Home Education in Modern English Volume 1 of Charlotte Mason's Series

by Leslie Noelani Laurio

2005, Leslie Noelani Laurio

Home Education by Charlotte Mason, paraphrased by Leslie N Laurio

Six lectures by Charlotte Mason's about the raising and educating of young children (up to age 9) written for parents and teachers. Preface Part 1 Some Preliminary Considerations . . . pg. 1 I. A Method Of Education . . . pg. 6 II. The Child's Estate . . . pg. 11 III. Offending The Children . . . pg. 13 IV. Despising The Children . . . pg. 17 V. Hindering The Children . . . pg. 19 VI. Conditions Of Healthy Brain-Activity . . . pg. 20 VII. 'The Reign Of Law' In Education . . . pg. 37 Part II Out-Of-Door Life For The Children I. A Growing Time . . . pg. 42 II. Sight-Seeing . . . pg. 45 III. Picture-Painting . . . pg. 48 IV. Flowers And Trees . . . pg. 51 V. 'Living Creatures' . . . pg. 56 VI. Field-Lore And Naturalists' Books . . . pg. 62 VII. The Child Gets Knowledge By Means Of His Senses . . . pg. 65 VIII. The Child Should Be Made Familiar With Natural Objects . . . pg. 69 IX. Out-Of-Door Geography . . . pg. 72 X. The Child And Mother-Nature . . . pg. 78 XI. Out-Of-Door Games, Etc. . . . pg. 80 XII. Walks In Bad Weather . . . pg. 85 XIII. 'Red Indian' Life . . . pg. 88 XIV. The Children Require Country Air . . . pg. 92 Part III 'Habit Is Ten Natures' I. Education Based Upon Natural Law . . . pg. 96 II. The Children Have No Self-Compelling Power . . . pg. 98 III. What Is 'Nature'? . . . pg. 100 IV. Habit May Supplant 'Nature' . . . pg. 105 V. The Laying Down Of Lines Of Habit . . . pg. 107 VI. The Physiology Of Habit . . . pg. 111 VII. The Forming Of A Habit -- 'Shut The Door After You' . . . pg. 119 VIII. Infant 'Habits' . . . pg. 124 IX. Physical Exercises . . . pg. 132 Part IV Some Habits Of Mind - Some Moral Habits . . . pg. 135 I. The Habit Of Attention . . . pg. 137 II. The Habits Of Application, Etc. . . . pg. 149 III. The Habit Of Thinking . . . pg. 150 IV. The Habit Of Imagining . . . pg. 151 V. The Habit Of Remembering . . . pg. 154 VI. The Habit Of Perfect Execution . . . pg. 159 VII. Some Moral Habits -- Obedience . . . pg. 160 VIII. Truthfulness, Etc. . . . pg. 164 Part V Lessons As Instruments Of Education I. The Matter And Method Of Lessons . . . pg. 169 II. The Kindergarten As A Place Of Education . . . pg. 178 III. Further Consideration Of The Kindergarten . . . pg. 182 IV. Reading . . . pg. 199 V. The First Reading Lesson . . . pg. 207 VI. Reading By Sight And Sound . . . pg. 214 VIII. Recitation . . . pg. 222

VIII. Reading For Older Children . . . pg. 226 IX. The Art Of Narrating . . . pg. 231 X. Writing . . . pg. 233 XI. Transcription . . . pg. 238 XII. Spelling And Dictation . . . pg. 240 XIII. Composition . . . pg. 243 XIV. Bible Lessons . . . pg. 247 XV. Arithmetic . . . pg. 253 XVI. Natural Philosophy . . . pg. 264 XVII. Geography . . . pg. 271 XVIII.History . . . pg. 279 XIX. Grammar . . . pg. 295 XX. French . . . pg. 300 XXI. Pictorial Art . . . pg. 307 Part VI The Will -- The Conscience -- The Divine Life In The Child I. The Will . . . pg. 317 II. The Conscience . . . pg. 329 III. The Divine Life In The Child . . . pg. 341 Appendix (study questions) . . . pg. 353

Charlotte Mason in Modern English

Charlotte Mason's ideas are too important not to be understood and implemented in the 21st century, but her Victorian style of writing sometimes prevents parents from attempting to read her books. This is an imperfect attempt to make Charlotte's words accessible to modern parents. ~L. N. Laurio

Home Education
Preface to the Home Education Series The future of education looks rather bleak both at home [in England] and overseas. Experts say that, in order to make education more effective, we should focus on science. Foreign language and math need major reform. Nature and vocational skills should be used as ways of training the eye and hands. Literature and history should be used to teach students how to do their own writing. Experts say that education should be more technical, and should be a means of preparing students for the workplace. But there is no one unifying goal, no specific aim, no real philosophy of education. A river can't rise any higher than the source it comes from. In the same way, education can't rise any higher than the foundational thought behind it. This may be the reason why our educational system is such an utter failure. Those of us who have spent years studying the vague, elusive vision of Education see that there is a law behind education, but that we haven't yet fully grasped that law. We sense the vague outlines of that law, but that's it. We know that it touches every part of a child's life at home and at school, and, like an illuminating light, that law has a way of showing what the value system is behind our educational systems and plans. Besides being like a light, that law is also like a yardstick, setting the standard by which our educational efforts must be measured. The law is not strict, it admits whatever things are true and good without limit, except where too much would be harmful. The law seems to lay a path out before us that goes on like a continuous and progressive road through life, with no set lines marking where childhood stops and adulthood begins except that the student begins to walk the path independently when his training makes him more mature. When we look into this law, we find that the Germans Kant, Herbart, Lotze and Froebel were right when they said that knowing God is the most important thing a child should learn. There is something else we'll recognize when we finally see this law of educational freedom clearly for what it is--it is so true and wise that it will pass every test we can think of to give it in every area of life. Since as yet we don't have a clear print-out of this law to read, we'll have to rely on Froebel or Herbart, or, if we subscribe to another theory of education, on Locke or Spencer. But we still aren't fully satisfied. We are discontented with our system of education. It could be that our discontent is from God, but it is there and any workable solution would be hailed as a great deliverance from our confusion. But before a great solution is found, we will probably encounter many attempts that focus on part of the problem and seem like an educational philosophy, having a central idea with programs

