School Education Chapter 11: Aspects of Intellectual Training

This blog post is part of an on-going daily series this month as I read (very quickly) through School Education by Charlotte Mason. Join me! Pick up your book and read a chapter, or find it free online at Ambleside Online.

Summary

While people are usually quite willing to acknowledge that they are under the rule of law in physical matters (the laws of nature) or in moral matters, they often don't acknowledge any authority in intellectual matters. But our intellect is not separate from our bodies and souls. We are whole persons, and what we think works itself out physically and morally.

1. There are ultimate realities that are unprovable by reason. God is, Self is, the World is. When we accept these as presuppositions, we place ourselves under God's authority, we see ourselves as persons, and we have a home.

2. Reason is limited. Its function is to logically prove the ideas that we entertain, whether those ideas are right or wrong.

3. History is under God's control, including the progress of ideas. We never have any grounds for pride, as though the thought of our time is the pinnacle of human thought. All truth comes from God and is given by the Holy Spirit as he pleases.

Intellectual habits are formed by training, they are not natural gifts. They are not a byproduct of teaching certain subjects (Mathematics do not make people more exact, Humanities do not make them more humane.). Parents and teachers must intentionally set out to form habits of attention, concentration, thoroughness, intellectual volition, accuracy, reflection, and meditation. These habits begin with the stimulus of living ideas, found in living books.

Quotes

"Our thinking is not a separate thing from our conduct and our prayers, or even from our bodily well-being. Man is not several entities. He is one spirit (visibly expressed in bodily form), with many powers. He can work and love and pray and live righteously, but all these are the outcome of the manner of thoughts he thinks." (p. 114)

"But when we learn to realise that--God is, Self is, the World is, with all that these existences imply, quite untouched by any thinking of ours, unprovable, and self-proven,--why, we are at once put into a more humble attitude of mind. We recognise that above us, about us, within us, are 'more things...than are dreamt of in our philosophy.' We realise ourselves as persons, we have a local habitation, and we live and move and have our being in and under a supreme authority." (p. 115)

"How necessary then that a child should be instructed to understand the limitations of his own reason, so that he will not confound logical demonstration with eternal truth, and will know that the important thing to him is the ideas he permits himself to entertain, and not by any means the conclusions he draws from these ideas, because these latter are self-evolved." (p. 116)

"What a revolution should we have in our methods of education if we could once conceive that dry-as-dust subjects like grammar and arithmetic should come to children, living with the life of the Holy Spirit, who, we are told, 'shall teach you all things.'" (p. 118)

"Believe me, nothing is so practical as a great idea, because nothing produces such an abundant outcome of practical effort. We must not turn the cold shoulder to philosophy. Education is no more than applied philosophy--our effort to train children according to the wisdom that is in us; and not according to the last novelty in educational ideas." (p. 118)

"We know, too, that [intellectual habits] are acquired through training and are not bestowed as a gift. Genius itself, we have been told, is an infinite capacity for taking pains; we would rather say, is the habit of taking infinite pains, for every child is born with the capacity." (p. 119)

"There is no reprieve for parents. It rests with them, even more than with the schoolmaster and his curriculum, to form those mental habits which shall give intellectual distinction to their children throughout their lives." (p. 119)

"It has long been known that progress in the Christian life depends much upon meditation; intellectual progress, too, depends, not on mere reading or the laborious getting up of a subject which we call study, but on that active surrender of all the powers of the mind to the occupation of the subject in hand, which is intended by the word meditation." (p. 121)

"Ideas of nature, of life, love, duty, heroism,--these children find and choose for themselves from the authors they read, who do more for their education than any deliberate teaching; just for this reason, that these vital ideas are self-selected and self-appropriated." (p. 124)

Thoughts
I have a really hard time understanding Charlotte Mason when she says that reason's only function is to logically prove the ideas that we choose to entertain. In one sense, I've seen this in other people and myself: someone wants to believe something, and they persuade themselves logically that it is so. On the other hand, if someone really believes something, no logical argument will dissuade them of it...there is always something to counter-argue. And yet... isn't God's truth ultimately more reasonable than any falsehood? But maybe the point is that we are all fallen and can't be depended upon to see it that way? (Sorry if this isn't making sense...just thinking out loud here.)

