Parents today encounter a modern problem when looking for living books, but the solution, which Miss Mason identifies for us, is ages-old, just the same as it’s always been.
Our brains are made to run on joy. A joyful brain functions much better than the anxious, agitated, or depressed brain. Joy supports brain growth. Specifically, it contributes to the generation and reinforcement of new brain synapses.
Charlotte Mason identifies three primary human desires: the desire of knowledge, the desire of society (belonging), and the desire of esteem (to be held in high regard).
With the sudden nature of spring the cool breezes longed to come in through the windows, and with them, a cacophony of bird songs competing with each other for sound space…
Before Ambleside, I attended traditional Christian schools. In third grade, I was depressed, acting out, behind in math, trailing in reading, and I hated school. I was deeply convinced that I was stupid. My parents were fearful for my future, questioning if I would even graduate high school.
I think schools often focus on information as the outcome of what they’re trying to do. Test results. What makes a “living education” is that we focus on the work of formation. It’s not just passing the test. We’re trying to form the child for every aspect of their future life.
Charlotte Mason understood the potential of the littlest of us and then made it her duty to cultivate a way of education that respects our children as persons; worthy to be given the BEST ideas to nourish their minds upon.
Charlotte Mason talks about “seeing eyes” – truly looking and observing deeply the world and God’s creation in front of us.
Knowledge and the mind of man are to each other as are air and the lungs. The mind lives by knowledge; it stagnates, faints, perishes, if deprived of this necessary atmosphere.
All education in the True, Good, and Beautiful is a gift of common grace. And yet, to be wisely offered, such an education involves a set of definite practices.
