Laying Down the Rails review
Laying Down the Rails is a parent reference: every habit Mason named, with her comments. It is not a children's story book. The companion that you read with children is Laying Down the Rails for Children. Enrichment Studies schedules both.
The three books
Laying Down the Rails is the handbook. More than fifty habits in five groups: decency and propriety, mental, moral, physical, and religious. Bite-size Mason quotes, summary lines, and review questions.
Laying Down the Rails for Children is 400-plus pages of stories, poems, Bible passages, and activities keyed to those habits. Laying Down the Rails for Yourself is the adult/young-adult version. A workshop video exists for a one-hour overview.
How Enrichment uses them
Volume 1 schedules habit work in the family hour. You pick one habit, read the parent notes, then use the children's companion for a living idea. You do not march through fifty habits in a year. One habit, practiced, is the point.
Schools that name Charlotte Mason still do habit training whether or not they buy this title. The book is a compilation, not a license.
Price
Handbook $14.95–$22.95. For Children $16.95–$24.95. For Yourself $12.95–$18.95. Ebook or print. Checked 2026-09-06. A bundle with the workshop is sold separately.
Method: what is a charlotte mason school. Other products: charlotte mason curriculum comparison.
Schools that already have a habit plan do not need this title to be Charlotte Mason. The compilation is convenient, not mandatory.
Do not schedule five habits at once. The children's companion is large because it covers many habits, not because you use it cover to cover in a term.
Attention, obedience, and truthfulness are the three Mason named most. Start there. The rest of the table of contents can wait.
A workshop video is a one-hour overview. It does not replace the handbook if you want Mason's own comments on a specific habit.
Religious habits in the table of contents assume a Christian home. That matches SCM. It will not match a secular school.
A habit is a groove. Talking about the groove is not laying it down. Practice in the hallway counts more than another chapter. One week, one habit. The children's companion is a well, not a race. Close the book and go practice the habit you named.
What this book is not
It is not a behavior chart. Mason asked for atmosphere, discipline, and life. A sticker for sitting still is a different school of thought.
It is not a replacement for outdoor time. Physical habits include going outside. The handbook will not walk the child for you.