School Education Chapter 10: Aspects of Physical Training

This blog post is part of an on-going daily series this month as I read (very quickly) through School Education by Charlotte Mason. Join me! Pick up your book and read a chapter, or find it free online at Ambleside Online.

Summary:

Physical training is important, but its benefits may be undermined if you do not understand the "why" behind all your effort. 

Young people often train so that they may get the most out of life, but there is a greater reason for physical training: so that you are ready and able to do whatever God calls you to do in life.

Charlotte Mason bases this on 1 Corinthians 6:19-20: "What? know y,e not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

How can we teach this to our children? Direct teaching is important, as are books. However, Charlotte Mason especially emphasizes the power of habit in this area. She expands on the habits of self-restraint, self-control, and self-discipline in behaviour, deportment, address, and tones of voice. She adds to these some less-considered habits of alertness and quick perception. 

Habit is not mindless. "A habit becomes morally binding in proportion to the inspiring power of the idea that underlies it." Mason mentions the ideas of Greek heroism and medieval knighthood to inspire children to fortitude, service, courage, and prudence. For chastity, no idea is higher than that "Your bodies are the temples of the Holy Ghost." As we train our children in physical habits, we must inspire them first with ideas.


Quotes:

"The object of the fine physical culture that English youths and maidens receive is, too often, the poor and narrow one that they may get the most, especially the most of physical enjoyment, out of life; and so young people train their bodies to hardships, and pamper them with ease and self-indulgence, by turns, the one and the other being for their own pleasure; the pampering being the more delightful after the period of training, the training itself rather a pleasant change from the softness of pampering." (p. 102)

"The object of athletics and gymnastics should be kept steadily to the front; enjoyment is good by the way, but is not the end; the end is the preparation of a body, available from crown to toe, for whatever behest 'the gods' may lay upon us. It is a curious thing that we, in the full light of Revelation, have a less idea of vocation and of preparation for that vocation than had nations of the Old World with their 'few, faint and feeble' rays of illumination as to the meaning and purpose of life." (p. 102)

"But if children are brought up from the first with this magnet--'Ye are not your own'; the divine Author of your being has given you life, and a body finely adapted for His service; He gives you the work of preserving this body in health, nourishing it in strength, and training it in fitness for whatever special work He may give you to do in His world,--why, young people themselves would readily embrace a more Spartan regimen; they would desire to be available, and physical transgressions and excesses, however innocent they seem, would be self-condemned by the person who felt that he was trifling with a trust." (p. 103)

"It is well that a child should be taught to keep under his body and bring it into subjection, first, to the authority of his parents and, later, to the authority of his own will; and always, because no less that this is due, to the divine Authority in whome he has his being. But to bring ourselves under authority at all times would require a constantly repeated effort of thought and will which would make life too laborious. Authority must be sustained by habit." (p. 104-105)

"But the habit of holding oneself well in hand, the being imprevious to small annoyances, cheerful under small inconveniences, ready for action with what is called 'presence of mind' in all the little casualties of the hour--this is a habit which should be trained in the nursery." (p. 106)

"'If you are vexed, don't show it,' is usually quite safe teaching, because every kind of fretfulness, impatience, resentfulness, and nervous irritability generally, grows with expression and passes away under self-control. It is worth while to remember that the physical signs promote the mental state just as much as the mental state causes the physical signs." (p. 107)

"The fact that habits have a tendency to become local, that in one house a child will be neat, prompt, diligent; in another untidy, dawdling, and idle, points to the necessity for self-discipline on the part of even a young child." (p. 107)

"This subject of training in becoming habits is so well understood amongst us that I need only add that such habits are not fully formed so long as supervision is necessary." (p. 108)

"Parents would do well to see to it that they turn out their children fit for service, not only by observing the necessary hygienic conditions, but by bringing their bodies under rule, training them in habits and inspiring them with the ideas of knightly service." (p. 112)

Embracing Routine

A Charlotte Mason education is an abundant one, with its feast of living books and ideas and "extras" that are not extras (Poetry, composer study, art appreciation, and nature study, to name a few.). This is one of the things I love most about it. It's also the thing I find most taxing as an organizationally-challenged mom of four boys aged seven and under. 

