Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival – May 20, 2014

This is the carnival’s second month on the theme “A Master Thought“. You can find the first at Dewey’s Treehouse here. 

In this section, we find Charlotte Mason making a distinction between teaching good habits, both intellectual and moral, and the extreme of that idea; that doing such-and-such will produce a top-notch quality child.  

The third conceivable view, ‘Education is a discipline,’ has always had its votaries, and has them still. That the discipline of the habits of the good life, both intellectual and moral, forms a good third of education, we all believe. The excess occurs when we imagine that certain qualities of character and conduct run out, a prepared product like carded wool, from this or that educational machine, mathematics or classics, science or athletics; that is, when the notion of the development of the so-called faculties takes the place of the more physiologically true notion of the formation of intellectual habits.

The difference does not seem to be great; but two streams that rise within a foot of one another may water different countries and fall into different seas, and a broad divergence in practice often arises from what appears to be a small difference in conception, in matters educational. The father of Plutarch had him learn his Horner that he might get heroic ideas of life. Had the boy been put through his Homer as a classical grind, as a machine for the development of faculty, a pedant would have come out, and not a man of the world in touch with life at many points, capable of bringing men and affairs to the touchstone of a sane and generous mind. It seems to me that this notion of the discipline which should develop ‘faculty’ has tended to produce rather one-sided men, with the limitations which belong to abnormal development. ~Vol. 3 pg 151

“…in touch with life at many points…” 

In case you missed it last month, here is a description by “H.E. Wix” from the L’Umile Pianta on just what that looked like in Charlotte Mason’s Elementary Schools: They Live Closer to Life

From Harvest Community School, Toebiters and the Three Faces of Education!
“Some believe atmosphere depends upon classroom decorations, appealing graphics in textbooks, modern technology, and kid-friendly books that entertain while educating. However, we think bringing the world down to a “child’s level” dulls the mind.”

From journey-and-destination we have Notebooks for Nature Study, Science, Bible, Poetry & Hymn Study “I thought I’d share some of what we’ve done with various notebooks over the past 15 years.” 

From Dewey’s Treehouse, If you’ve read Ivanhoe and want to laugh. A book review of Knight’s Castle, by Edward Eager. 

From All Things Bright and Beautiful we have Jacob von Rueysdale – A Cottage and a Hayrick by a River, Georg Philipp Telemann – Musique de Table, A.A.Milne – Vespers “Oh! Thank you, God, for a lovely day. And what was the other I had to say?”

From rarefied, Sloyd Pinwheels. “I am now convinced that kids today need handwork more than ever.”

From Joyous Lessons, Second Grade in Our Home :: Fine Arts “I’m already planning how to fit art into our days for next year. I’ll have an infant again, which always makes things a bit challenging, but I’m hopeful!”

From Letters from Nebby, Charlotte Mason’s Original Homeschooling Series: Wrapping Up “Charlotte gives a very broad definition of knowledge. It is this knowledge which she believes has become so lacking in her day and, if anything, is even more so in our own”

From Simply…. Writing and Sharing…….., In Which I Ponder the Impact of a CM Education “How information is received can have a direct bearing on how much the student may care about that knowledge. In order for information to have a personal context that engages the student, there has to be a sense of ownership.”

From fisher.academy.international., The Need for Balance. A Craving for Unity. “This is the way things are. As persons fashioned after an infinite God, we are complex beings. We must consider ALL our intricately interwoven parts when we think about educating persons.”