The Series by Subject
Charlotte Mason's ideas are too important not to be understood and implemented in the 21st century, but her Victorian style of writing sometimes prevents parents from attempting to read her books. This is an imperfect attempt to make Charlotte's words accessible to modern parents. You may read these, print them out, share them with your local study group--but they are copyrighted to me, so please don't post or publish them without asking.
~L. N. Laurio
Citizenship
Volume 2, Parents and Children, pg 15
Besides that, parents hold their children in trust for society. A child is only 'my own' in a limited sense. Children are entrusted to parents to be raised for the good of their community. In this sense, parents are the ones who have been given the authority that's needed for carrying out their job. If they fail, they can be replaced. The one State [Sparta?] whose name is no more than a proverb that encompasses a group of virtues that we have no other word to describe, is also a State that practically deprived parents of their right to parent because they failed to raise their children with the virtues that were good for the society. Naturally, the State reserves the right to raise its children in the way it deems best with the least possible cooperation of parents. In our own day, a neighboring nation [France *] has decided to take charge or rearing its infants itself. As soon as they can crawl, or even earlier, but well before they can run or speak, they're brought to a 'Maternal School' and nurtured to have the values that a good citizen should have, as carefully as if they were being fed on mother's milk. The plan is still in experimental stages, but I have no doubt that it will be followed through because this nation discovered long ago that, if you want a certain kind of adult, you have to train the child to be that kind of person, and that nation has acted consistently on that discovery.
Volume 3, School Education, pg 88
Being a Capable Citizen
We are realizing more and more how valuable clubs and committees and debate societies for youth that are governed by their own members are. Organizing skills, business habits and some ability to speak in public should be something that every citizen knows how to do. To teach public speaking, I think it would be a good idea to encourage more narration instead of written compositions. For the most part, it's better to be able to speak than write. A person who can speak well can usually write well, too.
Volume 3, School Education, pg 80-81
The Great Human Relationships
Perhaps the major part of a child's education should be concerned with the great human relationships--relationships that consist of love and service, authority and obedience, reverence and pity and kindness, relationships with family, friends, neighbors, causes, country, like-minds, people in the past, and people in the present. In one way or another, history, literature, archaeology, art, ancient and modern languages, travel, adventurous journeys all record or express the feelings and thoughts of real people. Because we're human, we're interested in all other people. After all, we're all one flesh, and of one spirit. Anything that one of us does or experiences is interesting to the rest of us. There are thousands of children in our schools today who could become apostles, evangelists, missionaries to Asia who could unite east and west, great archaeologists who might make us aware of people who lived thousands of years ago. But we need to approach these children with living thought and living books in order to awaken in them a sense of a personal bond with others in the world.
Volume 3, School Education, pg 83-86
Duty is Not Within the Scope of Current Psychology
Current psychology has had an odd effect on our sense of duty. If humans are nothing but 'states of consciousness,' then they can hardly be expected to live up to moral responsibilities, except the ones that sound appealing at the moment. Duty that's imposed from a higher authority or due to our fellow man out of brotherly love, has no place in current psychology. It would be interesting to see how many ten year olds could recite the Ten Commandments, and if they knew what the 'duty to God and my neighbor' means. Or, if they're not members of the Church of England, if they knew how their own denomination interprets the duty of man. Children used to get a pretty thorough Biblically-based ethics education using the Ten Commandments as a foundation. They knew St. Paul's commands to 'love your brother,' 'Fear God,' 'Honor the king,' 'Honor all men.' 'Seek to live a quiet life.' They understood that having thoughts of hatred and contempt were related to murder. They knew what King Solomon said about virtuous women, sluggards and fools. They didn't just know the precepts. They could show examples of spiritual laws from both Biblical and secular history. We English may not have the treasure of moral teaching carved in wood and stone, like some countries are proud of. But, up until this generation, our moral teaching has still been systematic and thorough enough.
[Miss Mason is quoting mandates from two of the apostles. 'Seek to live a quiet life' is an instruction of Paul's recorded in 1 Thess 4:11. The other instructions are from 1 Pet 2:17.]