The thing that as helped me the most in these early years has been establishing learning routines. There are things that everyone does every day, no matter what. Eating meals comes to mind. I began by pegging my learning routines to things that were already established routines in our home. The After-Breakfast routine of scripture, singing, and prayer was the first routine, and happened every day after breakfast starting when our children were tiny. The Bedtime Reading routine was added when our oldest was about two or three. Then a couple of years later came the Poetry Teatime routine. Later still, we added our Lesson Time routine to the end of Poetry Teatime. Having these routines in place as I've been using Ambleside Online has given me a place to plug in what seemed an enormous feast of learning, and it has not been as overwhelming as it might have been if I had had to set it all in place at once.

Sometimes we homeschool moms have a tendency to read blogs and check Pinterest out. When we do, we find so many wonderful ideas! We want to do them ALL. We want to do them NOW. We start today with several of them, and are discouraged when some of the good ideas don't stick, or when we find we've dropped two or three of them after a few weeks. We compare ourselves to people who seem to be doing it all, and we forget that nobody does it all, especially not all at once!

I want to encourage you to slow down. Yes, you can implement all the wonderful ideas. But take some time to build them into your life. Lay a foundation of the most important things. Set them into your day as a "this is what we do every day no matter what." When that routine is solid as a rock, choose some other important things to add. Once you have some foundational learning routines in place, you will have a place to add the wonderful ideas you come across on Pinterest, and they will stick for as long as you want them to.

 

The After-Breakfast Routine

This routine has always been in place in our home. My boys call it “Read-and-sing-and-pray.” We read a passage from the Bible, we sing a hymn, we pray together. When SA(7) was about five or six, I began to add to this, and it became a “Circle Time” of sorts. First I added a Bible passage to memorize, then later (in Year 1) I added his Bible narration. This year (his Year 2) I added a reading from Pilgrim’s Progress as well.

 

The Poetry Tea Time Routine

This routine began sometime when SA was five and JJ was three. In the beginning, I set the table with tea and snacks every day, and we read poetry. The end. They loved it. Over time, I’ve grown more lax with the tablecloth and tea every day…I discovered that they don’t really love tea so much now that the novelty has worn off, and that tablecloth got spilled on Every. Single. Day. However, we do still always sit down at the table with our snacks and drinks and poetry books at about 10:00 or 10:30. It’s our signal for the school day to begin. (I am hoping to do better with the tablecloth and hot drinks again this year... So far so good.) Starting last year we have done poetry on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, with art appreciation on Tuesdays and music appreciation on Thursdays. I have added other things to this time as well at different times --instruction in sol-fa, French, drawing --in short, any learning I’d like to do together as a family. 

 

If you've been reading around the internet about "Circle Time" and "Morning Time" or even "Morning Basket" you will notice that the two routines I just mentioned are our "Circle Time." We have found that dividing it in two like this is a very practical option when children are young and have a hard time sitting still.

 

The Lesson Time Routine

This routine began when SA was five with a short reading lesson and a short math lesson or game immediately after our Poetry Teatime. In Year One, it expanded to include math, two readings with narration, copywork, and piano practice. Now in Year Two, the readings with narration have become slightly longer (20 minutes each), and we've added an independent reading and narration (this one is still short at 10 minutes). I have also added some time this year with JJ(5) for reading instruction and math, and for reading aloud to him.

With little children in the house, sometimes it's hard to do lessons at the same time every day. I have found that it helps to have a lesson time routine in which you do your lessons in a certain order, no matter what time you manage to start. That way, the children can at least develop an expectation of how much work there is to do daily.

The Bedtime Reading Routine

The bedtime routine is very simple. The boys get ready for bed, and my husband or I read to them for about twenty minutes. There is no narration, no expectation of anything from them. This routine is completely for the enjoyment of books together as a family. In the beginning, I always did the reading, but lately my husband has begun to read as well when he's home on time. I often choose from the Ambleside Online "Free Reads" for this purpose, while my husband tends to choose more widely.

