Okay, I thought I had posted up this reading last week when I was supposed to, but apparently I didn't. Whoops. At least it is short. Unless you want to hear about how every child needs a good portion of bacon fat every day to be healthy, I think it is fairly safe to skip - or at least just skim - pages 20-37. Basically she is saying that children need to be in a good healthy environment with good food and fresh air in order to have the optimum education. I think everyone would agree with this. I've noticed that with Jonah, of course. . . if he's thirsty or hungry or something obviously he's not going to be very happy or listen or concentrate well at all. Their physical needs must be met in order for their brains to be in their best working order.
Allright, I think there is plenty to discuss in pages 38-41!
1. At the top of p. 38, CM talks about parents leaving too much up to common sense and not paying enough attention to the laws of God. Where do you see that happening in parenting circles today? The first that comes to my mind is when people say "If I spank, they will learn to hit", thinking that that is great common sense. . . where else can you see common sense outranking God's laws in people's minds?
2. CM talks on page 38-39 about God's blessings being on those who are obedient to His laws, regardless of the level of their relationship to Him and the danger that comes from your children meeting those who are more moral than they even are, yet don't acknowledge God. What can we do to teach not only good doctrine to our children, but the obedience to God's laws that will bring the blessing of "morality"?
3. She then goes on to speak about those who think only the "spiritual" laws must be obeyed - she says yes, they receive the ultimate gift of eternal life, but they miss out on the gifts of science and the laws God has placed in the world in the way He ordered it. Does this have a bearing on the way we want our children to be educated? I think she is saying that we have to not only pray that our children will walk rightly, but teach them how to as well.
I admit that I find this last part a little hard to follow. Maybe someone else can help interpret what CM is saying and how it relates to our educational decisions?
Monday, February 15, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Week 2 Reading - Book 1, Chapter 1, Pages 11-20
I think this section is especially good . . and convicting for me personally. Once again, you can leave your thoughts as comments on this post - just put the number of the question by them so we know which ones you are discussing. The summary of the reading can be found at http://amblesideonline.org/CM/Summary1.html for those of you who don't have time to read.
1. Page 13 - I don't think CM means here so much "children are born law-abiding" as she does "children are born with a conscience", from what she offers as her explanation of that phrase. For anyone who has older children, what are you doing to help them in the area of conscience and how to confess their sin to God and to ask you for forgiveness? Is there any help you can offer those of us with younger children as we begin on this part of the road? What can we do specifically to help them understand the things they must not do because they're wrong and not because Mommy doesn't like them?
2. Page 15- How can we help our children to understand that we are law governed as well, under God's authority as we discipline them? Do we have options regarding the things we do or don't let them do or are there specific Scriptural principles that we have no choice but to follow? In other words, what are the laws that are governing us in disciplining our children?
3. Page 17 - "Children should have the best of their mothers" - obviously, this section was written during a time when many children had nurses to care for them, but how does this idea translate into our world today? How can we encourage each other to use our energy to make sure our children are getting the best of us?
4. Page 19-20 talks about the fact that children's faults are serious and they are capable of sinning as well as having a relationship with the Almighty God. How do you agree or disagree with these thoughts? What Scriptures relate to children's capacity for faith? If your church thinks differently than you do, how are you handling this?
1. Page 13 - I don't think CM means here so much "children are born law-abiding" as she does "children are born with a conscience", from what she offers as her explanation of that phrase. For anyone who has older children, what are you doing to help them in the area of conscience and how to confess their sin to God and to ask you for forgiveness? Is there any help you can offer those of us with younger children as we begin on this part of the road? What can we do specifically to help them understand the things they must not do because they're wrong and not because Mommy doesn't like them?
2. Page 15- How can we help our children to understand that we are law governed as well, under God's authority as we discipline them? Do we have options regarding the things we do or don't let them do or are there specific Scriptural principles that we have no choice but to follow? In other words, what are the laws that are governing us in disciplining our children?
3. Page 17 - "Children should have the best of their mothers" - obviously, this section was written during a time when many children had nurses to care for them, but how does this idea translate into our world today? How can we encourage each other to use our energy to make sure our children are getting the best of us?
