Charlotte Mason on the Folly of Teachers Who Talk Too Much

Posted on December 11, 2007 
Filed Under Homeschool

One of the things I most appreciate about Charlotte Mason is her deep understanding of how children learn. I well remember my own extreme boredom as teachers or other adults droned on and on about something I already understood. It’s something I’ve always tried not to do to my own sons, but I’ve found that it’s a great temptation;-).

I love this passage from A Philosophy of Education, pages 52-53 (in the context of a discussion of why children lose intellectual curiousity…):

“…the more the teacher works, the greater the incuria of the children, so the class is prodded with marks, the boys take places, the bogie of an oncoming examination is held before them. Some spasmodic effort is the result, but no vital response…

“I can touch here on no more than two potent means of creating incuria in a class. One is the talky-talky of the teacher. We all know how we are bored by the person in private life who explains and expounds. What reason have we to suppose that children are not equally bored? They try to tell us that they are by wandering eyes, inanimate features, fidgetting hands and feet, by every means at their disposal; and the kindly souls among us think that they want to play or to be out of doors. But they have no use for play except at proper interval. What they want is knowledge conveyed in literary form [emphasis mine] and the talk of the facile teacher leaves them cold.

“Another soothing potion is little suspected of producing mental lethargy. We pride ourselves upon going over and over the same ground ‘until the children know it’; the monotony is deadly… Children are not ruminants intellectually any more than physically. They cannot go over the same ground repeatedly without deadening, even paralysing results, for progress, continual progress is the law of intellectual life.”

If you need teaching inspiration for the new year, I can’t think of anything I’d recommend more highly than the original Charlotte Mason series of six books. I have them, read them, and return to them regularly for inspiration.

One more thing: I just learned about a special benefit for a little girl named Jessica who desperately needs a liver transplant. She and her mother have put together a gift-quality cookbook with over 300 recipes that they are selling in order to cover some of the costs of Jessica’s medical treatments. A group of friends is offering a bunch of very nice bonus items to go along with the cookbook. Please visit the benefit website to learn more about Jessica and to purchase cookbooks for yourself and your friends. I know the family will appreciate your prayers and your help.

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