8/29/2022
“Our aim in education is to give a full life. We owe it to them to initiate an immense number of interests. Life should be all living, and not merely a tedious passing of time; not all doing or all feeling or all thinking - the strain would be too great - but, all living; that is to say, we should be in touch wherever we go, whatever we hear, whatever we see, with some manner of vital interest.” -Charlotte Mason
I find myself drawn, pulled in and nestled to Miss Mason’s thoughts. I think I’ve learned more about the importance of self-education as a home educator than I did when I was a student? I believe it’s the idea behind it, that it’s my job to remain educated, not someone else’s job to spoon feed their knowledge into me.
What I’m most drawn toward is her approach-hold to Truth while gaining further truth. She didn’t shy away from new knowledge and had keenness of observation. I think she understood its importance at gut level to life, not just to science. Large volumes of her advice was based on her anecdotal observations of children, human nature, the science of consistency to good choices(even if it went against the grain). Never underestimate anecdotal-it eventually becomes hypothesis. She understood healthy homes have a better chance of growing healthy adults.
“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” -widely attributed to Frederick Douglass*
*possibly from 1855 speech, My Bondage and My Freedom