putting that idea into effect. Such an attempt would necessarily need to go along with the worldview of the age. It would also have to relate to every facet of life, not segmented off from real life, but as much a part of the cycle as birth, marriage and career. And it must result in the student being attached to the world at many different points of contact by having interests in many things. It's true that educationalists are determined to cement students' interests in their own pet areas, but there is no one line of thought to make it applicable to all of life. The naive sometimes rush in with their own solution, unconscious of the complexity of the problem. Many suggestions have been offered that have gotten us closer to a full understanding of the nature of education, and that gives me courage to offer my own suggestion. The central idea on which my suggestion is based is this: that children are as fully and completely persons as we are, with all the possibilities and potential for what they might become already in them. Some of the educational notions and practices that stem from this idea have been used in other educational methods, and have their roots in plain common sense. One resulting notion that might be new is that "education is the science of relations." This idea, that everything is connected, seems to solve the question of a curriculum since it means that children need to be in touch with as many things as possible in nature and in thought. If you add a key or two to a child's knowledge of his own human condition, the educated student will go forth in the world with an idea of how to control himself, some practical skills and many life-enriching interests. I have two reasons for offering my own educational suggestion, however humble and fleeting that suggestion may be. First of all, I have worked ceaselessly for 30-40 years to establish a working, philosophical theory of education. And, second, every practice that I have tried as a result of my educational theory has come from a step-by-step process of inductive reasoning and has had success that has been verified with various tests. I humbly offer my suggestion because I know that many others more qualified than I have worked hard and still not arrived at any solutions, so why should I feel that I have a solution of my own? I am including a short summary of my theory, which is detailed more fully in the six volumes of the Home Education Series. My educational method is not a system of rigid steps, but just a bit here and there. This seems more useful to parents and teachers. The essays included in my books were written over the years for the National Parents Education Union in hopes of presenting a coherent body of thought to members. Whichcote said that the end result of truth is so great that we must be careful to make sure that what we live by is, indeed, the truth. 1. Children are born persons - they are not blank slates or embryonic oysters who have the potential of becoming persons. They already are persons. 2. Although children are born with a sin nature, they are neither all bad, nor all good. Children from all walks of life and backgrounds may make choices for good or evil. 3. The concepts of authority and obedience are true for all people whether they accept it or not. Submission to authority is necessary for any society or group or family to run

smoothly. 4. Authority is not a license to abuse children, or to play upon their emotions or other desires, and adults are not free to limit a child's education or use fear, love, power of suggestion, or their own influence over a child to make a child learn. 5. The only three means a teacher may use to educate children are the child's natural environment, the training of good habits and exposure to living ideas and concepts. This is what CM's motto "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life" means. 6. "Education is an atmosphere" doesn't mean that we should create an artificial environment for children, but that we use the opportunities in the environment he already lives in to educate him. Children learn from real things in the real world. 7. "Education is a discipline" means that we train a child to have good habits and selfcontrol, both in actions and in thought. 8. "Education is a life" means that education should apply to body, soul and spirit. The mind needs ideas of all kinds, so the child's curriculum should be varied and generous with many subjects included. 9. The child's mind is not a bucket to be filled with facts that bunch up into thoughtgroups, as Herbart said. 10. The child's mind is also not a bag for holding knowledge. It is a living thing and needs knowledge to grow. As the stomach was designed to digest food, the mind is designed to digest knowledge and needs no special training or exercises to make it ready to learn. 11. This is not just splitting hairs; Herbart's philosophy that the mind is like an empty stage waiting for bits of information to be inserted puts too much responsibility on the teacher to prepare detailed lessons. Students taught this way have lots of knowledge taught at them, without getting much out of it. 12. Instead, we believe that children's' minds are capable of digesting real knowledge, so we provide a rich, generous curriculum that exposes children to many interesting, living ideas and concepts. From this principle, we can deduce that-13. "Education is the science of relations," which means that children have minds capable of making their own connections with knowledge and experiences, so we make sure the child learns about nature, science and art, knows how to make things, reads many living books and that they are physically fit. Our job isn't to teach everything about everything, but to inspire interests that will help children make connections with the world around him. 14. Children have two guides to help them in their moral and intellectual growth - "the way of the will," and "the way of reason." 15. Children must learn the difference between "I want" and "I will." They must learn to distract their thoughts when tempted to do what they may want but know is not right,

and think of something else, or do something else, interesting enough to occupy their mind. After a short diversion, their mind will be refreshed and able to will with renewed strength. 16. Children must learn not to lean too heavily on their own reasoning. Reasoning is good for logically demonstrating mathematical truth, but unreliable when judging ideas because our reasoning will justify all kinds of erroneous ideas if we really want to believe them. 17. Knowing that reason is not to be trusted as the final authority in forming opinions, children must learn that their greatest responsibility is choosing which ideas to accept or reject. Good habits of behavior and lots of knowledge will provide the discipline and experience to help them do this. Principles 15, 16 and 17 should save children from the sort of careless thinking that causes people to exist at a lower level of life than they need to. 18. We teach children that all truths are God's truths, and that secular subjects are just as divine as religious ones. Children don't go back and forth between two worlds when they focus on God and then their school subjects; there is unity among both because both are of God and, whatever children study or do, God is always with them. End of Preface Preface to the Fourth Edition In this volume, I hope to suggest a method of education whose foundation is Natural Law, and, with this in mind, to discuss a mother's duties in regard to her children. In speaking to mothers, I defer to their own final judgment, since God Himself has given mothers insight into their own children's characters, their strengths and weaknesses. It is her insight that mysteriously works to make education more effective than all the rules and regulations ever devised. But even with her God-given insight, I think all mothers will agree that there is a need to know certain general principles that apply to children as a whole. This scientific side of education does not come naturally, since God does not usually bestow as a gift that which we can get by ourselves. I hope that teachers of young children will also find this book useful. Between the ages of 6 and 9 are the best time to lay the foundation for a generous, varied education and to develop the habit of reading. In these early years, children should enter the world of learning by being exposed to many subjects, but in a relaxed, orderly way rather than with the stress of lectures. I hope that teachers will find this new approach interesting and stimulating. I hope this fresh perspective will be helpful and give teachers inspiration to find their own ways of implementing it. This particular volume will focus on the effects of developing good habits upon education--why certain physical, moral and intellectual habits are valuable and how to develop them. I am indebted to Dr Carpenter's book Mental Physiology for the information I used in the two or three chapters about habits. And I would like to thank again my medical friends who helped revise the parts of this book that deal with physiological matters.

