Relational Methods

Overview

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Overview

Welcome to Foundations: Relational Methods.

You may be very familiar with Charlotte Mason's methods of instruction, or you may be completely new to them. Either way, we hope you will find much to inspire you, lots that resonates with you, and some things that challenge you, because the challenge is where growth happens. We at the Charlotte Mason Institute believe that our methods of instruction should be rooted in the principles of Charlotte Mason while staying relevant to current research about learning theories, educational psychology, and the current content about specific disciplines. This guide will help you implement Mason's methods in your home or classroom and give you the rationale for why instruction is done a specific way. It is not so important to do it exactly as we prescribe, but rather to understand the principles and apply those to your students' needs. Take the time to listen, to reflect, to talk with others, and to process what you learn in this guide. Dip in an out of subjects as you need support. Just as we discourage children from "binging" their books, we also want to avoid teachers "binging" this series in a passive manner.‍

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How to Get the Most Out of This Guide

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Share generously. Your stories and experiences may be exactly what another member needs to hear today to solve a problem or resolve a question. Don't be shy! Join the conversation in the Alveary Hive, and let's support each other! We're all friends here.‍

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Be constructive. We’re here to push each other forward and lift each other up. Find ways to help each other think bigger, reframe challenges, and stay curious. ‍

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Visit and revisit. While wanting an overview of many of Charlotte Mason's methods can work through each section of the guide in order, one section is not dependent on another. Looking for support in Exams or Math? Visit those sections and come back for others later.

Let's get started.

Preliminary Inventory

In order to get into the right head-space for learning and implementing Mason's methods, think for a moment about these questions. You can write your answers in the comments here or reflect in a notebook:

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1) First thoughts: Think about your experience as a student. What methods were effective for learning? What methods were ineffective?

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2) How would you describe the role of the teacher?

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3) Respond to the following statement: "All education is self-education." What do you think that means?

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4) Assess your understanding of Mason's methods. What subjects are you confident to teach? What subjects are you less confident to teach?

Section 1

Introduction and Four Components of Every Lesson

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Section 1

Introduction and Four Components of Every Lesson

Reflection

Respond to the following in the comments or in your journal:

1) What subjects do you feel confident in teaching? In what subjects do you lack confidence?

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2) On a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the highest, how would you rate your current understanding of Mason's methods?

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3) What are you wondering after watching the first video?

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In Mason's Own Words

Read Home Education Part 5, Section 1, "Lessons as Instruments of Education" in its original text and/or in modern English.

"Method of Lesson.––In every case the reading should be consecutive from a well-chosen book.

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1) Before the reading for the day begins, the teacher should talk a little (and get the children to talk) about the last lesson, with a few words about what is to be read, in order that the children may be animated by expectation; but she should beware of explanation and, especially, of forestalling the narrative.

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2) Then, she may read two or three pages, enough to include an episode;

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3) After that, let her call upon the children to narrate,––in turns, if there be several of them. They not only narrate with spirit and accuracy, but succeed in catching the style of their author. It is not wise to tease them with corrections; they may begin with an endless chain of 'ands,' but they soon leave this off, and their narrations become good enough in style and composition to be put in a 'print book'! This sort of narration lesson should not occupy more than a quarter of an hour.

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4) The book should always be deeply interesting, and when the narration is over, there should be a little talk in which moral points are brought out, pictures shown to illustrate the lesson, or diagrams drawn on the blackboard.

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As soon as children are able to read with ease and fluency, they read their own lesson, either aloud or silently, with a view to narration; but where it is necessary to make omissions, as in the Old Testament narratives and Plutarch's Lives, for example, it is better that the teacher should always read the lesson which is to be narrated" (Home Education, p. 233).

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“The teachers give sympathy and occasionally elucidate, sum up or enlarge, but the actual work is done by the scholars" (Philosophy of Education, p. 6).

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“If the business of teaching is to furnish the child with ideas, any teaching which does not leave him possessed of a new mental image has, by so far, missed the mark” (Home Education, p.173).

