One of the ways that mimicry of Charlotte Mason’s programmes misses the mark of Living Education is that it often misses the forest of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty for the trees of what is “old”.
The irony, of course, is that Mason herself was forward thinking and the forms of goodness she pursued were both classic and contemporary.
Many subjects that were not in Mason’s Programmes should be dishes in the feast of a modern living education…
And, subjects that *were* in Mason’s Programmes need not be limited to centuries past as if goodness itself were encapsulated there.
The Arts are one area where we can miss the goodness and beauty contributed by our own age if we’re pursuing an “old” education rather than a Living education.
When it comes to art (of every form), the classics matter and are worthy of our study…
And so do the greats of our age.
Not only do we not want to miss the goodness contributed by any age, but we also want to understand the cultural impact of the art of the time we live in.
Art, particularly music, both reflects the age and also impacts it. You can not understand history, culture, politics, sociology, economics, or even language without understanding music.
In our home, goodness from every age and of every form is worthy of our pursuit.
As my oldest enters his *homestretch* of school, I’m making more space for balancing what is classical and what is contemporary so that I can put my money where my mouth is when it comes to a “well rounded” education of a whole person.
We already love music in this home, and we listen to a wide variety of it, but I’m making space for more formal studies of contemporary artists…
Because a living education is important to me.
For example, this term, our “composer” is NF, who we all love (but I plan to study contemporary artists that we don’t all adore as well-the impact of music transcends personal preference.)
These studies are conducted just like a classical composer study:
Every week for 12 weeks we listen to a piece by the artist, and then we learn about the artist him(or her)self through biographies or biographical online content.
The irony, of course, is that Mason herself was forward thinking and the forms of goodness she pursued were both classic and contemporary.
Many subjects that were not in Mason’s Programmes should be dishes in the feast of a modern living education…
And, subjects that *were* in Mason’s Programmes need not be limited to centuries past as if goodness itself were encapsulated there.
The Arts are one area where we can miss the goodness and beauty contributed by our own age if we’re pursuing an “old” education rather than a Living education.
When it comes to art (of every form), the classics matter and are worthy of our study…
And so do the greats of our age.
Not only do we not want to miss the goodness contributed by any age, but we also want to understand the cultural impact of the art of the time we live in.
Art, particularly music, both reflects the age and also impacts it. You can not understand history, culture, politics, sociology, economics, or even language without understanding music.
In our home, goodness from every age and of every form is worthy of our pursuit.
As my oldest enters his *homestretch* of school, I’m making more space for balancing what is classical and what is contemporary so that I can put my money where my mouth is when it comes to a “well rounded” education of a whole person.
We already love music in this home, and we listen to a wide variety of it, but I’m making space for more formal studies of contemporary artists…
Because a living education is important to me.
For example, this term, our “composer” is NF, who we all love (but I plan to study contemporary artists that we don’t all adore as well-the impact of music transcends personal preference.)
These studies are conducted just like a classical composer study:
Every week for 12 weeks we listen to a piece by the artist, and then we learn about the artist him(or her)self through biographies or biographical online content.
No comments:
Post a Comment