Much of this book was given as "Lectures to Ladies" in 1885, and published in a book of that name in 1886. Lectures VII and VIII and the original appendix have been transferred to other volumes in this series. The whole series has been carefully revised and new material has been added, especially in Part V, "Lessons as Instruments of Education." That section is now a nearly complete introduction to methods of teaching children ages 6-9. The remaining sections of this volume deal with education from birth to 9 years. C. Mason Scale How, Ambleside, 1905 End of Preface Home Education pg 1 Part I Some Preliminary Considerations One sign that women have gained more status in the world is the desire to use their education by going to work. [Remember that Charlotte was writing around the turn of the century, before the women's rights/equality movement.] The world needs the contributions of women who are educated, and, as education becomes more common among all classes of people, more and more women will be entering the work force having regular hours and getting wages. Even those women who don't work out of financial need will find pleasure in doing something useful. Children are a Public Trust The work that is the most important in society is raising and teaching children. That makes school teachers important, but, even more, those who care for and teach children at home are important, because it is the influence of home life that has the greatest impact on a child's character and future. Being a parent is the most important job and the greatest honor a person can have. Even those raising just one child don't know whether their cherished pride and joy may be the one person who finds the cure for cancer. But being trusted with such an important task pg 2 means that parents are not free to raise their children however they want. Really, their children are not their personal property, but sort of a public trust, and parents must raise them in such a way that they are a blessing to society. And this important job isn't divided equally between both parents; it falls mostly to the mother because she is usually the one at home with the children in their earliest, most impressionable years. That's why great men often credit their mothers for their success, for taking their responsibility

seriously and not giving the job of raising their children to others, such as daycare workers and nannies. Mothers Owe an Educated Love to Their Children Pestalozzi said that mothers were qualified by God Himself to be the greatest influence in her child's early life. The mother owes it to her child, and to God who entrusted her, to have a 'thinking love.' God gave children the same kind of hands, heart and mind as ours and mothers must ask themselves, "How shall I train my child to use those gifts? For whose benefits shall those gifts be used?" The answers to those questions may determine the future of her beloved child, whether his life is one of misery or happiness. A loving mother is the most important part of what a child will become. As mothers become more educated and read more, they will understand the importance of their task and feel like such a grand mission can't be left to anyone but themselves. And mothers will take up their duty seriously, pg 3 with the same care for detail and commitment they would give an outside, paying job. In order to understand more about her role in raising her children, mothers should have more than popular notions about educational theory and the underlying understanding of the nature of children that those theories rest on. The Training of Children is Defective Herbert Spencer, in his book "Education," said that the way children are brought up is terribly lacking physically, morally and intellectually. Mostly, that's due to parents not having the knowledge they need to do the job correctly. What can you expect when those who are entrusted with the most important job of raising the next generation have barely considered the foundational principles upon which child-rearing techniques are based? To make shoes or manage a ship, one must go to school. A child, a living person, is so much more complex than shoes or ships, so why shouldn't parents undergo some kind of training? Since the process of teaching and raising a human being is more complicated, it's crazy not to prepare oneself for the job. It would be better to sacrifice the satisfaction of being accomplished at one's career to get this training. Parents need to understand the basics of child psychology to understand how to bring up children. Childhood development follows specific laws, and unless those laws pg 4 are followed at least a little, the child will die. ['Babies need to eat regularly' might be the most basic law.] If the laws aren't followed to a great degree, the child's development will be stunted [neglecting to show affection will cause emotional problems]. Only when the laws are followed completely will the child mature fully. So you can see how important it is for parents to know what those laws are. How Parents Usually Proceed

Parents generally begin by thinking of their newborn as a blank slate and resolve to make grand designs about what to write on those slates [in-utero classical music, phonics flashcards, politeness in role models, exposure to a second language...] But then the child begins to show his own individuality, and his little displays of personality are a delight to his parents. His joy at greeting Daddy and his sympathy when Mommy is sad are rightfully wonderful for us to see. But parents soon begin to take their child's individuality for granted and are not so astounded when their child later shows a preference for books or sports and has his own tastes and desires. Parents naturally stop doing every little thing for their child as they see that he can feed and dress himself, and they encourage him to do more for himself as he is able. The parents are delighted to watch their child's personality develop, but the more a child begins to do for himself, the less the parents feel the need to do for him beyond feeding him, clothing him, and showing affection. pg 5 With these things the parents only need to provide them. The child can eat and dress himself; the parent's main concern is that what they provide should be nourishing and wholesome, whether it's books, school lessons, the influence of friends, nutrition, or discipline. This is how most parents understand education--focusing more on nutrition, discipline, culture, depending on their own understanding. For the most part, they let their children develop in their own way according to their own environment and hereditary traits. This leaving alone, or what Charlotte Mason calls 'Masterly Inactivity', is a good thing for the most part. Children should be allowed to develop according to their own nature, and as long as parents don't allow the child to become spoiled, this masterly inactivity can be fine. But this philosophy of letting children be covers only a part of raising children. It does not cover the most serious task of the parents, which includes the continual guidance and guarding of influences according to their understanding of the laws of child psychology so that their child grows up to be the best he can be. Nothing that concerns a child is trivial. Even his offhand words have underlying meaning if we listen. Children don't always express themselves accurately, and it's up to parents to try to understand what children are thinking behind what they communicate. Being able to interpret our own children's personalities [and learning styles] by working to understand them will help us to know how best to educate them. A great teacher in Charlotte Mason's day always said, 'the family is the unit of the nation.' It's not about the individual but the family. An individual is no greater than the family that he is part of, and, in this same way, pg 6 the child's actions will contribute to society, for better or worse. It's the parents' responsibility to raise their children to be a blessing to their society; they must not raise them any way they want. Legally, parents have a lot of leeway in choosing how to raise their own children, but they must remember that children are a national trust. Raising children should concern everyone, even those who are single or childless.

I.--A Method of Education Traditional Methods of Education Now more than ever, parents need to consider education and all it includes. In the past, parents simply did what had always been done, raising their children the same way their parents and grandparents did. Tradition tends to form the basis of child training for most people. But science is causing a revolution in the way we understand education. The old ways have been proven less effective. We don't yet fully understand what is the very best way scientifically, so, for now, parents must read and learn and find the best method for themselves. For example, a mother might have done as her own mother did and occasionally used her slipper to discipline her child with success. But current opinion, which may or may not be correct, holds that the child is sacred pg 7 and hitting or spanking is abusive. Another example is that parents used to think that plain food was best and hunger was all that was needed to make a child eat. But now, parents are expected to provide a variety of foods prepared in temping dishes and, within reason, the child's own preference and cravings are allowed to dictate his diet. In previous times, children were expected to repress their personal food desires. It used to be that children were taught to endure discomfort. One little boy, watching a torchlight procession in wet, freezing weather, turned down an offer to watch from a warmer shed. He said he'd never be a good sailor if he couldn't endure wind and rain. But these days, parents take diligent care so that their children stay warm and don't get over-tired. In the past, children were expected to quietly obey, study their lessons dutifully, and play only when there was no work to be done. Now, parents are more concerned about whether their children are happy than how much work they do. Before, children had no rights. They were seen and not heard. Today, adults bend over backwards to provide just the right environment for their children. English parents rarely go so far as to arrive late for a dinner party as one couple in a magazine did because their three-year-old didn't want them to go, so they had to pretend to undress and go to bed and then sneak out after she was asleep. But that extreme is where parents are headed. Whether our new theories of child psychology are wise pg 8 and kind, whether science proves them true, and whether they cause child-worship rather than sound practice, are questions that should be taken seriously.

