Blog – Revival of Learning

Revival of Learning

Charlotte Mason, Educational Philosophy / naomi

Welcome to “Revival of Learning,” we’ll be sharing our thoughts on education and discussing ideas we’re digesting along the way here in hopes of bringing new light to timeless truths.

Over a hundred years ago, a conference was held for educators of young children at the school where they had trained. The opening address was by the head of the school, Charlotte Mason. She began, “My very dear friends.”

What she spoke to these old students of hers, now teachers, echoes down the corridors of time into our modern world today where we are still grasping for answers to basic questions about how to educate our children. If you are a teacher, a parent, or anyone else responsible for educating children, I hope you will find something here to help you along the way. Her address continues…

“It gives me particular delight to welcome you here just now not only as beloved Old Students, but as staunch fellow-workers, laboring for what one of us describes as a new Revival of Learning.

The note of joyousness which I usually find in Old Students’ letters and in the examination papers of their children is to my mind the note of the revival we are working for, because it is almost always joy in books, in knowledge. You remember that delightful schoolmaster of the Middle Ages, who called his Mantuan school “La Giocosa,” because it was in truth a house of joy, the joys being those of plain living and high thinking, and of great delight in learning, joys shared by prince and peasant, for Vittorine did not believe that the love of knowledge belonged to any one class. Your little schoolrooms often remind me of “La Giocosa,” in fact, each of them is “La Giocosa,” because the children are vitalized by their delight in knowledge.”

Charlotte Mason arrived at several principles and methods, “little secrets,” in the way of imparting this joy, and today, many children and adults around the world are experiencing this Revival of Learning for the very first time. Yes, right here, amidst an overpriced, bloated, morally bankrupt, and failing educational system, lights are coming on in minds everywhere and together they are delighting in knowledge.

She ended her talk with: “[I] commit to your wisdom and discretion a great cause with great confidence.”

It is that “great cause” we continue to attempt to carry on in these pages. We hope you’ll follow along!

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Eyes and No Eyes

Educational Philosophy / naomi

What good is an education that teaches a child everything but does not teach him/her to see? This very old story from the preface of a book titled Madam How and Lady Why describes the phenomena:

My dear boys,—When I was your age, there were no such children’s books as there are now. Those which we had were few and dull, and the pictures in them ugly and mean: while you have your choice of books without number, clear, amusing, and pretty, as well as really instructive, on subjects which were only talked of fifty years ago by a few learned men, and very little understood even by them. So if mere reading of books would make wise men, you ought to grow up much wiser than us old fellows. But mere reading of wise books will not make you wise men: you must use for yourselves the tools with which books are made wise; and that is—your eyes, and ears, and common sense.

Now, among those very stupid old-fashioned boys’ books was one which taught me that; and therefore I am more grateful to it than if it had been as full of wonderful pictures as all the natural history books you ever saw. Its name was Evenings at Home; and in it was a story called “Eyes and no Eyes;” a regular old-fashioned, prim, sententious story; and it began thus:—

“Well, Robert, where have you been walking this afternoon?” said Mr. Andrews to one of his pupils at the close of a holiday.

Oh—Robert had been to Broom Heath, and round by Camp Mount, and home through the meadows. But it was very dull. He hardly saw a single person. He had much rather have gone by the turnpike-road.

Presently in comes Master William, the other pupil, dressed, I suppose, as wretched boys used to be dressed forty years ago, in a frill collar, and skeleton monkey-jacket, and tight trousers buttoned over it, and hardly coming down to his ancles; and low shoes, which always came off in sticky ground; and terribly dirty and wet he is: but he never (he says) had such a pleasant walk in his life; and he has brought home his handkerchief (for boys had no pockets in those days much bigger than key-holes) full of curiosities.

He has got a piece of mistletoe, wants to know what it is; and he has seen a woodpecker, and a wheat-ear, and gathered strange flowers on the heath; and hunted a peewit because he thought its wing was broken, till of course it led him into a bog, and very wet he got. But he did not mind it, because he fell in with an old man cutting turf, who told him all about turf-cutting, and gave him a dead adder. And then he went up a hill, and saw a grand prospect; and wanted to go again, and make out the geography of the country from Cary’s old county maps, which were the only maps in those days. And then, because the hill was called Camp Mount, he looked for a Roman camp, and found one; and then he went down to the river, saw twenty things more; and so on, and so on, till he had brought home curiosities enough, and thoughts enough, to last him a week.

Whereon Mr. Andrews, who seems to have been a very sensible old gentleman, tells him all about his curiosities: and then it comes out—if you will believe it—that Master William has been over the very same ground as Master Robert, who saw nothing at all.

Whereon Mr. Andrews says, wisely enough, in his solemn old-fashioned way,—

“So it is. One man walks through the world with his eyes open, another with his eyes shut; and upon this difference depends all the superiority of knowledge which one man acquires over another.

