On Principles 5, 6, 7 & 8

Summer with Charlotte: The Instruments of Education Issue

This is the fourth article in my “Summer with Charlotte” series. If you missed the first two, you can read On Education, On Principles 1, 2 & 20, and On Principles 3 & 4.

Let’s jump in.

Principle 5: Three Instruments of Education

Therefore, we are limited to three educational instruments - the atmosphere of environment, the discipline of habit, and the presentation of living ideas. The P.N.E.U. Motto is: “Education is an atmosphere, a discipline and a life.”

Reference: Volume 6, Chapter 6

We saw last time that there are quite a few wrong paths to take when approaching education that may be not only be our knee-jerk reaction but also taken with the best of intentions. These paths may even “work” but today Charlotte will show us a better approach. She says, “there are but three left for our use and to each of these we must give careful study or we shall not realize how great a scope is left to us.”

These are not the three measly options left over but three perspectives that open a wide lens for us to see education through and gift our child with. These three ideas together are the legs of a stool that will stand strong when used together.

Principle 6: Education is an Atmosphere

When we say that “education is an atmosphere,” we do not mean that a child should be isolated in what may be called a ‘child-environment’ especially adapted and prepared, but that we should take into account the educational value of his natural home atmosphere, both as regards persons and things, and should let him live feely month his proper conditions. It stultifies a child to bring down his world to the ‘child’s’ level.

Reference: Volume 6, Chapter 6

Walk into an elementary school today and you’ll likely end up with sensory overload. We have swung so far the other way as a society that “child-friendly” now seethes of primary colors and smells like peanut butter (scratch that, almond butter) and jelly.

Child-sized chairs and mini kitchens and labeled bins abound; while some of this may be helpful, it is certainly sending a message that a child needs a “specific” environment to thrive in when home is really the best environment a child could require.

Charlotte said it this way:

“We all know the natural conditions under which a child should live; how he shares household ways with his mother, romps with his father, is teased by his brothers and petted by his sisters; is taught by his tumbles; learns self-denial by the baby’s needs, the delightfulness of furniture by playing at battle and siege with sofa and table; learns veneration for the old by the visits of his great-grandmother; how to live with his equals by the chums he gathers round him; learns intimacy with animals from his dog and cat; delight in the fields where the buttercups grow and greater delight in the blackberry hedges.”

No primary colors there. Consider the elements mentioned: home, family, vigorous play, chores, a healthy mix of humility and admiration, honor for authority, friendships, pets, nature, wonder, and delight. How much of this happens in your average elementary classroom? Some of it may pop in here or there with even a class guinea pig to stare at (but certainly not to roll around on the floor with, cuddle, or run and play with) but they all seem to be additions to what we consider a “typical” school experience.

Administrators tack on a grandparents day, a donuts with dad and muffins with mom morning; children play on a concrete and mulch square with some slides and swings for the allowed 15 or so minutes a day and teachers wonder why the kids are so rowdy, and though friendships may blossom, there is little time to nurture them without getting in trouble. As for nature, it seems that is something kids should only learn from a book or a well-plotted out science experiment and when they dare to let their eyes wander out the window in wonder they are reprimanded for not paying attention. It seems a little silly, really; an artificial environment is constructed for the children’s sake when all they really need is already largely provided for them at home.

Principle 7: Education is a Discipline

By ‘education is a discipline,’ we mean the discipline of habits, formed definitely and thoughtfully, whether habits of mind or body. Physiologists tell us of the adaptation of brain structures to habitual lines of thought, i.e., to our habits.

Reference: Volume 6, Chapter 6

Charlotte insists, “Children must do the work for themselves. They must read the given pages and tell what they have read, they must perform, that is, what we may call the act of knowing.”

They must do the work themselves. Sounds easy enough but wait - that means the work of knowing. That means no explaining the message to them, no chewing up the information for them and spoon-feeding the soft mess to them. That means letting them struggle. But yes, during the struggle is when they win the knowledge for themselves. Then it belongs to them - not us.

However, having a son with dyslexia and ADHD I will be the first to tell you this does NOT mean without appropriate supports. If a book is beyond his visual capacity (mind you, not comprehension capacity), and I can’t find it on audio, I will read it aloud to him. The point is to get the ideas to him either via print or through his ears. He is still the one doing the work of wrestling with the idea and turning it out in to a narration. He does most of these orally but also writes some. I rarely correct his spelling and grammar because that’s not the point. The point of a narration is to see behind the curtain of his soul.

