The Commonplace: Recent Episodes
Autumn Kern
The Commonplace is a podcast for new homeschooling moms to get their bearings in the classical Charlotte Mason world.
The second of my bonus episodes is here! It was my sincere pleasure to speak with Sally Clarkson about her newest book, Well Lived: Shaping a Legacy of Gratitude and Grace. Consider it the perfect bridge between seasons four and five: how our lives are stories that give shape to our souls.
Footnotes for this episode:
Well Lived: Shaping a Legacy of Gratitude and Grace
www.sallyclarkson.com
At Home with Sally and Friends
Life with Sally | Membership
Heartfelt Discipline, Clay Clarkson
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You can find the full episode notes here (including my footnotes for this episode). You can leave the podcast a rating and review here. (I thank you!)
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It's about that time of year when you're starting school and possibly attending co-op. Even if you're not in a co-op, you've probably noted some needed habit training in your crew. This is a case study about my real-life habit training for co-op last year.
I'm grateful to report co-op is a smashing good time for all this year.
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You can find the full episode notes here (including my footnotes for this episode). You can leave the podcast a rating and review here. (I thank you!)
Join the 850+ mother-teachers in Common House (It’s like a Patreon, but better.) where we think deeply and learn together through full courses, bonus minisodes, monthly Q+A video calls, resources, and more!
Right now, you can join a number of self-paced courses like The Abolition of Man, Virtues and Vices, Charlotte Mason Habits 101, and How to Start a Classical Charlotte Mason Co-op!
It’s time to end season four but let’s talk about what’s next.
Season five, Feminine Soulcraft, begins in the Spring of 2025.
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You can find the full episode notes here (including my footnotes for this episode). You can leave the podcast a rating and review here. (I thank you!)
Join the 850+ mother-teachers in Common House (It’s like a Patreon, but better.) where we think deeply and learn together through full courses, bonus minisodes, monthly Q+A video calls, resources, and more!
Right now, you can join a number of self-paced courses like The Abolition of Man, Virtues and Vices, Charlotte Mason Habits 101, and How to Start a Classical Charlotte Mason Co-op!
I can’t leave this Latin question alone, can I? Our children are inheriting the richness of the Western tradition and the debt we owe to our Latin past is great. From history to theology, poetry to philosophy, we’re standing upon the shoulders of Latin writers. If all you’ve ever known of Latin instruction is terrified, bored students with a strict teacher, I think you’ll enjoy today. Get ready to catch the vision and answer the question: Does Latin form my children to move in the world in a better way?
I’m joined by Mrs. Angela Reed to discuss learning Latin through story; how children inhabit language, and the aliveness of Latin—even today.
Footnotes for this episode:
Athenaeum Amidst the Reeds | Angela’s Website
Angela’s Classes
The Charlotte Mason Latin Project | Angela’s Work
Angela’s Instagram
“Latin—the elegant tongue” | Charlotte Mason Poetry
Climbing Parnassus: A New Apologia for Greek and Latin, Simmons
Lingua Latina per se Illustrata
Cambridge Latin Course
Oxford Latin Course
Lars Romam Odit, Olimpi
D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths
Stories from the History of Rome, Mrs. Beesly
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You can find the full episode notes here (including my footnotes for this episode). You can leave the podcast a rating and review here. (I thank you!)
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One thing I rarely hear mentioned in the classical world is the need for re-reading great stories. Maybe it’s a fear of ruining our habit of attention or a symptom of our modern need to consume and move on, but we’ve missed something important when it comes to revisiting stories. So, let’s ask: How does re-reading change us as readers?
I’m joined by Laura E. Wolfe and Lisa Rose to discuss why it’s important we revisit stories, how revisiting makes us readers (instead of consumers), and what we can all learn from Charlotte Mason’s literary life.
Plus, we have our first ever baby guest.
