This summer, I have been re-reading, For the Children’s Sake, by Susan Schaeffer Macauley, which I was first introduced to in My Father’s World Kindergarten. As a new homeschooler, I was very passionate about the idea of a Classical education, it just made sense to me and my oldest was a read a book, learn it, know it forever kinda kid, and I didn’t really put Charlotte Mason ideas into practice until my twins became school age. I am still very much a Classical educator in the structure of our education but I use Charlotte Mason ideas in the practical of how I teach. The more I have taught my own as well as Camps, Co-op, Robotics teams, Church, the more I have come to the conclusion that Charlotte Mason was a genius. I think she had a gift from God in understanding children and not only how they do learn, but in how they should learn, and the atmosphere they best thrive in.
Just as a recap, Charlotte Mason lived in the mid 1800’s and early 1900’s and her ideas came from years and years of teaching. She believed that children are persons to be respected and treated as the unique individuals that God has created them to be. She believed that they should be taught and introduced to the beauty and richness in the world and in the nature around them. She believed in teaching the Bible in its fullness and in its truth to even her youngest students. She was a practical Classical educator and many of her ideas fit into a Classical education beautifully.
One of the ideas that really struck me this week as I was rereading was this idea of children as persons to be respected. They are unique individual created by God. God gave them unique personalities, He gave them gifts and desires and they come out this way. They aren’t blank slates, they are designed individuals. They need to be taught and trained certainly, but they are already individuals and should be respected as such. Susan Schaeffer Macaulay writes,
When we begin studying the person, the real child, we must serve who he is, not fit him into our schedules or plans. Part of this is allowing him to play.
I really had to learn this with my twins. Connor fit a lot of what I just naturally gravitated to. He is the child that is most like me in personality. While he is the introverted version to my extroversion, how we learn, what we like to do and our academic interests were similar. The twins were not and I had to learn to change my priorities and schedules to better fit them. When I did that, our home became more fun and engaging and even Connor enjoyed it more.
This idea that it was not about me and that I need to respect them as individuals and as children made me learn that less is more. The idea that I can teach things simply and rigorously. Adding another science program was going to be less useful than the time for nature walks and the weekly trip to the library where they could pick science books in topics that intrigued them. I had to learn that I needed to keep subjects short and hands on and then move on to the next thing with lots of opportunity for movement. I had to learn that we needed to be done with school by lunchtime in early elementary to give time for free play, free reading and quiet time.
As Dr. Dobson says, ” become a student of your child”, I had to study them, learn who God created them to be and then work and allow for that. When I let that sink in, that my job wasn’t to make them into who I thought they needed to be, but rather help them to be who God had designed them to be, I was so much better able to meet them where they were at. Yes, there are absolutes that must be taught, but in watching and studying them, I added or subtracted work based on who they were not who I wanted them to be. I gave them time to be the little people God had created, and as they got older, my main job was to help them follow the passions that God had given to them while providing the education they needed. I am so glad that I did, because the people they are today are so much more amazing than what I could have dreamed they could be.
If you are struggling in over scheduling your kids or in designing a homeschool path, take a week and read or reread, “For the Children’s Sake”. Even after reading it for the 3rd or 4th time, I am inspired.
