The New Mason Jar with Cindy Rollins

On The New Mason Jar this week, Cindy and Dawn sit down to talk with veteran homeschool mom Elissa Kroeger about her own journey of self-education How Elissa first heard about Charlotte Mason Elissa’s own history with reading and self-education through her school years How Elissa’s early homeschooling community grew organically How was a Charlotte Mason lifestyle a catalyst for wholeness in Elissa’s life? How has life changed since most of Elissa’s children have grown and are no longer in her homeschool? What Elissa does now for self-education Who were the women who made the biggest impression on Elissa’s life? If we know one person who grows pale at a lofty thought, whose tears come at the telling of a heroic action, let us learn, from that, that these are thoughts and actions that have the power to move us all; therefore, we must give freely of our best, without the supercilious notion that So-and so would not understand. If music, poetry, art, give us joy, let us not hesitate to present these joys to others; for indeed, those others are made in all points like as we are, though with a different experience. The orator whose Sympathy is awake appeals to the generosity, delicacy, courage, loyalty of a mixed mob of people; and he never appeals in vain. His Sympathy, his comprehension, has discerned all these riches of the heart in the unpromising crowd before him and; like Ariel, released from his tree prison leaps out of many a human prison, a beautiful human being at the touch of this key. Charlotte Mason, Ourselves Books and Links Mentioned: Better Late Than Early by Raymond Moore Mere Motherhood by Cindy Rollins The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander The Tripods Series by John Christopher Byzantium by Stephen Lawhead The City of God by St. Augustine Genevieve Foster H. E. Marshall Spiritual Sight by Joyce McPherson AmblesideOnline Set Your Feet Retreat It is by way of an effort towards this adjustment of power that I wish to bring before parents and teachers the subject of ‘masterly inactivity’. We ought to do so much for our children, and are able to do so much for them, that we begin to think everything rests with us and that we should never intermit for a moment our conscious action on the young minds and hearts about us. Our endeavours become fussy and restless. We are too much with our children ‘late and soon’. We try to dominate them too much, even when we fail to govern, and we are unable to perceive that wise and purposeful letting alone is the best part of Education. But this form of error arises from a defect of our qualities. We may take heart. We have the qualities and all that is wanted is an adjustment; to this we must give our time and attention. Charlotte Mason, School Education Find Cindy and Dawn: Morning Time for Moms Cindy’s Patreon Discipleship Group Mere Motherhood Facebook Group The Literary Life Podcast Cindy’s Facebook Cindy’s Instagram Dawn’s Swedish Drill website Dawn’s A Reasoned Patriotism website Dawn’s Substack

On The New Mason Jar today, we bring you a conversation Cindy and Dawn had with the AmblesideOnline Advisory members Anne White, Donna-Jean Breckenridge, Karen Glass and Leslie Laurio. How the friendship of the AO Advisory developed and has been a gift for each member throughout the years Did the Advisory members use the whole AO curriculum as written? What about those fears about missing out on something if a family doesn’t do everything in the curriculum perfectly? The simplicity of the Charlotte Mason approach to language arts Do any of the Advisory doubt Charlotte Mason’s methods now that they have all graduated their children? Are there any things that aren’t common knowledge that the Advisory wants to share? Books and Links Mentioned: AmblesideOnline Six Voices, One Story by Donna-Jean Breckenridge, et. al. In Vital Harmony by Karen Glass For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay AO Advisory Bios: Anne White grew up and still lives in southern Ontario.  She anticipated David Epstein’s Range by changing her university major three times and stretching a four-year degree into seven, but she did complete a BA in creative writing, and later added a BEd in adult education. In the thirty years between those things, she (and her husband) raised three homeschooled daughters, who have each found their own Range. Anne has been associated with AmblesideOnline since its beginning, and is the author of several books about Charlotte Mason’s philosophy. Donna-Jean Breckenridge lives with her family in northern New Jersey. She is honored to be a founding member of the AmblesideOnline Advisory, and she continues to serve AO’s community while homeschooling her granddaughters. She is a public speaker, writer (This Country of Ours – Annotated, Edited, and Updated and Six Voices, One Story: The Heart of AmblesideOnline), and audiobook narrator. She counts her greatest roles as mom to her four children, grandmother to five, and grateful friend. Her heart’s desire is to encourage others that God is safe to trust, no matter what.  After living 25 years in Krakow, Poland, Karen Glass currently lives in Indiana with her husband and youngest daughter. She is a founding member of AmblesideOnline and home educated her four children through graduation. She is the author of several books related to Charlotte Mason and speaks and teaches on the philosophy and methods (especially narration). She reads, writes, tries to grow things, and has been known to crochet doilies and knit socks. Leslie Laurio is an art school dropout, a veteran, a homeschool mom, and one of the founders and original creators of AmblesideOnline. She and her husband live in Tennessee and have four children who were homeschooled all the way from kindergarten through high school, and are now married and scattered across the eastern US pursuing various careers and passions. She has paraphrased the Charlotte Mason series, Parables From Nature, and other works. The person who can live upon his own intellectual resources and never know a dull hour (though anxious and sad hours will come) is indeed enviable in these days of intellectual inanition, when we depend upon spectacular entertainments pour passer le temps [to pass the time]. If knowledge means so much to us, “What is knowledge?” the reader asks. We can give only a negative answer. Knowledge is not instruction, information, scholarship, a well-stored memory. It is passed, like the light of a torch, from mind to mind, and the flame can be kindled at original minds only. Thought, we know, breeds thought; it is as vital thought touches our minds that our ideas are vitalized, and out of our ideas comes our conduct of life… The direct and immediate impact of great minds upon his own mind is necessary to the education of a child. Charlotte Mason, Towards a Philosophy of Education, p. 303 Let us, out of reverence for the children, be modest; let us not stake their interests on the hope that this or that new way would lead to great results if people had only the courage to follow it. It is exciting to become a pioneer; but, for the children’s sake, it may be well to constrain ourselves to follow those roads only by which we know that persons have arrived, or those newer roads which offer evident and assured means of progress towards a desired end. Charlotte Mason, School Education, p. 245

