Charlotte Mason Soirée Dispatch #16 Narration

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Dispatch #16
Knowledge of God
Saviour of the World volume 7


Linda Fern located unpublished volumes of poetry in the Charlotte Mason Archives.
Increase Our Faith (Luke 17:7-10)


This poem really made me think about what I say to my children and how I speak to them. Do I speak to them as persons or rather demand tasks of them like a Master? How does God speak to me? Does he expect me to serve him day and night only to fulfill his wishes, or does he care about me and treat me as someone of importance? I choose to believe the latter. If he did not care for me, would he have sacrificed his son so that I may live?

Knowledge of Man
Teaching Cardboard Sloyd


Miss Pennethorne gave 3 categories of benefits of Cardboard Sloyd in her 1906 article. These benefits are as follows;

Physical:

“1. It trains the eye to accuracy (accuracy being understood as absolute, not relative) in (a) drawing a straight line, (b) measuring distances and angles, (c) cutting on the line drawn.
2. It trains the hand to follow the guidance of the eye, and to obey exactly the impulse of the motor nerves transmitting the message of what the hand is required to do.
3. It strengthens the muscles of the hand by exercise. (1906, p. 3)”

Mental:

The boy who learns to cut accurately will learn to think accurately. Too often we are okay with being “nearly right” instead of striving to be right. This doesn’t have to just be the case for handicraft, but for life as well.


Moral:


“… they would certainly train their eyes to real power in seeing, and their hands to real power in doing, and … be sure at least of a sound body. But that is not all. They would be doing something too towards a sound mind… they would learn… to be orderly, accurate, attentive, industrious, thoughtful, and self-reliant—nay, I will go even further, and add truthful. Orderliness, accuracy, attention, industry, thoughtfulness, self-reliance, truthfulness—verily a list of nearly all the virtues! (Russell, 1893, p. 328)”


Something very “strange” happens when a person is taught Sloyd. They begin to gain more control of their physical body. In gaining this confidence in their physical body they begin to develop a moral framework that encompasses nearly all of the virtues.




Cardboard Sloyd Lessons


Cardboard Sloyd teaches neatness and exactness. It prepares children to learn a trade and become skilled for life. It is much more desirable for a young person to learn to build highways than to arrange flowers. Sloyd works to strengthen the body. It helps manual dexterity and promptness. Sloyd developments certainty of movement which is of great value to everyone.


Form 2


In Form 2 handicrafts move from morning lessons to afternoon lessons. During these lessons students should still be under supervision. Even though they should be skilled with a knife, the parent (teacher) should read the book themselves and be on hand as a guide to answer questions.


Students were required to complete 4 perfectly executed models per term. These lessons were still 20-30 minutes in length. They were slowly transitioning to the metric system and how to increase or decrease the size of the model. Students learned how to score thicker papers and how to bind edges with book binding tape.


Form 3 & 4


Students move to 6 perfectly executed models per term. These models increase in difficulty. The last skill mastered in cardboard Sloyd was the ability to draw a 2-d diagram from a 3-d geometric model.


Practical Tips


The cardboard was a thick card stock. It was approx 110 lb (300 g/m2). The same knife from paper Sloyd is used for cardboard Sloyd. It comes in a variety of colors.


Knowledge of the Universe
Episode 57


Math in middle and high school.....


This isn’t exactly “right,” but math is the one subject that terrifies me. I have a really hard time knowing if I am teaching math properly. I am thankful that we are in 5th grade currently and that I have a few years until we have to dive into the harder lessons. I have always been good at Math, but when you have to explain these things to a child who doesn’t have a firm foundation is scary. Implementing Sloyd has been slow this year. We have had a hard time making sure our afternoon occupations have been included in our day. This has made including Practical Geometry that much more difficult.


It is so helpful to listen to these podcasts and to know that we are sometimes in different seasons in life and we have to make changes. Sometimes we have to go with what works and make changes that help our individual families.