Education is a Life, 3 Things for Every Child & Shakespeare

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This interview could have gone on forever as talking with Rebecca Kirkland of Fallen Spruce Designs is one of my favorite things to do. You will love her infectious joy and passion for teaching her kids and providing a feast of living ideas through reading aloud precious books. Listen to her share the life lessons beautifully expressed in the classic novels The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis and The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and how they affected her family. I also take a few moments in our GOOD segment to share about three things that every child should have in their lives, as fleshed out by Karen Andreola in her book A Charlotte Mason Companion. And finally in our BEAUTIFUL segment, I explain the importance of implementing Shakespeare in everyone's education and how to go about including him in your lives.

What is a living book? One definition of a living book is that it is a narrative that changes us. One that is full of emotion as well as information. . . Rebecca claims that a living book "makes us feel connected and alive. . .like we are part of that story." 

"Education is a life" encompasses such things and experiences as living books, narration, getting in touch with the best minds/authors, the humanities, short lessons, good habits, free afternoons (for leisure, outdoor life, reading, handicrafts, and life skills), no grades or homework, masterly inactivity, dictation, copywork, a Book of Centuries, Picture and Composer Study, Nature Study, and hands-on/real-life Math.

Charlotte Mason expert, Karen Andreola, has a wonderful book called A Charlotte Mason Companion, that explains in very clear practical ways how to incorporate Miss Mason's philosophy of education in your schooling and lives. In it she shares three things that should be a part of every child's curriculum: 1) something or someone to love, 2) something to do, and 3) something to think about. I share personal examples of how I try to do this in my own homeschool.

And why study Shakespeare? Just to name a few benefits, the Bard helps teach about right from wrong, human nature and consequences, and addresses big issues of life. He also helps kids learn how to express their emotions and inspires readers to do great things.

Because all of these fiction books are brilliant classics and can be found anywhere, I am just posting some of what I think are beautiful editions.

Resources mentioned:

• Anne of Green Gables beautiful Wordsworth Lux edition by Lucy Maud Montgomery
• Anne of Green Gables Hardback Set  (a beautiful set) by Lucy Maud Montgomery
• Anne of Green Gables DVD  by Sullivan Entertainment
• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Paperback by C. S. Lewis
• The Chronicles of Narnia Box Set by C. S. Lewis
• The Secret Garden (Painted Edition) Hardback by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• When Children Love to Learn by Elaine Cooper
• A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola
• Shakespeare in Three Easy Steps by Simply Charlotte Mason
• How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare Ken Ludwig
• Shakespeare Stories by Leon Garfield (this also comes in 2 paperback volumes)
• Tales from Shakespeare hardback in a die-cut slipcase by Charles and Mary Lamb
• Tales from Shakespeare Wordsworth Children's Classics Edition by Charles and Mary Lamb

Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive -- it's such an interesting world. It wouldn't be half so interesting if we knew all about everything, would it? There'd be no scope for imagination then would there?" - L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables, Chapter 2

In the new teacher she found another true and helpful friend. Miss Stacy was a bright, sympathetic young woman with the happy gift of winning and holding the affections of her pupils and bringing out the best that was in them mentally and morally. Anne expanded like a flower under this wholesome influence and carried home to the admiring Matthew and the practical Marilla glowing accounts of schoolwork and aims. - L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables, Chapter 24

Education is a life. That life is sustained on ideas. Ideas are of spiritual origin, and God has made us so that we get them chiefly as we convey them to one another, whether by word of mouth, written page, Scripture word, musical symphony; but we must sustain a child's inner life with ideas as we sustain his body with food. . . He is eclectic; he may choose this or that; our business is to supply him with due abundance and variety and his to take what he needs. . . . - Charlotte Mason, Volume 6: A Philosophy of Education, p. 109

A person must be at his best in his heart, mind, and soul. He must know how to choose good and how to refuse evil. We, as persons, are not enlightened by means of multiple-choice tests or grades, but rather by the other people in our lives that we come to know, admire, and love. We are educated by our friendships and by our intimacies. - Karen Andreola, A Charlotte Mason Companion, p. 23

We probably read Shakespeare in the first place for his stories, afterwards for his characters, the multitude of delightful persons with whom he makes us so intimate that afterwards, in fiction or in fact, we say, "She is another Jessica," and "That dear girl is a Miranda," "She is a Cordelia to her father," and, such a figure in history, "a base lago." To become intimate with Shakespeare in this way is a great enrichment of mind and instruction of conscience. Then, by degrees, as we go on reading this world-teacher, lines of insight and beauty take possession of us, and unconsciously [mold] our judgments of men and things and of the great issues of life. . . - Charlotte Mason, Volume 4: Ourselves, Book 2, p. 72

I know a bank where the wild thyme blows, Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows, Quite overcanopied with luscious woodbine, With sweet muskroses, and with eglantine. - Shakespeare, A Midsummer's Night's Dream, Act 2, Scene 1

Shakespeare is not to be studied in a year; he is to be read continuously throughout life, from ten years old and onwards. But a child of ten cannot understand Shakespeare. No; but can a man of fifty? Is not our great poet rather an ample feast of which every one takes according to his needs, and leaves what he has no stomach for? - Charlotte Mason, Volume 5: The Formation of Character, p. 226 

. . . 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. Think about starting a Read Aloud with your family this summer or your students this fall. Consider its literary value and the living ideas presented in it. Some books to help with selections are  Honey for a Child's Heart and  Honey for a Teen's Heart by Gladys Hunt and Barbara Hampton and  The Read Aloud Family by Sarah Mackenzie.
2. Reflect on how you are providing the 3 Things needed for every child: Something/Someone to Love, Something to Do, and Something to Know.
3. Pick a Shakespeare play written in prose to start off with and then try reading the original version. Let your kids act it out and see how much fun Shakespeare can be. You can incorporate a lot of other fun art and life skills with this activity (ie. sewing, make-up, acting, memory work, stage managing, prop-making, painting backdrops, directing). Then try and find an opportunity to see an actual performance.