Episode 1: Why Use the Charlotte Mason Philosophy
A Delectable Education Charlotte Mason Podcast
Nicole Williams
4.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 9 October 2015
⏱️ 17 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Emily Kiser of Living Books Library describes the purpose for this podcast series. Each of the three members of this discussion group introduces herself and explains how she became a homeschooling mother. Since the goal of this series is to explore the ideas of Charlotte Mason, each mother also shares how she became interested in Mason's educational method. Finally, a discussion of why schooling with a philosophical outlook is crucial ensues.
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"But knowledge is delectable." (Towards a Philosophy of Education, pg. 89)
"We spread an abundant and delicate feast...all sit down to the same feast and each one gets according to his needs and powers." (Towards a Philosophy of Education, pg. 183)
"There are four means of destroying the desire for knowledge:––
(a) Too many oral lessons, which offer knowledge in a diluted form, and do not leave the child free to deal with it.
(b) Lectures, for which the teacher collects, arranges, and illustrates matter from various sources; these often offer knowledge in too condensed and ready prepared a form.
(c) Text-books compressed and recompressed from the big book of the big man.
(d) The use of emulation and ambition as incentives to learning in place of the adequate desire for,and delight in, knowledge." (School Education, pg. 214)
"The reader will say with truth,--'I knew all this before and have always acted more or less on these principles' and I can only point to the unusual results we obtain through adhering not 'more or less' but strictly to the principles and practices I have indicated." (Towards a Philosophy of Education, pg. 19)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
The Preface to the Home Education Series, found at the beginning of each volume
An Educational Manifesto, (PR Article)
(Contains affiliate links)
www.sabbath-mood-homeschool.com Nicole Williams' blog where you can find ideas for teaching living science as well as information on how to schedule your Charlotte Mason lessons
www.livingbookslibrary.com The blog and website for Living Books Library--lots of living book recommendations, hints on developing a reading culture in your home as well as audio versions of Charlotte Mason's Home Education Series and living books for sale
Picture Study Portfolios A complete resource for Picture Study written by Emily Kiser--instructions on how to teach picture study, an artist biography, eight full-page laminated art prints, and notes on each painting
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to a dialectable education, a new podcast that explores the philosophy and practices of the |
| 0:15.2 | Charlotte Mason method of education. |
| 0:17.6 | I'm Emily Kaiser, librarian at the Living Books Library, and I'm joined by my mom, Liz Kattrill and our friend |
| 0:24.6 | Nicole Williams. For years the three of us have bounced thoughts and ideas off of |
| 0:30.0 | one another, puzzled and explored Charlotte Mason's ideas from her writings have been in |
| 0:34.8 | Charlotte Mason's study groups, gone to conferences, shared our questions and frustrations |
| 0:39.9 | with each other, and tried to put into practice this method. We all increasingly hear |
| 0:45.6 | from moms who are curious about Charlotte Mason but don't know where to begin or |
| 0:49.5 | how to wrap their minds around all her ideas and practices. Our hearts are to help give them a hand as we would have |
| 0:56.1 | like to have had one to hold on to in the beginning. But the limits of time and space make that |
| 1:01.3 | impossible for us to do that for every single person who |
| 1:03.7 | approaches us for advice. The purpose of this podcast is to include others in our |
| 1:09.4 | studies and conversations about the Charlotte Mason method, to let those who are beginning and |
| 1:14.3 | everyone all the way through to people who have been doing this for a long time |
| 1:17.3 | eavesdrop on some of our ponderings. All of us are still learning and know the value of bouncing ideas off of one another and the importance of having friends who are walking this road together as we attempt to give our children in education rooted in a philosophy that is so different than the one we received. |
| 1:35.3 | We hope all of you listening will find support, encouragement, and practical help in every episode. |
| 1:42.3 | We named this podcast A delectable education spreading the |
| 1:45.8 | feast of the Charlotte Mason method because of the great metaphor of food |
| 1:49.6 | and feasting that Miss Mason used throughout her six volumes on education. |
| 1:54.5 | But knowledge is delectable, said Charlotte Mason. |
| 1:58.1 | She used this metaphor of food, eating, and the feast |
| 2:01.0 | to describe the process and scope of education. |
... |
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