Every plant bears fruit, ‘fruit and seed after his kind.’ All this is stale knowledge to older people, but one of the secrets of the educator is to present nothing as stale knowledge, but to put himself in the position of the child, and wonder and admire with him; for every common miracle which the child sees with his own eyes makes of him for the moment another Newton. Charlotte Mason, Home Education, p. 54 Show Summary: On The New Mason Jar this week, Cindy and Dawn continue their Morning Time for Moms series with guests Summer and Mike Smith How Summer and Mike first learned about Charlotte Mason and her philosophy Mike’s early love for books and Summer’s own life of reading How Mike and Summer continued to enjoy reading and self-education after formal schooling Some thoughts on the college experience How Summer keeps up her own education while homeschooling How Mike and Summer help their children see ministry opportunities in their community Books and Links Mentioned: In Vital Harmony by Karen Glass Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan Number the Stars by Lois Lowry Ice Magic by Matt Christopher The Kid Who Only Hit Homers by Matt Christopher Brighty of the Grand Canyon by Marguerite Henry Pickle Chiffon Pie by Jolly Roger Bradfield Little House Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery The Upstairs Room by Johanna Reiss Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene The Diary of A Young Girl by Anne Frank Calico Palace by Gwen Bristow Jubilee Trail by Gwen Bristow Celia Garth by Gwen Bristow American Regional Books by Lois Lenski Nancy Drew series by Carolyn Keene Kent Family Chronicles series by John Jakes Range by David Epstein Holling C. Holling The Supper of the Lamb by Robert Farrar Capon Beyond Mere Motherhood by Cindy Rollins Paradise Lost by John Milton The Iliad by Homer The Aeneid by Virgil Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher C. S. Lewis T. S. Eliot Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy The Trumpet-Major by Thomas Hardy Jerusalem Delivered by Torquato Tasso Arabian Sands by Wilfred Thesiger The Major and the Missionary by Diana Pavlac Glyer The Odyssey by Homer A Curious Life for a Lady by Pat Barr Church History in Plain Language by Bruce Shelley The Latin Letters of C. S. Lewis ed. and trans. by Martin Moynihan Find Cindy and Dawn: Morning Time for Moms Cindy’s Patreon Discipleship Group Mere Motherhood Facebook Group The Literary Life Podcast Cindy’s Facebook Cindy’s Instagram Dawn’s Swedish Drill website Dawn’s A Reasoned Patriotism website Dawn’s Substack We should allow no separation to grow up between the intellectual and the ‘spiritual’ life of children; but should teach them that the divine Spirit has constant access to their spirits, and is their continual helper in all the interests, duties, and joys of life. Charlotte Mason, Principle 18

