Listen Now:
“Object lesson! talkee, talkee, about a miserable cut-and-dried scrap, hardly to be recognised by one who knows the thing. I should not wonder if it were better for a child to go without information than to get it in this unnatural way. No, let him see the thing big and living before him, behaving according to its wont. Specimens are of infinite use to the scientist whose business it is to generalise, but are misleading to the child who has yet to learn his individuals. I don’t doubt for a minute that an intelligent family out for a holiday might well cover all the ground we have sketched out, and more; but who in the world is to teach them? A child’s third question about the fowls of the air or the flowers of the field would probably floor most of us.” (5/129)
“A boy who is observing a beetle does not consciously apply his several senses to the beetle, but lets the beetle take the initiative, which the boy reverently follows: but the boy who is in the habit of doing sensory daily gymnastics will learn a great deal more about the beetle than he who is not so trained.” (2/189)
“The mind can know nothing save what it can produce in the form of an answer to a question put to the mind by itself.” (6/16)
Parents and Children (Volume 2), Chapter XVII
Handbook of Nature Study, Anna Comstock
A Nature Study Guide, William Furneaux
ADE Teacher Training Video: Nature Study–Special Studies and Object Lessons
Wonderful podcast, as always! But please, please, please record them more loudly! I have everything at 100% and can still barely hear them. If anyone breathes around me, I miss something. It had gotten better for a while, but the last couple of podcasts are back to really quiet mode. Thanks again for these amazing learning opportunities. I cannot express how much I appreciate them and the wonders they are working in my understanding and implementation of CM.
Laura,
What device are you using to play the episodes? I have been doing the exact same recording settings and adjustments for all the episodes this season (starting in September). It is playing loudly on my phone when I pull it up, so I’m stumped!
-Emily
This was SO informative! I recognized a few places where I can improve!! Thanks for all y’all do 🙂 Can’t wait to share this with my local Soirée Society’s Natural History Club!!
I’m glad to hear this was valuable to you, Bridgett, even though I know you have also watched out Teacher Training Video on Special Studies and Object Lessons.
And thanks to all y’all over at the Soirée for all you do for the Charlotte Mason community as well! We sincerely appreciate you.