20 PRINCIPLES: NOTEBOOK EDITION
[T]here is no part of a child’s work at school which some philosophical principle does not underlie.—C.M. Mason
While preparing to lead a discussion of Laurie Bestvater’s book The Living Page: Keeping Notebooks with Charlotte Mason, I decided to provide context with an overview of Mason’s twenty principles. I was quickly overwhelmed; trying to unfold just a little of the wisdom compressed in those elegant little bullet points, was like trying to hold a door ajar against the roar of an entire ocean.
I was desperately attempting to consolidate my thoughts, between bites of lunch at the office, when an idea came to me: why not look at each of the principles through the lens of notebooks?
I breathed a sigh of relief; this was doable. I quickly became excited as I jotted preliminary notes; I felt I was learning more about notebooks, and more about the principles.
Still, I could go on and on. I am not going to be able to devote all the time I'd like to each of these principles, because there are twenty of them. But if my summary does leave others wanting to know more, I will consider that a good thing.
What I'd like to do now is share, one by one, the notes I have prepared to tie notebooks to each of the principles in which Mason clearly and succinctly expressed her entire philosophy of education. Bestvater does provide in her book a good philosophical foundation for notebooks, but I hope my summary proves helpful in introducing and broadening that vision for humane education.
• an entry in my personal journal about hiking the Christian Point Trail •
August 26, 2014