Home Education in Modern English

8/13/2019 Home Education in Modern English

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Home Education in Modern English

Volume 1 of Charlotte Mason's Series

by Leslie Noelani Laurio


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2005, Leslie Noelani Laurio


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VIII. Reading For Older Children . . . pg. 226

IX. The Art Of Narrating . . . pg. 231

X. Writing . . . pg. 233

XI. Transcription . . . pg. 238XII. Spelling And Dictation . . . pg. 240

XIII. Composition . . . pg. 243

XIV. Bible Lessons . . . pg. 247

XV. Arithmetic . . . pg. 253XVI. Natural Philosophy . . . pg. 264XVII. Geography . . . pg. 271

XVIII.History . . . pg. 279

XIX. Grammar . . . pg. 295

XX. French . . . pg. 300XXI. Pictorial Art . . . pg. 307

Part VI The Will -- The Conscience -- The Divine Life In The Child

I. The Will . . . pg. 317

II. The Conscience . . . pg. 329

III. The Divine Life In The Child . . . pg. 341Appendix (study questions) . . . pg. 353


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Charlotte Mason in Modern English

Charlotte Mason's ideas are too important not to be understood and implemented in the

21st century, but her Victorian style of writing sometimes prevents parents from

attempting to read her books. This is an imperfect attempt to make Charlotte's words

accessible to modern parents.

~L. N. Laurio

Home Education

Preface to the Home Education Series

The future of education looks rather bleak both at home [in England]and overseas.Experts say that, in order to make education more effective, we should focus on science.

Foreign language and math need major reform. Nature and vocational skills should be

used as ways of training the eye and hands. Literature and history should be used to

teach students how to do their own writing. Experts say that education should be more

technical, and should be a means of preparing students for the workplace. But there is no

one unifying goal, no specific aim, no real philosophy of education. A river can't rise

any higher than the source it comes from. In the same way, education can't rise any

higher than the foundational thought behind it. This may be the reason why our

educational system is such an utter failure.

Those of us who have spent years studying the vague, elusive vision of Education see

that there is a law behind education, but that we haven't yet fully grasped that law. We

sense the vague outlines of that law, but that's it. We know that it touches every part of a

child's life at home and at school, and, like an illuminating light, that law has a way of

showing what the value system is behind our educational systems and plans. Besides

being like a light, that law is also like a yardstick, setting the standard by which our

educational efforts must be measured. The law is not strict, it admits whatever things are

true and good without limit, except where too much would be harmful. The law seems to

lay a path out before us that goes on like a continuous and progressive road through life,with no set lines marking where childhood stops and adulthood begins except that the

student begins to walk the path independently when his training makes him more

mature. When we look into this law, we find that the Germans Kant, Herbart, Lotze and

Froebel were right when they said that knowing God is the most important thing a child

should learn. There is something else we'll recognize when we finally see this law of

educational freedom clearly for what it is--it is so true and wise that it will pass every

test we can think of to give it in every area of life.

Since as yet we don't have a clear print-out of this law to read, we'll have to rely onFroebel or Herbart, or, if we subscribe to another theory of education, on Locke or

Spencer. But we still aren't fully satisfied. We are discontented with our system of

education. It could be that our discontent is from God, but it is there and any workable

solution would be hailed as a great deliverance from our confusion. But before a great

solution is found, we will probably encounter many attempts that focus on part of the

problem and seem like an educational philosophy, having a central idea with programs


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putting that idea into effect.

Such an attempt would necessarily need to go along with the worldview of the age. It

would also have to relate to every facet of life, not segmented off from real life, but as

much a part of the cycle as birth, marriage and career. And it must result in the student

being attached to the world at many different points of contact by having interests in

many things. It's true that educationalists are determined to cement students' interests intheir own pet areas, but there is no one line of thought to make it applicable to all of life.

The naive sometimes rush in with their own solution, unconscious of the complexity of

the problem. Many suggestions have been offered that have gotten us closer to a full

understanding of the nature of education, and that gives me courage to offer my own

suggestion. The central idea on which my suggestion is based is this: that children are as

fully and completely persons as we are, with all the possibilities and potential for what

they might become already in them. Some of the educational notions and practices that

stem from this idea have been used in other educational methods, and have their roots in

plain common sense. One resulting notion that might be new is that "education is thescience of relations." This idea, that everything is connected, seems to solve the question

of a curriculum since it means that children need to be in touch with as many things as

possible in nature and in thought. If you add a key or two to a child's knowledge of his

own human condition, the educated student will go forth in the world with an idea of

how to control himself, some practical skills and many life-enriching interests. I have

two reasons for offering my own educational suggestion, however humble and fleeting

that suggestion may be. First of all, I have worked ceaselessly for 30-40 years to

establish a working, philosophical theory of education. And, second, every practice that

I have tried as a result of my educational theory has come from a step-by-step process ofinductive reasoning and has had success that has been verified with various tests. I

humbly offer my suggestion because I know that many others more qualified than I have

worked hard and still not arrived at any solutions, so why should I feel that I have a

solution of my own?

