Charlotte Mason believed that children thrive best in ordinary loving homes, with the company of their siblings, family, and friends, and amidst all the challenges and pleasures of typical family life. She viewed specialized child-friendly environments as stultifying to children, who were meant to flourish in a garden rather than a sheltered hot-house. I’m sure she would feel sorrow for all of the little children growing up in the artificial world of daycare centers and preschools today.
Instead of an institutional school building…imagine a simple house, small but well-ordered and uncluttered. This is where my children live and learn.
The space is comfortable and filled with warmth and light. There are shelves of classic books, baskets of wonderful library books, and cozy spots to read. An ample table surrounded by chairs invites students to spread-out and write, draw, or paint. Nearby shelves display a generous supply of tempting art supplies.
Fine quality art supplies are a necessary luxury and an important tool to nurture creativity and artistic expression– they can be purchased frugally by clipping coupons and shopping during sales. The children are free to choose: watercolors, good brushes and thick paper, chalk and oil pastels, colorful pencils, blank journals, modeling clay, interesting beads for stringing, fabrics, needles and thread, knitting needles and baskets of soft, wooly yarn in many hues.
The walls display the children’s artwork alongside reproductions of great masters. These masterworks are familiar friends to the children. They hang, not just on the wall for a time, but forever in each child’s own Gallery of the Mind (more on picture study later).
There is a peaceful feeling here. Classical music plays softly in the background and the children recognize the works of great composers. This music, rich in variety and stimulating to young imaginations, forms the soundtrack of many ordinary days. A piano invites anyone who wishes to play.
Often, on rainy days or chilly evenings, a fire crackles, or candles are lit in the living room; the tea kettle waits, always ready, on the kitchen stove. And every day at some point, perhaps first thing in the morning and again during tea time, the children gather to hear a good story read aloud. In a CM-inspired home, there is always time for a good story and a nice cup of tea.
The nearby forest and community parks invite us for nature study, leisurely walks, or a wild scamper on the monkey bars. Time spent outside is as important as any other lesson time because, as Charlotte wrote, “Nature teaches so gently, so gradually, so persistently that [the child] is never overdone, but goes on gathering little stores of knowledge about whatever comes before him.” We record our observations, painting or sketching in our Nature Notebooks.
Feeders, filled with seed and suet, attract a large variety of birds. And there are flower beds and a small vegetable garden to tend, though the deer and rabbits are frequent visitors to this “salad bar” always reaping our best efforts at gardening. No matter. We love to watch them graze, silent and graceful. Forest creatures, insects and butterflies are observed daily, not so much because they announce their presence, but because we take the time to stop and really see them.
Our atmosphere is simple, and it is all we need.
The effect is complex and positive with these simple elements:
a home filled with Love and Light
wonderful books
plentiful art supplies
afternoons spent outdoors
the gift of Time to dream…create… think… and grow.
As a mother-teacher I recognize my children as unique individuals with minds and souls hungry to feed upon living ideas. And so, I invite the children to a fine feast.
