CM- A Method of Education

For those of you new to the blog I've decided to add my thoughts, ideas, and favorite passages as I read through the Charlotte Mason Original Homeschooling Series. There is a wealth of information in this series and I feel overwhelmed at the daunting task of trying to get it all into this blog. I will be simply placing the passages and ideas that I feel most drawn too. Now, you may read the series (which I do hope you will) and find something totally different. But isn't that what is great about books and literature? It's all in the eye of the beholder.

So, we pick up on page 6 of Volume 1. Miss Mason is speaking on the "traditional methods of education".

The traditions of the elders have been tried and found wanting; it will be long before the axioms of the new school pass into common currency; and, in the meantime, parents are thrown upon their own resources, and absolutely must weigh principles, and adopt a method, of education for themselves. CM vol. 1 page 6

I've read many times that Miss Mason was a woman 100 years before her time. This point that she makes here proves that is true. Here we are in the year 2009 and the "traditions of the elders" are still found wanting. No school is perfect, including our homeschools, but I think Miss Mason agrees that there is a need for a change from the typical example of schools in todays world (or the 19th century world even).

She goes on to talk about the methods and systems which are used in schools. She defines method as "natural; easy, yielding, unobtrusive, simple as the ways of Nature herself; yet, watchful, careful, all-pervading, all-compelling." (page 8)

She defines a system at the "observing of rules until the habit of doing certain things, of behaving in certain ways, is confirmed..." (page 9) She goes on to say that "though system is highly useful as an instrument of education, a 'system of education' is mischievous, as producing only mechanical action instead of the vital growth and movement of a living being"(page 10).

Miss Mason's approach to education is not a system made up of rules and a daily to-do list. She uses the following chapters to try to let the parents know some of the fundamental principles of education so they won't be tempted by the "system" of some people's views on education.

The Child in the Midst- And first, let us consider where and what the little being is who is entrusted to the care of human parents. A tablet to be written upon? A twig to be bent? Wax to be moulded? Very likely; but he is much more- a being belonging to an altoghether higher estate than ours; as it were, a prince committed to the fostering care of peasants. (CM page 11)

As you can probably tell, I love love this passage! I named my blog after this passage and the quote is at the top right of the blog. There is so much meat here. What is this "little being" that we are entrusted to care for? How shall we view him/her? And not only that, but we must realize that they don't even belong to us. They are entrusted to us for a time. It is our responsibility to "raise them in the nurture and admoniton of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4). We will give an account to almighty God and I want to make sure that the education I'm giving them is the best I possibly can. I feel it's one of my main goals in life. God called me to homeschool. I never thought I'd do this. But He called me and I accepted that call. I am responsible to Him and Him alone.

Life lessons

We took a break from school this morning to get a real lesson in life. We have to take these opportunities as they come and I'm so glad we were able to this morning. Isn't that one of the joys of homeschooling? We are able to teach and guide our children in the way we see best. And when life lessons come up we are able to drop everything and go!

This morning a unit from our town was deployed to Mosul, Iraq for a year. I don't have the privilege of knowing anyone from this unit however the tears ran down my face just the same. As the unit left there was a parade of police, motorcycles, and busses through the town. Our city asked everyone to line the streets to wave goodbye to them and to tie yellow ribbons in rememberance. I explained (in as simple terms as I could) to my 7 year old daughter and 5 year old son where they were going and why. I explained that they were our heros and we were going out to wave to show our support and let them know that we love them and will be praying for them. I still get emotional as I write this...those brave men and women giving their lives for us. My children asked why they would do something like that. I said, because they love us and they love our country and want to protect us.

Isn't this what our Lord Jesus did for us. Many say, why would anyone do something like that...give their own life so that others may live. Because He loves us with an undying passion. He created us. He adores us. He has provided a way, through His death, that we may spend eternity in heaven with Him. I feel so ashamed that I sometimes go through the day without giving Him much time. He stands always waiting to talk, guide, protect. Look at all He's sacrificed. He deserves so much more than I can give.

Like Jesus, we also go through our day without giving much thought to those brave men and women who are risking their lives for us as well. Not that they are equal in any way to our Lord. That's not my point. But they are giving all they have and are we truly grateful? Let us remember to support these troops, pray for them, and help to take care of their families while they're gone. I'm proud that my church has adopted this unit's families. We've already had a dinner for them in their honor and will be doing much more as the year progresses. I pray we'll have a great celebration in a year when these brave men and women come home!

