Epi Kardia – Literature Based Charlotte Mason Approach Curriculum By: Maricela Gonzalez Curriculum and Developmental Problems

“What is Epi Kardia?” you may ask. – The Epi Kardia – Literature Based Charlotte Mason Approach Curriculum Instructional Strategies program is based on the Charlotte Mason approach. – What does it stand for?? Epi Kardia is Greek for at the heart. They feel that the heart of home education is the Christ-centered mentoring and discipling relationship between parents and their children. – Who wrote the curriculm? Home school moms wrote the curriculum. They are also educators themselves. – What does it cover? It is a unit study based, covering Creation through the Modern periods. It includes different content areas such as science, language arts, fine arts, and history. – Who is included? Kinder to high school. Official Website:

The Epi Kardia method begins again every year. This allows younger students to move to fresh material more quickly. Although the curriculum is Christ centered, Epi Kardia is a “historically structured, literature- based, unit study curriculum.” Epi Kardia is more economical than most curriculum's out in the market. The curriculum includes reading whole, living books, short lessons, oral narration, using copy work and dictation to teach grammar and composition. Parents are encouraged to play that active role in their child’s education. They can put together their own unit study and lesson plans. Lesson plans are provided as well. In addition, all assignments are laid out for the teacher. High school courses in literature and electives are offered as well.

Who is Charlotte Mason? Charlotte Mason was born in Bangor. She was also educated at home. Mason enrolled in the Home and Colonial Society for the training of teachers and earned a First Class Certificate. She ended up developing a vision for generous education for all, regardless of social class. What did she advocate for? Charlotte advocated learning about people in their surroundings, not just dry facts about locations, exports, and weather descriptions

The Setup There are four complete programs that make up this curriculum.complete programs The Primary (complete program) includes kindergarten through second grade, Intermediate includes third through fifth grade. Preparatory includes sixth through eighth grade. Secondary (complete program) includes ninth through twelfth grade. “These are each a complete program that contains nine historical unit booklets, resource booklets, historical overviews, teaching manuals, cds with charts and record-keeping forms, among other tools for planning the year.” Epi Kardia 100 page teaching manuals help you to organize your materials and time.

Example of books used in Middle School EK curriculum The curriculum’s focus is on academics, but it also does focus on a biblical world view too. (Christian Learning literature Base) The literature books can be obtained at local libraries. The following are some book subjects used in the curriculum: Dinosaurs, Great Wall of China, dinosaurs, Jesus among other colorful educational topics.

Charlotte Mason - A CM schedule would feature short lessons (10 to 20 minutes per subject for the younger children, but longer for older ones) with an emphasis on excellent execution and focused attention, whether that is in thinking through a challenging math problem, looking carefully at a painting and then describing it, copying just a few words neatly, or listening to a short Bible episode and telling it back. Students can learn so much with this curriculum. Charlotte Mason

Curriculum cost per six week unit… Homeschooling is a desirable method of teaching for many parents. Daily Lesson Plans are also available for the home school teacher. Six week units cost $ High school students needs can be met with the curriculum, when it comes time to fulfilling their graduation requirements.

Curriculm is versatile The curriculum is also flexible enough for private school and cottage school usage. There is also a helpful website that can help guide the student and the teacher. For example, one can find links to other science and math texts, educational links via the internet, and even art museums and special discounts. If any questions should arise for the home school teacher, there is also a web site designated specifically with a list of frequently asked questions and articles. The articles cover topics from: child attitudes, testing, breaks, and even parenting tips to better help the parent with their home schooled children.

This Epi Kardia curriculum is very good for the homeschooler who desires that their students have and effective unit study, literature based approach.

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