Incorporating Picture Study at Home:
Simply Charlotte Mason has a blog post with an explanation of ways you can tailor picture study at home with your children.
A Humble Place offers free picture study aids that follow the Ambleside Online schedule.
Here is One Method of a Large Group Picture Study Lesson:
a.) First, ask what the children remember about the artist we’re currently studying or the last print we studied as a group. (If this is the first picture observed by this artist, a brief biography can be read/narrated as a means of introduction. This is probably best done at home, but it has worked successfully in the large group as well, so you are free to include it if you’d like– but keep it BRIEF.)
b.) Direct the children to the right print and have them look at it for a few minutes. It’s important that they simply enjoy the print first, rather than trying to analyze it or make note of every minor detail.
c.) After 3-5 minutes, the child should try to see the picture in their mind fully. Tell them to continue looking until they can close their eyes and see the entire picture in their mind’s eye.
d.) After 5 minutes, direct them to flip the picture over/close the book so that they can no longer see it.
e.) Now, direct children to tell their mothers all they can about the picture– essentially, they
will “narrate” the picture in their family groups.
f.) Then, as an option, you could ask the children questions concerning the season, time of day, river and chief features (Charlotte Mason Poetry mentions this as an aspect of CM picture study, see other examples of Picture Study from Charlotte Mason’s time. ).
g.) Finally, ask them what they think is the story of the picture. Show that every artist has an idea which he wishes to be interpreted. It all started when…
Charlotte Mason Redding 