 

These are the routines we've built in our family so far. I know our routines will continue to change as the children grow older. I expect that your routines will look different than mine. I truly believe that the important thing (if you want them to last!) is to build them one at a time, not all at once.

 

 

 

P.S. I'm still hopeful that someday I will manage to find a cleaning routine that works for me... (Just a little reminder that I don't have it all together, despite these routines that are working well!!!)

 

P.P.S. I apologize that I've been so quiet lately...my internet is still not working consistently. Now that I have Word on my computer I'm hoping I'll be able to write there and just copy, paste, and post in moments the internet is working. Still, it's a challenge, so I'll just do the best I can under the circumstances.

 

No Fidgeting? Now there's an idea!

"No whispering was permitted in school, and no fidgeting. Everyone must be perfectly still and keep his eyes fixed on his lesson. Almanzo and Miles held up their primers and tried not to swing their legs. Their legs grew so tired that they ached, dangling from the edge of the seat. Sometimes one leg would kick suddenly, before Almanzo could stop it. Then he tried to pretend that nothing had happened, but he could feel Mr. Corse looking at him." - Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farmer Boy, p. 8

I have always been pretty lenient about fidgeting during lesson time. To be perfectly open and honest here, my practice has always been that SA(7) could do whatever he wanted while I read aloud, as long as he could narrate afterwards. On any typical day you might have seen him lying on the floor, or playing with something with his hands, or hanging upside-down off the back of the couch while I read.

I still believe that it is often beneficial to give children the freedom to move (within limits) during their lessons. I think that among some personality types, and perhaps especially among many young boys, movement can help them think.

As I read Farmer Boy to my boys last night, I discovered a novel idea. (Novel to me, that is!) It is possible to require young boys to control their bodies and sit still, and they will rise to the challenge.

Further, it occurred to me that the fidgeting that SA(7) has been doing during lesson time has been gradually getting more distracting and disruptive, and that his narrations have sometimes been suffering for it.

And so, given that
- His lessons are short.
- His lessons are varied...he has to get up and go to the piano after he does his math, for example.
- I give him a chance to stretch or run around the house if he shows signs of fatigue.
- I believe he is capable of sitting still for the length of time his lessons last (this is an important one!)
I have decided that it is time to work on a habit of sitting still and not fidgeting during his lessons.

I gave him a short lecture today, but I really think the fact that Almanzo had to do it was more convincing to him. We worked on a specific "narration posture:" feet on the floor, back straight, no slumping or leaning, and nothing in his hands. Then we did a test narration in that posture. He did well, and I am happy he seems to be willing, himself, to create this new habit. Now will come the watchful, constant reinforcement until it becomes second nature to him. That will be the hard part, but it will be worth it, I think.

I just "know" that half of you out there are horrified that I ever allowed fidgeting, and the other half are horrified that I'm completely cutting it off now. All I can say is that I know my child, and for us it is time to work on this now.

What habits make your days run more smoothly with your children?

Reading Scripture with your Young Readers

SA(6) and I began to read Proverbs together at the beginning of Grade 1. He had been reading for about half a year at that point, and had just received his own Bible. I decided we would try to read a short passage every day after lunch, where he would read one verse, and I would read the next.

I should perhaps mention that we have a habit of reading Scripture aloud after meals anyway, whether I or my husband do so, or whether SA reads along with us. So this new habit was actually not a huge innovation on our part.

Still, it was a challenge, and we did not really begin to do it steadily every day until the beginning of the second term of Grade 1. For one thing, the vocabulary of Proverbs is really challenging. For another thing (and this is probably more to the point), any new habit requires committed, daily effort. I do have the blessing of a son who, once he makes a habit his own, never deviates from it. You could even call him a bit inflexible sometimes. However, in this case it has been a blessing. :)

As we've really gotten into the routine of this, I'm enjoying it more and more. I'm sure a case could be made for beginning with an easier Bible translation with young readers. We've chosen to simply use the version we normally use as a family and plan to keep using throughout our children's growing up years. (ESV) We do this to build our children's familiarity with the language of Scripture over time. Switching versions as they grow could take away from that.

