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!