At any rate, a parent who does not consider carefully the goal of his child's education and the necessary steps to get to that goal will fail to fully fulfill his obligation to raise his child properly. A Method is a Means to an End A method has two parts: a goal and a way to get there. The method is the steps you take to get to the end. To follow a method implies that you have some set goal, or end, in sight. What is the goal you have for your child's education? Once you see the end clearly, you will find unexpected ways to naturally use those things around you to accomplish your goal. This will happen almost effortlessly because, with the end in sight, everything becomes a tool to be used in attaining that goal almost without you even realizing it. Without even thinking about it, everything your child does--eat, play, work--will be seen as a way to get closer to your goal. But those steps, that method, can become mindless steps that are no more than an empty system if the focus of the goal is lost. The Kindergarten pg 9 Method, for example, was conceived by teachers who had a wonderful vision of enlarging the lives of little persons, but when practiced by those who don't understand that goal, it becomes nothing more than an artificial system of lessons and busywork. A Rigid System Is Easier than a Method A 'system' sounds impressive. A system of education with all its steps and rules may sound more scientific than a method because each step has measurable results that can be used to calculate progress. It can be tested. Systems can be used successfully to learn skills such as dancing, shorthand, or accounting. A system that uses separate steps to achieve a goal is so good at getting measurable results that it's tempting to confine all of education to a scientific system. If people were machines, systems would be fine for educating them. The teacher could simply set a system in place, follow the steps, and the result would be predictable and successful. But people are not machines. The teacher has to deal with a real, unpredictable child with an individual personality and his job is to minimize the bad tendencies in that child, make the most of every good tendency, and prepare that small person to be the best he can be before he takes his place in the world. A system may be very useful as one tool in education, pg 10 but as the entire basis of education, it merely produces outward behaviors rather than real growth in a person.

It is important to understand the difference between a system and a method, because parents all too often become enamored of a system that promises development in one area--but which misses the overall growth of the entire person. A system is easier because you just follow the prescribed steps, like a recipe. But a method requires constant watchfulness over the whole being of the child, it demands more of the teacher. Who is qualified for such a mammoth task? Even the most loving, committed parent isn't physically able to be on the alert to make the most of every educable moment 24 hours a day. But education may not require a 24-hour effort; the child is learning all the time and a few basic principles put into effect will cover the whole of the child's education. Once the parent understands these principles, he will find it natural and easy to let circumstances fall into place to fit these principles. In the next chapters, I [Charlotte Mason is speaking] will explain these principles, but first, let's consider a couple of questions. pg 11 II--The Child's Estate The Child in the Midst First, let's think about the child who is entrusted to his parents. Is he a blank slate to be written on? A twig to be bent, or wax to be molded? Maybe, but he is so much more. He is a living, breathing person in a higher place than we adults, like a prince entrusted to mere peasants. Wordsworth wrote a poem [Intimiations of Immortality from Reflections of Early Childhood] about the child's estate that says we were in heaven before we were born, and our birth is like forgetting that wonderful place. But a newborn still has some of that heavenly aroma still around him. His body may be small and unimpressive, but inside is a soul newly arrived from heaven with some heavenly atmosphere still hanging around him. Wordsworth's poem shows almost as much insight into pg 12 the special innocence and wonder of children as the Bible does. Jesus also had a special place in His heart for children: 'Of such is the kingdom of heaven.' 'Except ye become as little children ye shall in no case enter the kingdom of heaven.' 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?' 'And He called a little child, and set him in the midst.' Such is God's opinion of children. Parents should consider every scripture in the gospels that talks about children. Jesus was not talking primarily about adults who became as innocent as children, He was talking about literal children. Exactly what Jesus meant is too complex to discuss here, but He meant more than even Wordsworth did when he talked about children 'trailing clouds of glory. . . from God, who is our home.' Biblical Reference to Our Code of Education Parents may be surprised that Jesus laid down a code of education in the gospels. It can be summed up in three commands telling adults what not to do to harm children: Be careful that you don't offend, despise or hinder even one little child. These three educational laws, taken separately, cover everything we adults should do and should not do in the training of our children. We can first consider what these

commands pg 13 tell us not to do in order to start our educational considerations with a clean, blank slate. Once we understand what not to do, we can then see more clearly what we can do, and what we must do. Although, actually, what we can do is included in these laws about what we can't do because we are obligated to actively do what we can to avoid hurting children. III.--Offending the Children How We Offend Children The first two commandments seem to cover what we do to children, and what we don't do for children. We offend them by doing what we shouldn't, and we despise them by not doing what we should for them. An offense is literally a stumbling block. Mothers know to clear the floor of obstacles that may make a toddler fall. A piece of furniture, or a toy mislaid on the floor makes a newly-walking infant fall and cry and we kick ourselves for not removing it from the baby's path. But a young child going out into the world is like a newly toddling baby going in all directions. There are obstacles out in the big world that are not as easy to move out of the way as a footstool, but must be moved to keep the child from stumbling. Children are Born Understanding the Concept of Right and Wrong When a mother chides her baby with, 'Bad boy!', the baby looks sad and guilty. Some people pg 14 think it's cute or funny and will tease and say 'Bad boy!' when the child isn't doing anything wrong, just for the amusement of seeing the baby look guilty and viewing the pure soul of the child. What does the child's display of guilt show us? Even before he is old enough to have been taught right from wrong from his parents, he displays a conscience. This proves that a sense of right and wrong is born into the child. That is why Jesus warned us not to offend children. We all know older children who have not yet learned that there are duties they are obligated to do; the only rule they know is 'I want' or 'I like.' Pity the parent and child who are like that! How can a baby who was born with a sense of right and wrong before it can even speak come to have a lawless heart that only knows the rules of 'I want' and 'I like'? It happens little by little, as all good or bad character happens gradually. The mother says, 'No, no!' when her two-year-old is caught red-handed taking a cookie from the cookie jar. His little eyes search her face to see how far his mother will let him go. When the mother is taken in by how cute he is and laughs and lets the child off, she has unwittingly taught her child a lesson. She has put a stumbling block in the child's path, an offense: he has learned that something he knows is wrong may be done pg 15