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Educating the Whole Person

Personhood / naomi

How do we educate the whole person? We often measure success by test scores and career path, but can we really measure a person’s success by these things alone?

Consider this list:

Beauty
Imagination
Wonder
The Desires
Pity
Benevolence
Sympathy
Kindness
Generosity
Gratitude
Courage
Loyalty
Humility
Gladness
Justice
Truth
Conscience
Friendship
Fortitude
Prudence
Duty
Self-control

Do they matter? How about wisdom, discernment, communication, critical thinking, and problem solving?

A person is more than what can be spit out on a test or what job on the list they can fill. If we are educating a “person” we need to consider them as a whole.

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Knowledge versus Information

Educational Philosophy / naomi

The distinction between knowledge and information is, I think, fundamental.
~Charlotte Mason

We’ve all been hearing a lot about AI and ChatGPT lately and many are concerned about how it will affect us. I’ve heard some predict that it will be as significant historically as the Gutenberg Press. How will it affect our children and the education we focus on? Well, before we look at what it might mean for us today, let’s consider the distinction between knowledge and information made by a 19th-century educator:

Information is the record of facts, experiences, appearances, etc., whether in books or in the verbal memory of the individual; knowledge, it seems to me, implies the result of the voluntary and delightful action of the mind upon the material presented to it. … Perhaps the chief function of a teacher is to distinguish information from knowledge in the acquisitions of his pupils. Because knowledge is power, the child who has got knowledge will certainly show power in dealing with it. He will recast, condense, illustrate, or narrate with vividness and with freedom the arrangement of his words. The child who has got only information will write and speak in the stereotyped phrases of his text-book, or will mangle in his notes the words of his teacher.”

It’s an interesting subject to consider. Fast forward to today, here’s what ChatGPT composed in a few seconds when I asked it to write an essay on the difference between knowledge and information:

“The distinction between knowledge and information is a subject of ongoing debate in philosophy, cognitive science, and the information age. Both concepts are related but distinct, and understanding the difference between them can be important in various fields and contexts.

Information refers to data or facts that are conveyed or received. Information can take many forms, including text, images, audio, and video, and can be organized or unstructured. Information can be objective or subjective, accurate or inaccurate, and relevant or irrelevant, depending on the context and the source.

Knowledge, on the other hand, refers to a deeper understanding or comprehension of information. Knowledge is often described as information that has been processed, organized, and assimilated, and that can be applied to new situations. Knowledge is often seen as more valuable than information because it has been transformed into a form that can be used to make decisions, solve problems, and support personal or organizational goals.

In other words, information is a necessary but not sufficient condition for knowledge. Knowledge requires information, but also requires the ability to process, understand, and apply that information to new situations. For example, having information about a particular subject does not guarantee that someone has knowledge about that subject. To have knowledge, someone must not only have information but also be able to understand and use that information in meaningful ways.

In conclusion, the distinction between knowledge and information is important because it highlights the difference between raw data and processed understanding. Understanding the difference can be useful in many contexts, including education, research, and decision-making, as it can help individuals and organizations prioritize and focus on what is truly valuable and useful.”

Our children will most definitely have access to this new technology, won’t they? What do you think is most important in their education? We encourage you to look around at the other articles on this site to learn about alternate methods of schooling that focus beyond mere information.

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Personhood

Educational Philosophy, Personhood / naomi

The 19th-century educator Charlotte Mason wrote the following:

“Our crying need today is less for a better method of education than for an adequate conception of children,––children, merely as human beings”

What did she mean?

She meant we should question our assumptions and think about who children really are and how they learn. Is the status quo really what’s best for children, or are we just doing what we’ve always done because that’s how we learned and it was “good enough”?

Here are some questions to think about.

The thoughts of children are as complex, varied, and interesting as life itself so why would we reduce learning to mere dry facts and one-size-fits-all fill-in-the-blanks?

Human stories filled with interesting discoveries, adventures, pursuits, ideas, and passions are what interest us so why would we imagine children should learn from dry textbooks reduced to summaries, dates, and facts?

Children need time to wonder, imagine, create, play, and see where a creek goes. They need time for family relationships and personal interests to flourish so why would we think it makes sense to shut them up indoors all day and then send them home with hours of homework?

Children have incredibly capable minds so why do we insist on dumbing things down for them?

Consider this example taken from an article titled “Grim Tales” by Kari Jenson Gold:

Compare two versions of the beginning of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen, one faithful to the original and translated by Neil Philip, the other taken from Disney’s famous movie and book.
1) Far out to sea the water is as blue as the petals of the loveliest cornflower and as clear as the purest glass; but is deep, deeper than any anchor can reach. Countless church steeples would have to be piled one on top of the other to stretch from the sea bed to the surface. That’s where the sea folk live.
2) Ariel was sixteen, the age when a mermaid was supposed to be thinking about marrying a merboy and settling down. But Ariel had other things on her mind.

