The Commonplace

You’d think with all our knowledge about Mason’s principles it’d be easy to pick a curriculum. But the options seem endless and while they all claim to be some type of classical Mason curriculum, they’re all doing it a little bit differently. What’s a mom to do?----------Come shop at resources at Commonplace Market.----------You can find the full episode notes here.---------Join the 400+ mother-teachers in Common House (It’s like a Patreon, but better.) where we think deeply and learn together through full courses, bonus minisodes, monthly Q+A video calls, resources, and more!

At first take, Mason’s eleventh and twelfth principles seem a little obvious. We’ve been studying hard this season and we know some stuff! We know children need living ideas and to be allowed to make connections on their own, that they need natural relationships with a wide array of things. But today, I want to ask: why. Why does it have to be done this way? Why these living ideas?Let’s figure out how living ideas and the science of relations are necessary for a proper education. Together, they form Mason’s captain idea of education, and by adhering to them, we’ll find we’re working with the grain of truth, goodness, and beauty towards virtue and wisdom in our homeschools.----------Come shop at resources at Commonplace Market.----------You can find the full episode notes here.---------Join the 400+ mother-teachers in Common House (It’s like a Patreon, but better.) where we think deeply and learn together through full courses, bonus minisodes, monthly Q+A video calls, resources, and more!

We’re not fully aware of how deep the children-have-bucket-minds educational philosophy runs in our world today, but Mason knew of its dangers way back at the turn of the 20th century. It’s an appealing philosophy at first take. Why shouldn’t we treat children’s minds like buckets and just toss in pre-packaged ideas to fill them up? Won’t we guarantee ourselves students who know exactly what we want for them? Does it matter how a child learns if they’re taught a lot? Mason had much to say about this approach. And it appears I do too. ----------Come shop at resources at Commonplace Market.----------You can find the full episode notes here.---------Join the 400+ mother-teachers in Common House (It’s like a Patreon, but better.) where we think deeply and learn together through full courses, bonus minisodes, monthly Q+A video calls, resources, and more!

An education for persons should be life-giving. It should nurture and grow the mind, bringing life to it, but it should also form students wholly, leaving them fit for the flourishing life. It’s time for our third and final instrument of education. What does Mason mean when she says, “Education is a life”?----------Come shop at resources at Commonplace Market.----------You can find the full episode notes here.---------Join the 400+ mother-teachers in Common House (It’s like a Patreon, but better.) where we think deeply and learn together through full courses, bonus minisodes, monthly Q+A video calls, resources, and more!

If we habit train, is it even authentic?Modern talk tells us authenticity is a great virtue, possibly even the highest virtue. We should only ever do that which feels most satisfying to us at the moment, and only if it comes to us spontaneously and organically. #liveauthentic #youdoyou #mytruth If we could only be our truest selves, free from internal and external constraints, we’d be happy. Maybe even have world peace. This is obviously untrue. But it does lead to a good question: if we habit train our children, is anything they do authentic? Or, to put it another way, does habit training program a machine or form the affections of a person?----------Follow me on Instagram to enter. the big giveaway: @thecommonplacehomeschoolCome shop at resources at Commonplace Market.----------You can find the full episode notes here.---------Join the 400+ mother-teachers in Common House (It’s like a Patreon, but better.) where we think deeply and learn together through full courses, bonus minisodes, monthly Q+A video calls, resources, and more!

When we modern moms think about atmosphere in the homeschool, we usually think about the materials. We have a mental image of what the perfect home or homeschool looks like; what kind of stuff covers the walls, table, and floor. It can really feel like things must look a certain way to be done a certain way. If you don’t believe me, just take a poll of any mom friends you have by asking: What comes to mind when you think of a Charlotte Mason homeschool?[You know what I’m talking about, friend.]Today, we’re going to leave behind our wooden manipulatives and botanical wall posters to give the world—and ourselves—a clearer picture of the Mason homeschool atmosphere: A really good, commonplace family life. ----------You can find the full episode notes here.---------Join the 400+ mother-teachers in Common House (It’s like a Patreon, but better.) where we think deeply and learn together through full courses, bonus minisodes, monthly Q+A video calls, resources, and more!

This bonus minisode was first recorded for The Commonplace patrons but is brought to you today by Classical Academic Press. Take 20% off all individual products until April 22nd, which includes our favorite thing: books. If you enjoy today’s bonus minisode, you can find more resources just like this over at Common House. We’d love to have you. ----------You can find the full episode notes here. ---------Join the 400+ mother-teachers in Common House (It’s like a Patreon, but better.) where we think deeply and learn together through full courses, bonus minisodes, monthly Q+A video calls, resources, and more!

Now, maybe you feel differently, but it can feel like everything you’ve ever known to ‘teach’ in motherhood is off the table after Mason’s fourth principle. It’s a bit jarring to feel stuck in a moment asking yourself, ‘Wait, is that going to manipulate them? Will this? What. Can. I. Do?’ But Mason encourages us to focus on what is possible once we cross the hurdle of the fourth principle. She says: ‘Having cut out the direct use of fear or love, suggestion or influence, undue play upon any one natural desire, emulation, for example, we are no longer free to use all means in the education of children. There are but three left for our use and to each of these we must give careful study or we shall not realize how great a scope is left to us.’ Well, here we go, my friend. We are finally at the threshold of the mother-teacher’s tools. Consider today’s episode your very own primer on the atmosphere, discipline, and life of a Charlotte Mason education. We’re going to take a high-level look at all three as interdependent tools, and then in the next three episodes, we’ll focus on each one separately. Are you ready? ----------You can find the full episode notes here.---------Join the 400+ mother-teachers in Common House (It’s like a Patreon, but better.) where we think deeply and learn together through full courses, bonus minisodes, monthly Q+A video calls, resources, and more!

In the last episode, we learned how authority and docility are natural, necessary, and fundamental for our homes. But in her fourth principle, Mason introduces a limitation to these two things: the respect due to the child’s will. (Okay, so technically she says ‘personality,’ but I’m here to translate that Victorian English for you, and she’s definitely not talking about your kid’s Enneagram type.) We want children with strong wills who choose what’s good because it’s the right thing to do. But there are just so many ways to get the right behavior with the wrong heart motivator, and that’s what we’re discussing today. Just remember: what you motivate a child with is what you motivate them towards. And anything other than “For it is right,” is wrong.----------You can find the full episode notes here. ---------Join the 400+ mother-teachers in Common House (It’s like a Patreon, but better.) where we think deeply and learn together through full courses, bonus minisodes, monthly Q+A video calls, resources, and more!

Moms know a thing about tension, about holding two things in balance: speaking and silence, instruction and waiting, pizza and broccoli. Understanding the complementary particulars of home life and nurturing children is kind of our job. As we head into the next principle, just remember: you’ve been training for this in so many ways before today. In her third principle, Mason shares two ideas that are natural, necessary, and fundamental to the homeschool but must be held in tension with one another: authority and docility. Now, what exactly does that mean? ----------You can find the full episode notes here. ---------Join the 400+ mother-teachers in Common House (It’s like a Patreon, but better.) where we think deeply and learn together through full courses, bonus minisodes, monthly Q+A video calls, resources, and more!