Charlotte Mason Carnival: Knowledge of God

Welcome to the latest Charlotte Mason Carnival. In this edition, fellow CM bloggers share how we impart the Knowledge of God to our children. We will begin with a wonderful quote from Charlotte, herself:

“Of the three sorts of knowledge proper to a child, the knowledge of God, of man, and of the universe,––the knowledge of God ranks first in importance, is indispensable, and most happy-making.”

Carol, at Journey and Destination, shares some keys that help unlock a child’s heart and mind in her post Imparting Faith to Our Children. I think she mentions something of great importance when she quotes Charlotte:

 “It is as the mother gets wisdom liberally from above, 

that she will be enabled for this divine task.”

Carol writes:

“I always asked God for wisdom and then doubted that I had any. If you ask for wisdom, you need to believe He will give it and that He will help you to discern what is best and make wise choices regarding your children's influences, activities and direction...”

source:dailyproverbs.net

I agree with Carol and Charlotte so much! We are instructed in the James 1: 5-7 that when we ask for wisdom, we should not doubt that God will give it to us, or else He will not. Years ago, I began asking God daily for wisdom in educating my children. I believe with all my heart that any success I have had is because He heard and kept his promise to give it liberally. When mothers get a hold of this Divine truth, it removes much of the frustration and indecisiveness that they may be feeling when making educational decisions for their children. Ask for wisdom, and don’t doubt that the Giver kept His word and gave it to you. There's more good reading in Carol's post. Read on...

Nebby writes about the areas where she disagrees with Miss Mason’s thoughts about the Knowledge of God. Then she writes about the areas in which she agrees.  Two thoughts in her post particularly stuck me. Here is the first one:

artist: Lawrence Wilbur

"[Charlotte] encourages mothers especially to simply talk about God in a natural way, as One who is present with them and involved in their lives... So the key really is to work on our own spiritual lives and to not be afraid to talk about it as we go through our days."

And the second one:

"Charlotte has some advice for those difficult years when our children may start to question what they have always been taught. Her advice is not to argue with them but to present them with good books on the subject so they can in a way argue with the authors. This makes it so they are not battling us but are wrestling with the ideas themselves."

I have found this to be true with my older children as well. Great advice!

 If you have not yet read Raising Heavenly-Minded Children or Practical Ways to Cultivate Spirituality in a Child, I invite you to visit Charlotte Mason Help.

"It is better that these teachings be rare and precious, than too frequent and slightly valued; better not at all, than that the child should be surfeited with the mere sight of spiritual food, rudely served."

 And now we will move on to some posts about other areas of a Charlotte Mason Education.

Sylvia, who is an excellent Charlotte Mason educator, presents a review of Rookmaaker’s Modern Art and the Death of a Culture. I have read that this is the book that influenced Francis Schaeffer when he wrote How Then Should We Live? Personally, I think both of these books offer excellent insight into Charlotte Mason artist studies.

  

I must confess that Charlotte Mason unschooling is an oxymoron to me as Miss Mason strongly believed in structure and that the teacher should choose the children’s books. But Rebecca shares how using some of Charlotte Mason’s methods adds balance to her children’s education even while using the unschooling philosophy of education.

Although Laura does not write specifically on her blog about educating the Charlotte Mason way, in her recent post, Getting Science on Everything, she shares a peek into her family’s science studies and offers some good advice.

Here's a view more entries that came in today:

Celeste writes about her summer reading list and nature around her home.

Mama Squirrel from Dewey's Treehouse posted her daughter's year 6 exam questions, Charlotte Mason style. She also did a little research that can benefit all of us who teach Plutarch.

"Which of Plutarch's Lives were actually read in the Parent's Union School, and in which editions?  I looked through the term programmes in the CM Digital Archives, and made a list."

And that concludes the Charlotte Mason Carnival. I hope you leave today with an insightful thought and an encouraging word or two. You can find information about the next carnival here. Thanks for taking the time to stop by.

one step at a time...