I am including a short summary of my theory, which is detailed more fully in the six

volumes of the Home Education Series.

My educational method is not a system of rigid steps, but just a bit here and there. This

seems more useful to parents and teachers. The essays included in my books were

written over the years for the National Parents Education Union in hopes of presenting a

coherent body of thought to members.

Whichcote said that the end result of truth is so great that we must be careful to make

sure that what we live by is, indeed, the truth.

1. Children are born persons - they are not blank slates or embryonic oysters who have

the potential of becoming persons. They already are persons.

2. Although children are born with a sin nature, they are neither all bad, nor all good.

Children from all walks of life and backgrounds may make choices for good or evil.

3. The concepts of authority and obedience are true for all people whether they accept it

or not. Submission to authority is necessary for any society or group or family to run


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smoothly.

4. Authority is not a license to abuse children, or to play upon their emotions or other

desires, and adults are not free to limit a child's education or use fear, love, power of

suggestion, or their own influence over a child to make a child learn.

5. The only three means a teacher may use to educate children are the child's naturalenvironment, the training of good habits and exposure to living ideas and concepts. This

is what CM's motto "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life" means.

6. "Education is an atmosphere" doesn't mean that we should create an artificial

environment for children, but that we use the opportunities in the environment he

already lives in to educate him. Children learn from real things in the real world.

7. "Education is a discipline" means that we train a child to have good habits and self-

control, both in actions and in thought.

8. "Education is a life" means that education should apply to body, soul and spirit. The

mind needs ideas of all kinds, so the child's curriculum should be varied and generous

with many subjects included.

9. The child's mind is not a bucket to be filled with facts that bunch up into thought-

groups, as Herbart said.

10. The child's mind is also not a bag for holding knowledge. It is a living thing and

needs knowledge to grow. As the stomach was designed to digest food, the mind isdesigned to digest knowledge and needs no special training or exercises to make it ready

to learn.

11. This is not just splitting hairs; Herbart's philosophy that the mind is like an empty

stage waiting for bits of information to be inserted puts too much responsibility on the

teacher to prepare detailed lessons. Students taught this way have lots of knowledge

taught atthem, without getting much out of it.

12. Instead, we believe that children's' minds are capable of digesting real knowledge, so

we provide a rich, generous curriculum that exposes children to many interesting, living

ideas and concepts. From this principle, we can deduce that--

13. "Education is the science of relations," which means that children have minds

capable of making their own connections with knowledge and experiences, so we make

sure the child learns about nature, science and art, knows how to make things, reads

many living books and that they are physically fit. Our job isn't to teach everything

about everything, but to inspire interests that will help children make connections with

the world around him.

14. Children have two guides to help them in their moral and intellectual growth - "the

way of the will," and "the way of reason."

15. Children must learn the difference between "I want" and "I will." They must learn to

distract their thoughts when tempted to do what they may want but know is not right,


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Much of this book was given as "Lectures to Ladies" in 1885, and published in a book of

that name in 1886.

Lectures VII and VIII and the original appendix have been transferred to other volumes

in this series. The whole series has been carefully revised and new material has been

added, especially in Part V, "Lessons as Instruments of Education." That section is nowa nearly complete introduction to methods of teaching children ages 6-9.

The remaining sections of this volume deal with education from birth to 9 years.

C. MasonScale How, Ambleside, 1905

End of Preface

Home Education

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Part I

Some Preliminary Considerations

One sign that women have gained more status in the world is the desire to use their

education by going to work. [Remember that Charlotte was writing around the turn ofthe century, before the women's rights/equality movement.] The world needs the

contributions of women who are educated, and, as education becomes more common

among all classes of people, more and more women will be entering the work force

having regular hours and getting wages. Even those women who don't work out of

financial need will find pleasure in doing something useful.

Children are a Public Trust

The work that is the most important in society is raising and teaching children. Thatmakes school teachers important, but, even more, those who care for and teach children

at home are important, because it is the influence of home life that has the greatest

impact on a child's character and future. Being a parent is the most important job and the

greatest honor a person can have. Even those raising just one child don't know whether

their cherished pride and joy may be the one person who finds the cure for cancer. But

being trusted with such an important task

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means that parents are not free to raise their children however they want. Really, theirchildren are not their personal property, but sort of a public trust, and parents must raise

them in such a way that they are a blessing to society. And this important job isn't

divided equally between both parents; it falls mostly to the mother because she is usually

the one at home with the children in their earliest, most impressionable years. That's why

great men often credit their mothers for their success, for taking their responsibility


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seriously and not giving the job of raising their children to others, such as daycare

workers and nannies.

Mothers Owe an Educated Love to Their Children

Pestalozzi said that mothers were qualified by God Himself to be the greatest influence

in her child's early life. The mother owes it to her child, and to God who entrusted her,to have a 'thinking love.' God gave children the same kind of hands, heart and mind as

ours and mothers must ask themselves, "How shall I train my child to use those gifts?