4. Page 19-20 talks about the fact that children's faults are serious and they are capable of sinning as well as having a relationship with the Almighty God. How do you agree or disagree with these thoughts? What Scriptures relate to children's capacity for faith? If your church thinks differently than you do, how are you handling this?
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
What do you propose that education will effect in and for your child?
This was a question from last week and one that was answered by several people. I think it's the most important question from this reading and since we haven't started the next section yet, I thought this worth belaboring.
I was rocking Jonah to sleep tonight, just for fun, and in my mind I was thinking about this question and what I would purpose to have the education I will give him effect in him. I was thinking about the state of the world and all the unknowns. We think teaching our kids to think is important and it is, teaching them how to learn, teaching them research and writing skills so that whatever comes along later they will be able to pick up and learn on their own and explain to others - all of these are important. But I am thinking of a little bigger picture, and one that I believe a complete reading of Charlotte Mason's whole series shows is her big picture too. What if our world goes to war? What if America crumbles tomorrow and all the Christians are sent to prison camps? What if China takes over and our children are in brainwashing sessions to teach them the ways of communism? Having taught them to think well for themselves will be helpful, certainly, to help them see through the lies, but I don't think it is a sufficient goal of education. In Haiti right now, if you were a mother crushed under the rubble and realized your children would survive, would you be thinking, "I hope they know how to learn"? The reason we are homeschooling, and the reason for those who aren't but are home with their children at this point, should not be to give our children a superior education. It should be to give them a solid faith.
Deuteronomy talks about teaching the laws of God to your children when you sit down, when you rise up, when you walk by the way - that is why we are with our kids 24/7 - not because we want them to get a good SAT score or be able to pick up and learn anything they want - and it's not because we love changing diapers or find a secret thrill in getting vomited on. It's because God has given these kids specifically to us as parents and He has given them with the trust that we are going to lay our lives down to bring them to the feet of the cross.
What should our goal of education be? It's to sing the praises of the Lord to the next generation. What do we propose that education will effect in our children? The ability to sing His praises to the next generation after that. What do we propose it will effect for our children? An eternal, internal strength that will give them hope in a world of tragedy, joy in a world of sorrow, and marble faith in a triune God in a world of pluralism and heathenism. I don't really care if my children fail the SAT. I do care if they think it's okay to not give a clerk back an extra quarter.
I think most of us would agree on this as our final goal. But let's not get distracted even for a minute thinking that academics are more important. If we lose sight of our goal of helping our children be like Christ even for a couple of hours, we're in trouble. If studying so hard for a science test means Jonah starts to snap at Betsy unkindly for making noise, out the door goes the science test. If getting a good score on a paper makes my kids prideful and cocky, I won't show them their scores (I know my mom rarely did!). I'm trying to help them towards godliness, not intelligence.
So, there's my two cents. Anyone else have any thoughts?
I was rocking Jonah to sleep tonight, just for fun, and in my mind I was thinking about this question and what I would purpose to have the education I will give him effect in him. I was thinking about the state of the world and all the unknowns. We think teaching our kids to think is important and it is, teaching them how to learn, teaching them research and writing skills so that whatever comes along later they will be able to pick up and learn on their own and explain to others - all of these are important. But I am thinking of a little bigger picture, and one that I believe a complete reading of Charlotte Mason's whole series shows is her big picture too. What if our world goes to war? What if America crumbles tomorrow and all the Christians are sent to prison camps? What if China takes over and our children are in brainwashing sessions to teach them the ways of communism? Having taught them to think well for themselves will be helpful, certainly, to help them see through the lies, but I don't think it is a sufficient goal of education. In Haiti right now, if you were a mother crushed under the rubble and realized your children would survive, would you be thinking, "I hope they know how to learn"? The reason we are homeschooling, and the reason for those who aren't but are home with their children at this point, should not be to give our children a superior education. It should be to give them a solid faith.
Deuteronomy talks about teaching the laws of God to your children when you sit down, when you rise up, when you walk by the way - that is why we are with our kids 24/7 - not because we want them to get a good SAT score or be able to pick up and learn anything they want - and it's not because we love changing diapers or find a secret thrill in getting vomited on. It's because God has given these kids specifically to us as parents and He has given them with the trust that we are going to lay our lives down to bring them to the feet of the cross.
