Today we are diving into the theory of “Parents as Inspirers.” This covers several chapters of the second volume in Ms. Charlotte Mason’s Home Education series. If you haven’t yet read the first couple chapters you can join in right where we are, go back and read my post here with my narrations, or the simple summaries provided by the lovely mamas over at Ambleside Online found here.
Chapter 3- Parents as Inspirers: Children must be born again into the Life of Intelligence
…great men have great mothers; mothers, that is, blest with an infinite capacity of taking pains with their work of bringing up children.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 2, pg 19
This seems to be a focus of chapter 3, that those who accomplish great things have been inspired by their parents. What exactly does Ms. Mason want us to use as the primary source of this inspiration? None, other than God’s word. Though there is not a inherency of behavior that shows that multiple generations must follow the same pattern, often what we train in our children when they are young often permeates their character into adulthood.
Give me a child until he is 7 and I will show you the man.”
― Aristotle, The Philosophy of Aristotle
This quote of Aristotle is what I thought of as I read this chapter. Throughout this chapter she references Dr. Henry Maudsley who was a 20th century psychiatrist and author of The Physiology of Mind. Who seems to support this idea, that these characteristics and predispositions do occur, but we as the parents have the opportunity to steer our children in the right way or the preferred way in education and character. If you recall this mirrors her sentiments outlined in Volume 1 of the train tracks and directing our children in the right paths and habits.
Chapter 4- Parents as Inspirers: The Life of the Mind grows upon Ideas
What a lovely visual, of us as parents sowing ideas for our children. The chapter opens up with a description that education is not an adequate term, and that many of the predominant educational philosophers miss the mark. While she doesn’t agree with everything Froebel says, we can see a certain affinity to his original intent of the Kindergarten, which literally means child garden in German, through many of her writings. All these philosophers get part of the idea of education, but not the whole thing. The focus being that education is for parents to impart ideas to their children, who are ready to receive this knowledge and to interact with it, but not as an institutionalized plan.
Honestly, if you were to read one page of this section, go to page 33. I highlighted nearly the entire thing.
Subjectively, in the child, education is a life; objectively, as affecting the child, education is a discipline; relatively, if we may introduce a third term, as regards the environment of the child, education is an atmosphere.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 2, pg 33
Here we see her philosophy and some of her basic education principals being introduced.
It is only as we recognise our limitations that our work becomes effective: when we see definitely what we are to do, what we can do, and what we cannot do, we set to work with confidence and courage; we have an end in view, and we make our way intelligently towards that end, and a way to an end is method. It rests with parents not only to give their children birth into the life of intelligence and moral power, but to sustain the higher life which they have borne.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 2, pg 33
Sounds a lot like vision casting that is popular today. See the end goal, recognize the reality of your abilities and limitations, and find “a way to an end” that is thus method. And how do we sustain this method? What is it built upon? Ideas of course!
Now that life, which we call education, receives only one kind of sustenance; it grows upon ideas. You may go through years of so-called ‘education’ without getting a single vital idea; and that is why many a well-fed body carries about a feeble, starved intelligence; and no society for the prevention of cruelty to children cries shame on the parents.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 2, pg 33
Well if that doesn’t describe typical American education, I’m not sure what will! We can sit in a classroom, read a book, do the work, but without the vital component of ideas our intelligence is starved.
Being all this rests on the premise of the “idea,” Ms. Mason then goes into tell us exactly what an idea is. Using the ancient philosophers belief that ideas live, and Coleridges analogy of a plant seed. The idea is the seed, where as events and situations become the nutrition of the idea as water and soil are nutrients to seeds. These then lead us towards growth or stagnation as the situations elicit remembrance or not.
As the parents, and inspirers, we are the ones laying the ground work and planting the seeds. Just as the parable of the sower and the seed from the bible (Matthew 13), not all seeds grow or land in fertile ground. As the parent we must take care to sow many ideas and provide as much nutrition as we can, but the harvest of the fruit will be up to our children. Thus we must make sure we sow beautiful, true, and noble ideas that hedge out the less righteous ideas that can spring from flesh or observation.
The initial idea begets subsequent ideas; therefore, take care that children get right primary ideas on the great relations and duties of life.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 2 pg 39
We as parents are not faultless, even with the best intentions we can steer our children away from truth through action or inaction, but in order to best steer them towards righteousness we must keep the focus on truth.
So all this said, what is the point of everything? What is Miss Mason trying to tell us?
This is, perhaps, how the educational formula should run: Education is a life; that life is sustained on ideas; ideas are of spiritual origin; and, ‘God has made us so’ that we get them chiefly as we convey them to one another.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 2
Thats a pretty good summary right there!
I hope you enjoyed this first section of the Parents as Inspirers chapters, as we have two more coming up. For next week we are reading Chapters 5-7! I’d love to know your take aways from this reading. Join in the conversation here in the comments or over on instagram!
Have a blessed week Inspirers!
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