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"The reader will say with truth, — 'I knew all this before and have always acted more or less on these principles;' and I can only point to the unusual results we obtain through adhering not 'more or less' but strictly to the principles and practices I have indicated. I suppose the difficulties are of the sort that Lister had to contend with; every surgeon knew that his instruments and appurtenances should be kept clean, but the saving of millions of lives has resulted from the adoption of the great surgeon’s antiseptic treatment; that is from the substitution of exact principles scrupulously applied for the rather casual ‘more or less’ methods of earlier days" (Philosophy of Education, p. 19).

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"Children make large demands upon us. We owe it to them to initiate an immense number of interests. 'Thou hast set my feet in a large room' should be the glad cry of every intelligent soul. Life should be all living, and not merely a tedious passing of time; not all doing or all feeling or all thinking––the strain would be too great––but, all living; that is to say, we should be in touch wherever we go, whatever we hear, whatever we see, with some manner of vital interest. We cannot give the children these interests; we prefer that they should never say they have learned botany or conchology, geology or astronomy.

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The question is not,––how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education––but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him? I know you may bring a horse to the water, but you cannot make him drink. What I complain of is that we do not bring our horse to the water. We give him miserable little text-books, mere compendiums of facts, which he is to learn off and say and produce at an examination; or we give him various knowledge in the form of warm diluents, prepared by his teacher with perhaps some grains of living thought to the gallon. And all the time we have books, books teeming with ideas fresh from the minds of thinkers upon every subject to which we can wish to introduce children" (School Education, pp. 170-171).

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Art Appreciation (8 min.)

Art Appreciation is also referred to as Picture Study. Students in all grades usually study the same artist each term and observe 6-8 works by each artist. (High school students may study another artist or even a collection of artists.) Students' study increases in sophistication as they get older, integrating content from Art Instruction courses.

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There is not just one way to do a picture study. Many of us are most familiar with the method of turning over the picture after studying it and talking about it from memory. However, for many students, this may not be the first or best way to discuss a picture; they may glean more from looking at the picture while discussing what they see.

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Here are the principles to keep in mind when doing Picture Study:

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1) It is the child's contact with the work of the artist that takes foremost place. The teacher must exercise discernment regarding when to explain and when to be silent.

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2) Children only need to know as much of the life of the artist as necessary to enjoy the painting. The focus is the painting, not the artist. (Older students may spend more time reading about the artist.)

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3) There should always be a time when students can look at the picture quietly, uninterrupted by questions or discussion.

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4) There should be a chance for students to describe the painting, whether while looking at it or from memory. (As students get older, the description should be in an orderly fashion so that a listener who has never seen the painting could have a general idea of the arrangement).

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5) Some kind of memory work can be added to Picture Study through an oral narration or a sketch of the painting that shows the main lines or the principle colors. In the Alveary lessons, this is done on the second week the painting is studied.

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In this video, Erin Day talks about ways to cultivate an appreciation for art in your classroom and home. She shares observations about the impact that years of Picture Study has on a student's understanding of fine art.

Reflection

Respond to the following in the comments or in your journal:

1) What was your relationship with art before implementing Mason's principles? How has that relationship changed?

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2) Explain the purpose of art instruction in a Mason education.

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3) What new insights did you gain from these videos and how will you implement them into your homeschool or classroom?

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4) What are you wondering?

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In Mason's Own Words

“We cannot measure the influence that one or another artist has upon the child’s sense of beauty, upon his power of seeing, as in a picture, the common sights of life; he is enriched more than we know in having really looked at even a single picture” (Home Education, p. 309).