Footnotes for this episode
Patterns for Life, Wolfe & Rose
Patterns for Life | Website
Patterns for Life | Substack
Patterns for Life | YouTube
Laura E. Wolfe
The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien
Harry Potter, Rowling
Diana Wynne Jones
Madeleine L’Engle
Christmas Day in the Morning, Buck
Sophie’s World, Gaarder
A Charlotte Mason Companion, Andreola
I and Thou, Buber
Wes Callihan’s Library Video
“The Thousand Good Books List”, Senior
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You can find the full episode notes here (including my footnotes for this episode).You can leave the podcast a rating and review here. (I thank you!)
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Could we have a season about story without touching on my favourite storyteller, the great Jack Lewis? We could not.
Many of us know Lewis as the great author of The Chronicles of Narnia, The Screwtape Letters, or Til We Have Faces. Some of us know him as the everyman theologian who gave us the wartime addresses and Mere Christianity. But there’s a lesser-known third part to Lewis: the medievalist. A self-proclaimed dinosaur, Lewis’ mind was of another time and this is the secret reason for the richness of his stories. So, we should all be wondering: What is the medieval mind and how did Lewis form one?
I’m joined by Dr. Jason Baxter to discuss the medieval mind of C.S. Lewis and how his “breathing the Middle Ages” might be exactly what we need to regain our footing in a world enchanted with truth, goodness, and beauty.
Footnotes for this episode
The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis, Jason Baxter
Dr. Baxter | Website
On Plato’s Timaeus, Calcidius
“Meditations in a Toolshed”, C.S. Lewis
“On Stories”, C.S. Lewis
“De Descriptione Temporum”, C.S. Lewis
The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis
The Divine Comedy, Dante
“On Fairy-Stories”, J.R.R. Tolkien
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You can find the full episode notes here (including my footnotes for this episode). You can leave the podcast a rating and review here. (I thank you!)
Join the 800+ mother-teachers in Common House (It’s like a Patreon, but better.) where we think deeply and learn together through full courses, bonus minisodes, monthly Q+A video calls, resources, and more!
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It’s generally accepted that children need good stories. It’s not generally accepted that good stories are the most important thing read to children. We moderns think of fiction as a treat, a bonus, or an escape; it’s nice but certainly not something we have to require for school. This is why many new classical moms find themselves confused while looking over a book list of The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, and The Secret Garden for next term. If education is about the future, then we have a question: Shouldn’t I give my children real stories to prepare them for the real world?
I’m joined by Rachel Woodham to discuss how stories are a better preparation for Reality and why every mother-teacher should create her list of Reads of Requirement for her home.
Footnotes for this episode
Mudd and Sapphires | Substack
The Still Point | CiRCE Institute column
“Harry Potter, Read of Requirement”
“No Bottom: Delighting in Shakespeare with the Young”
Chance or the Dance?: A Critique of Modern Secularism, Thomas Howard
Til We Have Faces, C.S. Lewis
Brideshead Revisted, Evelyn Waugh
Everything Sad is Untrue, Daniel Nayeri
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You can find the full episode notes here (including my footnotes for this episode). You can leave the podcast a rating and review here. (I thank you!)
Join the 800+ mother-teachers in Common House (It’s like a Patreon, but better.) where we think deeply and learn together through full courses, bonus minisodes, monthly Q+A video calls, resources, and more!
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We know it’s important to consider the ideas we take in because they form us deeply, but have you ever considered how what you act out forms you just as deeply? The practices we choose to make habits (or the ones we unintentionally form as habits) shape the story we tell ourselves about God, ourselves, and our lives. So, we should all be asking: What practices help me tell a true, good, and beautiful Story to myself?
I’m joined by Tsh Oxenreider to discuss how our practices should aim at our telos, how the historic Church has practiced this, and some of our favourite practices to bring into your home.