If mankind had not been organized into families, it would never have had the organic power to be organized into commonwealths. Human culture is handed down in the customs of countless households. It is the only way in which human culture can remain human. G. K. Chesterton, Marriage and the Modern Mind Show Summary: For this week’s episode of The New Mason Jar, Cindy and Dawn share about this year’s summer discipleship course, “Joy in the Morning” Gretchen Neisler tells about her own experience with past summer discipleship and why she keeps coming back for more What you can expect from this year’s Morning Time for Moms content and schedule Other ways you can benefit from Cindy’s wisdom and interact with other moms (Scroll down to the “Find Cindy” section for all the links) Books Mentioned: A White Bird Flying by Bess Streeter Aldrich A Lantern in Her Hand by Bess Streeter Aldrich In Vital Harmony by Karen Glass Ideas Freely Sown by Anne White Mere Motherhood by Cindy Rollins Live Not By Lies by Rod Dreher Charlotte Mason’s Great Recognition by Deani Van Pelt and Camille Malucci Joy in the Morning (Jeeves in the Morning) by P. G. Wodehouse Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare Norms and Nobility by David Hicks Find Cindy: Morning Time for Moms Cindy’s Patreon Discipleship Group Mere Motherhood Facebook Group The Literary Life Podcast Cindy’s Facebook Cindy’s Instagram Subscribe: Audible Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Podcast Addict Spotify Those who believe in the dignity of the domestic tradition, who happen to be the overwhelming majority of mankind, regard the home as a sphere of vast social importance and supreme spiritual significance, and to talk of being “confined” to it is like talking of being chained to a throne or set in the seat of judgment as if it were the stocks. G. K. Chesterton, “The Dignity of Domesticity,” The Illustrated London News, 1929

They notice for themselves, and the teacher gives a name and other information as it is asked for… In this way they lay up that store of “common information”… and what is more important, they learn to know and delight in natural objects as in the familiar faces of friends. Charlotte Mason, School Education, p. 237 Show Summary: On The New Mason Jar this week, we bring you a conversation all about spring nature study with Cindy, Dawn and Cindy’s friend Jeannette Tulis, who has been a previous guest on the podcast How can moms begin nature study when they have never done it before? How to find spring ephemeral wildflowers, and other things to look for at this time of year Ideas for stepping up your nature study game What are some tips for nature journaling? Books and Links Mentioned: Episode 12: Charlotte Mason Study Groups Episode 56: Building a Home Library Who’s Afraid of a Little Paint? by Jeannette Tulis The Tree Identification Book by George Symonds Wild Green Things in the City by Anne Ophelia Dowden The First Book of Weeds by Barbara Beck   Find Cindy: Morning Time for Moms Cindy’s Patreon Discipleship Group Mere Motherhood Facebook Group The Literary Life Podcast Cindy’s Facebook Cindy’s Instagram   Let them once get in touch with Nature, and a habit is formed which will be a source of delight through life. We were all meant to be naturalists, each in his degree, and it is inexcusable to live in a world so full of the marvels of plant and animal life and to care for none of these things. Charlotte Mason, Home Education, p. 61

Ourselves, our Souls and Bodies is much used in the P.U.S., as I know of no other attempt to present such a ground plan of human nature as should enable the young student to know where he is in his efforts to ‘be good’ as the children say. The point of view taken in this volume is, that all beautiful and noble possibilities are present in every one; but that each person is subject to assaults and hindrances in various ways of which he should be aware in order that he may watch and pray. Hortatory teaching is apt to bore both young people and their elders; but an ordered presentation of the possibilities and powers that lie in human nature and of the risks that attend these, can hardly fail to have an enlightening and stimulating effect. Charlotte Mason, Towards a Philosophy of Education Show Summary: On the New Mason Jar today we welcome back Anne White, veteran homeschool mom, author, and member of the AmblesideOnline Advisory How Anne first discovered Charlotte Mason About Anne’s new book title and how she came to write this work Is this book for homeschoolers? How can we understand and apply “justice” in the way that Charlotte meant here? Why children need time and space to think and let ideas work in them What do you mean by the statement that “there is is only sacred, sanctified education, or desecrated education”? How Anne tied the magic of narration into the ideas in this book Books and Links Mentioned: For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay A Bit of the World’s Work by Anne White Offering Ourselves: A Lenten Journey with Charlotte Mason by Anne White Honest, Simple Souls by Anne White Ourselves by Charlotte Mason   Find Cindy and Anne: Morning Time for Moms Cindy’s Patreon Discipleship Group Mere Motherhood Facebook Group The Literary Life Podcast Cindy’s Facebook Cindy’s Instagram Anne Writes Anne’s Author Page on Amazon Anne’s Blog: Dewey’s Treehouse   The worth of any calling depends upon its being of use; and no day need go by without giving us practice in usefulness. Each one is wanted for the special bit of work he is fit for; and, of each, it is true that– “Thou cam’st not to thy place by accident: It is the very place God meant for thee.” Charlotte Mason, Ourselves, Bk. 1, pp. 209-210