Casual Ethical Teaching
Look at common experience to see if this is true. We reject all stories with morals for our children (and usually for good reason). We want their books to be entertaining, and that's about all we ask. We prefer that they be literary and maybe somewhat educational. But we don't look for a moral stimulus 'fitly given.' It's not that we totally neglect teaching ethics, but our teaching is hit or miss. If we happen to stumble onto a story that's heroic or displays self-denial, we're happy to point that out to our children. But they rarely learn that there's a specific ethical system that rests on the foundation of the universal brotherhood of mankind. We're impressed if a child can merely parrot the words, 'My duty towards my neighbor is to love him as myself, and to do unto him what I'd want him to do unto me.' A lot of wonderful things are written these days about the brotherhood of man and the solidarity of the race, but nothing that gets to the heart of the matter like the simple Biblical command.
The Moral Relationship of One Person to Another
If we accept that the priority of education should be establishing relationships, then the relationships between our fellow human beings should be the most important ones to establish. Any relationships that aren't founded on the duty to our neighbor--such as relationships founded on common likes in art or literature--are likely to degenerate into sentimental attachments. And, oddly enough, the ability to think independently seems to vanish when moral insight disappears. You might wonder, 'how are we supposed to get a systematic plan to teach our children ethics?' I really don't know how to do it if we choose to forego the Ten Commandments and old-fashioned expositional teaching illustrated with examples. There are thousands of supplementary ways to teach ethics, but they need to rest on a solid foundation of awareness of the duty God placed on us and our responsibility to others, whether we accept it or not. Without that foundation, supplementary teaching will probably be casual and not very binding. The moral responsibility of one person to another is the foundation of all other relationships. We have an obligation to past generations to make use of what they discovered, and to advance mankind from where they left off. We owe it to those who will come after us to prepare the next generation to be better than we are. And we owe it to the present generation to live full lives, to enlarge our hearts and broaden our souls. We all need to come out of ourselves and reach out to all the relationships we're meant to have.
Our Sense of Responsibility Doesn't Come Instinctively
We're responsible for bringing knowledge to the ignorant, comfort to people who are distressed, healing to those who are sick, and reverence, courtesy and kindness to everyone, especially the people who we're connected with because they're in our family or neighborhood. This sense of duty doesn't come naturally. All of us know shallow young men and women who don't care about any of these things. But do we wonder why that's the case? And do we ask ourselves how many children today are growing up in decent homes, yet just as untrained about their moral obligations concerning relationships as those shallow youths that we revile and blame? Yet maybe they don't deserve all the blame, because they were neglected children in their upbringing.
Volume 4, Ourselves, pg 74-77
Chapter 8. Managers of the Revenue, The Desires (Part 2)
The Desire for Community
Another thing that all people have in common is the Desire to be together. Everyone likes visitors, friends, neighbors, acquaintances. Little children like playing with other little children outside. Even as young as two years old, you can see a few of them toddling around together, talking baby talk with each other, and enjoying each other. The fun in going to public school is being with children who are the same age and in similar situations. Young men join clubs, women give parties, uneducated working class men will hang out together, even if they have very little to say to each other, and natives of some third world countries will sit silently in circles for hours. They all congregate for the same reason: everyone desires the company of others. We want to see friendly faces, hear human voices, give pleasure and receive it from each other.
We Learn from Other People
We learn when we're together, because most people have something useful to say that's good for us to hear. We owe it to others to have something to say that will interest others, maybe something we've seen, or read, or heard or thought. When Queen Victoria was a little girl, she was introduced to lots of interesting people so that she could talk with them. She met world travelers, scientists, inventors, soldiers, and naval men. She would read and think about the subject that they were involved with before she met them so that she'd be able to enjoy talking with them. That way, she'd have something useful to say and she would be knowledgeable enough to learn something from them. If you know a little about botany, a botanist won't mind sharing something about plant lore with you. If you know a bit of history, a historian will take time to tell you what he's doing in his studies. But if you know absolutely nothing about their subject, you could be with the greatest poet or adventurer or painter, and have nothing to discuss but the weather! Royalty and other great people understand this. They want to get most of their information first-hand, so they need to be knowledgeable about various subjects. They're able to learn about the latest discoveries in astronomy from a real astronomer who's making those discoveries, and they can learn about evolution from Darwin himself, and so on. Sometimes we envy privileged people because they have so many opportunities to hear their information first-hand. But don't forget that, in order to have any kind of productive conversation with the most capable people, there has to be a twofold preparation that princes and other dignitaries have to undergo. The amount of time and effort it takes them would surprise most students. When they enter into a discussion with a learned specialist, they bring two things to the conversation. They bring a cultivated and intelligent mind, and some working knowledge of a broad range of subjects. With those two items, we could make the most of our opportunities with anyone we meet, too. It seems to me that people usually get whatever it is they're ready for. I don't know if this is some kind of divine rule, but it seems to be true to me. At any rate, preparation is always wise, and it's a good idea to be ready for the best in conversation with whoever you might meet. If you do this, then your natural desire for society will do its job of collecting mental nourishment for your mind.