Could some of the apathy and mental health issues we are seeing be prevented if we fed their minds with life-giving knowledge rather than stuffing them with mere information?

Children are not objects to be manipulated for our own ends, cogs in a wheel, empty bags to stuff, computers to be programmed, or political battlegrounds to be won. They are human beings, or “persons” as Charlotte Mason would have put it.

Does it matter how we view the child? Yes, it really does.

“The consequence of truth is great, therefore the judgment of it must not be negligent.”
~Benjamin Whichcote

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Am I qualified to homeschool my child?

Basic Homeschooling, Educational Philosophy / naomi

This is one of the biggest questions parents have when they begin considering homeschooling. It’s natural to feel unqualified, out of your league, even incompetent. After all we need experts in each subject in order to teach our children, don’t we? Nothing could be further from the truth. Here’s why.

1. You are not the source of all knowledge

Shocking! We know. You don’t need to know it all in every field. Why? Because you’re actually the facilitator, not the source. Your part is not to know it all, but to know where to find it and be able to present it to your child and guide them, which any average parent can do! According to HSLDA:

“…research has found little difference between the academic achievement of homeschooled students whose parents were certified teachers and those whose parents were not. They both scored on average much higher than their counterparts in public school.”

The knowledge your child needs is already contained in books, curriculum, online videos and courses. You don’t have to be the source of it all. Also, depending on your area, individual classes geared towards homeschoolers as well as dual enrollment at your local community college are available, often for free.

2. You are not alone

Taking the leap into homeschooling can give you the impression that you’re a lone fish swimming upstream. This simply isn’t true. Homeschooling has grown exponentially in recent years and the number of in-person and online resources and communities have grown along with it. There are many seasoned homeschoolers willing to help advise and share their knowledge freely with concerned newcomers and many new homeschooling families connect and learn together, sharing knowledge and resources. Homeschoolers have the option of linking up with other homeschoolers to form co-ops providing further options and group activities.

3. What if my kids won't listen to me?

All parents and teachers alike, to some degree, struggle with getting children to listen. It can be frustrating and make you wonder if you can get anything done with them at home. While every family is different, we all manage to get our children to do what is really important. Like looking both ways before crossing the street, or going to the doctor or dentist, and taking medicine when needed. Their education is just as important, isn’t it?

In homeschooling we have the option of choosing curriculum that is interesting and life-giving. We don’t have to use dead, dry textbooks. We also don’t have a large classroom of kids to manage so they get personalized attention and their work can get done in a much shorter amount of focused time. Kids have more free time as a consequence of efficiency, and there’s little or no homework so their afternoons and evenings are free for going to the beach, making crafts, or hanging out with family & friends. Without the pressure of homework in the evenings, families have more time to connect and enjoy dinnertime together.

There are many more strategies and methods to help with getting kids to listen and give their full attention to their work that are discussed in other resources on this site.

4. What about socialization?

Socialization is one of the biggest concerns people bring up about in homeschooling. They imagine their kids will be locked inside without any interaction with others. It is understandably a valid concern. We all want our kids to be “socialized”, “normal”, have friends and meaningful relationships.

The reality is that, most homeschoolers get out and about more than the average public schooled child. They are involved in sports, extra-curricular activities like art classes, horseback riding, scouts, or co-ops and clubs. Due to the flexibility of homeschooling students are regularly interacting with people of all ages. Many students take field trips throughout the year to museums and nature centers or participate in community events and programs where they learn to interact and communicate with people from all walks of life.

In contrast students who have been age segregated throughout their schooling years, who have mainly communicated with people their own age, can feel less comfortable and lack the social skills necessary to communicate with a wide range of people and ages.

5. What if I don't "cover it all."

There is a misconception that there is some standard body of information that children need in order to succeed in school and in life and that you will miss it if you homeschool. Yes, public schools operate this way, but the reality is that teachers are so burdened by these “standards” required in their oversized classrooms and the students are so stuffed with mind-numbing information and the “teaching to the test” which inevitably results, that they grow apathetic towards genuine learning and become experts at cramming in order to regurgitate dry facts, and then forget most of what they learned. Most homeschooling curriculum options available today “cover” what students need. Not only that, homeschooling affords children the time, individual attention, and flexibility they need to allow wonder and curiosity to develop and genuine learning to occur.

5. It's totally normal to feel unqualified and out of your league.

Deciding to homeschool is a big deal. Education is one of the most important things determining your child’s future. It is perfectly normal to feel unqualified and out of your league – most successful homeschoolers felt the very same way. That doesn’t mean it’s true. There are good answers to all of your questions and people to help you to make the right decision for you and your family. It’s important that you make an informed decision so we encourage you to continue learning and check out the other articles and resources on our site.

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