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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