For whose benefits shall those gifts be used?" The answers to those questions may

determine the future of her beloved child, whether his life is one of misery or happiness.

A loving mother is the most important part of what a child will become.

As mothers become more educated and read more, they will understand the importance

of their task and feel like such a grand mission can't be left to anyone but themselves.

And mothers will take up their duty seriously,

pg 3

with the same care for detail and commitment they would give an outside, paying job.

In order to understand more about her role in raising her children, mothers should have

more than popular notions about educational theory and the underlying understanding of

the nature of children that those theories rest on.

The Training of Children is Defective

Herbert Spencer, in his book "Education," said that the way children are brought up is

terribly lacking physically, morally and intellectually. Mostly, that's due to parents not

having the knowledge they need to do the job correctly. What can you expect when

those who are entrusted with the most important job of raising the next generation have

barely considered the foundational principles upon which child-rearing techniques are

based? To make shoes or manage a ship, one must go to school. A child, a living person,

is so much more complex than shoes or ships, so why shouldn't parents undergo some

kind of training? Since the process of teaching and raising a human being is morecomplicated, it's crazy not to prepare oneself for the job. It would be better to sacrifice

the satisfaction of being accomplished at one's career to get this training. Parents need to

understand the basics of child psychology to understand how to bring up children.

Childhood development follows specific laws, and unless those laws

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are followed at least a little, the child will die. ['Babies need to eat regularly' might be

the most basic law.] If the laws aren't followed to a great degree, the child's development

will be stunted [neglecting to show affection will cause emotional problems]. Only whenthe laws are followed completely will the child mature fully. So you can see how

important it is for parents to know what those laws are.

How Parents Usually Proceed


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Parents generally begin by thinking of their newborn as a blank slate and resolve to

make grand designs about what to write on those slates [in-utero classical music,

phonics flashcards, politeness in role models, exposure to a second language...] But then

the child begins to show his own individuality, and his little displays of personality are a

delight to his parents. His joy at greeting Daddy and his sympathy when Mommy is sad

are rightfully wonderful for us to see. But parents soon begin to take their child'sindividuality for granted and are not so astounded when their child later shows a

preference for books or sports and has his own tastes and desires. Parents naturally stop

doing every little thing for their child as they see that he can feed and dress himself, and

they encourage him to do more for himself as he is able. The parents are delighted to

watch their child's personality develop, but the more a child begins to do for himself, the

less the parents feel the need to do for him beyond feeding him, clothing him, and

showing affection.

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With these things the parents only need to provide them. The child can eat and dress

himself; the parent's main concern is that what they provide should be nourishing and

wholesome, whether it's books, school lessons, the influence of friends, nutrition, or

discipline. This is how most parents understand education--focusing more on nutrition,

discipline, culture, depending on their own understanding. For the most part, they let

their children develop in their own way according to their own environment and

hereditary traits.

This leaving alone, or what Charlotte Mason calls 'Masterly Inactivity', is a good thingfor the most part. Children should be allowed to develop according to their own nature,

and as long as parents don't allow the child to become spoiled, this masterly inactivity

can be fine. But this philosophy of letting children becovers only a part of raising

children. It does not cover the most serious task of the parents, which includes the

continual guidance and guarding of influences according to their understanding of the

laws of child psychology so that their child grows up to be the best he can be.

Nothing that concerns a child is trivial. Even his offhand words have underlying

meaning if we listen. Children don't always express themselves accurately, and it's up to

parents to try to understand what children are thinking behind what they communicate.

Being able to interpret our own children's personalities[and learning styles] by working

to understand them will help us to know how best to educate them.

A great teacher in Charlotte Mason's day always said, 'the family is the unit of the

nation.' It's not about the individual but the family. An individual is no greater than the

family that he is part of, and, in this same way,

pg 6

the child's actions will contribute to society, for better or worse. It's the parents'

responsibility to raise their children to be a blessing to their society; they must not raise

them any way they want. Legally, parents have a lot of leeway in choosing how to raise

their own children, but they must remember that children are a national trust. Raising

children should concern everyone, even those who are single or childless.


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I.--A Method of Education

Traditional Methods of Education

Now more than ever, parents need to consider education and all it includes. In the past,

parents simply did what had always been done, raising their children the same way their

parents and grandparents did. Tradition tends to form the basis of child training for mostpeople.

But science is causing a revolution in the way we understand education. The old ways

have been proven less effective. We don't yet fully understand what is the very best way

scientifically, so, for now, parents must read and learn and find the best method for

themselves.

For example, a mother might have done as her own mother did and occasionally used

her slipper to discipline her child with success. But current opinion, which may or may

not be correct, holds that the child is sacred

pg 7

and hitting or spanking is abusive.

Another example is that parents used to think that plain food was best and hunger was

all that was needed to make a child eat. But now, parents are expected to provide a

variety of foods prepared in temping dishes and, within reason, the child's own

preference and cravings are allowed to dictate his diet. In previous times, children wereexpected to repress their personal food desires.

