Cultivating Mother's Heart
I've been pondering of late the profitability of Mother increasing her own knowledge as she guides and directs her childrens' education. It is a valuable thought, I must say, being that as Mother grows and learns, she is more capable of being a resource and guide to her children as they learn. She too, then, becomes the student and not merely the teacher. This thought intrigues me more and more as I venture to homeschool my children and create an atmosphere of learning. I realize that Charlotte Mason was correct when she said that "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life." I am now beginning to fully understand what she meant and I realize that if I do not remain teachable, then I will be ineffective as I teach my children. I am a firm believer that you should have a lifestyle of learning. I'll tell you part of my story.
When I was 20, I was preparing to go to the community college, my maternal grandmother asked "Why did I feel I need to go to school?, Wasn't graduating from high school enough?" I thought it strange that she would ask such questions, but I now realize that it wasn't a common thing in my family for one to want to go to school, let alone to college. You only went because you had to. At this time, the only relatives that had graduated from high school where my aunt, who also obtained her RN license, and my cousin who decided not to pursue her college dreams. Most of my family members, on my mother's side, didn't have a high school diploma. Most had either never been to school or had dropped out. When I graduated in 1985, it was a big deal, because I was the first to receive my diploma since my aunt. That always used to puzzle me, why was my graduating so important and now, some odd years later, I believe I finally understand. It was a milestone for my family, that someone had actually accomplished something great.
Back to my response to her question. Back then I believe I had an inkling of understanding of what CM was trying to tell us. I truly had a desire to know more, and I told her that, "You never stop learning. That everyday was an opportunity to learn something new and you must remain open to do so." Today, in retrospect, I wonder how I knew that then and why did I allow life to derail me from continuing to pursue it. I realize that if you truly want to learn and know, nothing will keep you from doing so.
So, as I endeavor to daily educate my children, I will also take the opportunity to learn something new and cultivate my heart and mind too. I will develop an atmosphere, a discipline and a life for myself on this wonderful journey. Never know, one day I will graduate from college too.
In pursuit of this lifestyle for myself, I have taken up a challenge from Karen Andreola's book, "A Charlotte Mason Companion" to keep three books going. Karen says, "Keeping three books going is the habit of grown-ups reading living books and retaining the power to digest them. Mother would not only read her Bible, but a stiff book, a moderately easy book, and a novel. By taking up the one she feels fit for, she lives the secret: always have something "going" to grow by," (Chp 46, pg. 346).
I will be using Terry W. Glaspey's One Year Plan for Exploring the classics in his book, Book Lover's Guide to Great Reading. Using Glaspey's plan, the month of November is a study of C.S. Lewis. This is great for me, since the children and I are reading one of the books on the reading list for worldview studies, "Mere Christianity."
Here is my reading list in the order of keeping three books going:
Stiff book: From the Library of C. S. Lewis
Moderately Easy book: Mere Christianity
I must confess, I have never read any of Lewis' books, though I own several of them including the entire Chronicles of Narnia series. The rest of my family has read and loved his writings for years. I guess its time for me to enjoy the wonders of Lewis. I plan to journal my thoughts as I read and I will share them with you weekly. I will also be reading Richard Foster's, "Celebration of Discipline," a book recommended by Glaspey to provide a general orientation to the classics. I will also use a read your Bible in a year guide. Maybe I'll finish it this time around.
~Be blessed~