Footnotes for this episode
The Commonplace | Tsh’s Substack
A Drink with a Friend | Tsh’s Podcast
Tsh’s Website | Books, Pilgrimages, Resources
Tsh’s Rule of Life Course
First Light and Eventide | Gratitude journal
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You can find the full episode notes here (including my footnotes for this episode). You can leave the podcast a rating and review here. (I thank you!)
Join the 800+ mother-teachers in Common House (It’s like a Patreon, but better.) where we think deeply and learn together through full courses, bonus minisodes, monthly Q+A video calls, resources, and more!
Right now, you can join a number of self-paced courses like Charlotte Mason Habits 101, and Virtues and Vices!
Once upon a time. The words are an invitation into a world where virtue sparkles and vice is grotesque, and children love to inhabit such a place. But for the mom reading her first set of Grimm’s fairy tales, it’s a different story. They’re dark. There’s magic. Things get a little wild. If you’ve ever found yourself rewriting an old fairy tale on the fly because you weren’t sure it should be read aloud, you’re in good company. But when you’ve been told these are classical must-reads for young children, you have to ask: Why are fairy tales important?
I’m joined today by Dcn. Nicholas Kotar to discuss the tradition of and need for fairytales. If our hope, in classical education, is to conform our children’s souls to Reality, we need to teach them to see as things really are.
Footnotes for this episode
“Russian Orthodoxy, Fairy Tales, and Good Story Telling with Dcn. Nicholas Kotar” | Pints with Aquinas
Nicholas Kotar | Website
Nicholas Kotar | Patreon
In a Certain Kingdom: Fairy Tales of Old Russia
In a Certain Kingdom: Epic Heroes of Old Russia
Full book list
In a Certain Kingdom | Podcast
St. Basil’s Writers’ Workshop
Tending the Heart of Virtue, Vigen Guroian
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You can find the full episode noteshere (including my footnotes for this episode).You can leave the podcast a rating and review here. (I thank you!)
Join the 800+ mother-teachers in Common House (It’s like a Patreon, but better.) where we think deeply and learn together through full courses, bonus minisodes, monthly Q+A video calls, resources, and more!
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Who hasn’t looked out over a sea of young children staring blankly out of the window and wondered if they’re paying attention? Who hasn’t considered explaining the story or the vocabulary to ensure the children really get it? Perhaps we need to reconsider how young children move and understand in God’s world so we can answer today’s question: Do my little kids even understand this story?
I’m joined by Mrs. Amanda Faus and Mrs. Brooke Johnson to discuss understanding in the early years by bringing together philosophy and practical realities with a heavy dose of humor and personal story.
Plus, they turn the mic on me and tell me I’m wrong.
Did I mention I called in my real friends for this one?
Footnotes for this episode
The Wonder Years | Podcast
The Wonder Years | Substack (Includes Wonder Tales series!)
Ep 07 Stories | The Wonder Years
Ep 05 How Littles Learn | The Wonder Years with Alec Bianco
An Experiment in Criticism, C.S. Lewis
The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis
Beauty in the Word, Stratford Caldecott
Book Girl, Sarah Clarkson
Risen Motherhood
Ep 07 | For King and Country!: The Mythic and Moral Imagination
Ep 08 | Tell Me A Story: An Interview with Emelie Thomas | Emelie’s Substack “Sacramental Stories”
Simply Convivial with Mystie Winkler
John Senior’s The Thousand Good Books List
Beatrix Potter
Paul Galdone Folk Tales
Everyman’s Aesop’s Fables
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You can find the full episode notes here (including my footnotes for this episode). You can leave the podcast a rating and review here. (I thank you!)
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Once you begin looking at curricula, it doesn’t take long to notice there’s a lot of overlap on the book lists. Homer. Plato. Plutarch. Dante. Milton. It can leave a mom wondering why we have to read these books in classical education. To get that answer, however, we have to ask a slightly different set of questions: Why do some stories last and why does that matter?
I’m joined today by Mr. Joshua Gibbs to discuss why loving stories that last—whether in book, music, or film—is a matter of the soul.
