Secular Charlotte Mason

(Not sure why the web-builder is squishing the text together but hopefully this will still be legible.)

I am so very glad that the group discussion is forcing me to read Laying Down the Rails.It was one of those books I kept putting off reading. Ms. Mason and Idon't necessarily agree about WHY habit training is important, althoughI do agree with her on HOW to go about doing it. As I was pondering this difference of opinion I realized that a major factor in our disagreement is that people's perceptions of childrearing and actual lifestyles during Victorian times was vastly different from today.

Ms.Mason lived during a time that was at the beginning of the transition of seeing children as being completely under the control of their parents/authority figures to a slightly more benevolent view of children as persons and eventually, today, as seeing that even children have freewill. The gap between Victorian times and today is huge.  Ms.Mason lived in a homogonous world where most of the people around her practiced similar religions, lifestyles and held common moral beliefs that were heavily influenced by Christianity. In today's world common societal values are more ambigous than they have been previously . Ms.Mason's reasons for habit training and the emphasis on obedience show her Christian beliefs more than any other aspect of her educational philosophy (except for those lessons on Bible which we secular folks just ignore). Much of her reasoning for habit training emphasizes teaching habits in order to overcome nature. In some quotes it almost seems to me that parents of the Victorian Age thought of nature in almost the same context as original sin. Both are evil and both need to be overcome through obedience and behavioral controls. Believing that we humans can overcome nature (even our own) seems like a very old fashioned belief that has little place in today's world even though it was a common belief for centuries. Nowadays, we are surrounded by a variety of religions and beliefs, many of which emphasize a respect for nature (including our own) that I think Ms. Mason might have a hardtime accepting. It is part and parcel of the moremulticultural/multireligious/multiethnic/diverse world we find ourselves in today, though.

As I was reading through chapter 1, I realized that even though Ms. Mason saw children as persons (a very new concept back then!) there was very little concern for children's emotional states or long term effects upon the child's mental health. Today it seems like parents spend an excessive amount of time wondering and worrying about how our kids feel about themselves and how intact their self-image is. Why the difference you may be asking. My theory is that the lifestyles of the Victorian Era provided stability in some areas that are not as stable in today's world.Today roles are constantly changing and expectations can be quite situational. During Ms. Mason's time roles of all sorts were pretty clearly defined and it was fairly easy to know what would  be expected of you as an adult. Far fewer people back then went on tohigher education, now it is nearly the norm to go on to higher education which is changing what we expect of our children as adults. I think there is a wider variety of expectations today tha nthere was during Ms. Mason's time which makes it harder for parents to know what to emphasize when raising their children.

I sometimes wish we could get in a time machine and bring Charlotte Mason to our modern world for a week. I can't help but wonder what she would think of all the distractions that our children, not to mention ourselves, are surrounded by on a daily basis. Heck, there are 10 times the distractions, and temptations, from good habits just since I was a child.

As we study and learn more about Ms. Mason's educational philosophy it may seem as though she believes mothers have to be perfect and calm all the  time. What Ms. Mason doesn't tell us is that parents/mothers had far more support in raising their children back then. First, many families lived near each other and could pool their monetary and time resources. It was not uncommon for families to share a governess or tutor. While Ms. Mason believed that all children, regardless of social or economic status, would benefit from a liberal education, the reality is that she was member of a society that had staff to help take care of many of the daily household duties, including childcare. Today's mother has to do it all on her own, usually with very little familial support and while trying to work part or full time. Add in the hurriedness of today's western society and you can see how it may be quite challenging to be the calm perfect mother that Ms. Mason envisioned.

Some observations. Sure there will be more as I get further into the book.