It's good to be reminded of encouraging and helpful ideas. So this week we're bringing you a reprise of one of our most popular episodes.

We hope you enjoy the best of the Simply Charlotte Mason podcast.

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 wrong. 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.

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