What should our goal of education be? It's to sing the praises of the Lord to the next generation. What do we propose that education will effect in our children? The ability to sing His praises to the next generation after that. What do we propose it will effect for our children? An eternal, internal strength that will give them hope in a world of tragedy, joy in a world of sorrow, and marble faith in a triune God in a world of pluralism and heathenism. I don't really care if my children fail the SAT. I do care if they think it's okay to not give a clerk back an extra quarter.
I think most of us would agree on this as our final goal. But let's not get distracted even for a minute thinking that academics are more important. If we lose sight of our goal of helping our children be like Christ even for a couple of hours, we're in trouble. If studying so hard for a science test means Jonah starts to snap at Betsy unkindly for making noise, out the door goes the science test. If getting a good score on a paper makes my kids prideful and cocky, I won't show them their scores (I know my mom rarely did!). I'm trying to help them towards godliness, not intelligence.
So, there's my two cents. Anyone else have any thoughts?
Monday, February 1, 2010
Week 2 Reading
Because I need to be one week ahead of the readings in order to have the summary and discussion questions ready, this week will be used to catch up. So I will post the assignment on Monday as I plan to do in the future. Since today is Monday, I will tell you that the assignment is:
Page 11-20
There, now the suspense is over.
Page 11-20
There, now the suspense is over.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Updates
Okay, I fixed a couple of things.
If you want to subscribe to this blog's RSS feed, you have to enter www.salvationsongs.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default into your reader. You can also click on "subscribe to feed" at the bottom of this post and copy the link.
If you don't use a reader, but would like each post e-mailed to you, let me know.
The comments are now enabled again. I'm sorry, I'm not sure how I messed that up.
In the future, I will post the summary and the discussion questions over the weekend and at the same time announce the reading for the following week.
If you want to subscribe to this blog's RSS feed, you have to enter www.salvationsongs.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default into your reader. You can also click on "subscribe to feed" at the bottom of this post and copy the link.
If you don't use a reader, but would like each post e-mailed to you, let me know.
The comments are now enabled again. I'm sorry, I'm not sure how I messed that up.
In the future, I will post the summary and the discussion questions over the weekend and at the same time announce the reading for the following week.
Week 1 Summary
Here is a short summary of this week's reading, taken from http://amblesideonline.org/CM/Summary1.html
Part I––Some Preliminary Considerations pages 1-6
As education is more available to all classes of people, we see more women enter the workforce. Not all of those women work because of financial necessity, some just love the satisfaction of doing something really important. But the work that is most important to society is raising children, not just in schools, but, even more, in the home, because early home life influences the character of the future man or woman more than anything else. "It is a great thing to be a parent: there is no promotion, no dignity, to compare with it. The parents of but one child may be cherishing what shall prove a blessing to the world."
Charlotte Mason is correct, there is no higher calling than raising the next generation, and it is good to enter into it with some knowledge, and to realize that we don't just raise them to be a blessing to ourselves as parents, but to all of society as well.
There are natural laws that govern everything, including raising children. Parents have to observe certain laws (feed it, love it) just to keep a child alive. So long as the parent provides love, nutritious food, wholesome playmates and diversions, the child does well left to himself––for awhile. He will grow up perfectly happy. But parents, and indeed, all the adults in society, owe the child more than that––they must also train him to be a useful member of society.
I––A Method of Education pg. 6-10
Child-rearing has gone from one of two extremes––from a Spartan-like existence designed to toughen kids up for the real world to almost child-worship, where the parents bend over backwards to please the child's whims. In our society, we seem to have a bit different variation of the Spartan extreme. Some children are neglected and some are over-indulged. She mentions that using a slipper in her day was pretty much "disallowed," leaving us to assume that corporal punishment was discouraged then as it is in our society today.
Raising children, like any venture, is best done when you have some idea or vision of the end result you desire. It's easy to get so focused on one aspect of child-rearing that everything else is neglected. It's much harder to keep the whole child in our vision, to be balanced and not get obsessed about one area. Our end goal is a child who is useful to his world, is trained to choose rightly, and whose love for many different things brings joy to him all his life.
