PRINCIPLES 11 & 12: NOTEBOOK EDITION
But we, believing that the normal child has powers of mind which fit him to deal with all knowledge proper to him, give him a full and generous curriculum; taking care only that all knowledge offered him is vital, that is, that facts are not presented without their informing ideas.
Notebooks are a versatile tool spanning the various disciplines of a wide curriculum. That aspect may trouble certain people in this age of narrow specialization, but the classical tradition established {and the reality of life and busy mothers welcome} the open-ended notebook that fits life—life expanding outside of school and lessons and, yes, childhood. Notebooks allow a wide variety of responses {written, graphic} to a wide variety of knowledge {science, art, language, etc.} given through a wide variety of mediums {text, lecture, diagrams, etc.} through time {both children and adults benefit}.
Education that is based on brain science {which recognizes the integration of our faculties} is no less engaging to the emotions than to the intellect. When we encounter knowledge in its living form, we cannot help but have feelings and opinions invested in the new ideas.
The use of notebooks facilitates this very personal experience. You can teach the same material to a class of students, and each student will respond differently because of their personality and history; or you can teach the same material to a different classes, and varying dynamics will also effect reception. A skilled teacher knows when to adapt a lesson to different or changing needs, and notebooks are ready for such versatility.
Out of this comes our principle that,—
‘Education is the Science of Relations’; that is, that a child has natural relations with a vast number of things and thoughts: so we can train him upon physical exercises, nature lore, handicrafts, science and art, and upon many living books, for we know that our business is not to teach him all about anything, but to help him make valid as many as may be of
‘Those first born affinities
That fit our new existence to existing things.’
I am going to start at the end of that principle! Is that not the most comforting thought to you, as a parent or teacher? Your business is not teach the child or the student ‘all about anything.’ Again, we are not Herbartians; we do not believe we are dealing with an empty sack that will contain only what we put into it.
Education happens with children, not to them.
The alternative to trying to teach all about everything, however, is not ‘un-schooling,’ as in entirely undirected education. Your job is not to teach him all about everything; but you do have a job, and that is to introduce your child to as many of the works of God as possible. Education is a science, or knowledge, of relations—not only of subjects and ideas to each other, but to ourselves. And can you have a relationship with someone, for a third party? No, we must each encounter God and his works for ourselves.
As Bestvater phrases it in the introduction to The Living Page, ‘The journey is a little risky, is it not?’ We need to give up the illusion of control—in many areas of our life, I think.
The quote Mason gives is from her favorite poet, William Wordsworth. I’d like to give you a picture for the word ‘affinity’ there. Have you ever met someone new, and something in your spirit just responded to that person so that you felt you were meant to know each other? That’s an affinity; you’re fitted to be together. It’s a special feeling, and not something you’ll experience with every person you meet.
In the same way, our children will discover affinities with certain aspects of God’s creation, and you may be surprised by how far they will go in that direction without anything more than a passing introduction on your part.
And other subjects may require a great deal more acquaintance before an affinity is discovered.
Life is too short for you and I to discover affinity for every aspect of God’s creation; but I believe we have it in us, as images of God, to appreciate all that he has created. And as someone whose forte lies outside numbers, I am looking forward to the day when God shows me what he has done in mathematics, and I will get it the way you ‘get’ your best friend.
But that word relations refers not only to the link between ourselves and a certain idea, but the connections the mind makes between ideas—ideas we know and ideas we learn—in order to form a cohesive understanding of the world in which we live.
The use of notebooks is an acknowledgment of this very personal synthesis. The blank page, and the general directives of the teacher, allow wide scope for the student to express the emotional and intellection connections he has formed with the material, with himself, and with other ideas already encountered.
• my Spanish vocabulary and grammar notebook •
November 25, 2014