Home Education Chapters 1&2

Jamie and I are reading throughs Charlotte Mason's Home Education together and we are due to write our thoughts and musings on the first two chapters. In fact, I am long overdue.

Good luck figuring out what I meant when I originally wrote these things down.

Chapter 1:

It is the mother's responsibility to bring good traits out in a child. For example, instead of thinking how can I get Claire to have better control over her mouth, I need to think and pray how can I teach her? How can I be an example of this?

Remember, mothers owe their children a thinking love. "How shall this heart, this head, these hands, be employed? To whose service shall they be dedicated?"

A quote on mothering that caught my attention: " and they will take it up as their profession- that is with diligence, regularity, and punctuality which men bestow on their professional labours." This really stuck a chord with me because my sister, Leah, and I had just been discussing how we need to view housekeeping as a job. Granted, a job that has longer hours than most, but still it is one of our professions. We wouldn't say at a job away from home, "Well, I don't feel like doing much today. I think I'll just lay my head down on my desk and nap.  Or, "I'll just come in late and sleep half the morning away." I do realize that certain situations in life call for more sleep than normal. When babies are small, you basically have to sneak sleep in where you can, but there have been times that I have been pure lazy. I should get out of bed at a reasonable hour, have my list of things ready, chug my coffee and get to it. If I am efficient with my duties, I will have more time, more calm time, for "playing" with my children.  I will have time to teach Elaina how to properly clean a toilet, to show Claire how to measure flour, to help Eily fold a load of towels and washcloths.

"Take heed that ye offend not, despise not, hinder not, one of these little ones." 

Oh, how these words sting every time I read them. I want to have this hanging up in my room so that I see it first thing every morning.  I am terribly guilty of this. Terribly. 

"See what we may not do in order to know what we may do." Again, "See what we may not do in order to know what we may do."

"Teach the child that the parent must not allow ...fill in the blank... because it isn't right." I have been working on explaining this throughout our days. I CANNOT let you behave like that. I would be ignoring my responsibility, my duty as your parent if I let that slide.  (Is responsibility the right word? I feel that there's a better choice.)

Chapter 2
Some ideas for Outdoor Time:

Looking at a scene and painting a picture in your mind. 

"Look at the scene, close your eyes and describe it." 

I could read from the Little House book where Mary has lost her sight and Laura describes the view to her as they are taking a walk.

"The effect of recalling and reproducing is fatiguing, while the altogether pleasurable act of seeing, fully and in detail, is likely to be repeated unconsciously until it becomes a habit by the child who is now and then to reproduce what he sees."

Thinking of the world from the child's viewpoint. What if flowers were new? How amazed would we be as we looked at them, touched them, smelled them? Well, children are new. Each flower is to be watched with awe and delight.

Keep a diary of first sightings to go back and update. What the same area through the seasons. Pick a tree or bush to watch and record. 

Well, that's it. I hope some of that made sense to you. I was re-inspired just by going back over my notes and typing them on here. Make sure to go check Jamie's blog and watch for her post on both chapters.