Principles 11-15: The Curriculum
- We, believing that the normal child has powers of mind which fit him to deal with all knowledge proper to him, give him a full and generous curriculum, taking care only that all knowledge offered to him is vital, that s, that facts are not presented without their informing ideas. Out of this conception comes our principle that:—
- “Education is the Science of Relations”; that is, a child has natural relations with a vast number of things and thoughts: so we train him upon physical exercises, nature lore, handicrafts, science and art, and upon many living books, for we know that our business is not to teach him all about anything, but to help him to make valid as many as may be of —
“Those first-born affinities
That fit our new existence to existing things.”
- In devising a syllabus for a normal child, of whatever social class, three points must be considered:—
(a) He requires much knowledge, for the mind needs sufficient food as much as does the body.
(b) The knowledge should be various, for sameness in mental diet does not create appetite (i.e., curiosity).
(c) Knowledge should be communicated in well-chosen language, because his attention responds naturally to what is conveyed in literary form.
- As knowledge is not assimilated until it is reproduced, children should ‘tell back’ after a single reading or hearing; or should write on some part of what they have read.
- A single reading is insisted on, because children have naturally great power of attention; but this force is dissipated by the re-reading of passages, and aloud, by questioning, summarizing, and the like.
Acting upon these and some other points in the behaviour of mind, we find that the educability of children in enormously greater than has hitherto been supposed, and is but little dependent on such circumstances as heredity and environment. Nor is the accuracy of this statement limited to clever children or to children of the educated classes: thousands of children in Elementary Schools respond freely to this method, which is based on the behaviour of mind.
Reference: Volume 6, Chapter 10
Okay…there’s a lot here. I mean, a whole lot. Never fear! We will break it down into bite size.
What blows my mind is how relevant this all still is today. Yes, we have to remember the time period Charlotte is writing in and to say, “we find that the educability of children is enormously greater than has hitherto been supposed, and is but little dependent on such circumstances as heredity and environment. Nor is the accuracy of this statement limited to clever children or to children of the educated classes:” was a bold and likely controversial statement.
So the first issue is that children are being undereducated. The ceiling is too low – they are capable of much more. In Charlotte’s day, there was a distinct class divide, as well. She says, “We labour under the mistake of supposing that there is no natural law or inherent principle according to which a child’s course of studies should be regulated; so we teach him those things which, according to Locke, it is becoming for a ‘gentleman’ to know on the one hand, and, on the other, the arts of reading, writing, and summing, that he may not grow up an illiterate citizen. In both cases the education we offer is too utilitarian, — an indirect training for the professions or for a craftsman’s calling with effort in the latter case to make a boy’s education bear directly on his future work.” She’s talking about John Locke, here, who was a big influence on the Victorians.
So instead of focusing on the person — educating a whole person and knowledge for knowledge’s sake — the end goal is his future work. Don’t forget the quote from last time: “But the function of education is not to give technical skill but to develop a person; the more of a person, the better the work of whatever kind;” Education is the cultivating of a person. It includes his work, but it’s bigger than that.
Charlotte says, “It is a wide program founded on the educational rights of man; wide, but we may not say it is impossible nor may we pick and choose and educate him in this direction but not in that. We may not even make choice between science and the ‘humanities.’ Our part it seems to me is to give a child a vital hold upon as many as possible of those wide relationships proper to him. Shelley offers us the key to education when he speaks of ‘understanding that grows bright gazing on many truths.’”
Oftentimes when people learn about the Charlotte Mason method they are shocked and overwhelmed that so many subjects are covered. But let’s return to our analogy of food. Variety is what keeps the appetite. No one wants to eat the same thing all week long with no variation. Charlotte insists, “Not the number of subjects but the hours of work bring fatigue to the scholar; and bearing this in mind we have short hours and no evening preparation.” Read: short lessons, no homework, and at no detriment to the student.
Alright onto what to learn. In other words, The Curriculum (cue fanfare).
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