But it isn't just experts and specialists that we can learn from. I've seen impolite people in a room, or even sitting at the table, who didn't say a word because they didn't think the person next to them was worth talking to! Yet they think that, if only they had a chance to talk to so-and-so, who they admire from a distance, then they'd have lots to say! This isn't just bad manners and rude. It's also foolish, and they only hurt themselves. There's not a person alive who doesn't have some bit of knowledge, or experience, or who hasn't had some thought of his own. There's a good story told about Sir Walter Scott. He was traveling from London to Edinburgh on a stage coach and the man sitting next to him wouldn't talk. Scott tried bringing up the weather, crops, politics, books--every subject he could think of, and we can assume there were many from a man of such varied interests. Finally, in despair, he asked, 'Well, what can you talk about, then, sir?' 'Bent leather,' said the man. And Scott went on to have 'one of the most interesting conversations I can remember.' Everybody has his pet subject that he likes to talk about, if we only have the ability to find out what it is.
Dangers Related to the Love of Socializing
The Love of Society has two dangers related to it. One, as I said before, pertains especially to vain people who like to be flattered at any cost. They'll choose friends who are inferior to them and who will pretend to look up to them and praise them a lot. The other danger is the same one that applies to all of our other natural desires. The craving to socialize might take possession of our whole lives and gain control of Mansoul. One woman gossiping with her neighbor from her doorway says, 'There's no harm in it' of the girl who chats with her friends in the morning, plays tennis in the afternoon, and then goes out every evening. In fact, the girl does little but chatter here and there all day long, and has nothing to show for it. Some people are so busy running here and there, seeing and being seen, talking and being talked to, that their minds are practically starving for their own thoughts and resources. Although people don't lament over this like they do when a life is ruined over alcohol or some other sin, yet a life is still ruined just as completely, though their friends don't seem to mind.
Community is a Feast Where Everybody Brings Something
Any community, even if it only consists of two or three people, is like a potluck where each person has to bring something to the table. Young people often feel intimidated by this because they feel like they have nothing to say, unless they're with one or two close friends or family members. But be encouraged. Even intelligent listening is something worth offering, and it's something that everyone likes! There are more people who are good at talking than good at listening. You've probably been amused to see a group of people and notice that everybody is talking at the same time and nobody is listening. Listening with the entire mind is an act of delicate courtesy that draws the best from even dull people.
People who don't have much culture can only talk to their own kind, or to their own specific 'friends.' Car people have nothing to say to anyone but other car people, guys who are into dogs can't talk to anyone except other guys who are into their dogs, school boys can't talk to anyone but other school boys, school girls can't talk to anyone but other school girls, sailors have nothing to say to anyone but sailors, soldiers with other soldiers. This is natural, as the proverbial saying goes; 'Birds of a feather flock together.' But it's not a good idea. Why limit ourselves to our own little pond when we can have a share in the whole world?
Volume 4, Ourselves, pg 92-93
A Person is More Than His Faults
People who have Goodwill understand that glaring faults and annoying habits don't make up the real person any more than sun spots make up the sun itself. Therefore, it's not difficult to put up with his faults. Even better, he tries to correct his faults while at the same time, giving the same genuine affection or love to the person as if he didn't have those faults. That's the kind of Goodwill that parents have for their children, and that brothers and sisters have for each other, that friends owe to friends, neighbors to neighbors--and, as the circle widens, we all ought to have for all the people we come in contact with, and everyone whose work and ways we come across. Goodwill doesn't call a builder rude names when his door won't shut right, or his window won't open. He understands that the builder is probably well-intentioned deep down, but isn't accustomed to making the most of himself. So he's satisfied to do slipshod work. The gaping door and the window that won't budge inspire Goodwill to raise the level of people in general so that other builders will aim higher and turn out better work.
Goodwill Stays Busy
Goodwill is no sloth! He can patiently put up with things done incorrectly, and bad manners that he doesn't like. But he can't possibly leave people alone who do the wrong thing. He cares too much about them to see them ruin themselves with one fault or another. He can't watch people grow up in ignorance, and can't tolerate sickness or suffering or loneliness anywhere in the world. So his hands and heart are always busy with some kind of helpful work.
