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As I have written in my previous post, I am inviting Filipino homeschoolers to join in this discussion on the Charlotte Mason homeschooling method. This discussion is based on Susan Schaeffer Macaulay’s book For The Children’s Sake
. I am also inviting other homeschoolers all over the world to share your insights with us. To join, all you need to do is leave a comment here.
. I am also inviting other homeschoolers all over the world to share your insights with us. To join, all you need to do is leave a comment here.Chapter 1 “What Is Education?” (Part 1)
In this chapter, the author talks about their search for the perfect school for their child. This begs an answer to the question “What should we aim for when thinking about education?” In answer to this, she looks at some of Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of education.
Here are some points for our discussion:
“Charlotte Mason believed passionately that children are persons who should be treated as individuals as they are introduced to the variety and richness of the world in which they live. She believed that Biblical Christianity is truth.”
“She really loved the children she taught. They were not just interesting specimens or an intriguing challenge. From the very start, they were valued friends, persons whom she respected. And this in a generation when children were normally meant to be “seen and not heard.”
“Children have often been the chattels of the adults. Their worth is constantly expressed in terms of dollars and cents, their education in terms of their being a cog in a machine, to be made fit for the highest paid job possible.”
“When a baby is picked up, spoken to, and loved, he is starting his education as God planned it. For all our lives we are human beings, in an active state of learning, responding, understanding. Education extends to all of life.”
My thoughts:
Over 7 years ago, when I first considered to educate my eldest at home, the question of what education really is was not my priority. I believed that education started with the kind of curriculum that I would use to teach my children. Through the years, my philosophy on homeschooling has slowly changed – from curriculum based to children’s needs based.
Having also had the experience of a child that was meant only to be seen and not heard, my husband and I raised our own children as individuals that deserved respect. We always treated them as people who understood what was happening around them even if they are just babies.
Although I still subscribed to the curriculum first philosophy, it wasn’t until we were into our third year of homeschooling that I learned about Charlotte Mason through Cindy Rushton. I have learned that everything in life is education. Education is not only that which are read in textbooks and workbooks, but the real education is in what our children experience in family life and relationships.
So these are my thoughts for now. Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment here so that we can all learn from each other.
* Words in italics are direct quotations from For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, Chap 1, pages 3,5, 6,7.
Michelle Padrelanan
Hello, I'm Michelle and I love to encourage others through my blog. I write about homeschool, books and family life. I enjoy testing out products and giving my honest opinion about it. If I'm not in front of my laptop, I can usually be found watching TV or having my favorite frappuccino at Starbucks with my favorite Mary Higgins Clark book. Online casino Ireland. ###
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Hi Michelle,
Thanks for posting this, I wish I had this book so I could delve more into it. I’ve been reading some Charlotte Mason materials in AO’s website and I was so encouraged myself and convinced of the CM approach.
Like most people, I was traditionally schooled all the way & when I started writing my thesis on homeschooling here in the Philippines, my outlook radically changed! I was first introduced to John Holt’s writings on unschooling & the Moore’s ‘Better Late than Early’ which de-schooled me in the process. I used to think Education was another translation of ‘grades.’ That if I had good grades, I was getting a good education. I’m sure most of us can relate to this. To Filipinos, having a ‘degree’ or ‘diploma’ is like earning your way to a higher caste system. My research on Homeschooling & my exposure to John Holt’s writings helped mold my outlook on what ‘learning’ truly meant.
I was only able to explore & appreciate CM Method last year and I am still learning about the CM Philosophy as of this writing.
So far, I can relate to her passion and appreciate so much that Biblical Christianity being the truth is tied in to what Education is. My husband and I firmly believe that education is more than just academics. Having said that, when we begin to understand that “Education extends to all of life,” it frees us from the pressure of having to keep up with our diploma-oriented society. In fact, you can now see what William Butler Yeats meant when he said that “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” Any discoveries, big or small, in our everyday life sparks that learning that shouldn’t be quenched by the confines of academics.
Maybe I should blog about this too!
chamé
Very well said, Chame! You should blog about it, too. You know in the past, it used to drive me crazy when something would happen at home that I considered an interruption of our schooling. For example, if one of my children got sick and I had to take the sick child to the doctor, that would mean my eldest would miss school for the day. It wasn’t until I learned more about CM that I realized that even that is an education in itself. So all of life, really, is an education.
I will surely blog about the CM Method when I have finished theming my website. Dan just recently re-designed it and all I have to do is translate it to website terms so it’s usable
The trick is finding the right time for it. I seem to be drawn to reading & researching these days. I can’t believe it’s past midnight & I’m still up!
I totally understand where you’re coming from! In contrast to you, I’m totally laid back. I love planning and I’m pretty obsessive-compulsive when it comes to lesson plans and I even come up with my own 36-week-lesson-guide on all subjects. The main problem I have is following it. I seem to stretch that 36-weeks to 2 years! LOL.
I’m glad that my son has slowly developed the discipline of following my lesson plans. That has greatly helped our schedule! I try my best to read to him some of his assigned books but he reads about 90% of it on his own now.
I am in search of fellow Charlotte Mason educators. I homeschool using Ambleside Online and it’s been lonely not having anyone to relate here in the Philippines
Still in search. If you know of anyone using her approach.. I would love to meet them 