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Kathryn
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| Posted: Jan 14 2014 at 4:04pm | IP Logged
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Academics and Spiritual Formation
This Seton article (it's old but popped up on my Facebook feed today) prompted me here to ask you what exactly this means to you? And well, really, how do you put it in real, understandable terms for children?
Just having rich, faith filled books (workbooks or literature) doesn't seem to inspire my children to believe that their academics don't become a grind.   So, I was trying to think of it in simpler terms like this and while I think I'm somewhat on the right track, I thought some of you could brainstorm to help get this in even more simple terms or possibly other wording to encourage children when they just.don't.want.to.do.the.work.  I'm thinking of something I can even post on our school wall to remind us all. I did what I consider our "core" subjects here.
Science: to see and explore the wonder of God's creation
Math: to see God's order in creating the world
Language (should that be separate writing, reading etc.?): to read the Bible and share His message with others
Art (print and music): to see and hear the beauty of this world
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Kathryn in TX
(dd 16, ds 15, dd 8, dd 5)
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Mrs. A
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What if you think of academic subjects in the sense that each one sheds a bit of light on a part of the mind of God? No one can know His whole mind, but the more we learn the better we are able to understand what He is like and how to become more like Him.
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~ Lisa
Orthodox Christian mom to 5
My blog:Through the Mind to the Heart
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SallyT
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I like what Lisa says.
Also, I tend to think of academic work as part of the whole picture of developing the virtues. Yes, sometimes academic work is a grind, as anything in life, including the practice of the faith, can sometimes seem like a grind. Yet we want to meet those dry periods, those periods of difficulty and boredom and "what's the point"-ness, with perseverance, forbearance, and hope. Sometimes, whether we're persuaded by reasons or not, we just. have. to. do. what's set before us.
Language: Christ is the Logos, the Word of God. We understand through language -- it's not just a medium for a utilitarian purpose, but it's how we *know,* just as the Son is how we know the Father. When we write well, we are helping others to *know* clearly, just as Jesus is God's clearest "writing" to us. When we read great literature, we know more about truth -- truth about human nature, mostly, though also truth about the universe -- than we did before we were given that window.
Sally
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Jan 16 2014 at 7:48pm | IP Logged
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I have always thought that Charlotte Mason distilled it very well:
I am, I can, I ought, I will.
And that pretty much sums up our daily philosophy. Like you, Kathryn, I wanted that printed and in a prominent place in our learning room. It's a reminder for us all and sets the tone. (I tried to upload a picture but I got so frustrated after the third time of uploading - the site keeps turning my picture 90 degrees!  )
CM elaborates a little on each of these: (Vol 1, p 330)
Quote:
I am - we have the power of knowing ourselves,
I ought - we have within us a moral judge, to whom we feel ourselves subject, and who points out and requires of us our duty,
I can - we are conscious of power to do that which we perceive we ought to do,
I will - we determine to exercise that power. |
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We can't "love" everything that is before us. Some work falls into that discipline part of education - knowing what we ought to do, and doing it. And I am clear about that to the kids. They don't have to like their Latin lessons, but they do have to do it. And part of that is completing the work without whining or drama.
I heard Karen Andreola speak once, and she had a great idea on complaining during lessons. Her son was complaining, so she gave him a backpack and every time he huffed or complained she added a heavy book to his pack. She explained that when he complained he added weight and sullen-ness to the atmosphere of their learning, so she was going to let him feel the weight he added. I do this with children that have a tendency to become whiny and it's very effective. No drama or fussing is needed from me. I hand them the backpack at the beginning of the day and put a big stack of my heavy books on the corner of my desk. The first whine/complaint the backpack goes on and a book is added. A new book is added at every complaint. The backpack cannot be removed until lesson plans are checked for completeness at the end of the day. Let someone carry around Webster's dictionary for the day - it cures their vocal complaining QUICKLY! And it lets them know that their complaining brings everyone down!
Miss Mason is very clear that it is our (the parent's) duty to impress these four "steps of a ladder" upon our children, and says:
Quote:
| I am pressing upon parents the duty of saving their children by the means put into their hands. Perhaps it is not too much to say, that ninety-nine out of a hundred lives lie at the door of parents who took no pains to deliver their children from sloth, from sensual appetites, from wilfulness, no pains to fortify them with the habits of a good life. |
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Those are really strong words, and I believe them to be true. It is our duty to train our children in good habits and virtue, to do otherwise is a dis-service to the child.
