Why We Read Fairy Tales, Part Two (Or, Magic!) | Classical Charlotte Mason Home Ed | Common Mom
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ต.ค. 2024
- I hear a lot of the same questions when people learn I classically educate my children:
"Isn't that kind of elitist?"
"So you just like old things?"
"Wait, you read stories with magic?"
So, I thought we might explore answers to some of these questions so you can answer them well if ever you find yourself trapped in an elevator with fifteen minutes to chat.
Up today: You read fairy tales? But God doesn't like magic.
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Chesterton: “Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.”
Don't know what my boys would do without St. George!
Wow! I grew up in that ‘no magic’ household and it’s hard to reshape your thinking after being told for years that all “magic” is bad, even in fairytales. When I came to CM I was confused by the fairytales and myths. Even after listening to the Literary Life podcast talk about fairy tales and why we read them I was still confused. This 2 part talk has made this so clear to me. I feel like I finally understand it, at least I’m beginning to. Thank you so much for this video series!
Oh, I'm so happy to hear this! I know it can be so hard to distinguish between "types" of magic when we so broadly define "magic"!
Looking forward to your pagan myths talk!
Thank you! Excited to share!
Looking forward to this as well!
@@thecommonplacehomeschoolHas this talk happened? having trouble finding links.
I found your channel and have been watching all of your videos over the last few days while home sick! I am wanting to homeschool my children, but right now it is not possible. I have three children, one is in pre-k right now and my twins will start school next year. I am hoping my husband and I can get ourselves in a situation where I am able to homeschool in the next 3-4 years. Would you say it is too late for me to start at that point? I have never heard of Classical Charlotte Mason until I found your channel, but I love how you describe her methods and ideas and I want to educate myself more about it.
One thing I fear is that I am not educated enough on “classical” things. You quote books and authors and I can tell you are so knowledgeable about many different things, and my fear is I would not be able to do this type of homeschooling justice. Is there any advice you would give a mother interested in Charlotte Mason but unsure where/how to start?
Hey Marissa! So happy to have you here.
So the great thing about classical Mason ed is that it's an all-of-life thing. Even if you're not formally home educating, you can apply all of these principles to your home life. (In this sense, every mom is a home educator! You're already teaching your children!) While you can't control their formal education outside the home, you can work to build a loving, healthy atmosphere, teach good habits, and introduce the best of ideas to your kids when they are home. In the early years, it's as simple as getting outside, letting them be free in play, modeling and teaching the habits of obedience, attention, and truthfulness; giving them meaningful work in the home (chores), and introducing them to good ideas in books, music, and art. And there are so many resources available (reading lists, art guides, Spotify classical and folk song playlists, etc.) that you don't need to pull all of it together! Just a little hunting and, slowly, it'll become your norm.
But yes, I think you can transition a child to a classical Mason education formally at any age. There will be certain educational habits that need to be unlearned and different ones formed in their place, and a bit of a "reset" for everyone involved, but it can absolutely be done well!
I'll also tell you a secret: almost every classical mom I talk to worries she isn't classical enough or had enough time to prepare and learn the philosophy. (I include myself in this!) One thing I love about this way of living is I'm constantly learning alongside my children. I couldn't name a single wildflower, tree, or bird until my children started learning them. I just did it with them!
But for the mom looking to get started, I think it's great to be learning from classical educators (I recommend my podcast, anything from the CiRCE Institute, Scholé Sisters, and A Delectable Education to start.) but also to start reading the great books. Don't be alarmed or discouraged if you don't like a "classic" book on your first read. They ask more of you and it takes time to learn the rhythm of reading them. Remember: what asks a lot of your develops a lot in you! Try Jane Austen; everyone loves her wit. C.S. Lewis is a favorite of mine. Tolstoy and Eliot are perfect when you're able to commit to a long book. If you don't like something, feel free to pick another one but be wary of "giving up" too soon!
Hi Marissa, I am in the same boat (except we've not sent our kids to school). I've just started Ambleside Online (one of the CM curriculums) and I'm totally out if my depth with anything Classical 😮 I'm just following the curriculum, trusting the process and most importantly really enjoying learning along side my kids. I can't wait to get to grips with subjects that I would have dismissed in the past. I was also worried my son would be resistant to it all since he has the brain of a tiny engineer, but he LOVES it!! Phew 😅 He attends a co-op two days a week and the we went on two further outings. Still managed to fit in almost a whole weeks worth of AO in 2 days... so it should be manageable to fit a lot of it around school :)
These were both excellent!! Do you have a video on why to read Greek and Roman mythology to your kids? Thank you ❤
Not yet! I keep meaning to but it's never the top of the list. Here, however, is one of my favourite podcast episodes on the matter from The Literary Life: www.theliterary.life/060/
@@thecommonplacehomeschool thanks so much!
Thank you for this! I grew up in a Christian household where one of my parents was very adamant about avoiding magic and anything that might not be real-- to the point that we were not allowed to watch live action tv.
This ended up being quite a problem because I love fairytales and magic and enchantments. Since I was not allowed to interact with them, I craved those stories all the more and would secretly read or watch anything that had a twinge of "unreality". This led to a lack of discernment, preferring fantasy to real life, and haveing challenging time with understanding how to apply my moral imagination to reality, and even getting embroiled with witchcraft and some nasty spiritual stuff.
It is vital to guide our children with fairytales, magic, and enchantment. Think of magic, myths, and all that like sex-- it is a vital part of being human, and if we do not thoroughly teach our children how to navigate it with joy, love, wisdom, and clarity our children will have problems. Those issues might manifest through excess or dullness, but issues they are all the same.
Where do you all land with books like Harry Potter? What I mean by that are books where the child/teen main characters are specifically witches or something like that and the methods of how they do magic are clearly described.
Yarro, we were just talking about "starved" or "anemic" moral imaginations in book club last night! You're spot on. The moral imagination will crave images to turn to metaphors but without a guiding parent, they're likely to eat up hurtful things.
As for HP: I have a childhood attachment to them and do think they show the arc of the good vs. evil storyline (with good winning which is a "must" in a book like that for me). However, I do think an argument could be made for a different type of magic than something like Narnia. I haven't personally read them to my children but they are on our shelves. Still considering what to do!
Baptize the imagination!
Exactly.
My issue is more with the violence/heavy themes that are so prevalent in “real” fairy tales. The first story in the Blue Fairy book the protagonist is instructed to kill three dogs and boil a man alive, which feels intense for my little children.
Is there any resource about this issue you can share? Thanks
I do have one coming! I interviewed Dcn. Nicholas Kotar (He's on TH-cam and many other places!) about fairytales for this fourth podcast seasons. I believe it airs in May or June (on podcast apps and here!), but he discusses this very thing so well!
Happy to see you recommended by Mike Cernovich for a conversation about socialization and a Charlotte Mason education!
I'm not familiar with Cernovich but I do love chatting CM!
@@thecommonplacehomeschool he has 1.1 million followers on twitter and on 4/14 he wrote an article on his sub stack titled “What about socialization? (And other homeschooling myths.). He says at the end of the article, “Autumn Kern has an excellent podcast and is overall the biggest influence on our family’s approach to homeschooling” - Hope the article encourages interest in Charlotte Mason schooling!
@@heidib.4089 Oh wow! Yes, I hope the same! I'm always thrilled when someone gets Mason in front of parents!
I’d love to hear your comments on things like Santa!
The actual St. Nicholas is far more interesting!
Is that the Valley dress from NPL? I love that Redwood color!
Yes ma'am! Good eye!