Close your eyes. Picture a feast broadly spread on a long wooden table. That picture in your mind depicts how Charlotte Mason described the abundance of ideas that we should make readily available to our children.
We spread an abundant and delicate feast in the programmes and each small guest assimilates what he can. – Charlotte Mason (Vol. 6, p. 183).
Are you preparing a daily feast for your family? Charlotte shared her words of wisdom in Towards a Philosophy of Education using the following guidelines:
“We, believing that the normal child has powers of mind which fit him to deal with all knowledge proper to him, give him a full and generous curriculum, taking care only that all knowledge offered to him is vital, that is, that facts are not presented without their informing ideas.”
“In devising a syllabus for a normal child, of whatever social class, three points must be considered” (Vol 6, p.154)
(a) “He requires much knowledge, for the mind needs sufficient food as much as does the body.”
A slice of warm bread and butter are quite scrumptious, but they cannot be considered a balanced diet for your children. The body needs suitable nourishment to be able to complete all of the tasks at hand. A Charlotte Mason education supplies children with an abundance of knowledge using living ideas, not dry facts. After all, who would want to eat a cold turkey leg when you could have a bird of paradise?
(b) “The knowledge should be various, for sameness in mental diet does not create appetite (i.e., curiosity).”
Feasts fit for kings and queens would include a variety of foods that had been carefully selected for the special occasion. Their guests would have eagerly awaited for each course to be served. They would be mesmerized by the complexity of each of the dishes presentations and flavor. Charlotte Mason strived to provide all children with a broad feast of ideas. At The Nourishing Feast, we will equip you with a curriculum that includes a wide variety of subjects, materials and parent guides that show you how to teach your children in the Charlotte Mason method.
(c) “Knowledge should be communicated in well-chosen language because his attention responds naturally to what is conveyed in literary form.”
Every dish at a feast has been crafted with the best ingredients one can find. Why should we think any differently when it comes to our children’s education? We should seek to find the most well-written Living Books.
Our goal is to serve a nourishing feast using a wide variety of delectable dishes.
Are you ready to share a feast with your family?
The Nourishing Feast 