Episode 2: Children are Born Persons
A Delectable Education Charlotte Mason Podcast
Nicole Williams
4.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 12 October 2015
⏱️ 16 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Charlotte Mason's first principle of education is that "Children are born persons." This sounds simple, but Emily, Nicole, and Liz examine the complexity of this view and why it is unique in existing educational models and practices. They each share personal and practical examples of the difference such a concept makes for a child being educated in Mason's method.
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"In a word, we are very tenacious of the dignity and individuality of our children. We recognise steady, regular growth with no transition stage...put the first thing foremost, do not take too much upon ourselves, but leave time and scope for the workings of Nature and of a higher Power than Nature herself." (Parents and Children, pg. 232)
"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?" (School Education, pgs. 170-71)
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.
Home Education (Volume 1), Part I, Chapters 1-7
School Education (Volume 3), Chapters 4 and 8
Towards a Philosophy of Education (Volume 6), Chapters 2 and 5
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome back to a delectable education, the podcast that explores the philosophy and practices of the Charlotte Mason method of education. |
| 0:17.0 | I'm Emily Kaiser, librarian at Living Books Library, and I'm joined by Liz Kontro, my mom and operator of Living Books Library and |
| 0:24.4 | Nicole Williams of Sabbath Mood Homes. Hello. Hi. Welcome back guys. |
| 0:29.7 | Thanks. In the last episode we talked about who we are and why we love Charlotte Mason and why it's important |
| 0:37.1 | to hold a philosophy of education as teachers and homeschooling parents. |
| 0:41.3 | Today we're going to focus on the most familiar but absolutely |
| 0:44.8 | essential first educational principal of Charlotte Mason when she said |
| 0:48.2 | children are born persons. Indeed this idea forms the foundation for the rest of her philosophy of education. |
| 0:57.0 | Many people have discussed this principle at length, but we would be remiss if we ignored these words as we began our consideration of Charlotte Mason's method of education. |
| 1:07.0 | Let's first look at what Miss Mason meant by these words and then why she considered this idea to be foundational to all her other educational |
| 1:14.1 | principals. Mom would you like to share what she was talking about when she said |
| 1:18.0 | children are born persons? It seems so simple, this phrase and we just take it for granted but what was she |
| 1:23.9 | getting at here? It is simple. We are so used to people in our lives that we |
| 1:30.4 | don't stop as Ms Mason said to consider the wonder of each one. |
| 1:36.2 | We don't marvel at their complexity. We just take them for granted. They're there. |
| 1:41.9 | People are not functioning machines. We are each unique. Each of |
| 1:47.0 | us created in the image of God. He made persons whole. We're not a brain or a body or a conglomeration of emotional impulses. |
| 1:57.6 | The word person seems simple, but to describe who we are complex personalities is nearly impossible. |
| 2:06.7 | We are body, soul, and mind. |
| 2:10.5 | And people describe us in all those ways, but it's all one. None of those are distinct or separate |
| 2:17.2 | pieces of us. Just as no one can describe God, no one can define a person who's made in his image. |
| 2:24.0 | Mason said that little children especially when they see a new baby and |
... |
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