It used to be that children were taught to endure discomfort. One little boy, watching a

torchlight procession in wet, freezing weather, turned down an offer to watch from a

warmer shed. He said he'd never be a good sailor if he couldn't endure wind and rain.

But these days, parents take diligent care so that their children stay warm and don't get

over-tired.

In the past, children were expected to quietly obey, study their lessons dutifully, and

play only when there was no work to be done. Now, parents are more concerned about

whether their children are happy than how much work they do.

Before, children had no rights. They were seen and not heard. Today, adults bend over

backwards to provide just the right environment for their children.

English parents rarely go so far as to arrive late for a dinner party as one couple in a

magazine did because their three-year-old didn't want them to go, so they had to pretend

to undress and go to bed and then sneak out after she was asleep. But that extreme is

where parents are headed. Whether our new theories of child psychology are wise

pg 8

and kind, whether science proves them true, and whether they cause child-worship rather

than sound practice, are questions that should be taken seriously.


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At any rate, a parent who does not consider carefully the goal of his child's education

and the necessary steps to get to that goal will fail to fully fulfill his obligation to raise

his child properly.

A Method is a Means to an End

A method has two parts: a goal and a way to get there. The method is the steps you take

to get to the end. To follow a method implies that you have some set goal, or end, in

sight. What is the goal you have foryourchild's education? Once you see the end

clearly, you will find unexpected ways to naturally use those things around you to

accomplish your goal. This will happen almost effortlessly because, with the end in

sight, everything becomes a tool to be used in attaining that goal almost without you

even realizing it. Without even thinking about it, everything your child does--eat, play,

work--will be seen as a way to get closer to your goal. But those steps, that method, can

become mindless steps that are no more than an empty system if the focus of the goal is

lost. The Kindergarten

pg 9

Method, for example, was conceived by teachers who had a wonderful vision of

enlarging the lives of little persons, but when practiced by those who don't understand

that goal, it becomes nothing more than an artificial system of lessons and busywork.

A Rigid System Is Easier than a Method

A 'system' sounds impressive. A system of education with all its steps and rules may

sound more scientific than a method because each step has measurable results that can

be used to calculate progress. It can be tested. Systems can be used successfully to learn

skills such as dancing, shorthand, or accounting.

A system that uses separate steps to achieve a goal is so good at getting measurable

results that it's tempting to confine all of education to a scientific system.

If people were machines, systems would be fine for educating them. The teacher couldsimply set a system in place, follow the steps, and the result would be predictable and

successful.

But people are not machines. The teacher has to deal with a real, unpredictable child

with an individual personality and his job is to minimize the bad tendencies in that child,

make the most of every good tendency, and prepare that small person to be the best he

can be before he takes his place in the world.

A system may be very useful as one tool in education,

pg 10

but as the entire basis of education, it merely produces outward behaviors rather than

real growth in a person.


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It is important to understand the difference between a system and a method, because

parents all too often become enamored of a system that promises development in one

area--but which misses the overall growth of the entire person. A system is easier

because you just follow the prescribed steps, like a recipe. But a method requires

constant watchfulness over the whole being of the child, it demands more of the teacher.

Who is qualified for such a mammoth task? Even the most loving, committed parent

isn't physically able to be on the alert to make the most of every educable moment 24hours a day. But education may not require a 24-hour effort; the child is learning all the

time and a few basic principles put into effect will cover the whole of the child's

education. Once the parent understands these principles, he will find it natural and easy

to let circumstances fall into place to fit these principles. In the next chapters, I

[Charlotte Mason is speaking] will explain these principles, but first, let's consider a

couple of questions.

pg 11

II--The Child's Estate

The Child in the Midst

First, let's think about the child who is entrusted to his parents. Is he a blank slate to be

written on? A twig to be bent, or wax to be molded? Maybe, but he is so much more. He

is a living, breathing person in a higher place than we adults, like a prince entrusted to

mere peasants. Wordsworth wrote a poem [Intimiations of Immortality from Reflections

of Early Childhood] about the child's estate that says we were in heaven before we were

born, and our birth is like forgetting that wonderful place. But a newborn still has someof that heavenly aroma still around him. His body may be small and unimpressive, but

inside is a soul newly arrived from heaven with some heavenly atmosphere still hanging

around him. Wordsworth's poem shows almost as much insight into

pg 12

the special innocence and wonder of children as the Bible does. Jesus also had a special

place in His heart for children: 'Of such is the kingdom of heaven.' 'Except ye become as

little children ye shall in no case enter the kingdom of heaven.' 'Who is the greatest in

the kingdom of heaven?' 'And He called a little child, and set him in the midst.'Such is

God's opinion of children. Parents should consider every scripture in the gospels that

talks about children. Jesus was not talking primarily about adults who became as

innocent as children, He was talking about literal children. Exactly what Jesus meant is

too complex to discuss here, but He meant more than even Wordsworth did when he

talked about children 'trailing clouds of glory. . . from God, who is our home.'

Biblical Reference to Our Code of Education

Parents may be surprised that Jesus laid down a code of education in the gospels. It canbe summed up in three commands telling adults what notto do to harm children: Be

careful that you don't offend, despiseor hindereven one little child.