Once you know what you desire as your end result, you just have to plan how to get there. Since children are living beings with minds of their own, a rigid system where the teacher follows steps A, B and C to get the result of Child D, won't work. What's needed is a method, a plan to arrive at the desired destination and some guiding principles to keep in mind along the way.
Part I––Some Preliminary Considerations pages 1-6
As education is more available to all classes of people, we see more women enter the workforce. Not all of those women work because of financial necessity, some just love the satisfaction of doing something really important. But the work that is most important to society is raising children, not just in schools, but, even more, in the home, because early home life influences the character of the future man or woman more than anything else. "It is a great thing to be a parent: there is no promotion, no dignity, to compare with it. The parents of but one child may be cherishing what shall prove a blessing to the world."
Charlotte Mason is correct, there is no higher calling than raising the next generation, and it is good to enter into it with some knowledge, and to realize that we don't just raise them to be a blessing to ourselves as parents, but to all of society as well.
There are natural laws that govern everything, including raising children. Parents have to observe certain laws (feed it, love it) just to keep a child alive. So long as the parent provides love, nutritious food, wholesome playmates and diversions, the child does well left to himself––for awhile. He will grow up perfectly happy. But parents, and indeed, all the adults in society, owe the child more than that––they must also train him to be a useful member of society.
I––A Method of Education pg. 6-10
Child-rearing has gone from one of two extremes––from a Spartan-like existence designed to toughen kids up for the real world to almost child-worship, where the parents bend over backwards to please the child's whims. In our society, we seem to have a bit different variation of the Spartan extreme. Some children are neglected and some are over-indulged. She mentions that using a slipper in her day was pretty much "disallowed," leaving us to assume that corporal punishment was discouraged then as it is in our society today.
Raising children, like any venture, is best done when you have some idea or vision of the end result you desire. It's easy to get so focused on one aspect of child-rearing that everything else is neglected. It's much harder to keep the whole child in our vision, to be balanced and not get obsessed about one area. Our end goal is a child who is useful to his world, is trained to choose rightly, and whose love for many different things brings joy to him all his life.
Once you know what you desire as your end result, you just have to plan how to get there. Since children are living beings with minds of their own, a rigid system where the teacher follows steps A, B and C to get the result of Child D, won't work. What's needed is a method, a plan to arrive at the desired destination and some guiding principles to keep in mind along the way.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Week 1 Reading - Book 1, Chapter 1, Pages 1-10
Welcome to our first week! I was going to have this portion be twice as long, but when I got into the discussion questions, I realized we have more than enough things to discuss with only these 10 pages. It's probably about 15 minutes' worth of reading.
I will first post the discussion questions so we can begin discussing as soon as possible. Then, hopefully tomorrow, I will have the summary posted for those who are not able to actually read the book so they can join in as well.
1. CM says that "children are a public trust". Do you agree or disagree with this statement? She uses it in the sense that children do not belong to parents to do with as they please, but that they are to bring them up in a way that will make them fit members of society. What would be the Biblical perspective on that idea?
2. "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? For shoemaking or housebuilding, for the management of a ship or of a locomotive engine, a long apprenticeship is needful. Is it, then, that the unfolding of a human being in body and mind is so comparatively simple a process that any one may superintend and regulate it with no preparation whatever?" I know people joke that there should be qualifications for parents, but the world just doesn't work that way. It is interesting that people prepare for nearly every other career, but for mothering there is no formal training. When should people start thinking about how to parent? What can we do when we find ourselves already parenting and realize there are things we don't no?
3. Page 5 says, "Nothing is trivial that concerns a child; his foolish-seeming words and ways are pregnant with meaning for the wise. 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." Charlotte Mason is using this to say that children are best left to blossom on their own, using her phrase "masterly inactivity" to describe the position of the parent - always overseeing, always watching, always having the materials for learning and growth available, but keeping the meddling to a minimum. Have you noticed things in your own life that were '"infinitely little" when you were small but still are a part of your character or personality or interests today? For example, my parents have a home video of me holding up a bag of animal crackers and telling the cameraman what a bargain they were at the store. Come to find out, I would still enjoy bargain shopping today. Have you noticed anything in your kids already that you think might be a glimpse of things to come, either positive or negative? What can we do to help them develop the good things that we see pieces of and nip the bad ones in the bud before they blossom into something we don't want to deal with later?