Following further with Charlotte Mason's philosophy, here are how our subjects break down:
Knowledge of God
Knowledge of Man
Knowledge of the Universe
All of our subjects like religion and faith, sciences, math, literature, history, etc...all fit into those three branches of study, but knowledge of God is foundational.
So, in answer to your question about linking the academic and the spiritual: we apply the four-stepped ladder to our day - I am (a child of God), I ought (to do the work before me), I can (do the work before me), I will (give my best effort as part of knowing, loving and serving God) - in all three branches of acquiring knowledge. And yep, some work is part of the discipline of an education. You may not like it, but you don't get to dampen the atmosphere of our home with sullen-ness and pitiful drama.
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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Willa
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It's probably already been mentioned somewhere on the board, but I like Simone Weil's article Reflections on the Right Use of School Studies (PDF)
IT ties together academic and spiritual formation in a very interesting way. I don't understand it entirely, but I like to reread it regularly. Her point is that attentiveness, which is the key element of study, is also a prerequisite for true prayer.
She writes in part:
Quote:
Although people seem to be unaware of it to-day, the development of the faculty of attention forms the real object and almost the sole interest of studies. Most school tasks have a certain intrinsic interest as well, but such an interest is secondary. All tasks which really call upon the power of attention are interesting for the same reason and to an almost equal degree.
School children and students who love God should never say: “For my part I like mathematics”; “I like French”; “I like Greek.” They should learn to like all these subjects, because all of them develop that faculty of attention which, directed towards God, is the very
substance of prayer.
If we have no aptitude or natural taste for geometry this does not mean that our faculty for attention will not be developed by wrestling with a problem or studying a theorem. On the contrary it is almost an advantage.
It does not even matter much whether we succeed in finding the solution or understanding the proof, although it is important to try really hard to do so. Never in any case whatever is a genuine effort of the attention wasted. It always has its effect on the spiritual plane and in consequence on the lower one of the intelligence, for all spiritual light lightens the mind. |
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I have never been sure how to communicate this view to younger kids except by emphasizing habits and by using literature that seems connected to spiritual formation.
Also in being careful not to, as Charlotte Mason says, heap burdens "grievous to be borne" on them, academically speaking. But on the other hand, what they can do, I want them to do with the support of their own wills, not just because I am making them do it.
My 11 year old son is enjoying the Fr Finn books -- they take place in a Catholic school setting and there is often some plot point that involves the relation between academic and spiritual formation. When his piano teacher asked him about his New Year's resolutions, my son mentioned that he wanted to work harder at his studies. We will see  but good thought at least
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Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
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SallyT
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I'm with Jen in believing that CM does put it all together in a way that seems whole, integrated, and right, recognizing both the gifts and the limitations of the child as a human person. The more I think about it, the more I love and feel at home with her marriage of
1. the notion of joy and freedom in learning; the enlarging of the world of the mind through exposure to what is good and true;
and
2. the notion of the need for discipline and the real *work* of learning.
This to me is a beautiful mirror of the life of faith. Our faith opens the door to the infinite joy, freedom, and beauty of God and the created order; at the same time, living it daily demands discipline (which I so often sorely lack!) and work, which is not always, in the moment, perceptibly joyful.
Our academic life provides a useful metaphor for our spiritual life -- I can always point to math (for most of my kids) as an example of what it can feel like to plug on through periods of spiritual dryness without giving up.
At the same time, just as the work of marriage and motherhood is my path toward holiness, for my children at their stage of life, the temporary vocation of the student is their path. It's the work that is set before them, proper to their state in life, and its ultimate purpose is to prepare them for heaven -- not so much in terms of faith-based content, though that's certainly a necessary part of it, as in terms of showing them *how to live* as Catholics in whatever context they find themselves.
As I've been dipping in and out of CM's 6th volume and periodically doing some blog-musing about it, this is the theme that really takes hold of me, as what seems like a very natural and proper Catholic extension of what she says.
Sally
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Castle in the Sea
Abandon Hopefully
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: Linking Academic and Spiritual Formation