without punishment, and he builds onto this knowledge. And thus begins the process whereby a mother's 'No!' is disregarded and her rules challenged until she yields. The child learns that everythings is as allowable as his mother lets him get away with. And if every act is merely up to the mother to decide on, then why shouldn't she be worked on to decide in the child's favor? And if Mother can decide what's okay to do based on her own whims or her child's persuasion, then why shouldn't he be able to decide what's okay to do, too, so long as he can get away with it? And from then on, the child's life is a struggle to get his own way; in this struggle, the mother is sure to lose because she has lots of responsibilities to think about, but her child has time to be persistent in wearing her down to get what he wants. Children Must Understand That Those Over Them Are Also Under a Law Where does this break-down have its source? It begins because the mother lacks a sense of duty--she thinks she is free to choose for herself what her child can and can't do, as if the child were hers alone to do with as she likes. The child never comes to realize that his mother is bound to a higher law than her own whims--he never learns that she can't let him break his sister's toys, or stuff himself with cake, or make everyone around him miserable, because it isn't right. The child needs to see that his parents are bound by the same codes of right and wrong that he is. Their 'no' isn't to please their own whims but because they cannot allow him to do wrong. When children understand that, they generally comply willingly. To have to reason with a child to win his compliance is usually a bad idea and compromises pg 16 the parent's dignity. If a child understands from his mother's tone and facial expression that she cannot allow a thing as a matter of principle of right/wrong, he will sense that her mind can't be changed and he won't try to challenge or persuade her. Parents may Offend their Children by Disregarding: A. The Laws of Health Allowing a child to get away with doing wrong is only one way that loving mothers offend their children. When a mother doesn't know any better, or, worse, doesn't care, she may do her child the disservice of compromising his health by feeding him a diet of junk food, letting him sleep and live in poorly ventilated rooms, and disregarding other simple rules of healthy living. Really, in an age when science is making all kinds of discoveries and information is readily available, ignorance is no excuse for letting a child's health go. B. The Laws of Intellectual Life Almost as bad is the way children's minds are allowed to develop a distaste for learning with dry, tedious school lessons where real learning isn't expected. Many girls [in Charlotte Mason's day, girls didn't have the educational equality that they do now] learn nothing more from their school lessons than that learning is boring, and mental

challenges are to be avoided. So a girl grows up and reads nothing more than trashy novels and chatters incessantly about clothes. C. The Laws of Moral Life What about the affections of the child? Most parents raise their children to love and be loyal to family, but what about outsiders? pg 17 Is popular thought allowed to discourage our children from reaching out to strangers? Even worse is when a child is less favored in her own family because she isn't pretty, or as smart as her sister. She is ignored while her parents lavish affection on the other children. Who can blame her for feeling no love for her siblings who got the share of the affection she was entitled to? And who can blame her for resenting her parents? So many children suffer hurt from this kind of neglect, and many lives become bitter as a result. One woman talked about how her childhood was made unbearable because her mother doted on her little brother, but ignored her. She could never get over her feelings of rejection. Although her mother was kinder to her after she had grown, she never could feel natural with her mother. And it affected her relationship with her brother, with whom she might have been close if not for her hurt feelings. IV.--Despising the Children Children Deserve the Best of Their Mothers How is it possible that a mother can despise her own child? Despise means to undervalue. As much as adults may delight in children, we do tend to have a low opinion of them. How else is it possible for a mother to leave pg 18 her precious child in the care of unconscientious care-givers during their most crucial years? Every act a child sees, or word he hears, leaves an impression in his mind in the same way that light leaves a permanent image on a roll of film. It isn't that a nurse [or daycare or babysitter?] is totally bad for a child; it is not always good for educated people to have their children around constantly. That might be too stimulating for the child, and the mother is more refreshed if she can enjoy time with other people, discussing things unrelated to children from time to time. But children should have their mother's best; her freshest, most alert time of day. The mother should also choose caregivers carefully, train them herself, and be vigilant about knowing what goes on while her children are in the care of someone else. Caregivers A harsh, rude caregiver causes permanent damage to sensitive children. Many children in the care of others lose their sharp moral sense of right and wrong and pick up a feeling of distance from God that they never get over. Children are born with a keen sense of justice and pick up the slightest hint of unfairness or deception. If his caregiver says, 'Be a good boy and I won't tell,' then the child learns that his mother, with whom

he should be completely honest and keep no secrets, is someone he can deceive. The child may not even feel guilty about such compromises. Since he assumes that grownups know better, he accepts the deception as normal and shapes his own character accordingly. Because of his own sin nature, it will be more natural for him to pick up bad habits than to resist them. If his caregiver is rude, cruel and dishonest, even the youngest child will pick up those traits. pg 19 Even Tiny Children's Misdeeds Should be Taken Seriously Another way parents despise children is by not taking their faults seriously. A little child may show greed in eating his sister's treats, or vindictiveness in biting a friend who angers him, or lying to get out of trouble. The mother knows the trait is ugly and sinful, but hopes he'll grow out of it. If he doesn't, she figures she can deal with it later when he's a bit older. But life would be easier for herself and her child if she would nip it in the bud in the first place. The child is fully aware that he has done something wrong and, by letting it go, the child is learning that sin is okay. Even a grieved look can be enough the first time to show the child that his little sin is not acceptable, but if the offense passes unchecked, it will become a habit that has to be replaced later with more effort. To make light of little offenses because the child is so little will cause trouble later. V.--Hindering the Children A Child's Relationship with God The worst way to despise children is to overlook his relationship with God. Jesus said, 'Suffer the little children to come pg 20 unto Me.' It's the normal, natural thing for children to come to God--unless they are somehow hindered by grown-ups. In the same beautiful way that babies who can't even say 'mama' know enough to turn to her, and that flowers turn to the sun--children naturally turn to God with delight and trust, even though they don't yet understand the doctrinal implications of what they're doing. Tiny Tot Theology But this is what children hear all too often: 'Bad boy, how can God love you now?' or 'God will send you to hell with the demons if you keep acting like that!' For some children, this is all they ever hear about God. They never hear how God loves them and delights to bless them. If you add long prayers in dry King James English, debates about doctrine in their presence, casual use of holy, reverent terms, and few obvious visual signs that God means more to his parents than their worldly concerns, then it's no wonder that children hesitate to 'Come unto Me!' Yet, some of these same children have parents who are committed Christians and deeply value their spirituality. This is what happens when parents assume that children are too young to understand spiritual things and withhold proper discussion about God until they think the child is ready.