These three educational laws, taken separately, cover everything we adults should do

and should not do in the training of our children. We can first consider what these


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commands

pg 13

tell us notto do in order to start our educational considerations with a clean, blank slate.

Once we understand what notto do, we can then see more clearly what we cando, and

what we must do. Although, actually, what we cando is included in these laws aboutwhat we can'tdo because we are obligated to actively do what we can to avoid hurting

children.

III.--Offending the Children

How We Offend Children

The first two commandments seem to cover what we do tochildren, and what we don't

doforchildren. We offend them by doing what we shouldn't, and we despise them by

not doing what we should for them. An offense is literally a stumbling block. Mothersknow to clear the floor of obstacles that may make a toddler fall. A piece of furniture, or

a toy mislaid on the floor makes a newly-walking infant fall and cry and we kick

ourselves for not removing it from the baby's path. But a young child going out into the

world is like a newly toddling baby going in all directions. There are obstacles out in the

big world that are not as easy to move out of the way as a footstool, but must be moved

to keep the child from stumbling.

Children are Born Understanding the Concept of Right and Wrong

When a mother chides her baby with, 'Bad boy!', the baby looks sad and guilty. Some

people

pg 14

think it's cute or funny and will tease and say 'Bad boy!' when the child isn't doing

anything wrong, just for the amusement of seeing the baby look guilty and viewing the

pure soul of the child. What does the child's display of guilt show us? Even before he is

old enough to have been taught right from wrong from his parents, he displays aconscience. This proves that a sense of right and wrong is borninto the child. That is

why Jesus warned us not to offend children. We all know older children who have not

yet learned that there are duties they are obligated to do; the only rule they know is 'I

want' or 'I like.' Pity the parent and child who are like that!

How can a baby who was born with a sense of right and wrong before it can even speak

come to have a lawless heart that only knows the rules of 'I want' and 'I like'? It happens

little by little, as all good or bad character happens gradually. The mother says, 'No, no!'

when her two-year-old is caught red-handed taking a cookie from the cookie jar. His

little eyes search her face to see how far his mother will let him go. When the mother istaken in by how cute he is and laughs and lets the child off, she has unwittingly taught

her child a lesson. She has put a stumbling block in the child's path, an offense: he has

learned that something he knows is wrong may be done

pg 15


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without punishment, and he builds onto this knowledge. And thus begins the process

whereby a mother's 'No!' is disregarded and her rules challenged until she yields. The

child learns that everythings is as allowable as his mother lets him get away with. And if

every act is merely up to the mother to decide on, then why shouldn't she be worked on

to decide in the child's favor? And if Mother can decide what's okay to do based on her

own whims or her child's persuasion, then why shouldn't he be able to decide what'sokay to do, too, so long as he can get away with it? And from then on, the child's life is a

struggle to get his own way; in this struggle, the mother is sure to lose because she has

lots of responsibilities to think about, but her child has time to be persistent in wearing

her down to get what he wants.

Children Must Understand That Those Over Them Are Also Under a Law

Where does this break-down have its source? It begins because the mother lacks a sense

of duty--she thinks she is free to choose for herself what her child can and can't do, as if

the child were hers alone to do with as she likes. The child never comes to realize thathis mother is bound to a higher law than her own whims--he never learns that she can't

lethim break his sister's toys, or stuff himself with cake, or make everyone around him

miserable, because it isn't right. The child needs to see that his parents are bound by the

same codes of right and wrong that he is. Their 'no' isn't to please their own whims but

because they cannot allow him to do wrong. When children understand that, they

generally comply willingly. To have to reason with a child to win his compliance is

usually a bad idea and compromises

pg 16

the parent's dignity. If a child understands from his mother's tone and facial expression

that she cannot allow a thing as a matter of principle of right/wrong, he will sense that

her mind can't be changed and he won't try to challenge or persuade her.

Parents may Offend their Children by Disregarding:

A. The Laws of Health

Allowing a child to get away with doing wrong is only one way that loving mothers

offend their children. When a mother doesn't know any better, or, worse, doesn't care,

she may do her child the disservice of compromising his health by feeding him a diet of

junk food, letting him sleep and live in poorly ventilated rooms, and disregarding other

simple rules of healthy living. Really, in an age when science is making all kinds of

discoveries and information is readily available, ignorance is no excuse for letting a

child's health go.

B. The Laws of Intellectual Life

Almost as bad is the way children's minds are allowed to develop a distaste for learning

with dry, tedious school lessons where real learning isn't expected. Many girls [in

Charlotte Mason's day, girls didn't have the educational equality that they do now] learn

nothing more from their school lessons than that learning is boring, and mental


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challenges are to be avoided. So a girl grows up and reads nothing more than trashy

novels and chatters incessantly about clothes.

C. The Laws of Moral Life

What about the affections of the child? Most parents raise their children to love and be

loyal to family, but what about outsiders?

pg 17

Is popular thought allowed to discourage our children from reaching out to strangers?

