Welcome to week 15, The Child Should Be Made Familiar With Natural Objects, Charlotte Mason Home Education Read-Along Series.
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The Child Should Be Made Familiar With Natural Objects, Charlotte Mason Home Education Read-along
This week we are reading pages 69-72 of the Home Education volume. The Child Should be Made Familiar with Natural Objects.
If you want to see the rest of these posts in one place, you may view them HERE. And don’t forget to download your free worksheets with each reading! If you are interested in a Charlotte Mason “curriculum”, our favorite resource is Ambleside Online.
****If you need to purchase the Charlotte Mason Home Education volume, it is available in a newer version HERE. (Affiliate link)****
I am using the Original Homeschooling Series, Volume One, Home Education- the pink books.
An Observant Child Should Be Put In The Way Of Things Worth Observing
Charlotte begins by pointing out that living in a city presents children with only isolated fragments of information that aren’t connected to much of anything else. Comparatively, time spent in the country or in nature gives children a wholeness to information that has endless connections.
Every Natural Object A Member Of A Series
She further explains that when children have direct contact with a natural object verse a man-made one, they not only become familiar with that particular object, but also with the rest of its kind. This familiarity with natural things will progressively lead to knowledge about the groups in which they belong and the science behind each grouping. She argues that children cannot come to full knowledge of any one thing without first having a direct experience with it.
Power Will Pass More And More Into The Hands Of Scientific Men
Charlotte stresses that the mother should ensure that her children get this time daily in nature and that she should nurture the love of investigation in her children. She quotes Kingsly who says that it is those who take the time to learn the laws of Nature who will eventually rule and act in this world.
Intimacy With Nature Makes For Personal Well-Being
To be intimate with nature, Charlotte’s reason is to be occupied with something worthwhile that is able to keep us healthy, out of trouble, and even from immorality. A child who is busy discovering the natural world around them will not be swept away by temptation and boredom and apathy. They won’t have time for worthless and unprofitable indulgence because they will be too busy on their quest for knowledge and experience.
My takeaway from This Week’s Charlotte Mason Reading
My takeaway this week is that it’s important to recognize that a child needs to develop a love of investigating the natural world around them but they won’t do it without being presented the opportunity on a regular basis. As a mom, I must be willing to take the time as often as possible to get us outdoors to explore, observe, investigate and experience all that nature has to offer.
How about you? What’s your takeaway this week from the reading???
Don’t forget your free printable to go with this week’s reading!
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