Beginning with Proverbs was a personal decision, and not really one I put a lot of thought into. However, it has proven to be a good choice. The best thing about it is the repetition of words. While the vocabulary may be difficult, once a child has mastered a few big words, the same words keep coming up. (Righteousness, instruction, knowledge, reproof, prudence, integrity, understanding, discretion...) There is also a lot of repetition of ideas. Comprehension may or may not be complete at this point, but it would be hard for him not to get the idea that wisdom is good and foolishness is bad, that hard work is good and laziness is bad, that listening to instruction is wise and despising it is foolish.

We are now working through Proverbs 18. It takes us about three reading sessions to get through a chapter now. It took many more than that in the beginning, but there was no rush. I do not make him "sound out" big words when we're doing this. If he's struggling, I simply supply the word and we move on. I still help him quite often, but I notice that he usually reads a word effortlessly the second or third time he encounters it.

I don't know where we'll go once we're done Proverbs, though I am leaning towards the Psalms. I anticipate that as our children grow, we'll simply incorporate each new reader into our routine until we're all taking turns reading verses aloud. I have a distinct memory from my childhood of reading like this with my family...my father, my mother, myself, and two younger siblings. The youngest reader at the time was about five years old. It is a good memory. I'd like to pass it on to my children, and perhaps to you and yours as well.

Charlotte Mason on Obedience

I didn't have time today to write a post, but thought I'd copy out a quote that I found thought-provoking.

Now, if the parent realise that obedience is no mere accidental duty, the fulfilling of which is a matter that lies between himself and the child, but that he is the appointed agent to train the child up to the intelligent obedience of the self-compelling, law-abiding human being, he will see that he has no right to forego the obedience of his child, and that every act of disobedience in the child is a direct condemnation of the parent. Also, he will see that the motive to the child's obedience is not the arbitrary one of, 'Do this, or that, because I have said so,' but the motive of the apostolic injunction, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." (Charlotte Mason, Vol. 1: Home Education, p. 161)

Some of my thoughts:
- "Accidental" here means "incidental, subsidiary"...she means that teaching children the habit of obedience is not unimportant, it is essential.
- Obedience is not about me as a parent being in control of my child's behaviour, it is about the rightness of submission to authority as deriving from the Lord.
- Our children, just as we ourselves, must choose to submit to authority every day. We obey the rules of the road, we keep the laws of the country, we do what our bosses at work tell us to do. And of course, as Christians, we seek to obey His Word.
- But, she makes clear this is "intelligent obedience." It is not mindless. I think there's a balance here. Obedience involves the child's own choice, and yet habit as it is formed makes the right choice easier and easier. Though Charlotte Mason doesn't draw out this point, I think the words "in the Lord" in the last line quoted are key. We also obey the laws of the land "in the Lord." We see the authority of our government as put in place by God. We obey the laws. But if any authority were to ask something of us that is wrong, we choose to obey God rather than man.
- Charlotte Mason uses strong words: "every act of disobedience in the child is a direct condemnation of the parent." I'm not sure I understand or agree. Could anyone shed some light on this? She talks about the child being "self-compelling," so she cannot mean that a parent is ultimately responsible for the choices her child makes. I myself would never judge a parent by a disobedient act of a child...at least, I hope I wouldn't. I know as a mother how these things take place just when you least expect, and especially when you least want them to! I see creating the habit of obedience as a process. We make progress, but even children who have been well trained still disobey sometimes. (To be honest, I think I would worry if they never did...does that sound crazy?) On the other hand, I'll admit that I would see a habit of disobedience in a child as a sign of parents' neglect in training.
- I think I got off on the wrong track with the last comment, but I'll leave it there for now. I think I may have it now. Based on the context (a parent has "no right to forego the obedience of his child") I think what she's saying is that every time parents are confronted with an act of disobedience from their child, they must take it as seriously as though their child has just directly condemned them - it's a prodding to act instantly to right the wrong.

