Welcome to A TRUE GOOD BEAUTIFUL LIFE podcast!
Here we will discuss all things Charlotte Mason in light of the ideas of the TRUE, the GOOD, and the BEAUTIFUL! I am your host, Jennifer Milligan, and throughout this series I will share with you how to find and cultivate various elements of TRUTH, GOODNESS and BEAUTY in our homes and classrooms through conversations with homeschooling parents and classroom teachers; interviews with experts, entrepreneurs, and artists; discussions regarding the great books, great minds, and great resources; fun travel and field trip summaries; and practices and creative experiences that embody the TRUE, the GOOD, and the BEAUTIFUL life. Over 100 years ago, British educator, Charlotte Mason, declared that, "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life," and so today, I hope you will join me on this adventure in education.
ON THIS EPISODE
Travel over to southcentral Pennsylvania, where my lovely guest, McKenzy Winkler of Little Farm Folk has her amazing homestead that she tends with her family. In our TRUE segment, we talk about what Charlotte Mason means when she says "Education is a discipline" and how she incorporates habit training and life skills in her homeschool. In our GOOD segment, McKenzy shares with us great tips on how to start habit training with our children and students; and in our final segment on the BEAUTIFUL, she explains how she started a Bread Baking Challenge and how we can easily incorporate this wonderful artisan practice.
Helpful resources:
Smooth and Easy Days E-book by Simply Charlotte Mason
Laying Down the Rails by Simply Charlotte Mason
Three Habit Hacks article on Charlotte Mason Poetry by Rene du Plessis
Make Bread 365 Planner by McKenzy Winkler of Little Farm Folk
COMMONPLACE QUOTES
A well-trained habit can overcome many inherited natures. If only I could express how much this means to anyone who wants to teach children! If only every mother understood how habit, in her knowing hand, is as useful a tool as the wheel to a potter, or the knife to a carver. With this instrument--habit--she can conceive of what she wants her child to be like, and then she can help him to become that! Note that the raw material is already there. Even a wheel won't help a potter create a porcelain vase if all he has to start with is backyard dirt. Yet, without his potter's wheel, he couldn't turn even the finest clay into anything nice. - Charlotte Mason, Volume 1: Home Education, p. 97 (This quote was not used in the podcast, but it's a good one!)
By "education is a discipline," we mean the discipline of habits, formed definitely and thoughtfully, whether habits of mind or body. - Charlotte Mason, Volume 6: A Philosophy of Education, p. xxix
Every day, every hour, the parents are either passively or activiely forming those habits in their children upon which, more than upon anything else, future character and conduct depend. - Charlotte Mason, Volume 1: Home Education, p. 118
The mother who takes pains to endow her children with good habits secures for herself smooth and easy days; while she who lets their habits take care of themselves has a weary life of endless friction with the children. - Charlotte Mason, Volume 1: Home Education, p. 136
. . . habit is to life what rails are to transport cars. It follows that lines of habit must be laid down towards given ends and after careful survey, or the joltings and delays of life become insupportable. More, habit is inevitable. If we fail to ease life by laying down habits of right thinking and right acting, habits of wrong thinking and wrong acting fix themselves of their own accord. - Charlotte Mason, Volume 6: A Philosophy of Education, p. 101
Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. - The Bible, Hebrews 12:11
. . . give a child a single valuable idea, and you have done more for his education than if you had laid upon his mind the burden of bushels of information . . . - Charlotte Mason, Volume 1: Home Education, p. 174
APPLICATION
1. Prayerfully consider what Habits to instill and focus on 1 habit for 6-8 weeks. Assess your own triggers and explain to your family or students how to help. Set the tone and model the behavior or habit you're trying to instill. Stay alert and consistent; don't nag or bully; be their ally.
Some habits to work on:
2. Consider adding some bread baking occasions in your week. McKenzy has a handy free e-book you can use that helps you make a different bread each month -- Make Bread 365