Jill

More CM pearls of wisdom

Page 3 of Miss Mason's book talks about the fact that the "training of children is dreadfully defective". As I usually say, the system is broken! There are many reason's that I homeschool and this is one of them. I could write a book but I'll let Miss Mason speak on this:

What is to be expected when one of the most intricate of problems is undertaken by those who have given scarcely a thought to the principle on which its solution depends? (CM vol 1 page 3)

I was an elementary education major in college and when I graduated I looked around at those with me, or those coming up behind me. Seeing what I saw scared the daylights out of me. There are some excellent, amazing teachers out there. But there are also some to be very scared of. I have said many times that I would not want my worst enemy taught by 80% of the people I graduated with...for more reasons than one.

She goes on to talk about parents and "how parents usually proceed". She mentions that in the beginning there is much "ooing and ahhing" over everything that the child does. But:

The notion of doing all for the child with which the parents began gradually recedes. So soon as he shows that he has a way of his own he is encouraged to take it. Father and mother have no greater delight than to watch the individuality of their child unfold as a flower unfolds. The more the child shapes his own course, the less do the parents find to do, beyond feeding him with food convenient, whether of love, or thought, or of bodily meat and drink. (CM page 4)

Isn't it true that the older the children get the less we have to do for them. Sometimes this is wonderful. I love watching their personalities and abilities emerge. They discover that they can do it themselves and it excites them! It's great that my 7 year old can get her own snack and clean her own room. I love watching her read now and the fact that she'll soon be learning multiplication tables. My ds5 is learning his letters and sounds. It's joy to my heart that he walks around saying "F...fffffff" Yet we must be aware that they are still young and so impressionable. They are still "unwritten tablets" that have much to be written upon. Let us be sure that we don't take the easy road all the time and let's train them and work with them even if they can do it themselves.

Reading aloud comes to mind here. Miss Mason and the CM method of education weighs heavily upon reading aloud to children, no matter the age. Yes, my daughter can read. But there is nothing better than curling up on the couch with her in my arms and reading a book aloud to her no matter if she can read it herself or not.

It is in the infinitely little we must study the infinitely great; and the vast possibilities, and the right direction of education, are indicated in the open book of the little child's thoughts. (CM page 5)

I love love this quote. "...the open book of the little child's thoughts". How wonderful is that. They will lead us in the way we should educate them. What's good for one may not be good for the other. Don't force the children to conform to some method, some program, some curriculum if it's not working out for them. We must study our children, work with them, listen to them. They will guide us in what they need.

Well, nap time is almost over for the day so I shall sign off until another day. Have a blessed afternoon and rest of the day!

And it begins!

We have officially completed our first day of school! We are doing a mini schedule this week as my husband's grandmother is on hospice and we are expecting to leave any minute to travel for a few days. However, I promised the children that we'd begin today and we did!

This was ds5's first day of Kindergarten. He was so proud to have new books and be doing Math! Dd7 started second grade today. She loves the fact that her brother is now fully doing school with her and he's even using the same books she used two years ago. And my little dd2 was very very good while her brother and sister did their morning activities. We begin school together so she either joins in or finds something to play with. Her favorite part of the morning is when we sing. She runs from wherever she is to join us in dancing. She's so funny! We end up laughing so hard at her that we're barely singing. What joy!

There are a few things that I still need to get done but I'm very happy with our start. With the Lord's help this will be a wonderful year full of discoveries, knowledge, and fun.

Our Memorization/Recitation poem for the term!

I've been trying to find a poem, passage, or work to have dd7 work on memorizing this term. Many wonderful ladies have given their opinions and I love hearing what others are doing. A part of me wanted to let her choose which she'd learn, yet this being her first work I wanted to set a firm foundation for her. Our preacher preached a wonderful sermon this morning about being at a crossroads. Daily, in our Christian walk we have to choose which path we will take. We choose the path of the world which is wide and full of others we know. Or we choose the path of Christ which is narrow, hard, and sometimes lonely. I'm sure you can figure out where I'm headed now...here is the poem we've decided to work on this term.

