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Laying Down the Rails for Yourself

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It’s never too late to cultivate good habits! This compelling combination of vivid word pictures and descriptions from Charlotte Mason, helpful insights from modern research, and practical ideas from life experience will show you how you can successfully instill habits in your own life.

154 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2007

86 people are currently reading
763 people want to read

About the author

Sonya Shafer

105 books99 followers
Sonya Shafer is a popular homeschool speaker and writer, specializing in the Charlotte Mason Method. She has been on an adventure for more than 20 years studying, researching, practicing, and teaching Charlotte’s gentle and effective methods of education. Her passion for homeschooling her own four daughters grew into helping others and then into Simply Charlotte Mason, which publishes her many books and provides a place of practical encouragement to homeschoolers at https://simplycharlottemason.com/.

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5 stars
122 (45%)
4 stars
100 (37%)
3 stars
39 (14%)
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5 (1%)
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
Profile Image for Rachel Yoder.
19 reviews2 followers
April 11, 2017
This book is so inspirational because it takes hard things and encourages you to break them down into practical bite sized pieces. I was so impressed with how the author made me feel ok with where I am now, but at the same time lovingly encouraged me to better my character and lay down the rails of a good character to achieve a smoother time in life. I definitely would recommend this book to anyone looking to better themselves in a do able way.
Profile Image for Julia.
292 reviews6 followers
April 2, 2016
I enjoy Sonya Schafer's teaching style. Her real life examples speak to me more than a lot of books on habit. Also, she has a clear step by step way of laying things down that clears away any confusion. And finally, she is realistic and encouraging, you feel as if someone who knows and understands you is cheering you on.
Another great resource from Simply Charlotte Mason.
Profile Image for Kate.
1,100 reviews40 followers
February 5, 2025
This was a really engaging read! It was helpful in really studying and fine tuning my own habits and figuring out how to create new ones that are in line with my goals rather than continue with ones that were counterintuitive to them.
Profile Image for Laura.
621 reviews134 followers
September 26, 2025
This is a short, but extremely thorough read on habit training. It’s one I’ll have to pull off the shelf and read again to inspire fresh motivation in future years.
Profile Image for Tawnda Andrews.
199 reviews3 followers
July 8, 2017
I liked this book. Good thoughts on forming habits but eventually the style of writing began to grate on me. I had to make myself finish reading as it wasn't a compelling read. Also, while I realize the other is a Charlotte Mason devotee, the frequency of quotes utilized started get annoying. The author is little to much Charlotte Mason disciple then seems healthy.
Profile Image for Renee.
309 reviews53 followers
June 6, 2016
I have mix feeling about this book. I really wantex to like it but I was disappointed. I love the idea of creating good habits but all this reads was still in the "abstract" and not enough in the "how to" apply it
Profile Image for Damilola.
91 reviews3 followers
August 20, 2020
Very anecdotal. A good read. I really enjoyed the list in the back of habits that Charlotte Mason constructed. Very thorough for an adult learners and for adult parents or those that work with children.

In reading this book, it confirmed for me the idea that it is good to create habits in life specially when going through formidable and changing times. It is good to have habits so that one does not even have to think about cultivating certain qualities. I definitely see where I have strengths in habits and where I could use more habit training. Great read. Encourages me to map out areas of growth.
Profile Image for Jacklyn (ReadingBliss).
312 reviews31 followers
April 30, 2022
Very insightful. An intuitive person might’ve already figured out some of these things without being fortunate enough to have a mentor like a parent, but it’s still an encouraging book to help you stay motivated and validated that you’re on the right track. I also found it to be inspiring to start new good habits and keep progressing forward when you might want to just take a break and stay where you’re at because you’re already been working hard for a long time on other habits/personal growth. I think this was a great read and will probably reread it in the future and have already recommended it to a friend.
Profile Image for Brittany.
289 reviews3 followers
July 11, 2024
I'm not sure why I'm surprised at how well written, yet concise, this book was since the author is a connoisseur of Charlotte Mason's ways.

