The 33-year-old woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested on her return to the UK.
She appeared at Camberwell Green Magistrates' Court where she indicated she would plead not guilty.
Police appealed for information after the five went missing from Waltham Forest last week.
They were detained in Turkey on Tuesday and the woman was held at Luton Airport on Thursday.
A family court judge said the children had been placed in foster care and a judge would make decisions about their future.
Following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police's counter-terrorism command, the woman was charged with taking four children under the age of 16 out of the UK without the appropriate consent on 25 August.
She was remanded in custody and is due to appear at Southwark Crown Court on 21 September.
A woman who went missing with her four children, amid fears they were heading from London to Syria, has been charged with child abduction.