Footnotes for this episode
Gibbs Classical
Gibbs Classical: Classes
The Cedar Room | Josh’s column at the Circe Institute
Proverbial Podcast
Love What Lasts
How to Be Unlucky
Something They Will Not Forget
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You can find the full episode notes here (including my footnotes for this episode). You can leave the podcast a rating and review here. (I thank you!)
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While moms may be the ones buying the books, it’s the family that inhabits the worlds within them. The atmosphere, habits, and ideas of our home are shaped by the stories we read together which means we’re forming the minds, imaginations, and hearts of everyone involved. Whether you’ve just heard about living books or you’ve been reading the classics for years, you have to ask yourself: Are we building a family literary life of truth, goodness, and beauty?
I’m joined by Shay and Catherine Gregorie to discuss how we can inhabit stories with our children, speaking into existence worlds that show them God’s hand in the uncommon and common moments of our lives.
Footnotes for this episode
Wolfbane Books
The King of All Things, Shay & Catherine Gregorie
The Forgotten King, Kenneth Padgett & Shay Gregorie
The Story of God Our King, Kenneth Padgett & Shay Gregorie
The Story of God with Us, Kenneth Padgett & Shay Gregorie
The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis
The Wingfeather Saga, Andrew Peterson
The Wilderking Series, Jonathan Rogers
The Year of Miss Agnes, Kirkpatrick Hill
The Penderwicks, Jeanne Birdsall
The Trumpet of the Swan, E.B. White
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You can find the full episode notes here (including my footnotes for this episode). You can leave the podcast a rating and review here. (I thank you!)
Join the 800+ mother-teachers in Common House (It’s like a Patreon, but better.) where we think deeply and learn together through full courses, bonus minisodes, monthly Q+A video calls, resources, and more!
Right now, you can join a number of self-paced courses like Charlotte Mason Habits 101, and Virtues and Vices!
As we discussed last season, there is a marked difference in how one moves in the classical world and the modern world. The classical world is a symphony; the modern, a machine. The classical world is harmonious; the modern is fragmented. The classicist is an encounter-er; the modern man, a manipulator.
If there is a single idea to explain these differences, I’d venture to say it’s recognition of Christ as the logos. To really dive into the power of story, we must first look to the unifying Principle who holds all things together. Then we have to ask: How does He give form to everything?
I’m joined by Mr. Andrew Kern to discuss what it means that Christ is the logos and how this reveals the grandeur of God in the world.
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Today’s episode is brought to you by Davenant Hall.
Davenant Hall, the educational wing of The Davenant Institute, is refounding the medieval university for the digital frontier. They’ve graciously offered The Commonplace listeners a discount for first-time auditors for this Trinity term. Use commonplacetrinity24 to receive $25 off your fee and to receive Reforming Classical Education after registration closes. Registration ends on March 29th, and you can learn more here.
Pst. I’ll see you fellow auditors in Dr. Hoskin’s Early Christian Worship class!
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Footnotes for this episode
CiRCE Institute
The CiRCE Guide to Reading, Kern and Lipinski
Classical Education, The Movement Sweeping America, Kern and Veith
The Chronicles of Narnia, Lewis
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You can find the full episode notes here (including my footnotes for this episode). You can leave the podcast a rating and review here. (I thank you!)
Join the 800+ mother-teachers in Common House (It’s like a Patreon, but better.) where we think deeply and learn together through full courses, bonus minisodes, monthly Q+A video calls, resources, and more!
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Once upon a time, there were mothers with the power to build worlds with their words. Will you be one of them?
That’s the question I’m posing to you, dear listener, this season. But not without first answering some of your story questions.
Ps. Did you catch our season trailer? It’s magic.
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Today’s episode is brought to you by Davenant Hall.