“As in a worthy book we leave the author to tell his own tale, so do we trust a picture to tell its tale through the medium the artist gave it. In the region of art as elsewhere we shut out the middleman” (Philosophy of Education, p. 214-216)

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“For taste is the very flower, the most delicate expression of individuality, in a person who has grown up amidst objects lovely and befitting, and has been exercised in the habit of discrimination. Here we get a hint as to what may and what may not be done by way of cultivating the aesthetic sense in young people. So far as possible, let their surroundings be brought together on a principle of natural selection, not at haphazard, and not in obedience to fashion. Bear in mind, and let them often hear discussed and see applied, the three or four general principles which fit all occasions of building, decorating, furnishing, dressing: the thing must be fit for its purpose, must harmonise with both the persons and the things about it; and, these points considered, must be as lovely as may be in form, texture, and colour; one point more––it is better to have too little than too much” (Formation of Character, p. 232).

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Reflection

Respond to the following in the comments or in your journal:

1) How would you explain the purpose of Bible lessons?

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2) Why is it important for us as parents and teachers to not moralize the Bible lessons or make a personal application to our children's or students' lives?

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3) What are you wondering?

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In Mason's Own Words

"A word about the reading of the Bible. I think we make a mistake in burying the text under our endless comments and applications. Also, I doubt if the picking out of individual verses, and grinding these into the child until they cease to have any meaning for him, is anything but a hindrance to the spiritual life. The Word is full of vital force, capable of applying itself. A seed, light as thistledown, wafted into the child's soul will take root downwards and bear fruit upwards. What is required of us is, that we should implant a love of the Word; that the most delightful moments of the child's day should be those in which his mother reads for him, with sweet sympathy and holy gladness in voice and eyes, the beautiful stories of the Bible; and now and then in the reading will occur one of those convictions, passing from the soul of the mother to the soul of the child, in which is the life of the Spirit. Let the child grow, so that,

'New thoughts of God, new hopes of heaven,'

are a joy to him, too; things to be counted first amongst the blessings of a day. Above all, do not read the Bible at the child: do not let any words of the Scriptures be occasions for gibbeting his faults. It is the office of the Holy Ghost to convince of sin; and He is able to use the Word for this purpose, without risk of that hardening of the heart in which our clumsy dealings too often result.

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The matter for this teaching of divine things will come out of every mother's own convictions. I will attempt to speak of only one or two of those vital truths on which the spiritual life must sustain itself" (Home Education, p. 349).

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"The knowledge of God is the principal knowledge, and no teaching of the Bible which does not further that knowledge is of religious value. Therefore the children read, or if they are too young to read for themselves the teacher reads to them, a passage of varying length covering an incident or some definite teaching. If there are remarks to be made about local geography or local custom, the teacher makes them before the passage has been read, emphasizing briefly but reverently any spiritual or moral truth; the children narrate what has been read after the reading; they do this with curious accuracy and yet with some originality, conveying the spiritual teaching which the teacher has indicated. Now this is no parrot-exercise, but is the result of such an assimilation of the passage that it has become a part of the young scholar. It is only by trying the method oneself on such an incident, for example, as the visit of Nicodemus or the talk with the woman of Samaria, that we realise the wonderful clearness with which each incident is brought out, the fullness of meaning with which every phrase is invested by such personal effort" (Philosophy of Education, p. 272-273).

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Reflection

Respond to the following in the comments or in your journal:

1) What were your impressions of Shakespeare before learning about Mason's methods? Has that changed since encountering Shakespeare in a Mason education?

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2) Do you agree with Nancy Kelly that the "reading of the play should trump the seeing of the play"? Explain your answer.

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3) What new insights did you glean that you want to implement with your students?

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4) What do you find challenging about teaching Shakespeare?

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5) What do you find rewarding about teaching Shakespeare?