What do you think of this quote?

(So much for not having time to write a post...Ha!)

Charlotte Mason and Preschool Priorities 2: Habits

I have been sharing how Charlotte Mason has encouraged me as a mother of preschoolers. One of our priorities as parents of preschoolers is to help them form good habits. To Charlotte Mason, "Education is a Discipline." In other words, this habit formation is essential to our children's education...as essential as the atmosphere of our home, and as all the living books they learn from.

I must admit, I find the "discipline of habit" one of the most challenging aspects of Charlotte Mason's philosophy of education. It doesn't help that I don't quite agree with some of what she says about habit in Volume 1.* However, on the whole, her thoughts have been very helpful to me as a mother of preschoolers, and I am still learning and growing...and practicing!

"This relation of habit to human life--as the rails on  which it runs to a locomotive--is perhaps the most suggestive and helpful to the educator; for just as it is on the whole easier for the locomotive to pursue its way on the rails than to take a disastrous run off them, so it is easier for the child to follow lines of habit carefully laid down than to run off these lines at his peril. It follows that this business of laying down lines towards the unexplored country of the child's future is a very serious and responsible one for the parent. It rests with him to consider well the tracks over which the child should travel with profit and pleasure; and along these tracks, to lay down lines so invitingly smooth and easy that the little traveller is going upon them at full speed without stopping to consider whether or no he chooses to go that way." (p. 109, Vol. 1: Home Education.)

"In the first place, whether you choose or no to take any trouble about the formation of his habits, it is habit, all the same, which will govern ninety-nine one-hundredths of the child's life:... "As for the child's becoming the creature of habit, that is not left with the parent to determine. We are all mere creatures of habit. ...If it were not so--if we had to think, to deliberate, about each operation of the bath or the table-- life would not be worth having; the perpetually repeated effort of decision would wear us out... What we can do for them is to secure that they have habits which shall lead them in ways of order, propriety, and virtue, instead of leaving their wheel of life to make ugly ruts in miry places." (p. 110-111, HE)

I'd just like to share one very little way making a habit has made a difference in our home. I used to get up, make breakfast, feed the boys, have devotions, and then try for the rest of the morning to pry them from their play to get dressed. I often found myself threatening and cajoling, and it was always a bit of a circus. I decided that we would form the habit of getting everyone dressed before breakfast. If everyone wasn't dressed, it wasn't breakfast time yet. (I know, some of you super organized people are thinking, "Really?" right now. Things like this always seem obvious to people who already do them.) We stuck with it, and now it takes no effort at all on my part to convince them to get dressed in the morning. It is simply habit. It would feel wrong to them to sit down to breakfast in their pajamas. The choice is gone now, and that aspect of our morning, at least, is on "smooth and easy lines."

And speaking of "smooth and easy," I'd like to direct you over to a free e-book called Smooth and Easy Days from Simply Charlotte Mason. This little e-book is a great introduction to what Charlotte Mason says about habit formation, and I highly recommend it for all mothers of preschoolers!


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*Charlotte Mason seems very optimistic about the power of habit to change human nature, and I don't quite share her confidence. I believe in our need of redemption through the cross of Christ, and in the power of the Holy Spirit to change sinful hearts. But this is only Volume 1, and I feel I need to read more before I critique. She does speak of "Divine grace" (p. 104), so I fear (hope) I may be being unfair here. And while I may not have as high confidence in the results of habit formation, I nevertheless do believe in habit formation itself...it is "training up a child in the way he should go." If you've read more Charlotte Mason than I have, I'd welcome your comments on this!

Saturday Commonplaces 6

A newsletter with random thoughts and happenings from my week.

Cuteness
I was putting MM down for his nap yesterday morning. Before I went upstairs, I told the boys to clean up because it was almost teatime. Well, I took so long up there that my boys decided to take matters into their own hands. I came down to this:

The teakettle on the table was the work of my five-year-old, and the bananas and pickles were carefully prepared by my three-year-old. He carefully got out our pretty china plate (we use it every day for teatime). He peeled a banana and cut it into fourths. He left the other piece off the plate because there were only going to be the three of us at tea. Then he got the pickle jar from the fridge and speared three fat pickles and put them beside the bananas. Yum! I was properly grateful, and only added some cheese and crackers to eat with the pickles.

