Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery | Little Britches, Ralph Moody | The Living Page |
Loomis translation (For Teacher Prep) | North's Plutarch (Heritage Press Edition) | Stories from the History of Rome |
Fifty Famous Stories Retold | Nancy's Favorite Retelling |
The Phantom Tollbooth, Norman Juster | The 21 Balloons, William Pene du Bois | My Side of the Mountain, Jean Craighead George |
Old Yeller, Fred Gipson | Where the Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls | Harry Potter Series, J.K. Rowling |
Rascal, Sterling North | Deathwatch, Robb White | Read-Aloud Handbook, Jim Trelease |
The Living Page, Laurie Bestvater |
Our discussions on the subject of history resulted in an onslaught of questions. This podcast episode slowly and carefully addresses the most common and frequently asked history concerns, misunderstandings, and points of confusion we have received about Charlotte Mason's approach to teaching this subject.
Listen Now:
If you are seeing this message, please make sure you are using the most current version of your web browser: Internet Explorer 9, Firefox, Chrome
"We introduce children as early as possible to the contemporary history of other countries as the study of English history alone is apt to lead to a certain insular and arrogant habit of mind." (Vol. 6, p. 175)
"The flowers, it is true, are not new; but the children are; and it is the fault of their elders if every new flower they come upon is not to them a Picciola, a mystery of beauty to be watched from day to day with unspeakable awe and delight." (Vol.1, p.53)
Colonial Living, Edwin Tunis
Frontier Living, Edwin Tunis
Our Island Story, H.E. Marshall
Winston Churchill and the Story of Two World Wars, Olivia Coolidge
Most Gracious Majesty: The Story of Queen Elizabeth II, Elinor Parker
The Battle of Britain, Quentin Reynolds
The Story of Edith Cavell, Iris Vinton
(Contains affiliate links)
Check out Leah Boden's Periscope, The Charlotte Mason Show
The scope of the subject of geography matches the size of the world it covers and Charlotte Mason's approach to this subject is likewise vast and multifaceted. This podcast episode discusses the purpose of geography study, the variety of resources used for learning, and gives a broad overview of the progression throughout forms I to VI.
The Bible is the most authoritative and ancient of all books and Mason considered its lessons to be the supreme lesson, leading most directly to knowledge of God. This podcast explores why she was of this opinion, why we must not neglect its lessons, and how those lessons should be presented.
Beyond the books, what are some tools that are useful in putting history into living color for a child? At what age should we begin to use a timeline, or should we use a timeline at all? How do we implement the book of centuries? Listen in as we wrestle with some of the things that make history lessons come alive.
Listen Now:
If you are seeing this message, please make sure you are using the most current version of your web browser: Internet Explorer 9, Firefox, Chrome
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Home Education (Volume 1), pg. 292
Towards a Philosophy of Education (Volume 6), pg. 177
Miss Beale's Parents' Review Article on "The Teaching of Chronology"
Parents' Review Article on making and keeping a Book of Centuries
The Living Page, Laurie Bestvater
(Contains affiliate links)
Laurie Bestvater's Book of Centuries
Another Book of Centuries from Riverbend Press
Bernau's Article on the Book of Centuries With much gratitude to the Charlotte Mason Institute for making this PDF available
Beale's Article on the Teaching of Chronology With much gratitude to the Charlotte Mason Institute for making this PDF available
H.B.'s Article on the Teaching of History With much gratitude to the Charlotte Mason Institute for making this PDF available
Biggar's Article on How to Make a Century Chart With much gratitude to the Charlotte Mason Institute for making this PDF available
When we are clear in the direction we are headed in our children's history studies, know the time period and the order and the streams to cover, what books will we use to explore those unfathomable numbers of events and characters in history? Is a spine necessary? What is the real value of a biography? How much should we be concerned about the historical accuracy of the account we are reading? Explore these ideas with us in this episode.
Listen Now:
If you are seeing this message, please make sure you are using the most current version of your web browser: Internet Explorer 9, Firefox, Chrome
"[B]ut let the mother beware: there is nothing which calls for more delicate tact and understanding sympathy with the children than this apparently simple matter of choosing their lesson-books, and especially, perhaps, their lesson-books in history." (Vol. 1, pg. 289)
"We know that young people are enormously interested in the subject and give concentrated attention if we give them the right books." (Vol. 6, pg. )
"The knowledge of children so taught is consecutive, intelligent and complete as far as it goes, in however many directions." (Vol. 6, pg. 158)
"In Form IV the children are promoted to Gardiner's Student's History of England, clear and able, but somewhat stiffer than that they have hitherto been engaged upon." (Vol. 6, pg. 176)
"Of all the pleasant places in the world of mind, I do not know that any are more delightful than those in the domain of History. Have you ever looked through a kinetoscope? Many figures are there, living and moving, dancing, walking in procession, whatever they happened to be doing at the time the picture was taken. History is a little like that, only much more interesting, because in these curious living photographs the figures are very small and rather dim, and most attentive gazing cannot make them clearer; now, History shows you its personages, clothed as they were clothed, moving, looking, speaking, as they looked, moved, and spoke, engaged in serious matters or in pleasures; and, the longer you look at any one person, the more clearly he stands out until at last he may become more real to you than the people who live in your own home." (Vol. 4, pg. 36)
"The fatal mistake is in the notion that he must learn 'outlines,' or a baby edition of the whole history of England, or of Rome, just as he must cover the geography of all the world. Let him, on the contrary, linger pleasantly over the history of a single man, a short period, until he thinks the thoughts of that man, is at home in the ways of that period. Though he is reading and thinking of the lifetime of a single man, he is really getting intimately acquainted with the history of a whole nation for a whole age." (Vol. 1, pg. 280)
"Literature is dangerous--except when taken in large doses." --Martin Cothran (quoted here.)
