Day 39 Chronological

Liturgical Clock, Phillip Aijian

“During these years (6-9) the child should enter upon the domain of knowledge, in a good many directions, in a reposeful, consecutive way….”

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“In every case the reading should be consecutive from a well-chosen book.”
 
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“The much-diluted, or over-condensed, teaching of the oral lesson, or the lecture, gives place to the well thought out, consecutive treatment of the right book, a living book in which facts are presented as the outcome of ideas.”

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“It is a pity that, in pictures and music, we are inclined to form ‘collections,’ just as in poetry. Let us eschew collections. Every painter, every composer, worth the name, has a few master ideas, which he works out, not in a single piece, but here a little and there a little, in a series of studies. If we accept the work of the artist as a mere external decoration, why, a little of one and a little of another does very well; but if we accept the man as a teacher, who is to have a refining, elevating effect upon our coarser nature, we must study his lessons in sequence, so far as we have opportunity.”

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“It will be observed that the work throughout the Forms is always chronologically progressive."

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“There is no remedy for this state of things (scrappy and indefinite knowledge) but a great deal of consecutive reading from very various books, all of some literary value….”
 
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           “…his lessons must be regular and progressive.”
 
 
 
Examen: The slow, progressive unfolding of the history of thought, History being “the pivot” of Mason’s curriculum, is meant to help the child eventually realize for himself that Christianity is “the fulfillment of philosophy.” This is unusual in both its vast respect for the child and in its seemingly huge attending risk (i.e. that the child may not ever come to see it). How does this feel? Are my lessons progressing chronologically? 

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During these years:  Charlotte M. Mason, Home Education, 1:Preface.
In every case: 1:232.
The much-diluted:  Charlotte M. Mason, School Education, 3:Preface.
It is a pity:  Charlotte M. Mason, Formation of Character, 5:233.
It will be observed:  Charlotte M. Mason,  Towards a Philosophy of Education, 6:178.
There is no remedy: 6:261.
...his lessons must: Home, 1:348.
“fulfillment of philosophy”:  Charlotte M. Mason, Parents and Children, 2:104.

​Day 39 Chronological meditation/100 days copyright Laurie Bestvater 2025

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