VI.--Conditions of Healthy Brain-Activity Now that we know what not to do, what does the mother need to do to educate her child? pg 21 Any Work that the Mind Does Puts Wear on the Brain The parts of the child that we educate--his intelligence, his will, his moral feelings--are controlled in the brain. As the eye is what sees, the brain is what thinks, wills, loves and worships. Nobody is quite sure what part of the brain does what [at least, not in Charlotte Mason's day!] but we do know that actual physical activity takes place in the gray matter of the brain when a person does anything. Brain activity isn't just a concern for research scientists, because the brain needs certain conditions to operate properly. The brain needs exercise, rest and nutrition, just like any other part of the body. Exercise We all know of silly or bizarre people who make us wonder if some people were born with less brains than most people. Everybody is probably born with the same amount of brain power, but without daily mental challenges, the brain gets no exercise. Children need to get into the habit of daily thinking activities and sustained acts of the will, otherwise the brain grows as lazy and flabby as an arm carried in a sling for years. A brain cannot stay inactive; without regular work, it creates work on its own, reaching out its own lines of thought. That makes the person eccentric because the brain can't work sporadically in a haphazard way. It needs to work under pg 22 some order. It has been suggested that poet William Cowper, who had attacks of derangement and depression, may have been the cause of his own suffering because his brain needed more to do than write poems. So, don't let children spend a day without some kind of real mental effort, whether it be intellectual, moral or an act of the will. They need to stop and figure things out in their minds, they need to make themselves do what they don't feel like doing, they need to determine to do something that costs them sacrifice in pleasure or comfort, and, most of all, they need to exercise their brains with regular mental activity. Rest Rest is just as important as exercise. Just like the rest of the body, when the brain is working, blood is diverted to send energy there. The body has a limited supply of blood and should only have to support one strenuous activity at a time--first the arms and legs, then the digestive tract, then the brain, one at a time. The body sends all the blood it can spare to the part of the body that is working the hardest. Rest after Meals

After the child has eaten dinner, the heaviest meal of the day [in CM's day, this would have been the midday meal], pg 23 his blood is diverted to his digestion for 2 or 3 hours. If the child goes for a walk right after dinner, his blood is diverted to his legs and half his food is left undigested. If this becomes a regular habit, the child will be plagued with digestion problems. Sending a child to do his homework right after dinner is just as bad: all the blood that should have gone to digesting his meal will go to his brain. So it makes sense that lessons should be scheduled carefully after periods of mental rest, such as after sleeping or playing, when the blood is not engaged in working on some major activity. Since breakfast is usually a light meal and requires less energy to digest, the time after breakfast is a good time to plan lessons. If the whole afternoon can't be spared for play, then constructive light tasks can be done, such as sewing, drawing or practicing music. Children's minds are fresh enough to do mental work in the evening, but that can interfere with sleep if his mind gets too alert and excited from his work, and it can cause him to have restless dreams and a fitful night's sleep. If there is no way to avoid homework at night, then there should be an hour or two right before bedtime for pleasant socializing. Best of all is not to have any homework at all in the evenings. A Change of Occupation Huxley said that there was no clear proof that pg 24 certain parts of the brain were responsible for specific activities--no part of the brain specifically for exercising caution, or for playing music [remember, CM wrote this back in the 1800's before x-rays and MRI scans!]. But anyone knows that, if you work too hard at some mental task, your brain becomes tired. If a child does very challenging math, his mind will get fatigued and he will start to have trouble and make silly mistakes. But if you switch activities and let him read some history, his mind is fine for that task. Using his imagination to picture history apparently uses a different part of the brain than doing math and, since it was dormant during the math, it is well-rested and ready to work for history. Schools often schedule lessons to mix up types of brain activities during the day, but parents often don't know that it's important to do this. Nourishment The brain can't do its work without nourishment. Someone once calculated how many ounces of brain activity it took to do a certain activity, such as writing Paradise Lost, or writing music. We don't need to know the exact calculations to know that any kind of thinking uses up some energy in the brain tissue. The blood works to bring energy to that area for nourishment. The blood must be healthy and well-fed if it's going to provide energy effectively to the brain. The brain is only going to as well-nourished as the quantity and quality of the blood.

pg 25 What Affects the Quality of the Blood There are three or four things that can affect the quality of the blood. Food that is healthy and easy to digest will make the blood more vital and life-giving. The diet should be varied so that all the various micro-nutrients are included. Children are never still and all their comings and goings and even their chattering expends energy little by little. It's healthy for them to move and exercise, but it means they lose energy that must be made up for by eating. Children are more active than grown-ups, and their minds are all a-flutter and busy all the time. The human brain takes up only a fortieth of the weight of the body, but it expends a fourth or fifth part of the blood's energy to function. And not only does the child use energy moving and thinking, but his young body is also growing and needs building material for this growth. About Meals Therefore, children must be well-fed. Half the people who complain of low energy were not adequately fed during their childhood, and that was usually pg 26 because their parents didn't understand what their child's nutritional needs were rather than because of poverty. Regular meals at regular intervals is a good, common-sense practice. A midday dinner should be no more than five hours after breakfast, and animal protein once a day or twice if one of them is a light form. It isn't how much food is eaten, but how much gets digested that counts as far as nourishing the body and brain. There are so many aspects of digestion; we'll just name a couple of the most obvious. Everybody knows [at least, they did in CM's day!] that children should not eat pastry, pork, fried meat, cheese, rich food, highly flavored food, sauces and spices such as pepper, mustard, vinegar, new bread, rich cake, and jam that still has leathery skins. Milk that is not too warm and which may be mixed with water, or cocoa, is the best drink for children. They should learn not to drink during meals, but only after meals. A good breakfast might be fresh fruit, oatmeal with molasses, and the fat of toasted bacon [but not the bacon itself??]. A glass of water first thing in the morning and last thing at night helps promote regularity [but might not be the best idea if you have a bed-wetter!] Mealtime Conversation It isn't just rules of nutrition that affect how much of the meal is actually digested. Emotional pg 27 considerations must also be taken into account. Digestive juices are only secreted freely when the mind is content and unstressed. If a child dislikes his meal, he may swallow it, but it won't digest very well. If the meal is strained with uncomfortable silence, the meal likewise won't digest very well. So, meals provided in pleasant surroundings isn't a matter of pampering and spoiling, but a matter of health. And too much excitement is