America Begins, Alice Dalgliesh
America Builds Homes, Alice Dalgliesh
And There Was America, Roger Duvoisin
Land of the Free, Enid LaMonte Meadowcroft
D'Aulaire Picture Biographies
Gerald Johnson's A History for Peter: America is Born (Volume 1)
America Grows Up (Volume 2)
America Moves Forward (Volume 3)
Dorothy Mills' History Books, Reprints available as well
Paul Johnson's Histories
Barbara Tuchman's Histories
Basic History of the United States, Clarence Carson
The Silent Storm, Marion Marsh Brown and Ruth Crone
Isaac Newton, Harry Sootin
(Contains affiliate links)
A wonderful resource with reviews of living books series, See especially Messner Biographies, Signature Series, Garrard History Series Books, and Landmark Books
Merry Christmas! As we celebrate the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we took a break from discussing history to bring you a special episode. Art Middlekauff shares with us a lesser-known, but very important work by Charlotte Mason herself--her poetic reflections on the Life of Christ entitled, The Saviour of the World. We hope this episode, and more importantly, these poems, will bless you and yours today and in the year to come.
Listen Now:
If you are seeing this message, please make sure you are using the most current version of your web browser: Internet Explorer 9, Firefox, Chrome
You can find Art Middlekauff's blog here
The Savior of the World (online)
Hardback reprints of Volumes 1, 3, 4, and 5
Paperback reprints of Volumes 1, 2, and 3
This post describes an app to read an online Bible with links to the corresponding Saviour of the World Poems
In Memorium
Whether in homeschooling, public or private schooling, the teacher finds that the appeal and wonder of narration that Charlotte Mason employed is not without its challenges. This episode addresses commonly asked questions and confusion surrounding the implementation of narration to offer some practical solutions to difficulties you may encounter in the classroom.
Homeschooling with Charlotte Mason's method is truly a joy when employing her foundational, and unique, use of narration. This episode unpacks the basics of why children make excellent narrators and learn abundantly through building that skill, as well as some basics of how to begin and make use of "telling."
If you desire to use living books in your children's education, but are not confident of your ability to discern which books are "living" and which are not, this episode contains the practical information you need. Criteria for determining if a book is living are described carefully, examples read, along with ways to identify and eliminate twaddle from your bookshelves.
Listen Now:
If you are seeing this message, please make sure you are using the most current version of your web browser: Internet Explorer 9, Firefox, Chrome
"[T]he boy who has not formed the habit of getting nourishment out of his books in school-days does not, afterwards, see the good of reading. He has not acquired, in an intellectual sense, the art of reading, so he cannot be said to have lost it; and he goes through life an imperfect person, with the best and most delightful of his powers latent or maimed." (The Formation of Character, pg. 291)
"I am speaking now of his lesson-books, which are all too apt to be written in a style of insufferable twaddle, probably because they are written by persons who have never chanced to meet a child." (Home Education, pg. 229)
“This sort of weak literature for the children, both in any story and lesson books, is the result of a reactionary process. Not so long ago the current impression was that the children had little understanding, but prodigious memory for facts; dates, numbers, rules, catechisms of knowledge, much information in small parcels, was supposed to be the fitting material for a child's education. We have changed all that, and put into the children's hands lesson-books with pretty pictures and easy talk, almost as good as story-books; but we do not see that, after all, we are but giving the same little pills of knowledge in the form of a weak and copious diluent. Teachers, and even parents, who are careful enough about their children's diet, are so reckless as to the sort of mental aliment offered to them, that I am exceedingly anxious to secure consideration for this question, of the lessons and literature proper for the little people." (Home Education, pgs. 176-77)
"[H]ungry souls clamouring for meat, and we choke them off, not by shutting up schools and colleges, but by offering matter which no living soul can digest. The complaints made by teachers and children of the monotony of the work in our schools is full of pathos and all credit to those teachers who cheer the weary path by entertaining devices. But mind does not live and grow upon entertainment; it requires its solid meals." (Towards a Philosophy of Education, pg. 90)
“They must grow up upon the best. There must never be a period in their lives when they are allowed to read or listen to twaddle or reading-made-easy. There is never a time when they are unequal to worthy thoughts, well put; inspiring tales, well told.” (Parents and Children, pg. 263)
"A book may be long or short, old or new, easy or hard, written by a great man or a lesser man, and yet be the living book which finds its way to the mind of a young reader. The expert is not the person to choose; the children themselves are the experts in this case. A single page will elicit a verdict; but the unhappy thing is, this verdict is not betrayed; it is acted upon in the opening or closing of the door of the mind." (School Education, pgs. 228-229)