As you can see, Goodwill does many things, but wherever he looks, his expression is the same. Goodwill is always gracious, sincere, pleasant, and approachable. He genuinely likes all people--grown-ups, children, male or female. He's inexhaustible, too. With so many friends with so many needs, there's always something for him to do. But he enjoys everything he does, so it's not hard for him to smile as he goes along.
Volume 4, Ourselves, pg 107
'Every person should take care of his own business' is a false notion that comes to people with a strong sense of duty, and the realization that they're limited in how much they can help outside of their own family. This kind of person shuts out the great, wide world's problems, and becomes obsessed with the petty problems and details of his own private world. It's true that we should take care of ourselves. If we don't, then we become unworthy and a drain to our society's resources by abdicating our duty and burdening someone else with it. The secret is to focus fully on our own business when that's what we're supposed to be doing, whether it's an outside job or our own daily schedule. But when our work is done, we should consider it wasteful to pay even a moment's notice to that work. That time should rightfully be spent considering the concerns of the world outside of ourselves. Whatever our job is in life, even if it's the tedious drudgery of maintaining a family, we'll do it better if we discipline ourselves and focus our attention on the right thing at the right time. That will make us a better, more open and broad-minded person. And, let's face it, the fuller a person we are, the more effective we'll be at getting our work done.
'Every man for himself, and heaven helps those who help themselves' is another false notion that imprisons our mind in a narrow cell. It isn't every man for himself. It's wise to get out of ourselves and involve ourselves in the wide current of human life in all of its conditions and types of people. That's what we should be focusing on.
Another false notion that's usually unspoken but worse than the others is the secret belief that everybody else is worse than we are and is therefore unworthy of our help. It seems shocking to see it put into words, but how else can we explain why we think that one person is out to cheat us, and another wants to offend us, while we ourselves have no intention of doing such things to them? Why do we expect to be slighted or deceived when we know we'd never do that to someone else? It's more generous to have some faith in others, to trust freely, and expect the best of contractors, people who serve us, our friends and neighbors, people we work for, and those who work for us.
'Be noble! Then, the nobility that lies
Dormant in others, asleep but not dead,
Will rise up heroically to meet your own!'
-- from Lowell
Volume 4, Ourselves, pg 137-138
I Must Be Fair and Just With Everybody
Fairness to others, their property, their words, their thoughts and what we do includes parents, teachers, government leaders, and everyone rightfully in authority over me and my country. It's my duty to be just with them. In the same way, I need to be fair about the words, thoughts and actions of my brother, my sister, my friends, my neighbors, and anyone else who is my equal. I must also be fair about the words, thoughts and actions of servants and anyone else serving me or employed by me or my family, both in my home or out. I need to show justice by being fair to people whose ways of life and opinions are different than mine. I need to be fair even to people who offend the laws of God and man. I need to be fair in all these ways to people, to their reputations, and to their things as far as it's in my power. That means that 'I can't have ill-will or hostility in my heart. I must never let my hands steal or my mouth speak evil, or lie or falsely criticize others.' Also, 'I must never want what belongs to someone else or resent them for having it. I must learn to work honestly to earn my own living, and to do my duty in whatever kind of life God has seen fit to put me in.'
Volume 4, Ourselves, pg 154
The most useful thing a citizen can have is a mind that's capable of discerning the Truth, whether it happens to be found on our side, or our opponent's. But only people who are careful about what they hear and how they listen can have a discerning mind.
Volume 4, Ourselves, pg 177-178
Our Neighbor's Property
Another point of integrity is how we take care of what belongs to our neighbor. Loving our neighbor as we love ourselves means that we should be at least as careful when we use something of his as we'd be with our own things. We all borrow books, either from our friends or from the library. We need to take care of the books we borrow as if they were our own treasured possessions. We shouldn't let them get messed up by laying them on a wet spot on the table. We shouldn't fold the corners of the pages, or ruin the bindings by using big objects to mark our place.
When we walk through the park, we need to remember that it's not easy to keep some areas grassy and green. In such places, we need to be careful not to walk on the edges of the lawn. And we'll be careful of school property when we're at school, or college property when we're at college. These concerns relate to our integrity. If we're careful in the small things, then we'll be trustworthy in the greater things. When we're trusted with the property of others, whether it's money or resources, we'll be careful not to be wasteful, careless or extravagant. Integrity means that we should take care of whatever property is given to us, and we'll make the most of it. We won't let ourselves waste even so much as a glue stick for fun.
