I believe in the importance of cultivating good habits during the early years. The Laying Down the Rails Handbook and Laying Down the Rails for Children are resources that have helped me tremendously in this aspect.
Today, I wanted to share about these materials and how we use them in our household.
The Importance of Cultivating Good Habits
Intentionality is key in helping children develop good habits, which is why Charlotte Mason’s thoughts on habit formation speaks so well to me. She said: “What you would have the man become, that you must train the child to be” (Vol. 2, p. 15) And isn’t that so true?
We can’t always excuse bad behavior and manners (or lack thereof,) because they are young. In fact, their early years are perfect for habit training because bad habits have yet to stick. We have time to help them improve!
In our household, I try my best to prioritize character-teaching and habit-training. I do this through books, stories and of course, real life application. (See related post: Morning Time: Starting the Day with God’s Word, Books and Songs)
Laying Down the Rails for Children
Laying Down the Rails for Children is a habit-training companion from Simply Charlotte Mason. It’s a practical guide filled with classic living stories, Bible passages, poems and activity suggestions.
It covers habits that have been emphasized by Charlotte Mason herself in her books and they are arranged according to each particular habit.
How We Use It
There is a section on the book that covers their suggestion on how to use Laying Down the Rails. But let me share how we use it in our home:
I choose a particular habit that I want to focus on for the month (or sometimes, for 2 consecutive months.) Then I would read aloud a lesson during Morning Time. We do this around 2-3x a week. I usually choose the habit that I feel they need most help with during this time.
Why I Love Using Laying Down the Rails for Children:
- Requires hardly any prep time: I can open and read the passages aloud.
- Practical suggestions on how to encourage the particular habit
- Serves as a guide on how to tackle a particular habit.
There are certain habits that we would keep going back to after a few months (such as: obedience, courtesy and manners) and that’s okay. It helps retain the information and remind them about the importance of that particular habit.
Laying Down the Rails: Handbook
I highly recommend Laying Down the Rails for Children to anyone who asks. But did you know that it is actually a companion to the original, award-winning book “Laying Down the Rails?”
Laying Down the Rails: A Charlotte Mason Habits Handbook is exactly what it says. It is a guide for parents on habit-formation. It presents Charlotte Mason’s ideas in a concise and organized manner, which I love.
As preparation for myself, I usually read up on the particular habit before we begin discussing it for the month at the breakfast table. 😉
PDF or Actual Book?
I now have the actual books of the entire Laying Down the Rails set. But prior to owning the physical copies, I actually bought the PDF of Laying Down the Rails for Children and printed the sheets as needed. So is it worth it and how does it compare to having the physical copy instead?
Here are my recommendations:
Get the PDF if:
- Shipping the books will be an issue: Such as, if you don’t live in the US and it will be too costly (or not possible) to have it shipped.
- You are tight on space: By owning the digital copy, you can easily store it in your e-book reader or just print the pages as needed.
- There are budget constraints: There is about a $15 difference between the digital copy and the physical book.
Otherwise, I would recommend getting the printed copies already. It is worth it if you plan on using this for years and for multiple kids.
Overall
Laying Down the Rails for Children is one of the best things I’ve included in our Morning Time routine.
We use this together, or sometimes interchangeably with other books on character such as “The Children’s Book of Virtues” and “Everyday Graces”. However, if I could recommend only one material on the topic, I would recommend Laying Down the Rails for Children hands down.
Hope this helps!
Disclaimer: SimplyCharlotteMason provided me with a complimentary copy of Laying Down the Rails and Laying Down the Rails for Children. However, all opinions are unbiased and completely my own. (I purchased the digital pdf on my own, prior to them sending the books.)
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- Curriculum Reviews (link to all our reviews)
- Morning Time: Starting the Day with God’s Word, Books and Songs
- How We Homeschool: 5 Years Old (Level K)