The Mind of a Child & His Will

No sooner doth the truth...come into the soul's sight, 

but the soul knows her to be her first and old acquaintance.*

I have been trying to finish up reading Volume 6. I am so close, but at the same time wanted to go back through and re-read things I have highlighted in order to start preparing a little for the Texas Hill Country Retreat coming up at the end of the month.

So here are just some thoughts...my reflections from “A Philosophy of Education” (volume 6, Chapter II, pp33-44)

He has a will of his own.

He is strong-willed.

Do you have a child like I do that falls into this category?

Would you say this child’s will is difficult to deal with at times?

What is will?

When you think about it more reflectively, is will that the child is opinionated, or stubborn, or just wants his own way?

Or would you say that actually the will is very weak because of the refusal to make oneself do what one ought?

It is when the little boy is able to stop all these and restrain himself with quivering lip that his will comes into play; for he has a conscience too.

No one can make a child obey unless he wills to do so.

Vol 6, p37

I think when we say “he has a will of his own” or “he is strong-willed”, what we actually are referring to is that the child does not submit to obedience easily.

So are will and obedience different?

One can be forced to obey by use of threats or strength of the commander.

However, once left to their own devices, many previously “obedient” children rebel as a result of their freedom to choose for themselves.

Will comes into play when we find ourselves faced with a choice of doing right or wrong. It is a fight within us at times (between flesh and right behavior), but as we choose the right, however difficult it may be, we are willing. As we will to do right more and more often, it tends to become easier, don't you think? 

And when we realize that we are under the authority of the Almighty, as we grow in our faith, this is where tests of obedience present themselves and our will is the chief responder.

I am thinking about all this in light of a surprise “attack” by my 3-year-old today. Our children are in the "training program" to become obedient Jesus-followers. Today’s incident was a teachable moment for the littlest soldier. He learned a lesson, a stern reminder and chiding of what is acceptable and what is not. 

The consequence of truth is great; therefore the judgment of it must not be negligent.

*-Whichcote

As I lead and teach my little ones, I pray that as I strive to instruct them in the way of the Lord, 

by degrees as he is trained, his will comes to his aid and he learns to order his life.

 Vol 6, p44

{Handicrafts} :: Bug House

This little DIY project set was a gift from some good friends of ours awhile back: a bug house to build.

I am trying to find practical handicrafts for Royal and Alice ... things that they both will enjoy. 
So I figured after the hand-stitched cards, I had better look for something more boyish. 
But, as it happens, both kids really like trying their hand at these seemingly gender-specific handicrafts.

That is the capital charge against most schools.

The teachers underrate the tastes and abilities of their pupils.

-CM, Vol 6: A Philosophy of Education, p 52

Our aim in education is to give children vital interests in as many directions as possible 

-- to set their feet in a large room -- 

because the crying evil of the day is, it seems to me, intellectual inanition.

-CM, Vol 3: School Education, p 231

...

So we talked about sanding, and how you need to take note of the direction of the wood's grain. 
(Oh, and what is "grain"?)
 So we defined that, then decided which way we should sand before getting to work...

After preparing a nice, smooth surface, we used a little wood glue and nailed the frame together.
We talked about how to hold a hammer properly to get maximum power out of your swing.

Don't you just love Alice in her Little House attire?

So after the wood glue dried, Royal went on to paint the house camouflage...

And then after tacking the screen around, it was finished.

Now just to wait for spring when bugs abound!

100: What is that?!?

Royal was working on a Mental Math page today by himself. Afterwards, I looked over his work. 
Finding it without error, I wrote on the top of the page: 100

just for kicks, you know?

When I showed him what I wrote (and I never write a grade on his work ... why, really?), he asks: 

What? What is that?

It is unnecessary to stimulate these young scholars by marks, prizes, etc.

-CM, Vol 6: A Philosophy of Education, p 28

And it hit me.

It made me think again on the atmosphere of education.
If we habitually use marks, or grades, to illustrate to the child his progress, or skills, soon (and faster than we know it) he will begin to form a dependency on a number and altogether lose sight of the purpose of education.


In an educational environment, we do ... harm when we offer ... high marks for work well done, rather than let a child have the satisfaction of knowing that he has learned something new, has gone a little further in a meaty book, has solved a difficult problem correctly, 
and has grown a little in the process.
-Karen Glass, Consider This, p 66

But a school may be working hard, not for love of knowledge, but for love of marks, our old enemy; and then young faces are not serene and joyous 
but eager, restless, apt to look anxious and worried.
-CM, Vol 6: A Philosophy of Education, p 98