The mind is a spiritual octopus, reaching out limbs in every direction to draw in enormous rations of that which under the actions of the mind itself becomes knowledge. Nothing can stale its infinite variety; the heavens and the earth, the past, the present, and future, things great and things minute, nations and men, the universe, all are within the scope of the human intelligence. Charlotte Mason, Toward a Philosophy of Education, p. 330 Show Summary: On The New Mason Jar this week, Cindy and Dawn kick off a new series of the podcast, Morning Time for Moms, with our first guest in the series, Jami Marstall How Jami first came to hear about Charlotte Mason How much of AmblesideOnline’s curriculum Jami has personally read as the mother and teacher What practices Jami put in place to ensure she was growing in knowledge How the mother-teacher is the guide, philosopher, and friend What is the significance of the “spiritual octopus” quote from the intro? How can moms build a reading life in the busy seasons of life? What Jami is reading now and what some of her other activities are Books and Links Mentioned: Beyond Mere Motherhood by Cindy Rollins For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay For the Family’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay Towards a Philosophy of Education by Charlotte Mason The Idea of America by Gordon S. Wood John Adams by David McCullough The Universe Next Door by James Sire The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas The Once and Future King by T. H. White Lynn Bruce’s article on The Spiritual Octopus S2E22: Charlotte Mason Through High School with Jami Marstall Find Cindy and Dawn: Morning Time for Moms Cindy’s Patreon Discipleship Group Mere Motherhood Facebook Group The Literary Life Podcast Cindy’s Facebook Cindy’s Instagram Dawn’s Swedish Drill website Dawn’s A Reasoned Patriotism website Dawn’s Substack What we are concerned with is the fact that we personally have relations with all that there is in the present, all that there has been in the past, and all that there will be in the future––with all above us and all about us––and that fullness of living, expansion, expression, and serviceableness, for each of us, depend upon how far we apprehend these relationships and how many of them we lay hold of…. Every [mother] is heir to an enormous patrimony, heir to all the ages, inheritor of all the present. The question is, what are the [educational] formalities necessary to put [her] in possession of that which is [hers]? paraphrase of Charlotte Mason from School Education, pg. 186

Three Questions for the Mother…She must ask herself Why must the children learn at all? What should they learn? And, How should they learn it? If she takes the trouble to find a definite and thoughtful answer to each of these three queries, she will be in a position to direct her children’s studies; and will, at the same time, be surprised to find that three-fourths of the time and labour ordinarily spent by the child at his lessons is lost time and wasted energy. Charlotte Mason, Home Education, p. 171 Show Summary: On this week’s episode of The New Mason Jar, Cindy and Dawn sit down to chat with veteran homeschool mom, Heather Martin about a wide variety of topics How and when Heather actually learned about Charlotte Mason after organically using many of her methods all along How getting a teaching certificate actually ensured Heather would choose to home educate instead Were there challenges specific to having only boys? What were some of the intentional things you did in your home to build your family culture? Some encouragement for moms regarding mathematics How Heather started local recitation gatherings with other homeschoolers Books and Links Mentioned: Mere Motherhood by Cindy Rollins Range by David Epstein In Vital Harmony by Karen Glass Find Cindy: Morning Time for Moms Cindy’s Patreon Discipleship Group Mere Motherhood Facebook Group The Literary Life Podcast Cindy’s Facebook Cindy’s Instagram  

No one knoweth the things of a man but the spirit of a man which is in him; therefore, there is no education but self-education… Charlotte Mason, Toward a Philosophy of Education, p. 26 Show Summary: On The New Mason Jar this week, Cindy and Dawn sit down to chat about Cindy’s newest book, Beyond Mere Motherhood How this book came to be What Cindy hopes this book to be and who it is for What you can expect from each chapter of the book How this book is helping launch a new podcast series coming soon! Books and Links Mentioned: Toward a Philosophy of Education by Charlotte Mason Beyond Mere Motherhood by Cindy Rollins The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer “Why the KJV?” by Lynn Bruce Blue Sky Daisies Find Cindy and Dawn: Morning Time for Moms Cindy’s Patreon Discipleship Group Mere Motherhood Facebook Group The Literary Life Podcast Cindy’s Facebook Cindy’s Instagram Dawn’s Swedish Drill website Dawn’s A Reasoned Patriotism website Dawn’s Substack We allow no separation to grow up between the intellectual and spiritual life of mothers, but teach them that the Divine Spirit has constant access to their spirit and is their continue Helper in all the interests, duties, and joys of life. paraphrase of Charlotte Mason’s 20th Principle

