Welcome to the Simply Charlotte Mason podcast. I'm Sonia Schaefer.

Twaddle. It's a buzzword among those in Charlotte Mason circles. We smile in recognition when we hear it,

and probably use the word ourselves sometimes, yet it seems difficult to define it exactly.

We might be able to give examples of twaddle, but we

can't quite wrap our minds around a succinct definition that is adequate. Well, at least

I can't. How would you define twaddle? Well, here are some key thoughts taken from Charlotte's comments. First, twaddle is

talking down to a child. I often think of twaddle as baby talk. You don't talk baby talk to your

child, so don't give him books that talk baby talk. Those of us who live with our children beside us

and talk with them all day are often astounded at the deep thoughts that they try to express.

They may not get exact details or terminology correct, but that's not because they can't think

deeply. It's because they haven't had as many

experiences as older children or adults have had. Too many authors assume children can't think deeply.

So they feed them silly, sometimes even rude, mental food. Oh, there might be a teeny bit of nourishing

mind food included, but the child has to wade through a lot of pablum to find it.

Here's how Charlotte described this aspect of twaddle.

Grown-up people who are not mothers talk and think far more childishly than the child does

in their efforts to approach his mind.

If a child talk twaddle, it is because his elders are in the habit of talking twaddle to him. Leave him to himself, and his

remarks are wise and sensible so far as his small experience guides him. Mothers seldom talk down

to their children. They are too intimate with the little people and have therefore too much

respect for them.

But professional teachers, whether the writers of books or the givers of lessons, are too

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