Well communicated encouragement and some beginning knowledge on how to move forward in establishing new habits for yourself. As a homeschool parent it's been important to me to work on that which I see are faults of my own, and then be able to help the children by utilizing the same or similar methods.

I'm interested to see how Laying Down the Rails and Laying Down the Rails for Children differ.

12 reviews1 follower
March 24, 2025
This is a good, basic introduction to developing healthy habits, and inspirational to a point. The heavy use of anecdotes becomes tiresome quickly. I’d recommend reading Atomic Habits alongside this book for a studied psychological approach for developing habits. Laying Down the Rails for Yourself offers good motivation to establish good habits but falls short in the practical advice on how exactly to go about making them.
Profile Image for Charlene Preg.
19 reviews
April 8, 2019
I did not think the length of pages was needed for the central theme -- while valuable I felt it kept reiterating the main point. It gave good principals and a variety of quotes from C. Mason. Not sure I would recommend it but plan to read the one for children next - to see how the message is presented.
Profile Image for Jess Stockman.
18 reviews
February 17, 2019
It’s not a bad book, but just not a lot of substance. It can be repetitive and a little watered down. It gets the point across and is a good intro for someone who doesn’t or hasn’t already been working on things like habits in their life.
Profile Image for Heather.
106 reviews
June 2, 2021
Very practical & helpful guide to establishing good habits
Profile Image for Bridget.
193 reviews5 followers
May 7, 2022
Great book in easy to understand language and examples of habit training yourself based upon educator, Charlotte Mason’s ideas.
73 reviews2 followers
July 8, 2023
A basic primer on building habits. Helpful but nothing overly earth-shattering.
Profile Image for Mollie Parrish.
10 reviews
September 9, 2024
I read this to go along with our habit training homeschool curriculum. It was short, sweet and to the point. Similar to Atomic Habits, but shorter and written by a Christian.
Profile Image for Tracy.
46 reviews3 followers
Read
August 7, 2020
Definitely one to revisit, especially the last couple of chapters, which summarize key points and habits. I’m ready to tackle some new habits.

“We must not amuse ourselves that we have done something when we have only formed a good resolution. Power comes by doing and not by resolving.” -Charlotte Mason

trigger>anticipate>action>reward
habits remove the effort of decision
Profile Image for Emily Tsesmeloglou.
72 reviews21 followers
May 3, 2016
Some really good inspiration for getting rid of some old habits and replacing them with good ones. I tend to overdue it at New Year's or when I'm feeling inspired and try to tackle 18 new habits at one time which of course usually ends in failure, so this book gave me some good strategies to work on one at a time.
Profile Image for Mgeis01.
8 reviews31 followers
October 14, 2012
I loved this. So many great ideas about building good habits.
Profile Image for Courtney Clark.
567 reviews8 followers
February 2, 2017
Only 3 stars because, really, you need the workbook and why didn't they just make it one book since it's really quite necessary? Otherwise it'd be a solid 4. Not life altering but nice and useful.
Profile Image for Elizabeth.
66 reviews2 followers
July 6, 2016
A book that I'll keep on my nightstand and read a couple times a year. Very useful and encouraging! Good habits make life easier!
Profile Image for superawesomekt.
1,633 reviews51 followers
January 5, 2018
Nice perspective on the value of self discipline and habits. The writing is simple and direct, if a little lackluster. Get the ebook as the middle of each page of the printed book has blurred text.
Profile Image for Natalie Votipka.
175 reviews
Read
September 25, 2018
I actually lost this book before finishing it for a book group but i'm going to cheat and call it finished anyway. It was a fine book for motivating and guiding you in building good habits, but unique only in the abundance of Charlotte Mason quotes. To be honest, these didn't add much for me. They were a bit redundant and unnecessarily belabored the point. The "word pictures" were the same. Regardless, it was a pretty quick read.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews

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