Borrowed Property
The issue of borrowing comes under the same guidelines as taking care of what belongs to other people. Students borrow all kinds of things from each other, from pencils to umbrellas. There's such a feeling of community property and goodwill among them that it's hard to object to borrowing and loaning things. But, in the name of honesty, just one thing needs to be said. When we borrow something, we need to return it promptly and in the same condition it was in when we first borrowed it. No matter how close we are to our friends, we're never excused from this rule. The friend we borrow things from might not even notice when we don't return them, but every incident where we don't return something hurts our integrity and makes us less of a complete person.
Volume 4, Ourselves, pg 52-55 (Book II)
Prudent Citizens Are a Society's Most Valuable Asset
The laws of Lycurgus [Plutarch's 'Lives'] resulted from noble and generous prudence. If Sparta was going to succeed in its long conflict with Athens, it would have to do it through the fitness of each of its citizens. Lycurgus understood that each individual possessed in himself the most valuable thing in Sparta--a body prepared for work and endurance, and a mind that could recognize the seriousness of a situation.
'He wanted to cure them of their quest for luxury and desire for riches. So he introduced a third plan that was wise and brilliantly designed. He set up community dining halls where everyone would eat the same food, and the government would decide what was served. The people were forbidden to eat at home at fancy tables and couches with gourmet meals prepared by private butchers and cooks. No longer could they stuff themselves like pigs in private. Such gluttony corrupted their table manners and made them fat and unhealthy. It encouraged all kinds of sensuous habits, including sleeping in and lounging in warm baths, as pampered as invalids. He made another law to discourage magnificence and expensive living. He decreed that ceilings in the houses couldn't be made with any tool except an axe, and doors couldn't be made with anything beyond a saw. Because, as Epaminondas said later, you can't hide treason under that kind of meal. And Lycurgus knew that a house with an axe-hewn ceiling and sawn door is no place for fine splendor and fancy furniture. It would be absurd to have a humble, plain house and fill it with silver bedposts, purple quilts, golden cups and other fine luxuries. A plain and simple house would motivate a person to buy a suitable bed with sensible bedding and dishes to match.
There are things about a Spartan lifestyle that aren't appropriate for a Christian life, but wise people feel strongly these days that it's in the best interest of society to live simple lives, to avoid excesses even in the athletic or intellectual realm, and to avoid having any more possessions than are needed to live a simple, sensible life. There's nothing wrong with allowing ourselves to live with furniture and tools that are beautiful as well as practical, but we shouldn't let ourselves accumulate unnecessary stuff that clutters our lives and requires our time to maintain, especially if the things are valuable merely because of how much they cost. These kinds of things get in the way of what's really valuable: a body that does what we need, and a mind that's alert. We need a fit body and mind to do our duty to our community and meet our family responsibilities.
'When the money was brought to Athens, Phocion [Plutarch's 'Lives'] asked those who brought it why he should be singled out to receive such a gift. They said it was because Alexander considered him the only honest and good man in Athens. 'Then let me retain that character and really be that kind of man,' said Phocion. Phocion brought the men to his home and they saw how frugal a life he led. His wife baked bread, he drew water himself and washed his own feet. That made them urge him even more to take the money. They said it wasn't fit for the friend of such a fine prince as Alexander to live in such a wretched manner. Just then, a poor old man happened to walk by in rags. Phocion asked whether the men thought less of him than they did the old man. They begged him not to make such a comparison, but Phocion responded, 'That old man lives on less than I do, yet he is happy. If you give me the money and I don't use it, it's wasted. But if I use it to live a life of luxury, the people of Athens will resent both me and Alexander, your king.' So they took the money back with them. The incident was a good lesson for the Greeks. A man who doesn't care to receive a gift of money is richer than the one who can afford to offer such a gift.'
When it comes to Prudence, Jesus is our best example. The Bible says, 'My servant will deal prudently,' and we'll learn a lot by studying the gospels to see how He dealt prudently with the only thing He owned--His life. That's really the only thing of real value that any of us truly has. If we think of Christ as our example, we'll live sensibly and not lose our common sense to any kind of excesses.
Volume 4, Ourselves, pg 74-75
The Informed Patriot
We should read newspapers, of course--newspapers from both sides. But a person who bases everything he knows on newspapers is an ignorant patriot and a narrow-minded citizen. His opinions are merely rehashed repetitions of other men's words--like a parrot. A person should mull over the history of his own country with responsible interest. He should be distressed when his country does something dishonorable, and proud when his country does something great. He should ponder the history of some other great empires, admire the balanced justice that governed its remote colonies, and reflectively examine the reasons for its fall. Then he will gradually come to have some understanding of what the life of a nation is. He'll be able to express an opinion that doesn't merely parrot someone else. He'll develop his own convictions, and they will be helpful to his country, even if the only people he shares them with are the ones around his dinner table.