Even worse is when a child is less favored in her own family because she isn't pretty, or

as smart as her sister. She is ignored while her parents lavish affection on the other

children. Who can blame her for feeling no love for her siblings who got the share of the

affection she was entitled to? And who can blame her for resenting her parents? So

many children suffer hurt from this kind of neglect, and many lives become bitter as a

result. One woman talked about how her childhood was made unbearable because hermother doted on her little brother, but ignored her. She could never get over her feelings

of rejection. Although her mother was kinder to her after she had grown, she never could

feel natural with her mother. And it affected her relationship with her brother, with

whom she might have been close if not for her hurt feelings.

IV.--Despising the Children

Children Deserve the Best of Their Mothers

How is it possible that a mother can despise her own child? Despise means to

undervalue. As much as adults may delight in children, we do tend to have a low opinion

of them. How else is it possible for a mother to leave

pg 18

her precious child in the care of unconscientious care-givers during their most crucial

years? Every act a child sees, or word he hears, leaves an impression in his mind in the

same way that light leaves a permanent image on a roll of film. It isn't that a nurse [ordaycare or babysitter?] is totally bad for a child; it is not always good for educated

people to have their children around constantly. That might be too stimulating for the

child, and the mother is more refreshed if she can enjoy time with other people,

discussing things unrelated to children from time to time. But children should have their

mother's best; her freshest, most alert time of day. The mother should also choose care-

givers carefully, train them herself, and be vigilant about knowing what goes on while

her children are in the care of someone else.

Caregivers

A harsh, rude caregiver causes permanent damage to sensitive children. Many children

in the care of others lose their sharp moral sense of right and wrong and pick up a

feeling of distance from God that they never get over. Children are born with a keen

sense of justice and pick up the slightest hint of unfairness or deception. If his caregiver

says, 'Be a good boy and I won't tell,' then the child learns that his mother, with whom


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After the child has eaten dinner, the heaviest meal of the day [ in CM's day, this would

have been the midday meal],

pg 23

his blood is diverted to his digestion for 2 or 3 hours. If the child goes for a walk rightafter dinner, his blood is diverted to his legs and half his food is left undigested. If this

becomes a regular habit, the child will be plagued with digestion problems. Sending a

child to do his homework right after dinner is just as bad: all the blood that should have

gone to digesting his meal will go to his brain.

So it makes sense that lessons should be scheduled carefully after periods of mental rest,

such as after sleeping or playing, when the blood is not engaged in working on some

major activity. Since breakfast is usually a light meal and requires less energy to digest,

the time after breakfast is a good time to plan lessons. If the whole afternoon can't be

spared for play, then constructive light tasks can be done, such as sewing, drawing orpracticing music. Children's minds are fresh enough to do mental work in the evening,

but that can interfere with sleep if his mind gets too alert and excited from his work, and

it can cause him to have restless dreams and a fitful night's sleep. If there is no way to

avoid homework at night, then there should be an hour or two right before bedtime for

pleasant socializing. Best of all is not to have any homework at all in the evenings.

A Change of Occupation

Huxley said that there was no clear proof that

pg 24

certain parts of the brain were responsible for specific activities--no part of the brain

specifically for exercising caution, or for playing music [remember, CM wrote this back

in the 1800's before x-rays and MRI scans!]. But anyone knows that, if you work too

hard at some mental task, your brain becomes tired. If a child does very challenging

math, his mind will get fatigued and he will start to have trouble and make silly

mistakes. But if you switch activities and let him read some history, his mind is fine for

that task. Using his imagination to picture history apparently uses a different part of the

brain than doing math and, since it was dormant during the math, it is well-rested and

ready to work for history. Schools often schedule lessons to mix up types of brain

activities during the day, but parents often don't know that it's important to do this.

Nourishment

The brain can't do its work without nourishment. Someone once calculated how many

ounces of brain activity it took to do a certain activity, such as writing Paradise Lost, or

writing music. We don't need to know the exact calculations to know that any kind ofthinking uses up some energy in the brain tissue. The blood works to bring energy to that

area for nourishment. The blood must be healthy and well-fed if it's going to provide

energy effectively to the brain. The brain is only going to as well-nourished as the

quantity and quality of the blood.


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pg 25

What Affects the Quality of the Blood

There are three or four things that can affect the quality of the blood. Food that is

healthy and easy to digest will make the blood more vital and life-giving. The dietshould be varied so that all the various micro-nutrients are included. Children are never

still and all their comings and goings and even their chattering expends energy little by

little. It's healthy for them to move and exercise, but it means they lose energy that must

be made up for by eating. Children are more active than grown-ups, and their minds are

all a-flutter and busy all the time. The human brain takes up only a fortieth of the weight

of the body, but it expends a fourth or fifth part of the blood's energy to function. And

not only does the child use energy moving and thinking, but his young body is also

growing and needs building material for this growth.

