Citizenship with AHG & Valley Forge

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A few episodes ago I introduced us to the topic of citizenship, something Charlotte Mason was very keen on instilling in her students. I highlighted one of the avenues of teaching this subject to students with Rachel Lebowitz of A Charlotte Mason Plenary, which is the study of Plutarch's Lives, an ancient piece of writing highlighting lives of the Greeks and Romans.  

Today, I will continue that topic by focusing on a modern way of learning about citizenship and cultivating the wonderful virtues that this subject inspires. I will be digging into a fantastic girls troop organization called American Heritage Girls with a friend of mine, Danielle MacGuire, who has been involved in it for a couple of years now. She and I have some experience with it because our daughters have been or are still involved and I can’t wait to tell you about it. 

At the end of the show I will also highlight a special field trip to Valley Forge National Park, in Pennsylvania, a perfect example of loving and serving one’s country and countrymen. So please join us!

Favorite Resources:

• Scouting Article  by J. H. Mellis Smith, "The Parents Review," 1920, pp. 446-461; transcribed by Charlotte Mason Poetry
• AHG's Raising Godly Girls Podcast
• Tenderheart & Explorer Handbook by American Heritage Girls
• Pioneer & Patriot Handbook by American Heritage Girls
• Remember Valley Forge: Patriots, Tories, and Redcoats Tell Their Stories by Thomas B. Allen

“So, in unlikely ways, and from unlikely sources, do children gather that little code of principles which shall guide their lives.” - Charlotte Mason, Vol. 6: A Philosophy of Education, p. 189

"Another choice is an instance of Miss Mason’s understanding of the out-of-school needs of boys and girls. In 1905 a small military handbook came to her notice. It was called ‘Aids to Scouting’ and had been written by Robert Baden-Powell to provide training exercises in character and initiative for soldiers. Miss Mason saw that the practical work in observation and deduction set out in this book would delight boys and girls, so she gave it a place on the P.U.S. programmes. The following year a H.O.E. student, governess to Lord Allenby’s small boy, tried out with him some scouting exercises. The story of how Lord Allenby was successfully ambushed by his son and how he told Baden-Powell of it in conversation a week later is now part of the history of the Boy Scout movement. But before this movement took shape the P.U.S. boys and girls had become busy with their own scouting." - Essex Cholmondeley, The Story of Charlotte Mason, p. 86

"The educational possibilities of Scouting were first recognised by Miss Mason, founder of the celebrated Ambleside Training College. Her practical adaptation of my training of Soldier Scouts for inculcating observation and deduction in the education of her future teachers, gave me the first suggestion and hope that a further adaptation might make it of value to young people." - General Sir R. Baden-Powell, “History of the Boy Scouts. How the Movement Began,” in The Parents’ Review, vol. 32, p. 686

“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” - Thomas Paine, "The American Crisis"

“I am now convinced, beyond a doubt, that unless some great and capital change suddenly takes place . . . this Army must inevitably  be reduced to one or other of these three things. Starve, dissolve, or disperse. . .” - George Washington, December 23, 1777 

“We had engaged in the defense of our injured country and were willing, nay, we were determined to persevere.” - Private Joseph Plumb Martin, journal entry  (Valley Forge NP pamphlet)

“It was indeed a forge, where suffering and discipline hammered a band of brave men, turning them into an army with a new spirit and resolve. Without the victory over hardship, without the new army that marched out of winter and into spring at Valley Forge, the Revolution almost certainly would have been lost.” - Thomas Allen, Remember Valley Forge: Patriots, Tories, and Readcoats Tell Their Stories, p. 55)

"This city is what it is because our citizens are what they are." - Plato

. . . give a child a single valuable idea, and you have done more for his education than if you had laid upon his mind the burden of bushels of information . . . - Charlotte Mason, Volume 1: Home Education, p. 174

1. Consider participating in your local AHG or Trail Life Troops or start one of your own if there aren't any local to you.
2. Include heroic tales, fairy tales, biographies, stories, and poetry in your students' and children's readings that demonstrate noble ideas and love of God, country, neighbor, and family.
3. Visit a local historic site and learn its significance in the tapestry of life.