He'll learn to value Xerxes as a gardener whose goal was for every man to have hi own little paradise. Lycurgus will be more to him than a lawgiver; he'll recognize that Lycurgus was a hero for being able to keep the laws he made. This kind of person is interested and a little envious of those small yet great republics that were skilled at war and peace and had schools where every man learned philosophy. The best men of those societies made philosophy the absorbing study of their entire lives.
A person who reads history this way cares about more than cramming to pass a test, or becoming cultured, or even being entertained, although this kind of reading is undoubtedly enjoyable. He knows that he owes it to his country to have some intelligent knowledge about the past, not just of his own country, but of other cultures, too. This kind of person is a valuable asset to his country. It's a great thing to develop a fair, broad-minded, enlightened patriot for the service of one's nation, even if that patriot is only oneself.
Volume 4, Ourselves, pg 199-200 (Book II)
Faith is the action of the Will that we use to choose Him once we've learned to know Him. Love develops from faith, and service is the result of that love. It's hardly possible to define the different ways in which a Christian heart expresses its desire for God. 'Like the deer desires water from the brook, that's the way my soul longs for You, God.' (from the Prayer Book version of the Psalms.) There we find knowledge, faith and love.
This is Not Optional
What I want to emphasize is that this attitude of the Soul isn't an option. It's required of us, an obligation of duty that we owe. We can't claim that we don't know, because it's been revealed to us in the Bible. And we can hardly say that we don't believe that revelation. Its truth maintains the ultimate test--it reveals to us the God that our souls need, and find complete satisfaction in. 'His ways are all pleasant, and His paths are all peace.' To say we don't believe is nothing less than an act of blatant insubordination, and an act of disloyalty. It's worse than being unfaithful in a human relationship because God means more to us and is closer to us than anyone else.
People satisfy their consciences and feel like they've met all of their Christian responsibility when they do their duty towards their neighbor. But we don't have the right to pick and choose one part of the law to do, doing the one that's less important and neglecting what's more important--our responsibility to personally know God, and to have faith in Him, love Him and serve Him. We're supposed to do these things directly, not indirectly by serving our fellow man. We're supposed to take care of both responsibilities. It's my duty, and my duty towards God is my first priority.
Volume 5, Formation of Character, pg 135
One more thought: it's good, of course, to have multi-cultural tastes, and to be accepting of different ways and unprejudiced in our judgments. But a person who loves the whole world has to start with his own people who he's seen. Enlightened, experienced understanding of other countries can only coexist with deeply felt patriotism based on knowledge. A noble character has a strong thread of patriotism interwoven with every other fine, delicate attribute. A child who isn't trained to have a fine, patriotic feeling won't live at the highest level he could as an adult. And patriotism, the noblest of all the virtues, isn't instilled by arrogantly considering ourselves as better than everyone else. It's instilled by gradually introducing children to the lives of wonderful people who have lived, and great works that have been done, in quiet, hidden places spread throughout every county in Britain throughout every era of our long history.
Volume 6, Philosophy of Education, pg 70
The principles of authority and obedience are at work in every child. One draws him to an ordered life, the other pulls him towards rebellion. The key to raising children is to find the middle ground that will keep him in his proper orbit. The solution we have these days is freedom in our schools. Students should be governed, but so cleverly that they don't realize they're being governed. They should feel like the rule is, 'Do what you like,' but the moving force is really, 'Do as you're told.' The result is an ordered freedom. That kind of ordered freedom defines the lives of 999 out of 1000 citizens of the world. The only drawback is that, when indirect methods of securing compliance are used, children aren't really learning to be subject to authority. It just looks like they are. They're not learning the habit of proud subjection and dignified obedience, which is what sets great men and noble citizens apart. Undoubtedly, it's nice when children are natural and free to get up and wander around, or sit still, or play if they feel like it. But it's important for them to learn conscious, willing obedience. A great part of their happiness (and ours!) depends on obedience being pleasant and peaceful.
