A True Good Beautiful Life

Welcome to A TRUE GOOD BEAUTIFUL LIFE podcast!

Here we will discuss all things Charlotte Mason in light of the ideas of the TRUE, the GOOD, and the BEAUTIFUL! I am your host, Jennifer Milligan, and throughout this series I will share with you how to find and cultivate various elements of TRUTH, GOODNESS and BEAUTY in our homes and classrooms through conversations with homeschooling parents and classroom teachers; interviews with experts, entrepreneurs, and artists; discussions regarding the great books, great minds, and great resources; fun travel and field trip summaries; and practices and creative experiences that embody the TRUE, the GOOD, and the BEAUTIFUL life. Over 100 years ago, British educator, Charlotte Mason, declared that, "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life," and so today, I hope you will join me on this adventure in education.

ON THIS EPISODE

This episode explores a little more deeply Charlotte Mason's 1st and 12th Principles in our first segment on the TRUE: Children are Born Persons and Education is a Science of Relations. We touched on them last week with Rachel Lebowitz of A Charlotte Mason Plenary and today I will go into more detail about what those principles encompass and how to practice them in our classrooms and homes. I also introduce a new resource on the 20 Principles, a video by A Charlotte Mason Poetry, featuring Art Middlekauff.

In our segments on the GOOD and BEAUTY, I am thrilled to chat with my homeschooling and realtor friend, Stephanie Newcomb , about Nature Study and Nature Journaling.

Some of our favorite nature resources are the following:

• The Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Comstock
• Nature Anatomy by Julia Rothman
• The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden
• The Nature Connection: An Outdoor Workbook for Kids, Families and Classrooms by Clare Walker Leslie
• The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling by John Muir Laws
• How to Teach Nature Journaling: Curiosity, Wonder, Attention by John Muir Laws and Emilie Lygren
• The Laws Guide to Drawing Birds by John Muir Laws
• Trees: National Audubon Society First Field Guide (and others in this series)
• Eyewitness Handbooks: Mushrooms (and others in this series)
• Audubon's Art and Nature edited by John Borneman
• Maria Sibylla Merian: 22 Pull-Out Posters
• Exploring Nature With Children by Raising Little Shoots
• @ninathidalgo --- Miniature Artist on Instagram

COMMONPLACE QUOTES

But the people themselves begin to understand and to clamour for an education which shall qualify their children for life rather than for earning a living. As a matter of fact, it is the man who has read and thought on many subjects who is, with the necessary training, the most capable whether in handling tools, drawing plans, or keeping books. The more of a person we succeed in making a child, the better will he both fulfil his own life and serve society. -Charlotte Mason, Volume 6: A Philosophy of Education, p. 3

As soon as he gets words with which to communicate with us, a child lets us know what he thinks with surprising clearness and directness, that he sees with a closeness of observation that we have long ago lost, that he enjoys and that he sorrows with an intensity we have long ceased to experience, what he loves with an abandon and a confidence which, alas, we do not share, that he imagines with a fecundity no artist among us can approach, that he acquires intellectual knowledge and mechanical skill at a rate so amazing that, could the infant's rate of progress be kept up to manhood, he would surely appropriate the whole field of knowledge in a single lifetime. - Essex Cholmondeley, The Story of Charlotte Mason, p. 201

But they are equals, first, because they work as colleagues, are equally involved in the conversation, equally eager and determined to find as much of the truth as they can. And they are equals beause the man treats the boy with exactly the respect that he would want an adult colleague to treat him, takes his thoughts, confusions, and questions as seriously as he would want another adult to take his own. Again, we can only envy all children who have such adults to talk to. - John Holt, How Children Learn, p. 97

Boys and girls must have time to invent episodes, carry on adventures, live heroic lives, lay sieges and carry forts, even if the fortress be an old armchair; and in these affairs the elders must neither meddle nor make . . . . the child who goes too much on crutches never learns to walk; he who is most played with by his elders has little power of inventing plays for himself; and so he misses that education which comes to him when allowed to go his own way . . . - Charlotte Mason, Volume 3: School Education, p. 37

Education is not simply a matter of aquiring information but of encountering knowledge and allowing it to change us. As we learn to care about various things -- things of the natural world or personal virtues usch as honesty -- our feelings will motivate us to act because of what we know. In this way, knowledge becomes virtue in a person's life. - Karen Glass, In Vital Harmony, p. 28

Let us take it to ourselves that great character comes out of great thoughts, and that great thoughts must be initiated by great thinkers; then we shall have a definite aim in education. Thinking and not doing is the source of character. - Charlotte Mason, Volume 3: A Philosophy of Education, p. 278

People who live in the country know the value of fresh air very well, and their children live out of doors, with intervals within for sleeping and eating. As to the latter, even country people do not make full use of their opportunities. On fine days when it is warm enough to sit out with wraps, why should not tea and breakfast, everything but a hot dinner, be served out of doors? For we are an overwrought generation, running to nerves as a cabbage runs to seed; and every hour spent in the open is a clear gain, tending to the increase of brain power and bodily vigour, and to the lengthening of life itself. They who know what it is to have fevered skin and throbbing brain deliciously soothed by the cool touch of the air are inclined to make a new rule of life, Never be within doors when you can rightly be without. (emphasis made by me) - Charlotte Mason, Volume 1: Home Education, p. 42

. . . give a child a single valuable idea, and you have done more for his education than if you had laid upon his mind the burden of bushels of information. - Charlotte Mason, Volume 1: Home Education, p. 174

APPLICATION

1) What is one way you can demonstrate to your class or children that they are born persons and image-bearers of God? What new Principle can you focus on this week?