Outdoor Life
I debated not admitting this here, but I have to be honest. We only spent three and a half hours outside this week. My excuse was the sheet of ice everywhere after Monday's rain. Tuesday I sent the boys out (kept the baby in with me) and spent the time in fear as they boldly scaled the hard-as-rock mountain of snow with their sled and went hurtling down towards the sheet of ice at the bottom. I greeted their return indoors fifteen minutes later with barely concealed relief. Wednesday I bundled up the baby and went out with them, but even so we only stayed out for half an hour. MM actually loved holding my hands and sliding. Thursday I finally decided to embrace the ice, since it was what we had, and put the boys' new skates on them. We hauled a kitchen chair out to the ice, and they had their first ever experience on skates. SA was very keen on it, and we did it again on Friday.

I've been thinking, though, a year ago I would have used the ice as an excuse to spend the week indoors. Though I didn't reach anywhere near my goal this week (ten hours), I did better than if I had no goal at all.

Habits
I was planning to work on the habit of attention this month, but some more urgent things have come up. Persistence is something I've had to teach a lot about this week. I prepared SA well for learning to skate. I told him he'd fall a lot at first, everyone does. He'd just have to get up again. He accepted this wholeheartedly, and is counting up his falls. ("How many falls until I'll be able to skate, Mama?" "I don't know...maybe twenty?") So far he has counted six falls. (He's still using a chair.) Another habit we need to start working on is self-control. JJ has a quick temper, and is in the habit of throwing things the instant he feels upset. He calms down fairly quickly afterwards, but somehow we have to work on that moment when he first loses his temper. I'm not sure how to help him get ahold of himself (any ideas?), but I'm sure we'll learn together.

Blogging
I've done some more reading lessons with SA that I hope to put up soon. I'm also working on reading Charlotte Mason's Original Homeschooling Series following a discussion schedule at Ambleside Online. I'm going to try to post my notes for that. So much to post, so little time... but of course real life comes first.

Five Things I Learned from my First Term of Homeschooling

1. I learned that my little children (age 5 and 3) are much better at memorization than I realized! We learned a couple of Bible passages and several hymns. One important thing I realized is that they really need to be able to grasp the basic meaning of what they are memorizing. I taught them the first verse of "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken" at the beginning of the term (the Ambleside Online selection for that month), and it has not really stuck with them. By contrast, "There is a Happy Land" with its simplicity, short verses, and upbeat melody was much more enjoyable (and therefore more memorable) for them.

2. I learned that taking the time to develop even the simplest habits in my children makes my days much easier. My eldest child now automatically gets dressed before breakfast, has independent bathroom habits, and doesn't feel right about sitting down to teatime if he hasn't picked up his toys. (Though we're still working on speed and occasionally attitude in that last habit...)

3. I learned that it is worthwhile to at least consider what Charlotte Mason has to say, even in areas where she challenges my strongly held preconceived ideas. This happened in teaching SA to read this term. He has made so much progress, and it has been because I engaged his interest with interesting stories to read (and taught him the sight words he needed to learn to read them) rather than continuing with more and more pure phonics. We still do phonics, but it serves the purpose of learning to read more interesting stories.

4. I learned that a daily morning ritual of tea and poetry is calming and grounding for everyone. No matter how wild our morning has been, it will all be okay at teatime. To my surprise, this has become one of the most important parts of our day. Even if the boys learned nothing at all from the rich language of the poetry we read, Poetry Teatime would still be worth doing for us.

5. I learned how important plenty of outdoor play is for my children right now, during their young years. I started the term very eager to get on with reading and math (After all, I've been planning to homeschool for years now!). Slowly, as I read Charlotte Mason and blogs like 1000 Hours Outside, my priorities shifted. I am in less of a hurry to push the academics now (though we continue with our short reading and math lessons), and am making more of an effort to get outside every day, and for as much time as works for us.