4. Pages 6-8 talk about methods of education in the past and whether it's right to be strict or loose with children. A child of 5 is quoted as saying "I shall never make a sailor if I can't face the wind and rain." In these days of wipe warmers, I think our culture leans towards the side of pampering children. Is this good or bad? How much hardship should they be allowed or encouraged to endure? What age should this start? (This may be controversial.)
5. On page 8, the question is asked, "What do you propose that education shall effect in and for your child?" How would you answer that?
6. Page 9 discusses methods vs. systems and the fact that systems try to pigeonhole people who are living, breathing beings. Have you seen any failures of the system method?
To begin the discussion, leave a comment on this post. To keep things organized, let's state the number of the question we're responding to before the response. That way you can respond to multiple things in one post if you wish and everyone can easily see what you are talking about. Of course, if you want to bring up something else, feel free to - just make it #7 and so forth.
I will first post the discussion questions so we can begin discussing as soon as possible. Then, hopefully tomorrow, I will have the summary posted for those who are not able to actually read the book so they can join in as well.
Discussion Questions
1. CM says that "children are a public trust". Do you agree or disagree with this statement? She uses it in the sense that children do not belong to parents to do with as they please, but that they are to bring them up in a way that will make them fit members of society. What would be the Biblical perspective on that idea?
2. "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? For shoemaking or housebuilding, for the management of a ship or of a locomotive engine, a long apprenticeship is needful. Is it, then, that the unfolding of a human being in body and mind is so comparatively simple a process that any one may superintend and regulate it with no preparation whatever?" I know people joke that there should be qualifications for parents, but the world just doesn't work that way. It is interesting that people prepare for nearly every other career, but for mothering there is no formal training. When should people start thinking about how to parent? What can we do when we find ourselves already parenting and realize there are things we don't no?
3. Page 5 says, "Nothing is trivial that concerns a child; his foolish-seeming words and ways are pregnant with meaning for the wise. 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." Charlotte Mason is using this to say that children are best left to blossom on their own, using her phrase "masterly inactivity" to describe the position of the parent - always overseeing, always watching, always having the materials for learning and growth available, but keeping the meddling to a minimum. Have you noticed things in your own life that were '"infinitely little" when you were small but still are a part of your character or personality or interests today? For example, my parents have a home video of me holding up a bag of animal crackers and telling the cameraman what a bargain they were at the store. Come to find out, I would still enjoy bargain shopping today. Have you noticed anything in your kids already that you think might be a glimpse of things to come, either positive or negative? What can we do to help them develop the good things that we see pieces of and nip the bad ones in the bud before they blossom into something we don't want to deal with later?
4. Pages 6-8 talk about methods of education in the past and whether it's right to be strict or loose with children. A child of 5 is quoted as saying "I shall never make a sailor if I can't face the wind and rain." In these days of wipe warmers, I think our culture leans towards the side of pampering children. Is this good or bad? How much hardship should they be allowed or encouraged to endure? What age should this start? (This may be controversial.)
5. On page 8, the question is asked, "What do you propose that education shall effect in and for your child?" How would you answer that?
6. Page 9 discusses methods vs. systems and the fact that systems try to pigeonhole people who are living, breathing beings. Have you seen any failures of the system method?