Like all music, the figured bass should have no other end and aim than the glory of God and the recreation of the soul; where this is not kept in mind there is no true music, but only an infernal clamour and ranting. Johann Sebastian Bach Show Summary: Today on The New Mason Jar, Cindy talks with Hannah Paris and Amy Edwards about the new Lenten companion book to Hallelujah, A Sacred Sacrifice How this book came to be through the years Some thoughts on why St. Matthew’s Passion is such an appropriate piece for Lent How the book is laid out for families to use Some thoughts on approaching Lent if it isn’t a normal part of your church tradition Books and Links Mentioned: A Sacred Sacrifice: Cultivating Lenten Traditions with Bach’s Great Passion by Hannah Paris The Story of Charlotte Mason by Essex Cholmondeley The Charlotte Mason Book of Quotes: Copywork to Inspire by Lanaya Gore Blue Sky Daisies Truly parents are happy people, to have God’s children lent to them… Charlotte Mason, from a letter quoted in The Story of Charlotte Mason Find Cindy: Morning Time for Moms Cindy’s Patreon Discipleship Group Mere Motherhood Facebook Group The Literary Life Podcast Cindy’s Facebook Cindy’s Instagram

As a matter of fact, we do not realise children, we under-estimate them; in the divine words, we “despise” them, with the best intentions in the world, because we confound the immaturity of their frames, and their absolute ignorance as to the relations of things, with spiritual impotence: whereas the fact probably is, that never is intellectual power so keen, the moral sense so strong, spiritual perception so piercing, as in those days of childhood which we regard with a supercilious, if kindly, smile. Charlotte Mason, Parents and Children, p. 260 Show Summary: Today on The New Mason Jar, Cindy and Dawn chat with guests Elizabeth and Stacy about the challenges (and benefits!) of homeschooling while serving in the military How Elizabeth and Stacy each first learned about Charlotte Mason What are some of the challenges of military life and frequent relocation? How have you found homeschooling community and friends when changing duty stations? What are some of the benefits your family has experienced because of military life? Are there any homeschooling resources available to military families? How do you adapt your homeschool schedule during the year to stay flexible to change? Books and Links Mentioned: For the Family’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay The Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola Find Cindy and Dawn: Morning Time for Moms Cindy’s Patreon Discipleship Group Mere Motherhood Facebook Group The Literary Life Podcast Cindy’s Facebook Cindy’s Instagram Dawn’s Swedish Drill Book Dawn’s Reasoned Patriotism Book Dawn’s Discerning Home Educator Substack Every look of gentleness and tone of reverence, every word of kindness and act of help, passes into the thought-environment, the very atmosphere which the child breathes; he does not think of these things, may never think of them, but all his life long they excite that ‘vague appetency towards something’ out of which most of his actions spring. Charlotte Mason, Parents and Children, p. 36

Few things could be more disastrous (as, alas, few are more imminent) than a sudden break with the traditions of the past; wherefore, let us gently knit the bonds that bind us to the generation all too rapidly dying out. It is well that we gather up, with tender reverence, such fragments of their insight and experience as come in our way; for we would fain, each, be as an householder, bringing forth out of his treasures things new and old. Charlotte Mason, Formation of Character, p. 156-157 Show Summary: On The New Mason Jar this week, Cindy talks with Bethany Stuard, homeschooling mom of 3, about incorporating group singing into the homeschool day How Bethany came to know about Charlotte Mason as a second-generation homeschooler How choral music connected Bethany with poetry, the liturgy, other cultures and more Practical tips for helping children sing confidently at home How folk songs help connect us to other cultures and our own history Tips for finding a choir for a child to join Tips for making the most of composer study Books and Links Mentioned: Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay James Herriot Peter Kreeft Melody Sheet Music Poetry Set to Choral Music on Spotify   Playlist of Folk and Children’s Songs on Spotify AmblesideOnline Folk Song Selections Feierabend Song Collection Books Kodaly Collection Find Cindy and Bethany: Morning Time for Moms Cindy’s Patreon Discipleship Group Mere Motherhood Facebook Group The Literary Life Podcast Cindy’s Facebook Cindy’s Instagram Bethany’s Website First Colony Homeschool Ensembles ...a classical education does more, turns out men with intellects cultivated and trained, who are awake to every refinement of thought, and yet ready for action. But the press and hurry of our times and the clamour for useful knowledge are driving classical culture out of the field; and parents will have to make up their minds, not only that they must supplement the moral training of the school, but must supply the intellectual culture, without which knowledge may be power, but is not pleasure, nor the means of pleasure. Charlotte Mason, Formation of Character, p. 213  