About Meals

Therefore, children must be well-fed. Half the people who complain of low energy were

not adequately fed during their childhood, and that was usually

pg 26

because their parents didn't understand what their child's nutritional needs were rather

than because of poverty. Regular meals at regular intervals is a good, common-sense

practice. A midday dinner should be no more than five hours after breakfast, and animalprotein once a day or twice if one of them is a light form. It isn't how much food is

eaten, but how much gets digested that counts as far as nourishing the body and brain.

There are so many aspects of digestion; we'll just name a couple of the most obvious.

Everybody knows[at least, they did in CM's day!] that children should not eat pastry,

pork, fried meat, cheese, rich food, highly flavored food, sauces and spices such as

pepper, mustard, vinegar, new bread, rich cake, and jam that still has leathery skins.

Milk that is not too warm and which may be mixed with water, or cocoa, is the best

drink for children. They should learn not to drink during meals, but only after meals. A

good breakfast might be fresh fruit, oatmeal with molasses, and the fat of toasted bacon[but not the bacon itself??]. A glass of water first thing in the morning and last thing at

night helps promote regularity[but might not be the best idea if you have a bed-wetter!]

Mealtime Conversation

It isn't just rules of nutrition that affect how much of the meal is actually digested.

Emotional

pg 27

considerations must also be taken into account. Digestive juices are only secreted freely

when the mind is content and unstressed. If a child dislikes his meal, he may swallow it,

but it won't digest very well. If the meal is strained with uncomfortable silence, the meal

likewise won't digest very well. So, meals provided in pleasant surroundings isn't a

matter of pampering and spoiling, but a matter of health. And too much excitement is


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also bad for the digestion. Every effort should be made to make mealtimes around the

family table the happiest times of the day. If possible, children should sit at the table

with their parents [in CM's day, children sometimes ate in the nursery or in the kitchen]

unless the parents are having a late supper. Mealtime is an excellent opportunity to teach

children proper manners and morals, to have family bonding, and to teach healthy eating

habits such as thorough chewing.

A Variety of Foods

Pleasant environment and high quality food isn't enough, children's food should be plain,

but it should also be varied. Mutton served as leftovers all week won't adequately

nourish the child if

pg 28

he gets so tired of mutton that he loses his appetite. The mother should plan a meal

rotation so that no dinner is repeated more than once every two weeks. Fish as the maindish is an excellent change of pace because it is rich in phosphorus, which is good for

the brain. Their puddings can be a good choice because they don't often like fatty foods,

but they will eat sweet, starchy puddings. But even their puddings shouldn't always be

the same kind--think variety. A wise mother should never say, 'I always give my

children such and such for tea.' There should be no 'always' when it comes to children's

meals, every meal should have something different. But won't this make children overly

concerned about what they eat and drink? No. It isn't well-fed children who are greedy,

but underfed children who can't be trusted with special treats.

Air as Important as Food

The quality of the blood depends on good, fresh air as well as good, varied food. Every

two or three minutes, all of the blood circulates entirely around its circuit in the body,

returning to the heart to be re-oxygenated by the lungs. The change that oxygen makes

in the short time it's in contact with the lungs is so drastic that even the blood's color

undergoes a dramatic change. It enters the lungs spoiled and unable to sustain life, but

leaves as life-giving fluid. But blood is only fully oxygenated when the air

pg 29

contains plenty of oxygen. In a room, every living being and flame takes some oxygen

from the air, depleting it. So it's very important that children spend time every day out in

the fresh air exercising their limbs and lungs in fresh, pure, fully oxygenated air.

Children Should be Outside Every Day

A mother brags that her children are outside for a walk at least one hour a day. Perhaps

that's better than nothing. A little girl uses her lunch money to buy aniseed candy drops;we might say that's better than nothing, too. But children can't thrive on candy and they

can't thrive on just an hour outside every day. The human animal wasn't meant to survive

in an artificial environment of walls any more than plants were designed to live in glass

houses. Countries such as France, Germany, Italy have an advantage in that their people

practically live out-of-doors and are happier, simpler and healthier for it. Charles II said


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England had the best climate for being outside. Man can't live on food and drink alone.

It's true that you can't

pg 30

live on air, but if we had to choose between air, food or drink, air would sustain us

longer. You can survive days or weeks without food and water, but only a few minuteswithout air. We are so used to that knowledge that it no longer holds our interest. Every

schoolboy knows how the blood circulates and is brought to the lungs for oxygen.

Oxygenation has its Limitations

We're so familiar with our knowledge of oxygen that we don't even think about it

anymore, but even the miracles oxygen can do are limited. It can only work where it is--

if the air has been depleted by fire and candle and others breathing in the room, how

vital can it be? Air should be 23 parts oxygen per hundred parts, but with all those things

taking oxygen out of the air,

pg 31

and the air in a room not vented or circulating, the air gets stagnate and has little life-

giving oxygen left. And then imagine how many fires and candles and pets and people

are in a city, taking oxygen from the air, and what do you think is the result? People only

feel fully alive when their blood is well-oxygenated by breathing fully oxygenated air.