2) Buy yourself and your kids simple blank journals to start Nature Journaling in. Make sure the paper is thick enough to use watercolors if you want to use them. Try to do this once a week together. At the top of each entry record the Meta Data - date, location, weather, temperature. Then sketch out something you see, hear, smell or touch. Add color if you want. Lable the parts as best you can and take any pertinent measurements.

Welcome to A TRUE GOOD BEAUTIFUL LIFE podcast!

Here we will discuss all things Charlotte Mason in light of the ideas of the TRUE, the GOOD, and the BEAUTIFUL! I am your host, Jennifer Milligan, and throughout this series I will share with you how to find and cultivate various elements of TRUTH, GOODNESS and BEAUTY in our homes and classrooms through conversations with homeschooling parents and classroom teachers; interviews with experts, entrepreneurs, and artists; discussions regarding the great books, great minds, and great resources; fun travel and field trip summaries; and practices and creative experiences that embody the TRUE, the GOOD, and the BEAUTIFUL life. Over 100 years ago, British educator, Charlotte Mason, declared that, "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life," and so today, I hope you will join me on this adventure in education.

ON THIS WEEK'S EPISODE

On this week's episode, I have the pleasure of interviewing Rachel Lebowitz of A Charlotte Mason Plenary . She has an amazing online resource that helps you with spreading the feast and provides a team of talented consultants to help with specialized issues, like Occupational Therapy, Dyslexia, and Special Needs. It provides curriculum guides, online co-op classes, annotated editions of Charlotte Mason's Volumes 1 and 6, and courses for parents and teachers.

Highlights of a Charlotte Mason Education:

1. A Moral education - cultivating character
2. Children are born persons
3. All education is self-education
4. Parents/Teachers are guides and friends, not the fountain-head of knowledge
5. Narration
6. Science of Realtions
7. Nature Study
8. Joy Classes (ie. Composer Study, Picture Study, Poetry, etc.)
9. Switch subjects to corrolate with different sides of the brain to give rest and allow for better attention
10. Short Lessons
11. Masterly Inactivity

Here are some of the resources we discussed:

• CM's Volumes: The Annotated Charlotte Mason Series by A Charlotte Mason Plenary
• Free 20 Principles Study: Finding Your Way with Charlotte Mason's 20 Principles by A Charlotte Mason Plenary
• Charlotte Mason Your Way Form Guides by A Charlotte Mason Plenary
• CM's Volumes 1-6 (Bundle) published by Living Books Press

COMMONPLACE QUOTES

Regarding Nature Study - I think this is the quote Rachel was talking about - "'Suppose,' says Leigh Hunt, 'suppose flowers themselves were new! Suppose they had just come into the world, a sweet reward for some new goodness... Imagine what we should feel when we saw the first lateral stem bearing off from the main one, and putting forth a leaf. How we should watch the leaf gradually unfolding its little graceful hand; then another, then another; then the main stalk rising and producing more; then one of them giving indications of the astonishing novelty––a bud! then this mysterious bud gradually unfolding like the leaf, amazing us, enchanting us, almost alarming us with delight, as if we knew not what enchantment were to ensue, till at length, in all its fairy beauty, and odorous voluptuousness, and the mysterious elaboration of tender and living sculpture, shines forth the blushing flower.' The flowers, it is true, are not new; but the children are; and it is the fault of their elders if every new flower they come upon is not to them a Picciola, a mystery of beauty to be watched from day to day with unspeakable awe and delight." - Charlotte Mason, Vol. 1 - Home Education, p. 53

Regarding Discrimination of Sounds - "A quick and true ear is another possession that does not come by Nature, or anyway, if it does, it is too often lost. How many sounds can you distinguish in a sudden silence out of doors? Let these be named in order from the less to the more acute. Let the notes of the birds be distinguished, both call-notes and song-notes; the four or five distinct sounds to be heard in the flow of a brook. Cultivate accuracy in distinguishing footfalls and voices; in discerning, with their eyes shut, the direction from which a sound proceeds, in which footsteps are moving. Distinguish passing vehicles by the sounds; as lorry, brougham, dog-cart. Music is, no doubt, the means par excellence for this kind of ear culture. Mrs.Curwen's 'Child Pianist' puts carefully graduated work of this kind into the hands of parents; and, if a child never become a performer, to have acquired a cultivated and correct ear is no small part of a musical education." - Charlotte Mason, Vol. 2 - Parents and Children, p. 185

Rachel's favorite quote - "The question is not,––how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education––but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him?" --Charlotte Mason, Vol. 3 - School Education, p. 170-171

APPLICATION

For a summary of Charlotte Mason's ideas, start with reading For the Children's Sake by Susan Shaffer McCauley or Karen Andreola's A Charlotte Mason Companion. Then try Charlotte Mason's Volume 1 - Home Education: Annotated Edition by Rachel.