It is not the friends of our election who have exclusive claims upon us; the friends brought to us here and there by the circumstances of life all claim our loyalty, and from these we get…kindness for kindness, service for service, loyalty for loyalty, full measure, heaped together and running over. Charlotte Mason, Ourselves, Book 2, p. 32 Show Summary: Today on The New Mason Jar, Cindy and Dawn welcome back Donna-Jean Breckenridge, veteran homeschool mom, grandmother and member of the AmblesideOnline Advisory Donna-Jean shares a little about how the Advisory met and went on to work together to create AmblesideOnline and a grew to have deep friendships along the way Donna-Jean talk about how this book came to be and some of the challenges along the way What do you see as the future of the Advisory and AO? Books and Links Mentioned: Six Voices, One Story by the AmblesideOnline Advisory Archipelago, The AO Advisory Blog   Find Cindy and Donna-Jean: Morning Time for Moms Cindy’s Patreon Discipleship Group Mere Motherhood Facebook Group The Literary Life Podcast Cindy’s Facebook Cindy’s Instagram Donna-Jean’s Facebook Donna-Jean’s Instagram Donna-Jean on MeWe

Our flesh the Word became, and dwelt with us, And we beheld His glory, as, of God, The only-begotten Son: we who believed Knew glory when we saw it, by the signs— Not of the pomp and majesty of Kings— But Grace, the touch of God, showed sweet in Him; And Truth, discerning all things, made Him simple, His glory saw we—full of grace and truth. Charlotte Mason, from “Savior of the World,” Prologue to the Gospel according to St. John Show Summary: On this episode of The New Mason Jar, we bring you a replay of a special episode with Cindy’s friends Donna-Jean Breckenridge and Lynn Bruce, who has now gone to be with the Lord. What did homeschooling look like around the Christmas holidays? Why it is okay to take time off from your normal school work for Christmas celebrations Why traditions are so important, possibly even more so as children grow older What are some traditions that your family keeps from previous generations? Handling changes and trauma as the years go by and still keep Christmas with courage What are some Christmas “fails” that happened in your family? Books and Links Mentioned: Saviour of the World, Volume 1 by Charlotte Mason This Country of Ours: Annotated, Expanded and Updated, Vol. 1 by Donna-Jean Breckenridge Episode 40: Donna-Jean Breckenridge on Updating This Country of Ours Hallelujah: Cultivating Advent Traditions with Handel’s Messiah by Cindy Rollins The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson The Christmas Mystery by Jostein Gaarder Find Cindyand Donna-Jean: Morning Time for Moms Cindy’s Patreon Discipleship Group Mere Motherhood Facebook Group The Literary Life Podcast Cindy’s Facebook Cindy’s Instagram Donna-Jean’s Facebook Donna-Jean’s Instagram Donna-Jean on MeWe

Education is a life. That life is sustained on ideas. Ideas are of spiritual origin, and God has made us so that we get them chiefly as we convey them to one another, whether by word of mouth, written page, Scripture word, musical symphony; but we must sustain a child’s inner life with ideas as we sustain his body with food. Charlotte Mason, Toward a Philosophy of Education Show Summary: Cindy and Dawn take some time for a more informal chat about some ideas that have been on their minds and hearts lately The danger of “windows and mirrors” and trying to see ourselves instead of looking to God Some thoughts on narration and attention The value of listening to the experience of older homeschool moms Books and Links Mentioned: The Lord Bless You and Keep You by Michael J. Glodo Six Voices, One Story by the Ambleside Education Foundation   Education, like faith, is “the evidence of things not seen.” Charlotte Mason, from Toward a Philosophy of Education   Find Cindy and Dawn: Morning Time for Moms Cindy’s Patreon Discipleship Group Mere Motherhood Facebook Group The Literary Life Podcast Cindy’s Facebook Cindy’s Instagram Dawn’s Swedish Drill Website Dawn’s Articles on Afterthoughtsblog.net  