However, I have another “however.” Mental muscles must be worked to be strengthened. My son cannot read certain materials because of his dyslexia. Another son finds it difficult but is able to. That is a huge difference. If I gave this second child all audiobooks that would be doing him a disservice because he is able to do the work, though it is difficult. The more consistently he does it, the more easily he can and the more confident he becomes. Hard work really is satisfying, if only in the end. My goal has always been to lead my kids as close to the cliff’s edge as possible without pushing them off. Challenge - don’t overwhelm. There is no hard and fast rule for where this line is because every child is different - remember, they are all born persons - and you are the best one to determine where that line is. You’ll get it wrong sometimes and that’s okay. Apologize and try again.

Habits are all the rage nowadays and many a book on habits tops the best seller list but there is “nothing new under the sun” and Charlotte spends a lot of time discussing the idea of habits.

“…habit is like fire, a bad master but an indispensable servant;” she says and attributes much “nervous scrupulosity, hesitation, indecision of our day, is that life was not duly eased for us in the first place by those whose business it was to lay down lines of habit upon which our behavior might run easily.”

Surely there is no such thing as a life of perfection and ease as we all struggle with sin on this earth but many of our choices can be made more easily by the use of habit. Consider brushing your teeth or buckling a seatbelt when you get into the car. How exhausting it would be to have to weigh all the pros and cons and wrestle with decision before such simple, obviously beneficial tasks.

This is the gift we can give our children; we can help them to use habits to create deep grooves running toward right choices. Hard work, regular routines with eating and sleeping, working, playing, and resting, and focused attention are just a handful of good habits we can help cultivate in our kids today that will make their lives (and ours!) easier tomorrow.

Charlotte put special emphasis on the habit of attention: “…no intellectual habit is so valuable as that of attention; it is a mere habit but it is also the hall-mark of an educated person.”

This can bristle a bit when you have a house full of ADHDers but I do not think this statement disqualifies our kiddos with attention issues. Attention is a valuable intellectual habit; to learn anything we must pay attention. Those who have kids with ADHD know their kids do pay attention to an amazing degree when they are taken with a particular idea. This is the superpower of ADHDers and it’s called hyper focus. Not every book you assign your child will send him into hyper focus so there are systems you can put in place to help with the habit of attention. Charlotte already gifts us with short lessons, living books, and narration (we’ll talk about these later in the series) to help to build the habit of attention and there are also visual timers, checklists, routines, supportive environments, diet changes, supplements, and appropriate medication that can help your child focus on his school work, as well.

Principle 8: Education is a Life

In saying that “education is a life,” the need of intellectual and moral as well as of physical sustenance is implied. The mind feeds on ideas, and therefore children should have a generous curriculum.

Reference: Volume 6, Chapter 6

Charlotte says, “We know that food is to the body what fuel is to the steam-engine, the sole source of energy; once we realize that the mind too works only as it is fed education will appear to us in a new light.”

She goes on to say, “For the mind is capable of dealing with only one kind of food; it lives, grows and is nourished upon ideas only; mere information is to it as a meal of sawdust to the body…”.

I don’t think I can stress the food analogy enough; Charlotte was fond of it and for good reason. Now I know she did not celebrate an American Thanksgiving every November over in Ambleside but any time I read about her “feast” of ideas, that is the scenario to which my mind instantly goes. The turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, brussel sprouts, rolls, butter, pumpkin pie, and don’t forget the whip cream; consider the fantastic combination of ingredients, the variety of textures and tastes, the far-reaching crowd that this kind of menu reaches not just across the table but over decades of Thanksgiving dinners. This is the type of thing Charlotte was referring to; a feast of variety, yes, but also of top quality; no store-bought pies on my table! Only the best for my family that fourth Thursday in November.

Now, fellow Americans, I’m not judging your Thanksgiving spread if you bring in some help (full disclosure, I always buy canned cranberry sauce) but I’m making the point that Thanksgiving day of all days is not the time to scrimp on ingredients. Your homeschool feast is that of Thanksgiving caliber, my friend. Providing the best quality ideas on a wide variety of topics is what it means to spread a feast not of food, of course, but of ideas.