For a dive into her educational philosophy, take the free online class Rachel offers in A Charlotte Mason Plenary (Free Course on CM's 20 Principles) to learn about Charlotte Mason's Principles or read Karen Glass's In Vital Harmony or Charlotte Mason's Volume 6 - A Philosophy of Education: Annotated Edition by Rachel.

Consider adding Composer Study to your weekly studies. Pick a classical composer you'd like to learn more about and listen to some of his pieces. Select two favorites and try to learn them so well that you could identify them anywhere.

WELCOME:

Welcome to A TRUE GOOD BEAUTIFUL LIFE podcast!

Here we will discuss all things Charlotte Mason in light of the ideas of the TRUE, the GOOD, and the BEAUTIFUL! I am your host, Jennifer Milligan, and throughout this series I will share with you how to find and cultivate various elements of TRUTH, GOODNESS and BEAUTY in our homes and classrooms through conversations with homeschooling parents and classroom teachers; interviews with experts, entrepreneurs, and artists; discussions regarding the great books, great minds, and great resources; fun travel and field trip summaries; and practices and creative experiences that embody the TRUE, the GOOD, and the BEAUTIFUL life. Over 100 years ago, British educator, Charlotte Mason, declared that, "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life," and so today, I hope you will join me on this adventure in education.

IN THIS EPISODE:

In this first episode, I will discuss the classical transendental ideas of the TRUE, GOOD, and BEAUTIFUL with my longtime friend, Erin LaMont, of Classical Conversations and I will always end the show with a poem so keep an ear out for that as well!

Hop on over to my website: www.atruegoodbeautifullife.com to read Erin's bio. Here are links to her favorite books and her Master's Thesis.

The Abolition of Man by C. S. Lewis

Norms & Nobility by David J. Hicks

The Lost Tools of Learning by Dorothy Sayers

Beauty for Truth's Sake by Stratford Caldecotte

Utilizing the Classical Christian Study of Latin to Promote Intentionality by Erin LaMont (her Masters Thesis)

I mentioned Beauty Matters: Creating a High Aesthetic in School Culture by Stephen Turley. You can also learn more about TG&B in Awakening Wonder: A Classical Guide to Truth, Goodness & Beauty by Turley as well. Other books mentioned or used are Charlotte Mason's Homeschooling Series, Vol. 1-6 Gradient Soft Cover and Sarah Mackenzie's Teaching From Rest: A Homeschooler's Guide to Unshakable Peace .

QUOTES:

Erin -

"To give a man knowldege is to give him a sword. To teach man the devastating science of swordsmanship and not the moral implications and responsibilities that come with wielding a sword is to unloose upon the world both a murderer and a victim. This is a tragedy in both instances, since modern man's eleventh-hour plea of ignorance in regard to his responsibilities will be -- despite his vast stores of piecemeal knowledge -- quite ulesless to save him." - David Hicks, Norms & Nobility

"For the sole true end of education is simply this: to tech men how to learn for themselves; and whatever instruction fails to do this is effort spent in vain." - Dorothy Sayers

"In the older systems both the kind of man the teachers wished to produce and their motives for producing him were prescribed by the TAO -- a norm to which the teachers themselves were subject and from which they claimed no liberty to depart. They did not cut men to some pattern they had chosen. They handed on what they had received: they initiated the young neophyte into the mystery of humanity which over-arched him and them alike. It was but old birds teaching young birds to fly." - C. S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man

Jenn -

"Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life." - Charlotte Mason, Home Education

"The true aim of education is to order a child's affections to teach him to love what he ought and hate what he ought. Our greatest task then, is to put living ideas in front of our children like a feast. We have been charged to cultivate the souls of our children, to nourish them in truth, goodness, and beauty, to raise them up in wisdom and eloquence. It is to those ends that we labor." - Sarah Mackenzie, Teaching from Rest.

"Do not forget that the education of the child's mind is of infinitely more importance than the acquirements of reading and writing; these may be put off for years without injury to the child's career, but the cultivation of reason, imagination, observation and sympathy, cannot be put off without injury to its moral and intellectual development. Therefore, do not trouble yourself at all about the child's progress, but be very careful of its growth." - E. L. Young, The Happy Reader

"Give a child a single valuable idea, and you have done more for his education than if you laid upon his mind the burden of bushels of information." - Charlotte Mason, Home Education

APPLICATION:

Think about how you can spread the feast with one way you can incorporate a TRUTH moment in your week - a nature walk, explore an attribute of God, read about and add something to a history timeline? What about focusing on something regarding the GOOD? A character trait? A habit you've been wanting to work on with your kids? Daily read alouds?

And BEAUTY - Pull out those old watercolors and dabble a little or visit your local art museum or gardens and soak in the creativity.

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