ROAD LESS TRAVELED

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth

Then took the other as just as fair

And having perhaps the better claim

Because it was grassy and wanted wear

Though as for that, the passing there

Had worn them really about the same

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet, knowing how way leads onto way

I doubted if I should ever come back

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence

Two roads diverged in a wood

And I took the one less traveled by

And that has made all the difference

Robert Frost

Charlotte Mason Pearls of Wisdom

I'm reading through the Charlotte Mason Original Homeschooling Series right now and I am simply loving it! It's not an easy read, it's very meaty. There is so much to gleam from this woman and I don't want to miss anything. I'll try to post regularly about my readings and what she's taught me. It is a slow read though, as I find myself underlining and putting a star next to almost each paragraph!

Miss Mason begins her series speaking of children as being a part of the public trust.

"Now that work which is of most improtance to society is the bringing-up and instruction of the children-in the school, certainly, but far more in the home, because it is more than anything else the home influences brought to bear upon the child that determine the character and career of the future man or woman. It is a great thing to be a parent: there is no promotion, no dignity, to compare with it."

I love this passage! It is so true that the future of society is on our shoulders. We should not take this responsibility lightly. Miss Mason continues in this...

"It is upon the mothers of the present that the future of the world depends, in even a greater degree than upon the fathers, because it is the mothers who have the sole direction of the children's early, most impressible years."

I feel that so many times we take this responsibility so lightly. We can't wait until our children can read, write, learn on their own. But we end up wishing away the formitable years of their lives. I pray I can enjoy each and ever minute with my precious angels and see each day as a day that I can help to draw them closer to our Lord and closer to His will for their lives.

"Mothers owe 'a thinking love' to their children. The mother is qualified by the Creator Himself, to become the principal agent in the development of her child; and what is demanded of her is- a thinking love."

This passage is awesome to me. Note that is mentioned in my blog name as well. A thinking love. A purpose driven love. A love that knows no bounds yet a love that is thoughtout and planned. A mother's love can never be topped. This is one of the reasons I chose to homeschool. No one loves my children more than I do (other than our Lord, of course). No one has more interest in seeing my children succeed more than I do. Why would I entrust my children's future to someone else, no matter how great a teacher, that doesn't love my children and desire them to succeed more than I do.

I end here. There is much more to post on what I've read of Miss Mason so far. But I will save that future posts. I will continue to write on Miss Mason and what I'm learning. It's sort of like a journal for me. A way to compile my thoughts. I pray anyone reading this may gleam some sort of benefit from them and maybe even read of Miss Mason themselves!

Jill

Recitation/ Memory work

As I finish up my lesson plans for the first unit of school I am at a loss as to which poems or pieces of literature to have the children work on memorizing. Charlotte Mason believes that children have a much greater ability to memorize than we give them credit for. I wholeheartedly agree with her. My children began learning scripture verses last year and by the end of the first term they had each (ages 4 and 6 last year) learned 20 verses...my 6 year old even more.

The way I chose my verses from last year were by using the verses they were supposed to be learning in church. I help teach Bible Buddies at our church and at the beginning of the year there is a long list of scripture verses each child is handed. I figured, why reinvent the wheel? So my children set out to learn those verses plus many others that I loved.

This year I'm going to try the scripture memory program selected by SimplyCharlotteMason.com. It looks amazing and I found it over a year ago. However I've been waiting until now to put it into effect.

This still leaves the question as to which longer piece of work that I'd like the children to memorize this term. This would be one single work (it will more than likely differ with each child) that they would work on memorizing for the term and have a little program with parents and grandparents at the end to recite it. Public speaking is very high on my priority list as well as Miss Mason's.

Here is a tid bit that I copied from LindaFay at her blog, Higher Up and Further In.

Here is what Miss Mason recommended children of various ages learn within a twelve week term of school:

6 to 8 year olds- Recite a poem (each child may choose a different one), learn two hymns, a Psalm, and two suitable scripture passages of 6 verses each

9-11 year olds- A Psalm, and two suitable passages of about 12 verses each, two hymns, a scene from the Shakespeare play being studied this term, or, 40 lines from this term's poet such as Longfellow.

12-14 year olds- Learn two suitable passages of about 20 verses each from chapters in Bible Lessons. Two hymns, a Psalm of David. A scene from the Shakespeare play being studied this term, or 50 lines from this term's poet.

15-17 year olds- Learn two suitable passages of 20 verses each from chapters in Bible Lessons. Two hymns. Two psalms. Two poems (approx 50 lines), or, a scene from Shakespeare.

Thus, I continue to search for the passage to memorize for this term. I'll let you know what I find. I value any suggestions you may have.