Volume 1 Study - Pages 316-352

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We made it!!!  I hope you have learned as much as I have while digging into this amazing resource for homeschooling.  I fall more and more in love with the method of Charlotte Mason as I continually educate myself in the 20 principles and beliefs that lay a foundation for the formation of mine and my children's character!  One of my favorite quotes from the Volumes is:

“As has been well said, ‘Sow an act, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.’ And a great function of the educator is to secure that acts shall be so regularly, purposefully, and methodically sown that the child shall reap the habits of the good life, in thinking and doing, with the minimum of conscious effort.”  (Charlotte M. Mason Vol. II, p. 124)

 I pray that as you mold your homeschool atmosphere your children will reap the reward of a good life!

If you are interested in a modern book for your Mother Culture, check this book by Gretchen Rubin that speaks of habit training and the will.

The Will

Don't worry if you feel like you want to read more about the will!  She continues writing in consecutive volumes about the power of the will.  Even the motto "I am, I can, I ought, I will" concisely states that students can be trained to order their thoughts and actions.  I love this quote from the Parent Review article on the Will.

The will power necessary to keep the thoughts fixed in one particular train to the exclusion of all other subjects, and in spite of distractions, is an all-important one to our intellectual life, and, like all faculties, it becomes strengthened by practice and weakened by disuse. (PR Volume VI page 170)
 Another relevant article to this section is "Willing Obedience."
  • What are the functions and limitations of the will?
  • How is character the result of the will?
  • Discuss the story of the child with the "strong will" in the nursery (or "willessness")
  • What does she mean by superior and inferior functions of the will?
  • Discuss heroic Christian character.
  • Do you have experience with you or your children "changing thoughts" in order to direct or divert the way of the will?
  • What habit must come first before the training of the will?
  • Discuss how education of the will is more important than that of intellect!

The Conscience

 So much has been written about the motto of "I am, I can, I ought, I will" and I think a great supplemental reading is this three part series at Simply Charlotte Mason.

  • Discuss the motto and what is implied in each statement.
  • Discuss the "mic drop" on the role of parents......convicted much?! LOL!
  • Can parents rely on conscience to guide their children?
  • How do we educate the conscience?
  • Does the child need to be asked moral questions?  How would you used the Bible to impart moral ideas?
  • Discuss the lessons on instructing the children in "kindness."

The Divine Life

In searching for relatable topics, there is a Parents' Review article titled "The Training of the Soul"

"A soul thus trained and developed will not fall a prey to the hardness or restlessness which work such havoc in this generation through the strain of modern life. If parents could look into and see and realize what the shriveled starved souls around them suffer, they would not need to be awakened to the vital necessity of nourishing and training their children's souls as well as their bodies and minds."

Parents Review - 1899 page 35
  • What are the functions of the soul?
  • What is the life of the soul?
  • Discuss the bee and the apple tree.
  • Discuss God as an "exactor" and a "giver" from examples in the chapter.
  • How would you select fitting and vital ideas?
  • Discuss the picture presented of the mother who gets her wisdom from above and does not allow "many words" "smother the fire.."
  • Discuss God as Father and Giver.
  • How do you plan to go forward in living your life as an example to your children?


Wow.  Read it.  Apply it. Thank God for the blessings of His gifts and mercy!!!!



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