also bad for the digestion. Every effort should be made to make mealtimes around the family table the happiest times of the day. If possible, children should sit at the table with their parents [in CM's day, children sometimes ate in the nursery or in the kitchen] unless the parents are having a late supper. Mealtime is an excellent opportunity to teach children proper manners and morals, to have family bonding, and to teach healthy eating habits such as thorough chewing. A Variety of Foods Pleasant environment and high quality food isn't enough, children's food should be plain, but it should also be varied. Mutton served as leftovers all week won't adequately nourish the child if pg 28 he gets so tired of mutton that he loses his appetite. The mother should plan a meal rotation so that no dinner is repeated more than once every two weeks. Fish as the main dish is an excellent change of pace because it is rich in phosphorus, which is good for the brain. Their puddings can be a good choice because they don't often like fatty foods, but they will eat sweet, starchy puddings. But even their puddings shouldn't always be the same kind--think variety. A wise mother should never say, 'I always give my children such and such for tea.' There should be no 'always' when it comes to children's meals, every meal should have something different. But won't this make children overly concerned about what they eat and drink? No. It isn't well-fed children who are greedy, but underfed children who can't be trusted with special treats. Air as Important as Food The quality of the blood depends on good, fresh air as well as good, varied food. Every two or three minutes, all of the blood circulates entirely around its circuit in the body, returning to the heart to be re-oxygenated by the lungs. The change that oxygen makes in the short time it's in contact with the lungs is so drastic that even the blood's color undergoes a dramatic change. It enters the lungs spoiled and unable to sustain life, but leaves as life-giving fluid. But blood is only fully oxygenated when the air pg 29 contains plenty of oxygen. In a room, every living being and flame takes some oxygen from the air, depleting it. So it's very important that children spend time every day out in the fresh air exercising their limbs and lungs in fresh, pure, fully oxygenated air. Children Should be Outside Every Day A mother brags that her children are outside for a walk at least one hour a day. Perhaps that's better than nothing. A little girl uses her lunch money to buy aniseed candy drops; we might say that's better than nothing, too. But children can't thrive on candy and they can't thrive on just an hour outside every day. The human animal wasn't meant to survive in an artificial environment of walls any more than plants were designed to live in glass houses. Countries such as France, Germany, Italy have an advantage in that their people practically live out-of-doors and are happier, simpler and healthier for it. Charles II said

England had the best climate for being outside. Man can't live on food and drink alone. It's true that you can't pg 30 live on air, but if we had to choose between air, food or drink, air would sustain us longer. You can survive days or weeks without food and water, but only a few minutes without air. We are so used to that knowledge that it no longer holds our interest. Every schoolboy knows how the blood circulates and is brought to the lungs for oxygen. Oxygenation has its Limitations We're so familiar with our knowledge of oxygen that we don't even think about it anymore, but even the miracles oxygen can do are limited. It can only work where it is-if the air has been depleted by fire and candle and others breathing in the room, how vital can it be? Air should be 23 parts oxygen per hundred parts, but with all those things taking oxygen out of the air, pg 31 and the air in a room not vented or circulating, the air gets stagnate and has little lifegiving oxygen left. And then imagine how many fires and candles and pets and people are in a city, taking oxygen from the air, and what do you think is the result? People only feel fully alive when their blood is well-oxygenated by breathing fully oxygenated air. Those who live cooped up in poorly ventilated houses can't possibly be as alive as those who live mostly outside in the open air. In cities where the air is depleted, people subsist at low levels of health and energy, their growth is stunted, and they get respiratory diseases that kill them before their time. Yes, we need shelter from the weather and a place to sleep at night, but we lose when we make our homes so comfortable that we never want to leave them to go outside. Unchanged Air Pale city children who spend too much of their days cooped up inside are not as healthy in one way as street children who scavenge for food in the garbage--at least they get lots of the most essential element: fresh air. Even a city street in the slums has better air than a closed-up home. But even city air pg 32 isn't the best. What's even better is delicious country air. It's even more important for children than adults to breath country air because they move and play and breath more air, and they are also growing and developing new tissue. The body needs high-quality blood to keep up with all of this activity. A child's brain, too, is growing and needs the best material it can have to make new tissue. 'I feed Alice on beef tea.' A parent might go out of the way to research the healthiest diet and spare no expense or effort to provide it for their dear child, but if the child spends most of the day cooped up

in the house, they may still be starving for oxygen. The nutritionally superior food isn't being converted into energy as well as it should be because the body isn't working as efficiently as it should and has inferior blood to work with. And if the child's body is listless and pale as a result of being in the house, imagine how the alert, curious mind of the child must be stifled without real things from nature to handle. Children can't fully grasp the words--mere symbols of things--until they have something real in their mind to relate it to; therefore, mere lessons without the experience of being out in the real world with real things will be largely wasted. pg 33 The Wordsworth poem "Three Years She Grew" is quoted in which a girl grows up close to nature and nature herself smiles on the girl and blesses her with the "silence and the calm of mute, insensate things." The girl finds peace among the beauties of nature and the peace of nature adds its own beauty to her face. Indoor Airings Out-door airings will be discussed later, but indoor airings are just as important. The damage of hours spent inside with depleted air can't be undone by spending a couple hours outside. With a couple of people, a fire and other things using air in a room, it becomes de-oxygenated pretty quickly unless the room is well-vented. We've all experienced the stuffiness of entering a closed room after being outside, but after a few minutes, we don't even notice the stuffiness anymore. Thus, we can't depend on our senses to tell us when a room needs ventilation. Ventilation Therefore, we need to have a plan to keep the room ventilated regardless of pg 34 whether anyone in the room thinks the room needs it or not. Windows must be kept open at least one inch at the top day and night. That will allow enough air to circulate because light, depleted air rises and will escape out the top of the open window, while fresh air can seep in from cracks around doors, windows and floors. An open chimney is not enough ventilation, but stopping up the chimney in a bedroom is "suicidal." Children should get used to sleeping with the window open an inch or two all year, and even more than that in summer. Night Air Wholesome Some people think night air is unhealthy, but it actually contains as much oxygen as day air. In fact, since there are less things going on to use up oxygen (fires are put out at night), night air is actually healthier. When children are away from their room is a great opportunity to throw open the doors and windows and give it a thorough airing. Sunshine

