A Master-Thought Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.
Chapter 14 ( School Education)
Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.
The statement above should mean more to us than just a mantra to chant. We should live it. Without attention to the other aspects of Education, we could raise children with no healthy curiosity or initiative, expecting learning to happen. However, it is easy to pick just part of the whole and attempt to change only the environment- beautiful pictures, beautiful schoolroom, charming teachers or tutors.
We could also err by focusing solely on ' Education is a life'. We could push ourselves to the point of intellectual exhaustion by attempting to make everything a learning activity. Our children could dread mentioning their discoveries to us because we, in turn, will drill them to the point of exhaustion.
Worse still is if ignore the other aspects and decide that Education is merely a discipline. We attempt to develop separate faculties as if the mind and body do not work as a whole. We all know that disciplined moral, intellectual and physical habits are essential, but we go too far when we expect to produce them by one curriculum or the other.
I have just described what a lack of balance in considering our basic principle can cause. Now that we're clear on that, we can discuss the parts of this central principle.
Education is life
It's easy to understand this when we believe that devotion, virtue, intellect and even our physical beauty come from the same source--God Himself. They're all inspired by the same source--God's Holy Spirit. There is no separation of our Religious and artistic life because God inspires art and intellect. Our children deserve a feast of great ideas passed on by a power even higher than Nature itself.
We attempt to separate God from other subjects. If we do our job right, our children will grow up with an attitude of respect for Science, reverence for God, and an open mind that realises that there is always something new to learn.
In our homeschool journey, it's easy to focus on the aspects that we're good at and ignore the unfamiliar and challenging. We think that if we sprinkle a little bit of this and that, such an education will be sufficient. This is the reason why we need a 'Captain' idea. This brings us to our next point.
Education is the Science of Relationships
"...A child should be brought up to have relations of force with earth and water, should run and ride, swim and skate, lift and carry; should know texture, and work in material; should know by name, and where and how they live at any rate, the things of the earth about him, its birds and beasts and creeping things, its herbs and trees; should be in touch with the literature, art and thought of the past and the present I do not mean that he should know all these things; but he should feel......"
Charlotte Mason, School Education
Relationship is at the core of Education. When our children graduate from our homeschool, they should care about the world around them. They should care enough to meet new ideas and be curious. They should have a broad perspective and intimate knowledge of the things around them. As we know, ideas beget more ideas.
To establish all these relationships, our children need a wide range of subjects. It is unfair to our children to put them in boxes so early in their lives. We think they need to pick Science over Arts or pick Literature over Chemistry. We believe that if he spends time drawing, he cannot be a good scientist. We forget that Science is about observation, a skill developed through Drawing, Picture-Painting and Nature Study. We think Latin is unimportant and a waste of time, but we forget that many Medical terms are in Latin. With this idea of establishing relationships with knowledge, we can see how it is unwise to drop one subject because we think it's unimportant.
Children should learn from first-hand sources- good books. It isn't easy to establish a relationship with pre-digested knowledge from a teacher. The teacher/parent's job is to stimulate interest, choose living books, give guidance as the child acquires knowledge. Children should be allowed to reflect for themselves. That way, we'll raise thinkers.