Volume 6, Philosophy of Education, pg 74
But the principle of obedience/authority is inborn in children. When teachers use tact and judgment to help students put this principle into use properly, children will be prepared for their future duties as citizens of society and contributing members of their families. The trend to have students serving in positions of authority in their schools [such as elected class president] shows that schools recognize the importance of teaching students about obedience and authority. It allows children to become familiar with the idea of representative authority because they are governed by chosen members of their own group. It's a form of self-government. To make full use of the educational opportunity of this practice, the student officer should be elected and voted on by the children, and they should be encouraged to think carefully about their choice. But this allows only a few to experience what it's like to be in a position of authority. Even more should be done to teach children this concept. Every classroom should have small offices that can be rotated for students to vote on. Many times, a person will rise to the office he's given, and, often, even incompetent students will do very well at the duties they're given.
Volume 6, Philosophy of Education, pg 121
. . . if you educate a person, cultivate his imagination, train his judgment, and open his mind to wide interests, then he'll be ready to master any profession. At the same time, he'll know how to make himself useful, and how to find pleasure in the skills of observation that his study of nature has given him. He'll have interesting ways to spend his free time and he'll be a good neighbor and good citizen. Besides being able to earn his living, he'll be able to truly live.
Volume 6, Philosophy of Education, pg 184
The purpose of the literature selections isn't so they'll know who wrote what during which king's reign, but to instill a sense of the vastness of the era, not just the Elizabethan era, but all the historical periods that poets, journallers and storytellers have left living pictures of. This way, children get more than the kind of facts that have no cultural value. They gain wide spaces in their minds where their imaginations can go for vacation journeys that prevent life from becoming dreary. Also, as they make judgments, their minds will go over these memory files they have stored and they'll have a broader base of knowledge to draw from when considering decisions about a particular strike, or issues of country rights, or political unrest. Every individual is called on to be a statesman since each person has a say in how the government is run. But being a good statesman requires a mind alive with the kind of imaginative impressions that come from wide reading and some familiarity with historic precedents.
Volume 6, Philosophy of Education, pg 185-189
(c) Morals and Economics: Citizenship
Like literature, this subject is treated like a supplement to history. In Form I (grades 1-3), children begin to form impressions about the way the world works from tales, fables and stories about famous heroes. In Form II (grades 4-6), they actually begin to learn Citizenship as a subject, gathering inspiring impressions about what makes a good citizen while continuing to learn the things that every citizen should know. Plutarch's Lives is especially inspiring. The teacher reads these aloud, leaving out what may not be suitable, and the students narrate them enthusiastically. They learn to answer questions like, 'In what ways did Pericles make Athens beautiful? How did he persuade people to help him?' And we hope that children will catch the idea of preserving beauty and making their community more beautiful. This is a fresher way of instilling this idea than constant lessons and reminding, which will only bore them. They will also be able to answer, 'How did Pericles handle the people during war so that they wouldn't force him to take an action he knew was wrong?' And from these kinds of questions, we believe that students will gain some understanding of the delicate issues of leadership. Then, when they learn about their own current time period, they'll be able to answer, 'What do you know about (a) Local City Councils, (b) State Councils, (c) Church Councils?' And this should help children realize that they too are learning and preparing to become worthy citizens, and that each person has several duties, even if he doesn't lead in government. Mrs. Beesley's Stories from the History of Rome is better for Form II (grades 4-6) than Plutarch. Macauley's Lays of Rome helps to make it even clearer. When we teach children about men and events that deal with citizenship, we'll be faced with the problem of exposing children to good and evil. Many sincere teachers share the concerns of this teacher who said,
'Why are we giving children the story of Circe, with its offensive display of greed? Why not just give them heroic tales that present noble examples to live up to? Time is so short, why waste it on bad examples instead of making the most of every opportunity to give examples of living a good life and having good manners?'
Or,
'Why should students read Childe Harold, and become so familiar with a poet whose works are so unedifying?'
