Do you speak German? Is it more common in England for parents to just know German? Perhaps in the early twentieth century it was quite common. Honestly, I could forgive the occasional Latin and French in her other volumes, but German threw me for a loop. Praise the Lord for Google translate, though not knowing what it said wouldn’t have made the writing impossible–but it sure would have annoyed me. Today’s chapters have required me to do a bit more googling as there were quite a few random references both in English and German that I could not figure out. That Ms. Mason is quite the name dropper, and it is often helpful to look them up though not always needed. Today we conclude this chapter with a few reviews on education.
Chapter 4, Part 2- The New Times Need a New School
This chapter follows the musings of a man who is moving from Switzerland to take on a new posting as headmaster in a boys school. Throughout the chapter we read his thoughts in regards to his previous posting and much of the German reform. He begins reviewing a pamphlet titled, “knowledge is power” and thinks of the fact that poor children are often left behind in this quest for knowledge despite having the “right” for knowledge and even the desire. It is often a set of circumstances that causes the truly gifted child of the impoverished to leave school early to help provide for self and family, and the basic requirements of education are so low that children often cannot read, write or perform basic arithmetic skills.
“Nothing has more attraction for man than truth…his soul thirsts after truth” says Friedrich Adolph Diesterweg. However this poor man has eschewed actual truth and laments the amount of biblical teaching in German schools (he was a champion of secularization in schools), where He says so much biblical teaching is done that real truth is not present. Our narrator says that is not the problem in English schools, but it is far worse. They threw out much religious teaching, as well as living books on higher truths, and are now left with trite simple readers, “sawdust, that cannot take root downwards and bear fruit upwards in the human soul.”
Then he goes on to say it is not the question of Moses or Darwin (ok, forgive Ms. Mason here it was a modern theory, and well she was on the wrong side of that one). The question is the same today. It is not do we teach bible or modern scientific discoveries, we teach both! The children then can use their biblical acumen to discern the modern discoveries themselves! This does not give them a A or B choice, but rather helps them to develop the skill themselves to discern.
How do we as educators prepare the students to be able to make this discernment? We must take the Bible as truth, and show our children the same. She argues that some take it as history and some allegory, but all must hold it true.
We who teach must hold unalterable convictions in this regard, unalterable and therefore our grounds must be deep, broad, and high, covering and underlying every point of attack.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 5, p 151
I disagree. The Bible must be taken completely as truth, and no such departure from the truth. It is vital we know this, and believe it. It changes how we approach the scriptures. Though I do agree with this synopsis of truth that all can gain from the scriputres:
We have here the story of the decline and fall and hope to rise again of every soul of man.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 5, pg 151
As educators it is our role to help prepare the children to understand and know the Biblical truths and be able to discern more than right from wrong in action, but also in character and motive. To help children understand the difficult questions of life we give the Bible in it’s own form, nothing simplified and allow the truth of the divine writing speak to them. The Bible is often a straightforward narrative with no commentary, and the children, and we adults, are expected to discern from the Breath of God these truths. We see real people, living real lives and can relate that we all have fallen and have hope to rise again- through Christ.
And a bit of encouragement to the educator and rally to action,
“endeavour ourselves” to the daily effort of education, to live and act, think and speak before the children, so that they shall be hourly the better for all that we are, is harder, no doubt, than to make one enormous sacrifice.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 5, pg 156
Chapter 5, Part 2- A Hundred Years After
This chapter opens on my 5th birthday. Well, it does but that has nothing to do with it. If you remember the opening chapters, and the dinner party with the parents seeking to educate their children and form a parent league of sorts to give themselves a better education through one another so as they might better educate their children, those influenced are gathered together for the 100 year celebration of the Fathers and Mothers Club.
As the Clough’s host the dinner they gather a doctor, school master, and head-master for this special dinner, but do not tell them the occasion until they are seated. One is offended at the use of initials (FMC) for the club and ask why bother celebrating such a creation. The host explains that the formation of this club has revolutionized education in the last 100 years, and it was formed right there in his dining room!
Mr. Clough goes on to tell us that education of this day is not the same education of the past. Rather than focusing upon curriculum they have focused upon character. They use to think mathematics was enough to train in character, despite the character of great mathematicians who contradict this. The headmaster then concedes that his students today have a great deal more character than those of note 100 years ago.
Education that fails to effect this (character), effects nothing.”
Charlotte Mason, Volume 5, pg 162
After the headmaster lists some noted improvements, they go on to explain that this can be answered in the fact of parents, especially mothers, training their children in the power of attention.
Attention is the power and habit of concentrating every faculty on the thing in hand. Now this habit of attention, parents, mothers especially, are taught to encourage and cultivate in their children from early infancy. What you regard with full attention, if only for a minute, you know, and remember always.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 5, pg 164
Here we get a testimony of the children having four hour school days and then resources to attend to after that so that they give no worries to need of watching over. They each have their own specialty, and truly have grown and learned on their own. He goes on to state how the children being admitted these days to school know all sorts of natural history and nature knowledge in general.
They go on to say they are amazed at the children’s physical abilities as well as their discipline. They obey better than was expected. The quote “Give Me the Child Until He Is Seven and I Will Show You the Man” came to mind and I am finding references saying this was Hitler, Aristotle, or Francis Xavier who coined this phrase. However, the statement oft rings true. It is in those formative first years that the child’s character is trained through habits, like attention to the world around them and obedience to authority. Charlotte Mason of course a more beautiful and classical reference with the same sentiment.
Children, like tender osiers, take the bow,
Dryden(?) quote found in Charlotte Mason’s Fifth Volume, pg 169
And, as they first are fashion’d, always grow;
For what we learn in youth, to that alone
In age we are by second nature prone.'”
They go on to mention that these habits in character created in those early days have led to improved education, which led to reform within the church. Their spiritual lives “flourish or decay as it is duly nourished and exercised,” and as the character of the children has improved through habits and education so have their spiritual lives. Just as their spiritual lives have improved over the past century so has their health. The doctor explains how medical doctors have benefitted from the students knowledge and practice of healthy habits and exercise so that they spend less time curing illness and more time visiting his patients at random so it seems to “check in” on them and help them avert any issues in a preventative manner.
All because of this education revolution there has been these great changes.
Side note: The mothers left the room as was custom for dinner parties back in the day and the men had been having these grand discussions. Which is interesting because time and again they point out that it was the mother’s responsibility to help create and develop these habits. How sad, that even in 100 years there was not a vision of coming together between the husbands and wives. Anne White also lamented this part of the story in here summary over on her blog. I for one agree with Anne, that I would prefer to have heard the mother’s take on the past 100 years!
And that bring us to the end of Part 2! Join me next week as we dive into Part 3. As always feel free to drop a question or comment below, or find me over on Instagram to discuss more readily these topics.
Wholehearted Homemaking 
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