Mentally he must be developed so that as he grows older he may have the capacity to grasp the true meaning of social and political questions of the day. His mind should be so trained that he will be able to detect and reject fallacious statements, and quick to discover the claptrap of which our newspapers are so full. E. A. Smith, “Citizenship: Our Responsibility as Teachers”, June 1911 L’Umile Pianta Show Summary: Today’s guest on The New Mason Jar is Erin Kunkle, a veteran homeschool mom, speaker and co-host of the MAVEN parent podcast How Erin first heard about Charlotte Mason What is Maven all about? What do we mean when we say “culture” and why it is important to stay engaged with it? Does teaching apologetics and Christian worldview align with a Charlotte Mason education? How can we talk about cultural issues in a way that encourages kids to learn to think for themselves? Erin’s advice for talking with kids about difficult topics   Books and Links Mentioned: Affiliate links are included below. For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling by Andy Crouch More Than a Carpenter by Josh MacDowell with Sean MacDowell A Practical Guide to Culture by Brett Kunkle and John Stonestreet Questioning the Bible by Jonathan Morrow The Story of Reality by Greg Koukl   [We] must listen and consider, being sure that one of the purposes we are in the world for is, to form right opinions about all matters that come in our way. Charlotte Mason, Ourselves   Find Cindy and Erin: Morning Time for Moms Cindy’s Patreon Discipleship Group Mere Motherhood Facebook Group The Literary Life Podcast Cindy’s Facebook Cindy’s Instagram Maven Maven Conferences Maven Podcast  

We take strong ground when we appeal to the beauty and truth of Mathematics; that, as Ruskin points out, two and two make four and cannot conceivably make five, is an inevitable law. It is a great thing to be brought into the presence of a law, of a whole system of laws, that exist without our concurrence,––that two straight lines cannot enclose a space is a fact which we can perceive, state, and act upon but cannot in any wise alter, should give to children the sense of limitation which is wholesome for all of us, and inspire that sursum corda which we should hear in all natural law. Charlotte Mason, Philosophy of Education, p. 230-231 Show Summary: Today’s guest on The New Mason Jar is Melissa Bair, a homeschooling mother of 4 who loves math and has degrees in mathematics and computer sciences How Melissa first discovered Charlotte Mason’s philosophy How Melissa came to love mathematics and what impact her teachers had on her What kinds of activities and materials Melissa uses to teach math in a more beautiful way The building blocks of math: notice, wonder, and discover Is math a language or an art? Does seeking to find the beauty in math put too much pressure on homeschool parents? Books and Links Mentioned: Affiliate links are included below. John Holt Poetic Knowledge by James Taylor Leisure: the Basis of Culture by Josef Pieper For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay Real Learning by Elizabeth Voss A Mathematician’s Lament by Paul Lockhart Caleb Gattegno Chasing Rabbits by Sunil Singh Mater Amabilis The Mandelbrot Set   In a word our point is that Mathematics are to be studied for their own sake and not as they make for general intelligence and grasp of mind. Charlotte Mason, Towards a Philosophy of Education   Find Cindy: Morning Time for Moms Cindy’s Patreon Discipleship Group Mere Motherhood Facebook Group The Literary Life Podcast Cindy’s Facebook Cindy’s Instagram

Again, we have made a rather strange discovery, that the mind refuses to know anything except what reaches it in more or less literary form.  Persons can ‘get up’ the driest of pulverised text-books and enough mathematics for some public examination; but these attainments do not appear to touch the region of mind. Of Natural Science, too, we have to learn that the way into the secrets of nature is not through the barbed wire entanglements of science as she is taught but through field work or other immediate channel, illustrated and illuminated by books of literary value. Charlotte Mason, Philosophy of Education Show Summary: Today’s guest on The New Mason Jar is Jeanne Webb, veteran homeschool of one daughter and former member of the AmblesideOnline Auxilliary, and her whole family are involved in the sciences How Jeanne first heard about the Charlotte Mason philosophy What make Charlotte Mason’s approach to science different from that of typical American science education? What is the relationship of nature study to other areas of scientific study? How do nature study and nature lore prepare children for the more formal study of science? What Jeanne and her family did for nature study Does a Charlotte Mason approach to science do enough to prepare students for higher education?   Books and Links Mentioned: The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens The Burgess Bird Book by Thornton W. Burgess Napoleon’s Buttons by Penny Le Couteur and Jay Burreson The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean Gulp by Mary Roach It Couldn’t Just Happen by Lawrence O. Richards The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson Darwin’s Black Box by Michael Behe A Meaningful World by Benjamin Wiker and Jonathan Witt Who Made the Moon? by Sigmund Brouwer The Language of God by Francis Collins   But the object of the Parents’ Review School is not merely to raise the standard of work in the home schoolroom. Our chief wish is that the pupils of the School should find knowledge delightful in itself and for its own sake, without thought of marks, place, prize or other reward; that they should develop an intelligent curiosity about whatever is on the earth or in the heavens, about the past and the present. The children respond and take to their lessons with keen pleasure, if they get even tolerably good teaching, and the want of marks, companionship, or other stimulus is not felt in those home schoolrooms where the interest of knowledge is allowed free play. attributed to Charlotte Mason, from “Parents’ Review School”, The Parents’ Review, Vol. 12, No. 9 (1901)   Find Cindy: Morning Time for Moms Cindy’s Patreon Discipleship Group Mere Motherhood Facebook Group The Literary Life Podcast Cindy’s Facebook Cindy’s Instagram