Plutarch is like the Bible in this respect: he doesn't label the things his characters do as good or bad. He leaves it up to the reader's conscience and judgment to make that distinction. What to avoid and how to avoid it is as important for a citizen to know as what's good and how to do it, whether he's a citizen of heaven or of his local community. Children recognize an artificially doctored story as soon as it starts, and they begin to get bored with it. But true stories about real people with all their good and bad qualities never get old. Even though Jacob was chosen by God, we don't get bored about hearing him because we know he was a real person. We recognize the truth in his own words, 'the days of my life have been few and evil.' We recognize that the foreign kings he came in contact with had more integrity than he did, just like in the New Testament, the Roman Centurion had a finer character than most of the Jews who were religious in name only. Perhaps we've been made so that heroes who are perfect, and goodness that's totally virtuous, bore us. But when we read about great figures who had failings and weaknesses, we preach little sermons to ourselves. Children are no different than us. They need to see life in its entirety to learn from it. Yet, at the same time, they need to be protected from obscenity and rudeness that might be in their reading material. A newspaper might tell about real people and events, but it's in no way on the same level as Plutarch's Lives or Lang's Tales of Troy and Greece. A 10-12 year old who is familiar enough with a dozen or so of Plutarch's Lives that they influence what he thinks and how he acts, has learned to put his country first, and to see individuals from the perspective of whether they serve their society, or do a disservice to it. And those are his first lessons about the science of proportion. Children who understand that society isn't the government but the people, will be glad to learn about the laws, customs and government about their own country. They'll also come to understand something about themselves, their mind and body, heart and soul. They'll want to know how to govern themselves so that they can be of service to their society.
We have a challenge in choosing books, the same challenge that has concerned all great thinkers from Plato to Erasmus to concerned school officials in our own day.
I'm referring to the vulgar and raunchy things that come up in so many books that would be otherwise useful for teaching sound judgment. Milton assures us that to the pure, all things are pure. But we're still uneasy. When older students read the Areopagitica, they learn that seeing impurity makes you impure. Younger children learn from reading Ourselves. Properly taught children will learn to keep watch even over their thoughts because they know that God's angels are watching them. When possible, we use expurgated editions of books (books that have had objectionable content removed). When that's not possible, the teacher reads the book aloud and leaves out unsuitable content. We try to be careful when teaching about the natural processes of plants and animals [presumably referring specifically to reproduction] not to awaken impure thoughts in students. One word about this -- the strict rules that school officials have about games isn't just for the sake of the games themselves. St. Paul exhorted us to keep our bodies always under subjection. Games that exhaust the physical body need some understood boundaries to keep students decent. And they do, although some incidents of indiscretion have occurred even in the best schools. A fact not always recognized is that these kinds of incidents that distress teachers and parents have their root in the mind, and especially in an empty mind. And that's why parents who take their children away from the corruption of public schools to teach them at home so often miss the mark. The increased free time that homeschooling provides is like sweeping the room in the mind free, and can be an invitation to secret sins of the mind that thrive in solitude. And schools also make the mistake of not providing students with enough work that's interesting and absorbing enough to cause students to think and reflect on it so that students' minds are always wholesomely occupied. A child needs plenty of mental food, and I don't mean from haphazard reading of this and that, which causes idleness that leads to mischief, but with a definite plan of teaching to know. If a child has enough healthy mental food on which to imagine, speculate, and aspire to, then he'll be a pure-minded youth who doesn't mind hard work and enjoys the fun of games. This may look like a detour from the subject of citizenship, but all children need to know that they owe their society the contribution of a sound, pure mind and body.
Ourselves, our Souls and Bodies [Volume 4 of the CM Series] is used extensively in our PUS [Parents Union Schools]. I don't know of any other book that tries to present a basic diagram of human nature that will enable students to know how they can be effective in their efforts to be good. The book tries to instill the concept that all people have within themselves the possibilities to be beautiful and noble, but each person is also subject to attacks and obstacles of various kinds. Students need to be aware of them so that they can watch and pray. Lectures that try to appeal to children to behave are boring (to children as well as adults!) But a systematic teaching that presents all the possibilities and powers that we all have in our human nature, as well as the risks and pitfalls that go along with them, will enlighten students and stimulate them to use the abilities they have to control themselves.
But the goals we have in mind in teaching everyday morals and citizenship are best illustrated with a few essays written by students of different ages. They deal with managing oneself and they exemplify the virtues that make a person useful to his society. Their exam papers can be viewed at the PNEU office. One little girl, as she came out of her bath, said, 'Oh no, I'm just like Julius Caesar! I don't even want to do a thing if I'm not the best at it!' This shows that children gather the principles that will guide their lives from unlikely sources, and in the most unlikely ways.
Volume 6, Philosophy of Education, pg 274
Civics [political philosophy] is a separate subject, but it's so closely tied in with literature and history on the one hand, and ethics (everyday morality) on the other hand, that it hardly seems like a separate subject.
Volume 6, Philosophy of Education, pg 288
An ocean of possible things to learn will overwhelm us--and we only have eight hours a week. We'll need to compromise in one of two ways if we want to make good citizens in such a limited amount of time. Good citizens need to have rational, solid opinions about things like law, duty, work, and wages.