Those who live cooped up in poorly ventilated houses can't possibly be as alive as those

who live mostly outside in the open air. In cities where the air is depleted, people subsistat low levels of health and energy, their growth is stunted, and they get respiratory

diseases that kill them before their time. Yes, we need shelter from the weather and a

place to sleep at night, but we lose when we make our homes so comfortable that we

never want to leave them to go outside.

Unchanged Air

Pale city children who spend too much of their days cooped up inside are not as healthy

in one way as street children who scavenge for food in the garbage--at least they get lotsof the most essential element: fresh air. Even a city street in the slums has better air than

a closed-up home. But even city air

pg 32

isn't the best. What's even better is delicious country air. It's even more important for

children than adults to breath country air because they move and play and breath more

air, and they are also growing and developing new tissue. The body needs high-quality

blood to keep up with all of this activity. A child's brain, too, is growing and needs the

best material it can have to make new tissue.

'I feed Alice on beef tea.'

A parent might go out of the way to research the healthiest diet and spare no expense or

effort to provide it for their dear child, but if the child spends most of the day cooped up


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in the house, they may still be starving for oxygen. The nutritionally superior food isn't

being converted into energy as well as it should be because the body isn't working as

efficiently as it should and has inferior blood to work with.

And if the child's body is listless and pale as a result of being in the house, imagine how

the alert, curious mind of the child must be stifled without real things from nature to

handle. Children can't fully grasp the words--mere symbols of things--until they havesomething real in their mind to relate it to; therefore, mere lessons without the

experience of being out in the real world with real things will be largely wasted.

pg 33

The Wordsworth poem "Three Years She Grew" is quoted in which a girl grows up

close to nature and nature herself smiles on the girl and blesses her with the "silence and

the calm of mute, insensate things." The girl finds peace among the beauties of nature

and the peace of nature adds its own beauty to her face.

Indoor Airings

Out-door airings will be discussed later, but indoor airings are just as important. The

damage of hours spent inside with depleted air can't be undone by spending a couple

hours outside. With a couple of people, a fire and other things using air in a room, it

becomes de-oxygenated pretty quickly unless the room is well-vented. We've all

experienced the stuffiness of entering a closed room after being outside, but after a few

minutes, we don't even notice the stuffiness anymore. Thus, we can't depend on our

senses to tell us when a room needs ventilation.

Ventilation

Therefore, we need to have a plan to keep the room ventilated regardless of

pg 34

whether anyone in the room thinks the room needs it or not. Windows must be kept open

at least one inch at the top day and night. That will allow enough air to circulate becauselight, depleted air rises and will escape out the top of the open window, while fresh air

can seep in from cracks around doors, windows and floors. An open chimney is not

enough ventilation, but stopping up the chimney in a bedroom is "suicidal." Children

should get used to sleeping with the window open an inch or two all year, and even more

than that in summer.

Night Air Wholesome

Some people think night air is unhealthy, but it actually contains as much oxygen as day

air. In fact, since there are less things going on to use up oxygen (fires are put out atnight), night air is actually healthier. When children are away from their room is a great

opportunity to throw open the doors and windows and give it a thorough airing.

Sunshine


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pg 37

like it sometimes does after sweating. We'd all be better off if we slept in light wool

sheets instead of cotton or linen.

There is much more that might be said about the various aspects of nourishing the brain,but it is enough if the awareness of one or two rules of health are made so plain and

clear that one can't help implementing them.

These may seem like the least interesting details of education, but the foundation of

good nutrition and health is the ground on which everything else rests. Every part of our

being--our thinking, our mood, even our spiritual life--is affected by our physical

condition, by how healthy and alert we are. This doesn't mean that a person with a toned

body is necessarily brilliant and good, but a brilliant and good person has necessarily

invested years of reasonably sound health practices to enable him the health to develop

his wisdom and morality. If you doubt whether physical health affects your mind, askyourself, is it easier to be friendly, kind and outgoing with or without a headache or

acute, painful nerve spasms?

VII--'The Reign of Law' in Education

Common Sense and Good Intentions

Even though all these physical considerations are just the groundwork, the sameprinciples can be applied

pg 38

to all of education--the principles of orderly, regular progress under a specified law. The

reason that education has so much less effect on the person than it should is because 90

percent of parents rely on their own 'common sense' and good intentions. But common

sense must be well-informed, and good intentions must be according to actual laws of

nature, which are divine laws that are found more often in life than in the scriptures.

A Person who Lives Ethically May Be More Successful than a Religious Person

It is really pitiful that many people who pride themselves on notknowing God live purer

lives with less character flaws and selfishness than many professing Christians! Our

children won't be able to escape notice of that fact and we will need to be prepared with

some explanation of that phenomena. If the secular person they see should happen to be

a beloved, respected person in their lives, it will speak more to them than years of

doctrinal teaching. The biggest threat to religion isn't all the wickedness around us, but

good that comes from a source refusing to acknowledge God.

That is the reason why I say the little I do about religion, because I sense the danger and

I know that educated parents need to be aware, since they are

pg 39


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Home Education in Modern English

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