“Never be within doors when you can rightly be without.”
It’s one of the first Charlotte Mason adages I learned by heart. I use it all the time to this day. I bet it’ll be one of those sayings my kids will remember when they’re fifty and say with a smile - albeit a slight roll of the eyes - “my mom was always saying…” and I’m so happy to think that.
When God made humans, He put them in a garden. Not a house, not a cubicle, but out of doors. We were not created to be inside as much as we are. You hear about “new” ways to be healthy like green therapy or beach yoga and it’s important to remember that getting outside is not something we are adding to civilization; it’s something we need to return to.
Our post-modern culture is obsessed with productivity – all efforts should accomplish something. But Miss Mason warned against getting in the way of what nature, itself, is already accomplishing. Being out-of-doors is about tasting freedom and experiencing release.
This is not the best time for a lesson but if you absolutely feel like you must be doing something other than playing, running, relaxing and breathing fresh air, consider pointing your children toward observation or seeing closely what is around them. Encourage them to paint a picture in their mind of the landscape.
“Once the mother and children have arrived in a pleasant, breezy area, it is not the mother’s duty to entertain the children. No reading aloud or storytelling–in fact, there should be as little talking from her as possible, and what little there is should have a definite purpose. After all, who worries about entertaining children with story books during a puppet show, or at the circus?? And the great outdoors has lots more to offer than either of those. A wise mother, upon arriving at their spot, first sends the children off to run wild and play and make as much noise as they want.”
– Charlotte Mason
Run wild.
Play.
Make as much noise as you want.
What child or teen - or mother, for that matter - wouldn’t want to hear these refreshing words?
Humans are not machines. We are more like plants. We don’t run out of battery or need recharging. We need fresh air, sunshine, water, love, and rest. We need to stretch and struggle to grow and thrive. We need a school day that offers movement and an ever-changing landscape. Kids love novelty - the internet lures them in with ever changing videos, but you can go to the same spot in nature every single day and see something different. How amazing is that?
Resources
Meeting Charlotte Mason: The Great Outdoors
Meeting Charlotte Mason: Nature Study
Charlotte Mason’s Home Education (Vol. 1)
1000 Hours Outside, especially the podcast and Ginny’s book, Until the Streetlights Come On
Richard Louv’s book, Last Child in the Woods
Julia Rothman’s book, Nature Anatomy
Angela Hanscom’s book, Balanced and Barefoot
Karen Andreola’s Pocketful of Pinecones
Anna Comstock’s Handbook of Nature Study
L.M. Montgomery’s book, Anne of Green Gables
Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden
Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Sterling North’s Rascal
The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden
What’s New
No new podcast episode but enjoy this oldie but goodie: Meeting Charlotte Mason: Nature Study
If you haven’t purchased My Nature Journal, now is a great time to grab it!
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It’s one thing to read Shakespeare; it’s quite another to live in his world, even for a few weeks.
Till next time,
Cindy :)
*Many of the resources contain affiliate links. If you purchase an affiliate product, your price does not increase but I do get a tiny "thank you" portion from the company for recommending their products. I only have an affiliate relationship with products I use and love.