“There can be no great art without great fable. Great art can only exist where great men brood intensely on something upon which all men brood a little. Without a popular body of fable there can be no unselfish art in any country. Shakespeare’s art was selfish till he turned to the great tales in the four most popular books of his time…” James Masefield, as Quoted by Charlotte Mason, Vol. 6, Toward a Philosophy of Education Show Summary: Today on the New Mason Jar, Cindy and Dawn welcome back previous guests Angelina Stanford and Timilyn Downey to cover some questions listeners had about Episode 60: The Building Blocks of Story Is there an objective answer to the question “What is art?” What do we mean when we say literature is art? Why do we say fairy tales are the building blocks of story? What is the danger of not giving children a foundation in myths, fairy tales and the Bible? Is it ever too late to develop a taste for these stories? What is the difference between historical fiction and literature? How does a wide and varied literary education add to our understanding of story?   Let us take it to ourselves that great character comes out of great thoughts, and that great thought must be initiated by great thinkers; then we shall have a definite aim in education. Thinking and not doing is the source of character. Charlotte Mason, Toward a Philosophy of Education   Books Mentioned: Northrop Frye C. S. Lewis J. R. R. Tolkien The Adventures of Robin Hood by Roger Lancelyn Green The Three Little Pigs by Paul Galdone Beowulf trans. by Burton Raffel English Literature for Boys and Girls by H. E. Marshall   Find Cindy, Angelina, and Timilyn: Morning Time for Moms Cindy’s Patreon Discipleship Group Mere Motherhood Facebook Group The Literary Life Podcast Cindy’s Facebook Cindy’s Instagram House of Humane Letters Angelina’s Facebook Angelina’s Instagram The Literary Life Online Conference 2023

As for Literature–to introduce children to literature is to install them in a very rich and glorious kingdom, to bring a continual holiday to their doors, to lay before them a feast exquisitely served. But they must learn to know literature by being familiar with it from the very first. A child’s intercourse must always be with good books, the best that we can find. Charlotte Mason, Vol. 6, Philosophy of Education, p. 51 Show Summary: Our guests on The New Mason Jar podcast today are Jeannette Tulis and Sherry Early How Sherry first heard about Charlotte Mason How Jeannette started her own home library that then turned into a lending library How did Sherry and Jeannette learn what books to collect and what not to bring home? Where are the best, budget-friendly places to look for good books to buy? How Sherry and Jeannette run their lending libraries What are a few of our guests’ favorite books?   Books and Links Mentioned: Episode 12: Charlotte Mason Study Groups with Jeannette Tulis Picture Book Preschool Thrift Store Shopping Without Leaving Your House – Bibioguides Private Lending Libraries List – Biblioguides The Card Catalogue – Plumfield and Paideia Jeannette’s Books About Books List Jeannette’s Favorite Books by Category List Jeannette’s Favorite Picture Book Authors List For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay Let the Authors Speak by Carolyn Hatcher All Through the Ages by Christine Miller Who Should We Then Read, Vols. 1 & 2 by Jan Bloom Anatole Series by Eve Titus Henry the Explorer from Purple House Press The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward David McPhail Don Freeman Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban Obadiah Trio by Brinton Turkle Deep in the Forest by Brinton Turkle Charlotte Zolotow Jan Wahl Little Bear Books by Else Holmelund Minarik Frog and Toad Books by Arnold Lobel Millicent Selsam Animals Do the Strangest Things by Arthur and Leonora Hornblow Carolyn Haywood The Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook by Joyce Brisley Sugar Creek Gang Original Series by Paul Hutchens Clementine Books by Sarah Pennypacker The Cobble Street Cousins by Cynthia Rylant Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers Mothering by the Book by Jennifer Pepito Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson You Are Not Your Own by Alan Noble   Find Cindy and Sherry: Morning Time for Moms Cindy’s Patreon Discipleship Group Mere Motherhood Facebook Group The Literary Life Podcast Cindy’s Facebook Cindy’s Instagram Sherry Early’s Blog, Semicolon   When I get a little money, I buy books, and if any is left, I buy food. My luggage is my library. My home is where my books are. Erasmus