You’d think with all our knowledge about Mason’s principles it’d be easy to pick a curriculum. But the options seem endless and while they all claim to be some type of classical Mason curriculum, they’re all doing it a little bit differently.

What’s a mom to do?

At first take, Mason’s eleventh and twelfth principles seem a little obvious. We’ve been studying hard this season and we know some stuff! We know children need living ideas and to be allowed to make connections on their own, that they need natural relationships with a wide array of things.

But today, I want to ask: why. Why does it have to be done this way? Why these living ideas?

We’re not fully aware of how deep the children-have-bucket-minds educational philosophy runs in our world today, but Mason knew of its dangers way back at the turn of the 20th century. It’s an appealing philosophy at first take. Why shouldn’t we treat children’s minds like buckets and just toss in pre-packaged ideas to fill them up? Won’t we guarantee ourselves students who know exactly what we want for them? Does it matter how a child learns if they’re taught a lot?

Mason had much to say about this approach. And it appears I do too.

An education for persons should be life-giving. It should nurture and grow the mind, bringing life to it, but it should also form students wholly, leaving them fit for the flourishing life.

It’s time for our third and final instrument of education. What does Mason mean when she says, “Education is a life”?

If we habit train, is it even authentic?

Modern talk tells us authenticity is a great virtue, possibly even the highest virtue. We should only ever do that which feels most satisfying to us at the moment, and only if it comes to us spontaneously and organically!

#liveauthentic #youdoyou #mytruth

If we could only be our truest selves, free from internal and external constraints, we’d be happy. Maybe even have world peace.

This is obviously untrue. But it does lead to a good question: if we habit train our children, is anything they do authentic? Or, to put it another way, does habit training program a machine or form the affections of a person?

When we modern moms think about atmosphere in the homeschool, we usually think about the materials. We have a mental image of what the perfect home or homeschool looks like; what kind of stuff covers the walls, table, and floor. It can really feel like things must look a certain way to be done a certain way.

If you don’t believe me, just take a poll of any mom friends you have by asking: What comes to mind when you think of a Charlotte Mason homeschool?

This bonus minisode is brought to you by the wonderful patrons of The Commonplace. You’ll find more patron-only resources just like this over at patreon.com/thecommonplace. We’d love to have you.

Now, maybe you feel differently, but it can feel like everything you’ve ever known to ‘teach’ in motherhood is off the table after Mason’s fourth principle. It’s a bit jarring to feel stuck in a moment asking yourself, ‘Wait, is that going to manipulate them? Will this? What. Can. I. Do?’ But Mason encourages us to focus on what is possible once we cross the hurdle of the fourth principle. She says: 

‘Having cut out the direct use of fear or love, suggestion or influence, undue play upon any one natural desire, emulation, for example, we are no longer free to use all means in the education of children. There are but three left for our use and to each of these we must give careful study or we shall not realize how great a scope is left to us.’ 

Well, here we go, my friend. We are finally at the threshold of the mother-teacher’s tools. 

Consider today’s episode your very own primer on the atmosphere, discipline, and life of a Charlotte Mason education. We’re going to take a high-level look at all three as interdependent tools, and then in the next three episodes, we’ll focus on each one separately. 

Are you ready?

In the last episode, we learned how authority and docility are natural, necessary, and fundamental for our homes. But in her fourth principle, Mason introduces a limitation to these two things: the respect due to the child’s will.

(Okay, so technically she says ‘personality,’ but I’m here to translate that Victorian English for you, and she’s definitely not talking about your kid’s Enneagram type.)

Moms know a thing about tension, about holding two things in balance: speaking and silence, instruction and waiting, pizza and broccoli. Understanding the complementary particulars of home life and nurturing children is kind of our job. As we head into the next principle, just remember: you’ve been training for this in so many ways before today. In her third principle, Mason shares two ideas that are natural, necessary, and fundamental to the homeschool but must be held in tension with one another: authority and docility.

Now, what exactly does that mean?

This is the principle that first sent me running from Miss Mason and eventually brought me back. Rather than have you make the same loop, I’ll save you the time and let you in on the secret now: she’s talking about a child’s character, not the state of a child’s soul. All children have the capacity for good or evil, and education should draw a child towards goodness with the best of ideas.

But, I also like to use my personal favorite tool: winking.

‘Children are born persons,’ seems kind of obvious. What else would they be born as? But as we dive deeper into this principle, it’s easy to see how quickly we forget this little truth and how, consequently, our education misses its mark. Before we ever choose a curriculum or resource, we need to understand what a child is and how they learn.

This is the first principle.

And we’re back!

Have you ever noticed how much of the homeschooling content points to what you should buy for your homeschool: supplies, resources, planners, wall art, and the like? This makes sense; we moms love to share a good tip. But when we spend our time focused on this part of homeschooling, all of that clicking, liking, saving, and buying can start to feel like we’re preparing to educate our children.

But are we?

When I launched The Commonplace, I knew what I could offer to other moms at the beginning of the homeschooling journey, but I also knew what I couldn’t offer: experience-earned wisdom. The first person I thought of was Leslie. With only Ep 00 recorded, I asked if she would consider joining me to ‘talk shop,’ and she graciously agreed.

Twaddle is such a funny word, and yet, it can strike fear into the heart of any new homeschooling mom.

What if we pick the wrong books?

Will our children ever recover?

Will they love silly, idle talk and hideous illustrations?

We worry we’ll ruin everything if we accidentally let a piece of twaddle through the door. We are, after all, the bookshelf gatekeepers.

Have you ever read a word but never heard it said aloud? And maybe you liked the word and so you used it casually in conversation only to realize later you said it incorrectly? This has happened to me many times and is happening to me every time someone listens to this episode.

Education is not primarily a cognitive adventure, because born persons are not brains-on-sticks. Your children are primarily worshippers. So, the main influence within your child is their heart, which includes their cares, motivations, and desires. And how do you speak to a child’s heart? Through their imagination.

This episode is as much of a surprise to me as it is to you.

We spend a lot of time thinking about the best habits for our children, but what about us moms? We’re (born) persons too, you know.

What is attention? I’m so glad you asked. Miss Mason defines attention as the act by which the whole mental force is applied to the subject at hand. It’s giving your full focus to something. And, of course, Miss Mason believed a mother could train attention to be a habit if she’s able to attract and hold the child’s attention through the right motive. 

That Miss Mason. Always getting to the child’s heart, isn’t she?