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In Mason's Own Words

“We probably read Shakespeare in the first place for his stories, afterwards for his characters, the multitude of delightful persons with whom he makes us so intimate that afterwards, in fiction or in fact, we say, ‘She is another Jessica,’ and ‘That dear girl is a Miranda’; ‘She is a Cordelia to her father,’ and, such a figure in history, ‘a base lago.’ To become intimate with Shakespeare in this way is a great enrichment of mind and instruction of conscience. Then, by degrees, as we go on reading this world-teacher, lines of insight and beauty take possession of us, and unconsciously mould our judgments of men and things and of the great issues of life.” (Ourselves, p. 72)

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“And Shakespeare? He, indeed, is not to be classed, and timed, and treated as one amongst others,––he, who might well be the daily bread of the intellectual life; Shakespeare is not to be studied in a year; he is to be read continuously throughout life, from ten years old and onwards. But a child of ten cannot understand Shakespeare. No; but can a man of fifty? Is not our great poet rather an ample feast of which every one takes according to his needs, and leaves what he has no stomach for?” (Formation of Character, p. 224)

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Reflection

Respond to the following in the comments or in your journal:

1) What new insights did you glean from these videos? What will you implement with your students?

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2) How would you explain the way that reading is taught in a Mason education?

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3) Why do you think Mason wanted students to wait until children were around 6 years of age for their first reading lessons?

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4) Why would the quality of books that are used to teach reading matter?

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In Mason's Own Words

"As for his letters, the child usually teaches himself. He has his box of ivory letters and picks out p for pudding, b for blackbird, h for horse, big and little, and knows them both. But the learning of the alphabet should be made a means of cultivating the child's observation: he should be made to see what he looks at. Make big B in the air, and let him name it; then let him make round O, and crooked S, and T for Tommy, and you name the letters as the little finger forms them with unsteady strokes in the air. To make the small letters thus from memory is a work of more art, and requires more careful observation on the child's part. A tray of sand is useful at this stage. The child draws his finger boldly through the sand, and then puts a back to his D; and behold, his first essay in making a straight line and a curve. But the devices for making the learning of the 'A B C' interesting are endless. There is no occasion to hurry the child: let him learn one form at a time, and know it so well that he can pick out the d's, say, big and little, in a page of large print. Let him say d for duck, dog, doll, thus: d-uck, d-og, prolonging the sound of the initial consonant, and at last sounding d alone, not dee, but d', the mere sound of the consonant separated as far as possible from the following vowel. Let the child alone, and he will learn the alphabet for himself: but few mothers can resist the pleasure of teaching it; and there is no reason why they should, for this kind of learning is no more than play to the child, and if the alphabet be taught to the little student, his appreciation of both form and sound will be cultivated. When should he begin? Whenever his box of letters begins to interest him. The baby of two will often be able to name half a dozen letters; and there is nothing against it so long as the finding and naming of letters is a game to him. But he must not be urged, required to show off, teased to find letters when his heart is set on other play" (Home Education, p. 201-202).

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"The first exercises in the making of words will be just as pleasant to the child. Exercises treated as a game, which yet teach the powers of the letters, will be better to begin with than actual sentences. Take up two of his letters and make the syllable 'at': tell him it is the word we use when we say 'at home,' 'at school.' Then put b to 'at'––bat; c to 'at'––cat; fat, hat, mat, sat, rat, and so on. First, let the child say what the word becomes with each initial consonant to 'at,' in order to make hat, pat, cat. Let the syllables all be actual words which he knows. Set the words in a row, and let him read them off. Do this with the short vowel sounds in combination with each of the consonants, and the child will learn to read off dozens of words of three letters, and will master the short-vowel sounds with initial and final consonants without effort. Before long he will do the lesson for himself. 'How many words can you make with "en" and another letter, with "od" and another letter?' etc. Do not hurry him" (Home Education, p. 202).

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"If words were always made on a given pattern in English, if the same letter always represented the same sounds, learning to read would be an easy matter; for the child would soon acquire the few elements of which all words would, in that case, be composed. But many of our English words are, each, a law unto itself: there is nothing for it, but the child must learn to know them at sight; he must recognise 'which,' precisely as he recognises 'B,' because he has seen it before, been made to look at it with interest, so that the pattern of the word is stamped upon his retentive brain. This process should go on side by side with the other––the learning of the powers of the letters; for the more variety you can throw into his reading lessons, the more will the child enjoy them. Lessons in word-making help him to take intelligent interest in words; but his progress in the art of reading depends chiefly on the 'reading at sight' lessons" (Home Education, p. 203-204).

