian and author of Tending the Heart of Virtue, Dr. Vigen Guroian. What is the "moral imagination"? Why are imaginative stories so important in developing virtue in a child? Why shouldn't parents be afraid to introduce fairy tales to their children? What is the new fairy tale project on which Dr. Guroian is currently working? What does it mean to bowdlerize a story? What fairy tales would Dr. Guroian have enjoyed most as a child? What parts of Dr. Guroian's own education does he look back on as the things which mattered most? For the full show notes for this episode, please visit our website at https://thenewmasonjar.com/131.

This week on The New Mason Jar, Cindy and Dawn welcome Summer Smith back to the podcast with a fun discussion about her USA's 250th Birthday Book List What Cindy remembers about the celebrations surrounding America's bicentennial when she was young How Summer first came up with the idea for creating this book list Why Summer tried to include a greater number of positive books than those that highlighted negative parts of America's history Some examples of the types of books that made it onto the list How Dawn is adding American patriotism resources across Cindy's Patreon and on her own Substack For the full show notes of this episode, please visit https://thenewmasonjar.com/130.

On the first episode of Season 10 of The New Mason Jar, we bring you a conversation Cindy and Dawn had with Lani Siciliano, veteran homeschool mom and a member of the AmblesideOnline Auxiliary How Lani first learned about homeschooling and Charlotte Mason What is the difference between the AO Advisory and the Auxiliary? How did you prepare transcripts for your students to get into the military and college? Did Lani feel like she had to change a lot of things when she started homeschooling high school? How the practice of narration prepared Lani's students for higher education Did Lani encounter any hiccups along the way or have any regrets? How Lani applies a Charlotte Mason education to her own life as she has graduated most of her children A few more words of wisdom from moms farther down the road

On The New Mason Jar Podcast this week, we bring you a conversation Cindy and Dawn had with Sheila Carroll, founder of Living Books Press How Sheila first heard about Charlotte Mason's philosophy How Sheila started developing the curriculum and resources that became Living Books Press What is narration, and what makes it such a powerful practice? How do we keep the idea of a child's personhood from steering us toward a child-centered education? Sheila's advice for beginning narration and dealing with pushback from your child How to prepare young children who are not yet school age for narrating later Why is nature study so important for today's children? How do nature study and living books work together for a full education? How is composition taught in the Charlotte Mason paradigm? To view the full show notes for this episode, including resources mentioned, please visit our website at https://thenewmasonjar.com/128.

On this episode of The New Mason Jar, Cindy and Dawn talk with the women behind the Charlotte Mason New England community--Sarah Beals, Megan Massaro, and Rebekah Anglea How and why did you get this started in the first place? What roles do each of you play? What have some of the past CMNE events looked like? What are some of the challenges for home school families in New England? How have you gotten the word out about CMNE? What are some benefits of having a multi-generational community?

On The New Mason Jar Podcast this week, Cindy and Dawn talk with Querida Thompson about Handel's Messiah How Querida first heard about Charlotte Mason Who was George Frederic Handel? How did Handel come to write the Messiah oratorio? How should we first approach listening to Messiah? More historical context for this piece of music What is the shape of the whole work? What are some recommendations for recordings of Handel's Messiah? For links to all the resources mentioned in today's episode, please visit our website at https://thenewmasonjar.com/126.

On this week's episode of The New Mason Jar, Cindy and Dawn are pleased to introduced Dr. Wilfred McClay, acclaimed history professor and author of Land of Hope, as part of our Mothers Education Course series How Dr. McClay fell in love with the study of history Why we should approach history with a spirit of generosity and gratitude What are the results of the modern de-bunking, judgmental way in which history is commonly taught today? How the update and revisions are going on a new edition of his book Ways Dr. McClay is involved in celebrating the 250th birthday of the United States Don't forget to head over to our website at https://thenewmasonjar.com/125 for the full show notes for this episode!

This week on The New Mason Jar, Cindy and Dawn are joined by the members of the AmblesideOnline Advisory, which includes Donna-Jean Breckenridge, Anne White, Karen Glass, and Leslie Laurio How does the education offered through AmblesideOnline apply to mothers and fathers, too, not only to the children? Why is it so important for moms to take the time to read Charlotte Mason's volumes and learn her method for themselves? What encouragement would you offer to help the mom do so? Can you speak to this desire, for homeschool material to be "open and go," specifically with respect to AO? What can you tell us about the AO 25th anniversary celebration? Get the full show notes for this episode with links to everything discussed at https://thenewmasonjar.com/124.

This week on The New Mason Jar, Cindy and Dawn sit down for a chat with Caitlin Bruce Beauchamp, an AmblesideOnline graduate, pastor's wife, and homeschooling mom on the realities of Charlotte Mason homeschooling with little ones How Caitlin came to own the Charlotte Mason philosophy for herself What a typical day looks like for Caitlin's family currently How learning to change your expectations can positively affect your homeschooling What are some of the things that Caitlin recommends to deal with littles while trying to stay on track with older students What Caitlin has done with her children when they are ready for phonics and reading Some of Caitlin's children's favorite books so far To view the full show notes of this episode, please visit our website at https://thenewmasonjar.com/123.

This week on the New Mason Jar, Cindy and Dawn talk with Blossom Barden, veteran homeschool mom and founder of and online course coordinator for Wildwood Learning Center How Blossom first learned about Charlotte Mason Why and how Blossom started her first homeschool co-op How the Wildwood Learning Center operates What some of the classes at Wildwood look like in format Examples of the connections made through Wildwood How the teachers at Wildwood stay aligned in their philosophy and methods To view the full show notes for this episode, please visit https://thenewmasonjar.com/122.

On this week's episode on The New Mason Jar, Cindy and Dawn chat with Joyce MacPherson, veteran homeschooling mom, author, and Cindy's personal friend Who were some of Joyce's first biographies about, and how did she start writing them? Why Joyce chose to write one of her most recent books about George MacDonald How Joyce decided to write about Jane Austen Where Joyce and her daughter went to learn about Austen in England How Joyce started writing the Shakespeare Scriptorium series

On this week's episode of The New Mason Jar, Cindy and Dawn talk with Julie and Diana about their book discussion group, which recently celebrated its 20th year of meeting and reading together: How the group started and how they choose new books for the group to read Some of the ways they make book discussion nights special How Diana and Julie divide up roles and duties to share the load A little about the format of each book club meeting Why the ladies stick to classic literature and biographies instead of contemporary novels Julie and Diana's tips for running a similar book club with their friends For full show notes, including links to books and podcasts mentioned, please visit https://thenewmasonjar.com/120.

On The New Mason Jar this week, we bring you a special Q&A episode recorded with Kay Pelham and Jami Marstal as a follow-up to our 2025 Back to School Online Conference How can a mom of many finish well with her last few students, implementing more of Mason's methods now that she has more time with fewer children? What is some advice for dealing with disrespect from teens and pre-teens? What are some principles to help guide the upper years, making time for what really matters without overloading ourselves and our students? How should you approach starting a Charlotte Mason education with an older student? How can we communicate about Charlotte Mason's principles with those unfamiliar with them in a community or cooperative context? To view the full show notes for this episode, please visit https://thenewmasonjar.com/119.