I'm so thankful I began to blog before this first term began. I have recorded so many joyful memories of nature walks and reading lessons, of thoughts and sayings. It has been a happy beginning of homeschooling for us.

Saturday Commonplaces 3

On Advent

Stephen and I have no tradition in our backgrounds of celebrating Advent, and I really didn't have any plans to change that. But then I stumbled across this idea of listening to parts of Handel's Messiah and reading the Scriptures to match in the days leading up to Christmas, and I couldn't resist. We have been doing that at the beginning of our poetry teatimes this week. At first SA was not too impressed: "Why are we listening to music at teatime?" (He likes things to stay the same.) But he seems to be coming around. We like the clean sound of the Christopher Hogwood version, and we watch it on YouTube. I find it retains the children's interest a little better when they can see it. YouTube automatically bookmarks where we stop watching, so we can pick up where we left off every time.



On "The Outdoor Life for the Children:"

We've been logging our hours outside this week at 1000 Hours Outside. One of the most challenging things about a Charlotte Mason education for me has been "the outdoor life for the children." She recommends that children spend up to 4-6 hours outside daily when they're little. I actually agree. I have found that the more time my children spend outside, the healthier they are, and the less they get sick. However, agreement hasn't always translated into action. I tend to hibernate when it gets cold.

I don't want to be a Charlotte Mason "legalist" and insist on following her 4-6 hour guideline to the letter. I think Charlotte would agree that the most important thing for me is to have a "thinking love" for my own children. How important is it for my children's physical and mental health to spend time outside? How is the air quality in our home? (We obviously don't have open fireplaces in our homes anymore, but other things cause air quality issues.) How much time do I have to devote to this? (We don't have servants as they often did in Charlotte's day. The dishes and laundry still need to get done.) Up till how cold is it safe to have children playing outside? (Canada can be a bit colder than the UK.) Considering all these things, and more, I have concluded that we haven't been spending enough time outside since it has gotten "cold". (Never mind that we will be embracing these temperatures as mild when they arrive again in the spring!)

In light of all of this, and inspired by the 1000 Hours Outside blog, I have decided to set my own goals for our outside time. I need to be challenged on this, as it truly is difficult for me to get myself motivated to get all three children's winter gear on, and my own, and go out into temperatures that are less comfortable than the climate inside my home. My goal is to go outside with the children every day, even if it is only five minutes (barring dangerously cold or windy weather, of course!). We will aim for 10 hours outside per week for the older two children (I may go out with them for a while, then come back in. I find that if I go out with them for a little while, they're more likely to stay out longer on their own, or go out again later.). I don't know how this is going to go, but I just have to try.

Here is a scene from this week's nature walk in Brudenell.

On Poetry Teatime

Since we have started doing our poetry teatime, we've occasionally had guests. Our first guests were SA's and JJ's aunt and cousins, who are about their own age. When we were visiting Opa and Oma in NB, we had poetry teatime there with the aunts and cousins. At home again, we had Mrs. D, who brought the boys a special book and read it to them. Two weeks ago, we had C, who made us cookies (with sprinkles!) and offered to come again for a baking session with the boys. Last week we had "Aunt" L, who the boys love because she always talks to them as though what they have to say is the most important, most interesting thing she has ever heard. Even SA bloomed and became a bit of a chatterbox with this special treatment. We love having guests at our poetry teatimes!


On Habits

Our November habit was neatness, and we worked on picking up all the toys twice a day, once before teatime, and once before computer time. I made up a little checklist, not for rewards, but just to keep track and remind myself to do it. I tried to train the boys from the start to do it promptly and thoroughly. It has gone very well, and I do believe it is a habit for them now. I tend to clean something up in the same room while they are picking up the toys. If they are slow one day, I cheer them on or notice things they have missed. I still have a bit of a problem in that SA (5) tends to do more of his fair share because JJ (3) is slower. I'm not sure what to do about that...I have tried getting them each to pick up specific categories, or getting SA to pick up and JJ to vacuum under the table. Let me know if you have better ideas!