"The 'hundred best books for the schoolroom' may be put down on a list, but not by me. I venture to propose one or two principles in the matter of school-books, and shall leave the far more difficult part, the application of those principles, to the reader. (School Education, pg. 177)
"So much for the right books; the right use of them is another matter. The children must enjoy the book." (School Education, pg. 178)
"As for literature--to introduce children to literature is to install them in a very rich and glorious kingdom, to bring a continual holiday to their doors, to lay before them a feast exquisitely served. But they must learn to know literature by being familiar with it from the very first. A child’s intercourse must always be with good books, the best that we can find." (Towards a Philosophy of Education, pg. 51)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Home Education, Part V, Chapter VIII
School Education, Chapters XVI and XXI
Geronimo, Catherine Welch (our "not living" example)
The Story of Geronimo, Jim Kjelgaard
Pinocchio, Carlo Collodi
Little Britches, Ralph Moody
Plutarch's Lives
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, Jean Lee Latham
Principia, Isaac Newton
Of Other Worlds, C.S. Lewis
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver
(Contains affiliate links)
The blog post that Emily wrote explaining her "L-I-V-I-N-G" anagram for determining living books:
L-I-V-I-N-G Books
Living books are the heart of a Mason education. Education is a life, and living books are the food the mind requires for its nourishment. Liz, Emily, and Nicole share excerpts from some living books to demonstrate the power of living ideas. They discuss some reasons why living books are the richer road to engaging a child's imagination, inspire and feed their thirst for knowledge, and why textbooks do not.
Listen Now:
If you are seeing this message, please make sure you are using the most current version of your web browser: Internet Explorer 9, Firefox, Chrome
"A corollary of the principle that education is the science of relations, is, that no education seems to be worth the name which has not made children at home in the world of books, and so related them, mind to mind, with thinkers who have dealt with knowledge. We reject epitomes, compilations, and their like, and put into children's hands books which, long or short, are living." (School Education, p. 226)
"In literature, we have definite ends in view, both for our own children and for the world through them. We wish the children to grow up to find joy and refreshment in the taste, the flavour of a book. We do not mean by a book any printed matter in a binding, but a work possessing certain literary qualities able to bring that sensible delight to the reader which belongs to a literary word fitly spoken. It is a sad fact that we are losing our joy in literary form. We are in such haste to be instructed by facts or titillated by theories, that we have no leisure to linger over the mere putting of a thought. But this is our error, for words are mighty both to delight and to inspire. If we were not as blind as bats, we should long ago have discovered a truth very fully indicated in the Bible––that that which is once said with perfect fitness can never be said again, and becomes ever thereafter a living power in the world. But in literature, as in art, we require more than mere form. Great ideas are brooding over the chaos of our thought; and it is he who shall say the thing we are all dumbly thinking, who shall be to us as a teacher sent from God." (Parents and Children, pgs. 262-63)
“Again, we have made a rather strange discovery, that the mind refuses to know anything except what reaches it in more or less literary form. It is not surprising that this should be true of children and persons accustomed to a literary atmosphere but that it should be so of ignorant children of the slums points to a curious fact in the behaviour of mind. Persons can ‘get up’ the driest of pulverised text-books and enough mathematics for some public examination; but these attainments do not appear to touch the region of the mind.” (Towards a Philosophy of Education, pg. 256)
“Once more, we know that there is a storehouse of thought wherein we may find all the great ideas that have moved the world. We are above all things anxious to give the child the key to this storehouse. The education of the day, it is said, does not produce reading people. We are determined that the children shall love books, therefore we do not interpose ourselves between the book and the child. We read him his Tanglewood Tales, and when he is a little older his Plutarch, not trying to break up or water down, but leaving the child’s mind to deal with the matter as it can.” (Parents and Children, pg. 232)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
School Education, Chapters XV and XVI
Towards a Philosophy of Education, Book I, Chapter VII
The Silent Storm, Marion Marsh Brown and Ruth Crone
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
Rocks, Rivers, and the Changing Earth, Herman and Nina Schneider
A Tree for Peter, Kate Seredy
The White Stag, Kate Seredy
All About the Planet Earth, Patricia Lauber
(Contains affiliate links)