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Reflection

Respond to the following in the comments or in your journal:

1) What new insights did you glean from these videos? What will you implement with your students?

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2) How would you explain the role of nature study in a Mason education?

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3) Explain the purpose of science in a Mason education. How should that affect your teaching methods?

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4) What are you wondering?

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In Mason's Own Words

"If I appear to dwell on a subject which at first sight appears to have little to do with the bringing up of children, it is because I think that his attitude towards the great idea, great lesson, set for his age to grasp, is a vital part of a parent's preparation. If parents take no heed of the great thoughts which move their age, they cannot expect to retain influence over the minds of their children. If they fear and distrust the revelations of science, they introduce an element of distrust and discord into their children's lives. If, with the mere neophyte of science, they rush to the conclusion that the last revelation is final, accounts for all that is in man, and, to say the least, makes God unnecessary and unknowable, or negligible, they may lower the level of their children's living to that struggle for existence––without aspiration, consecration, and sacrifice––of which we hear so much. If, lastly, parents recognise every great idea of nature as a new page in the progressive revelation made by God to men already prepared to receive such idea; if they realise that the new idea, however comprehensive, is not final nor all-inclusive, nor to be set in opposition with that personal knowledge of God which is the greatest knowledge, why, then, their children will grow up in that attitude of reverence for science, reverence for God, and openness of mind, which befits us for whom life is a probation and a continual education. So much for the nutriment of ideas laid on the table of the world during this particular course of its history" (School Education, pp. 159-160).

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"Where science does not teach a child to wonder and admire it has perhaps no educative value" (Philosophy of Education, p. 224).

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Relational Methods

Overview

Starting At the Beginning

Overview

Introduction and Four Components of Every Lesson

The Role of the Teacher

Narration

Exams

Art Appreciation and Instruction

Bible

Citizenship

English

Literature

Math

Modern Language

Music

Reading Lessons

Science

Digging Deeper

Relational Methods

Overview

Starting At the Beginning

Starting At the Beginning

Preliminary Inventory

Introduction to This Series (3 min.)

Reflection

Overview

Overview

Welcome to Foundations: Relational Methods.

How to Get the Most Out of This Guide

Preliminary Inventory

Introduction and Four Components of Every Lesson

Introduction and Four Components of Every Lesson

Reflection

In Mason's Own Words

Further Reading

The Role of the Teacher

The Role of the Teacher

The Art of Standing Aside (15 min.)

Reflection

In Mason's Own Words

Further Reading

Narration

Narration

Introduction to Narration (23 min.)

Tips for Narration and Setting Up a Lesson (9 min.)

Narration as Storytelling (20 min.)

Transitioning from Oral to Written Narration (3 min.)

Narrating Science Books (5 min.)

Reflection

In Mason's Own Words

Further Reading

Exams

Exams

Overview of Exams (15 min.)

Form 1 Exams (6 min.)

Forms 2-3 Exams (Grades 4-8) (4 min.)

Form 4-6 Exams (High school) (3 min.)

Reflection

In Mason's Own Words

Further Reading

Art Appreciation and Instruction

Art Appreciation and Instruction

Art Appreciation (8 min.)

Picture Study Immersion (12 min.)

Art Instruction & Handicrafts (14 min.)

Reflection

In Mason's Own Words

Further Reading

Bible

Bible

Bible (15 min.)

Reflection

In Mason's Own Words

Further Reading

Citizenship

Citizenship

Plutarch (27 min.)

Reflection

In Mason's Own Words

Further Readings

English

English

Dictation (22 min.)

What is Recitation? (5 min.)

Recitation Lesson (6 min.)

Editing Lesson (11 min.)

Reflection

In Mason's Own Words

Further Reading

Literature

Literature

Shakespeare (25 min.)

Reflection

In Mason's Own Words

Further Reading

Math

Math

Key Principles of Math Instruction (14 min.)