To begin the discussion, leave a comment on this post. To keep things organized, let's state the number of the question we're responding to before the response. That way you can respond to multiple things in one post if you wish and everyone can easily see what you are talking about. Of course, if you want to bring up something else, feel free to - just make it #7 and so forth.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Introduction
Welcome to our blog, "Glad Songs of Salvation" (title taken from Psalm 118:15 describing the atmosphere in the homes of the righteous), which purposes to discuss the writings of Charlotte Mason in her "Original Homeschooling Series". The intent of this blog is to help those of us with children (or those of us who will one day have children) think more deeply about the things that we do to train them. To quote CM, "We are waking up to our duties, and in proportion as mothers become more highly educated and efficient, they will doubtless feel the more strongly that the education of their children during the first six years of life is an undertaking hardly to be entrusted to any hands but their own. And they will take it up as their profession - that is, with the diligence, regularity, and punctuality which men bestow on their professional labours." The task of training our children - not only academically, but more importantly spiritually, morally, and physically, is a job with consequences far greater than many others, and can perhaps become overwhelming at times. As someone told me this week, "I knew the soul of my child was hanging in the balance on how I handled this situation." That can be true for each one of us each day as we recognize the awesome responsibility God has given us to be His instrument in molding little hearts and minds to walk in the only way that they should go.
So, whether you plan to homeschool or not, you are the sole influence on your children for their early years and for those of us who will be homeschooling all the way through, we are going to be that main provider of instruction for many, many years. But either way, God will hold each of us responsible for all the education our children receive and it is our duty to think hard about the things we say and do each day. We are not babysitters that are dispensable or replaceable. We are mothers and fathers with a trust from the Lord of precious lives that are not to be dealt with lightly.
Lest you think this will be a serious, no-nonsense blog, allow me to let you in one of Charlotte Mason's main philosophies - life is learning and having joy in everyday life is one of the greatest things you can do to start your children off on a good foundation!
The way the blog will work is as follows:
Each week we will read and discuss a portion of Charlotte Mason's series, beginning with book 1, "Home Education: Training and Educating Children Under Nine". The section will be either a chapter or part of a chapter, which can be read in about 30 minutes. Over the weekend, I will post a detailed summary of the chapter (especially for any husbands that would like to particiapte in the discussion but may not have time to read the section). At the end of the summary, I will post some discussion questions, perhaps some personal thoughts, and then open up the comments for your participation, disagreement, or conversation. The following weekend we will start over with a new section.
These books are available on Amazon and at other retailers for a reasonable price, as well as perhaps at your local library. They can also be read for free online at: http://amblesideonline.org/CM/toc.html. Someone has kindly posted a version in modern English as well, in case you don't want to wade through the original: http://amblesideonline.org/CM/ModernEnglish.html.
So, for this week, why don't you work on locating a book or perhaps printing out the first chapter from the online version if you wish to do that, and then leave a comment here letting everyone know you would like to participate!
I look forward to some great conversations!
So, whether you plan to homeschool or not, you are the sole influence on your children for their early years and for those of us who will be homeschooling all the way through, we are going to be that main provider of instruction for many, many years. But either way, God will hold each of us responsible for all the education our children receive and it is our duty to think hard about the things we say and do each day. We are not babysitters that are dispensable or replaceable. We are mothers and fathers with a trust from the Lord of precious lives that are not to be dealt with lightly.
Lest you think this will be a serious, no-nonsense blog, allow me to let you in one of Charlotte Mason's main philosophies - life is learning and having joy in everyday life is one of the greatest things you can do to start your children off on a good foundation!
The way the blog will work is as follows:
Each week we will read and discuss a portion of Charlotte Mason's series, beginning with book 1, "Home Education: Training and Educating Children Under Nine". The section will be either a chapter or part of a chapter, which can be read in about 30 minutes. Over the weekend, I will post a detailed summary of the chapter (especially for any husbands that would like to particiapte in the discussion but may not have time to read the section). At the end of the summary, I will post some discussion questions, perhaps some personal thoughts, and then open up the comments for your participation, disagreement, or conversation. The following weekend we will start over with a new section.
These books are available on Amazon and at other retailers for a reasonable price, as well as perhaps at your local library. They can also be read for free online at: http://amblesideonline.org/CM/toc.html. Someone has kindly posted a version in modern English as well, in case you don't want to wade through the original: http://amblesideonline.org/CM/ModernEnglish.html.
So, for this week, why don't you work on locating a book or perhaps printing out the first chapter from the online version if you wish to do that, and then leave a comment here letting everyone know you would like to participate!
I look forward to some great conversations!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)