Ah, but how do we define an idea? Charlotte wrestled with this question, too:

“What is an idea? we ask, and find ourselves plunged beyond our depth. A live thing of the mind, seems to be the conclusion of our great thinkers from Plato to Bacon to Coleridge. We all know how an idea ‘strikes,’ ‘seizes,’ ‘catches hold of,’ impresses’ us and at last, if it be big enough, ‘possesses’ us; in a word, behaves like an entity.”

A live thing, indeed. I love how she adds, “no phrase is more common and more promising than, ‘I have an idea’;

After reading that last phrase, anyone who has seen the movie, The Croods, is surely thinking of the scene when the dad goes through a difficult and almost painful realization as he announces, “I…have…an…idea!” It seems to be his first one and it’s heavy and confusing and exciting for him all at once. Ideas are like that; the less of them we have, the harder it is to understand them. Give your child lots of ideas to play with and he will have a much easier time than Grug Crood.

So ideas are the thing; this is what makes education a life. The question is, then, how do we get hold of these “ideas?” And how are we sure they’re the good ones?

“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, whether by word of mouth, written page, Scripture word, musical symphony; but we must sustain a child’s inner life with ideas as we sustain his body with food.”

I read this and nod and smile but then this part stops me in my tracks:

“Probably he will reject nine-tenths of the ideas we offer , as he makes use of only a small proportion of his bodily food, rejecting the rest. He is an eclectic; he may choose this or that; our business is to supply him with due abundance and variety and his to take what he needs.”

Wait, what?! Reject nine-tenths? As in, only 10% of these wonderful ideas stick? Then what’s the point of the high quality, vast quantity?

Let’s go back to Thanksgiving dinner. How much food does your child put on his plate?

I bet it’s not more than 10% of the feast.

And as for the stuff he skips, I guarantee you’ve uttered the phrase famous among moms everywhere, “oh just try it, you might like it.”

How can he try it if it’s not offered?

How can he know he loves astronomy if he is never invited to study the stars?

Charlotte said he “may choose this or that; our business is to supply him with due abundance and variety and his to take what he needs.”

Needs for what?

For the work God created him for, of course.

But we don't know what that is when he’s born. Your child is not sent home with a tag saying, “Destined to be a writer. Be sure to instill a love of story; add grammar instruction later.”

So according to Charlotte, we create a violation common among parents and educators: “One of our presumptuous sins in this connection is that we venture to offer opinions to children (and older persons) instead of ideas.”

We say things like, “there are plenty of jobs in the computer science field, you should go that direction,” or “the medical field will always be needed, that’s a safe avenue,” or “with the way the economy is going, you’ll never be able to be a stay-at-home mom.” But we are looking through the telescope the wrong way; we shouldn’t look at the world and decide how our child can fit into it; we must look at the human God created and ask, “what work do you have prepared for him, Lord?” And then you move towards preparing him for that work by offering the feast. This does not just refer to a career, but a life; what life has God called him to? Can’t we all look back from where we are today and see the breadcrumbs the Lord laid out all along the way? He is doing the same for your child.

Moms with littles may wonder, “how do you know?” but as your child gets older, you will see. By the tween years, you can start to see form take shape; you notice how good she is with babies, how she loves to read, how she is dramatic and creative but hates math and can never find her shoes and you think hmmm, probably not destined to be an accountant or a future CEO of a large company. By the teen years, the image becomes more and more clear and like Michelangelo said of the angel in the marble, “I carved until I set him free.” The angel was already there; your child is already a person. Your homeschool, spilling over in plenty with living ideas, will help to set her free.

As we wrap up these principles, I’ll leave you with these words from Charlotte:

“…much and varied humane reading, as well as human thought expressed in the forms of art, is, not a luxury, a tit-bit, to be given to children now and then, but their very bread of life, which they must have in abundant portions and at regular periods. This and more is implied in the phrase, “the mind feeds on ideas and therefore children should have a generous curriculum.”

Join me next time as we cover principles 9 & 10. Be sure to subscribe to my Substack so you’ll be notified of new articles.

You can also follow along on my podcast, Homeschooling Outside the Box, and my Instagram.

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