The New Mason Jar with Cindy Rollins
S4E60: The Building Blocks of Story with Angelina Stanford and Timilyn Downey
Episode guests
Podcast summary created with Snipd AI
Quick takeaways
- Connecting with transcendent reality through stories enhances appreciation for literature.
- Encouraging children to find images and patterns in stories fosters a rich inner world.
- Preserving the poetic essence of literature requires avoiding didactic teaching methods.
- Empowering children to draw connections between stories cultivates a deep appreciation for literature.
Deep dives
The Importance of Reading Poetically and Connecting with Transcendent Reality through Stories
Reading poetically and connecting with the transcendent reality through stories is vital for truly appreciating literature. Stories serve as prisms of truth and icons that lead us beyond ourselves. By letting the light of the story shine through, we can see beyond the superficial and connect with deeper spiritual meanings. Encouraging children to find the images and patterns in stories, rather than moralizing or dissecting them, allows them to experience the transcendent messages that literature conveys.
The Power of Stories in Cultivating Children's Imagination and Connecting to the Transcendent
Using stories to nurture children's imagination and spiritual connection fosters a deep appreciation for literature. By presenting stories as gateways to the transcendent, children can develop a rich inner world and see beyond the surface of the narrative. Encouraging children to look along the beam of light in stories rather than analyzing or over-explaining them allows for a more profound and meaningful engagement with literature.
Avoiding Didactic Teaching Approaches and Embracing the Poetic Nature of Stories
Steering clear of didactic teaching methods and allowing stories to speak for themselves is crucial in preserving the poetic essence of literature. Rather than imposing predetermined lessons or moral interpretations on children, fostering their innate ability to find connections and deeper meanings in stories enriches their imaginative and spiritual engagement with literature.
Empowering Children to Connect with Stories and Discover Transcendent Truths Independently
Empowering children to draw their own connections between stories and transcendental truths instills in them a deep appreciation for literature. By prompting them with questions like 'What does this remind you of?' children can develop a habit of thinking poetically and metaphorically, enabling them to independently explore the profound messages embedded in stories.
Utilizing Literature to Cultivate an Understanding of the Transcendent and Appreciation for Art
Leveraging literature to cultivate a comprehension of the transcendent and an appreciation for art transforms how individuals engage with stories. Viewing stories as conduits to transcendent realities and refracted light instead of mere historical artifacts enhances the profound impact of literature on individuals' intellectual and emotional development.
Promoting Curiosity and Imagination in Children through Stories
Encouraging curiosity and imagination in children by allowing them to explore stories without instructional interference promotes a deeper connection to the transcendent in literature. By fostering a sense of wonder and inquiry, children can naturally absorb the spiritual and moral aspects of stories, leading to a more authentic and meaningful engagement with literature.
Stories as Literature vs. Historical Fiction in Education
The podcast delves into the distinction between literature and historical fiction in educational settings. Emphasizing that historical stories are not equivalent to literature, it advocates for separating them in curricula. By highlighting the confusion between literature and other subjects like history and social studies, the podcast underscores the importance of recognizing literature as a distinct category that provides a transcendent understanding of human experiences.
Teaching Literature Through Time-Tested Works vs. Modern Fiction
The discussion centers on the value of time-tested literature over contemporary fiction in educating children. Arguing for the significance of selecting classic works that have endured, the podcast critiques the reliance on modern bestsellers for literary education. Highlighting the challenge of transitioning students from modern to classic literature, it advocates for introducing children to the 'A team' of books that offer enduring insights into human nature and transcendence.
Commonplace Tales: Tales of Imagination––Stories, again, of the Christmas holidays, of George and Lucy, of the amusements, foibles, and virtues of children in their own condition of life, leave nothing to the imagination. The children know all about everything so well that it never occurs to them to play at the situations in any one of these tales, or even to read it twice over. But let them have tales of the imagination, scenes laid in other lands and other times, heroic adventures, hairbreadth escapes, delicious fairy tales in which they are never roughly pulled up by the impossible––even where all is impossible, and they know it, and yet believe.
Charlotte Mason, Vol. 1, Home Education Show Summary:- Today on the New Mason Jar, Cindy and Dawn chat with friends Angelina Stanford and Timilyn Downey about the building blocks of stories in relation to a Charlotte Mason education
- How Angelina came to learn about Charlotte Mason
- Why Timilyn values the building blocks of story so much
- What are stories versus literature?
- What is the difference between how modernity sees art and stories and how the medievals saw them?
- What is wrong with the idea of literature as a mirror or a window?
- Some metaphors for approaching story
- Why are unit studies problematic in approaching a Charlotte Mason education?
- How can you learn the language of literature so that you can teach your children?
Last but not least, the fact that the story does not turn on children, and does not foster that self-consciousness, the dawn of which in the child is, perhaps, the individual “Fall of Man.”
Charlotte Mason, Formation of Character Books Mentioned:“Meditation on a Toolshed” by C. S. Lewis
Aesop’s Fables illus. by Jerry Pinkney
He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands illus. by Kadir Nelson
Find Cindy, Angelina, and Timilyn:Cindy’s Patreon Discipleship Group
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