It isn't just fresh, clean air that makes healthy blood. Healthy blood has a high number of red blood cells which are produced in the blood itself. People who spend a lot of time in the sun have ruddy faces pg 35 because they have so many red blood cells, but people who live in dark cellars and alleys have pale, paper-white faces. [Charlotte is reflecting the science of her own age!] It follows that light and sunshine are necessary for making red blood cells; therefore, children's rooms should be on the sunny side of the house, on the south, if possible. The whole house should be kept bright by removing trees and outbuildings that obstruct light from coming in the windows, especially in the children's room. Free Perspiration There's one more thing needed to make sure that the blood that nourishes the brain is the best quality. One of the functions of the blood is to carry waste from the various parts of the body and get rid of it. One of the most important ways the body expels waste is through the millions of pores in the skin in the form of perspiration. Insensible Perspiration When there is lots of waste expelled through the pores, we notice perspiration on our skin. But even when it's too light for our notice, our body is constantly getting rid of waste through perspiration. If anything hinders the body's discharge of waste through the pores, perhaps by coating a large part of the skin so that no moisture can get through, death will be the result. That's why people can die when large parts of their skin gets burned even though no vital organ is injured--many pores through which waste should be carried away pg 36 are gone and the remaining skin's pores and the waste organs [kidney, liver] have to pick up the slack, but may not be able to keep up, causing a pooling of fluid that can't get out of the body. If the blood is going to nourish the brain, the pores all over the skin must be unrestricted to allow wastes to be carried away. Daily Bath and Porous Garments Two factors affect the pores. First, daily bathing and vigorous skin rubbing. Just as important are clothes that breathe. Perhaps delicate women who felt faint at church had their fashionable sealskin coats to blame. And that may be why people who sleep under thick bedding wake up unrefreshed--all that covering restricts their perspiration so their blood can't expel impurities. We might be surprised by how many people go through life fatigued simply because of their choice in clothing. The best clothing for children is breathable wool, flannel and serge [serge is cloth made from twilled wool, or silk twilled to be like wool], heavier weight for winter, thinner for summer. Wool is more porous and therefore better than cotton and linen. Wool also holds in heat in the winter and absorbs perspiration so the skin doesn't feel clammy

pg 37 like it sometimes does after sweating. We'd all be better off if we slept in light wool sheets instead of cotton or linen. There is much more that might be said about the various aspects of nourishing the brain, but it is enough if the awareness of one or two rules of health are made so plain and clear that one can't help implementing them. These may seem like the least interesting details of education, but the foundation of good nutrition and health is the ground on which everything else rests. Every part of our being--our thinking, our mood, even our spiritual life--is affected by our physical condition, by how healthy and alert we are. This doesn't mean that a person with a toned body is necessarily brilliant and good, but a brilliant and good person has necessarily invested years of reasonably sound health practices to enable him the health to develop his wisdom and morality. If you doubt whether physical health affects your mind, ask yourself, is it easier to be friendly, kind and outgoing with or without a headache or acute, painful nerve spasms? VII--'The Reign of Law' in Education Common Sense and Good Intentions Even though all these physical considerations are just the groundwork, the same principles can be applied pg 38 to all of education--the principles of orderly, regular progress under a specified law. The reason that education has so much less effect on the person than it should is because 90 percent of parents rely on their own 'common sense' and good intentions. But common sense must be well-informed, and good intentions must be according to actual laws of nature, which are divine laws that are found more often in life than in the scriptures. A Person who Lives Ethically May Be More Successful than a Religious Person It is really pitiful that many people who pride themselves on not knowing God live purer lives with less character flaws and selfishness than many professing Christians! Our children won't be able to escape notice of that fact and we will need to be prepared with some explanation of that phenomena. If the secular person they see should happen to be a beloved, respected person in their lives, it will speak more to them than years of doctrinal teaching. The biggest threat to religion isn't all the wickedness around us, but good that comes from a source refusing to acknowledge God. That is the reason why I say the little I do about religion, because I sense the danger and I know that educated parents need to be aware, since they are pg 39

the best and most competent persons to deal with it. Mind and Matter Are Both Governed by God's Law So, what do we make of the morality of non-believers? The world of the mind, just like the world of matter and nature, is governed by unwritten laws. A child blowing bubbles or reflecting on flitting little thoughts in his mind cannot do so outside of that Law. All safety and success happens because of obedience to these Laws [for instance, we stay safe while walking along a cliff's edge because we heed the law of gravity.] There are natural laws of thought, morality, the physical world and spiritual life. Anyone who recognizes, respects and heeds those laws will reap the reward of obeying those laws, whether he attributes those laws to God or not. Anyone who obeys God's laws will experience the blessing of that obedience even if he doesn't know the Author of those laws, just as t anyone who steps into the sunshine will be warmed whether he acknowledges the sun as the source of the warmth or not. Even if he closes his eyes and refuses to see the sun, it warms him nevertheless. On the other hand, those who don't bother to learn what those laws are can't experience the blessings of heeding them even if they are Christians who will inherit the eternal gift of salvation and heaven. Some Christians Don't Live as They Should Sometimes the gift of eternal life is so wonderful that a Christian doesn't seek for anything else. He breathes in deeply, enjoying the freshness of his new spiritual life--but he breathes in the spiritual laws only, completely missing the laws of nature and almost treating them with contempt, or resisting them as belonging to the secular world [an example might be Christians who scoff at laws of conservation and environmental responsibility, relegating them to 'new age thinking.'] pg 40 Such a person might care nothing for the wonderful way in which he was created, or how the brain works, or the subtle ways that the mind develops in accordance with natural laws. They think that these earthly matters are worthy only of the attention of nonbelievers, as if it somehow dishonors God to focus on the way He displays His character in the laws of this world. They refuse to have anything to do with any laws except the blatantly religious ones. Meanwhile, the secular person seeking to discover how the world operates most efficiently finds that things work better when he adheres to certain natural laws--physically, mentally, morally; in fact, all of the various facets of God's interests except the spiritual one. Don't forget that, although Esau gave away his spiritual birthright, the inheritance he did receive was also a blessing of God. When secular people heed God's natural laws and Christians don't, is it any wonder that the children of Christians ask, 'Why does it seem like non-believers are better off than we are?' Parents must Familiarize themselves with the Principles of Physiology and Moral Laws Christians parents shouldn't set up their children to have to face this difficulty. They have no right to pray that their children would be honest and have integrity while

neglecting the principles and scientific details that go into teaching and training children to be honest and have integrity. These principles and scientific details are just as divine as God's spiritual Laws. The principles and laws of the natural world won't help us enter into a true knowledge of God Himself, which takes priority over anything else and makes life worth living. But these natural and scientific laws play a part in the pg 41 education of all persons, and parents may not neglect them without paying the price. In these volumes, I will attempt to roughly lay out a method of education that adheres to divine natural laws and thus will result in divine blessings and success. Anything I can offer in this short guide will be imperfect and incomplete, but I hope it will be enough to get thoughtful parents focused on the proper lines of thinking in regards to the education of their children. PART II pg 42 Outdoor Life For Children I.--A Growing Time Meals Outside Country dwellers already know what wonders fresh air does for a person. Their children practically live outside when they aren't eating or sleeping. But even country people don't make the most of their opportunity--when the weather is warm, why not eat breakfast and lunch outside? We are so stressed from our hectic lives, but time spent in the open air is great for the mind and body and could even prolong our lives. Those who have been sick with fever and headache and felt soothed by the deliciousness of fresh, cool air often make it a rule never to be indoors when they can be out. Besides the benefit of an added hour or two of fresh air, meals eaten outside are often delightful, and there's nothing like happiness to convert food and drink