Davenant Hall, the educational wing of The Davenant Institute, is refounding the medieval university for the digital frontier. They’ve graciously offered The Commonplace listeners a discount for first-time auditors for this Trinity term. Use commonplacetrinity24 to receive $25 off your fee and to receive Reforming Classical Education after registration closes. Registration ends on March 29th and you can learn more here.
Psst. I’ll see you fellow auditors in Dr. Hoskin’s Early Christian Worship class!
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You can find the full episode notes here: https://www.thecommonplacepodcast.com/podcast/ep04-00
You can leave the podcast a rating and review here. (I thank you!)
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It’s time to end season three but we’re not leaving the classical world beyond the wardrobe. We’re just going to go camping.
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I couldn’t start closing out this third season without answering the question in the back of everyone’s minds: Do I really need to teach my kids Latin and Greek?
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Scouting is a thing in a Mason education but I think it deserves its rightful place in classical education too. Using my favourite Charlotte-Mason-is-classical pegs, we’re going to show how scouting belongs in a classical education and how you can get started.
I’m joined by my own Withywindle Scoutmistress, Kriste Janczyk, and we hope you enjoy the conversation!
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For most people, classical education becomes synonymous with the liberal arts. The classical tradition, however, is larger than the liberal arts (great as they are) and, if you look closely, you’ll see your children need a few things before the liberal arts. What is this foundational work in the early years? Let’s talk about it.
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It’s just about that time when the classical Charlotte Mason gift guides will abound and while I like heirlooms carved by a dwarf in Narnia just as much as the next homeschool mom, I don’t know if that’s exactly the gift guide we need this year. Tune in for this bonus episode pulled straight from Common House as ‘tis the season (Can you believe it?), and we’ll get back to the liberal arts next time.
Announced links
WEBINAR | Awakening the Soul: Attention as a Way of Waking Up to the World
COURSE | Virtues and Vices
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Pursuing the good life means asking, over and over again, “Am I loving the right things at the right time and in the right way? “
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As you now know, there’s a new language beyond the classical wardrobe door. We recognize it well enough to know we love what’s being said but we find ourselves hardpressed to translate it to share what is meant. Never fear. I’m joined today by the wonderful Heidi White to learn more of what classical educators mean when they say, “Classical education nourishes the soul.”
It’s even better than it sounds.
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***Heidi White, M.A., is a teacher, editor, podcaster, and author. She teaches Humanities at St. Hild School in Colorado Springs. She is the author of the forthcoming The Divided Soul: Reuniting Duty and Desire in Literature and Life. She is a contributing author, speaker, consultant, and Atrium instructor at the Circe Institute and a weekly contributor on fiction, poetry, and Shakespeare on the Close Reads Podcast Network. She serves on the Board of Directors of The Anselm Society as well the Academic Advisory Board for the Classical Learning Test. She writes fiction, poetry, and essays, and she speaks about literature, education, and the Christian imagination. She lives in Black Forest, Colorado with her husband and children.
Find her work:***
www.closereads.substack.com
www.circeinstitute.org/atrium
www.instagram.com/heidiwhitereads
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Reading good stories is a no-brainer for the mom coming through the classical wardrobe. We know, in our guts, this is something we ought to do for our children. But once we actually start reading stories, we can find ourselves with a lot of questions.
What’s a good story? What about magic? Won’t my kids be confused if I give them the Bible and myths? What do I do with Disney?!
Well, today’s episode is for you. I’m joined by my friend, Emelie Thomas, to discuss all things story. Emelie is kind of famous in Common House for her wise words on story and her ability to name a picture book for any occasion. I know you’ll love listening to her.
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If we want to cultivate virtue in our children (and, let’s be honest, in ourselves), we need to learn about the sacramental imagination. Some define it as "seeing the love of God in all things” but I’m partial to seeing “a halo to the edges of all earthly things”. Without this awareness of God’s Reality, how do we know the way further up and further in?
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In this mini-series on virtue, I think it important to consider the miry bog we find ourselves in. We’ve inherited philosophies and practices that make cultivating virtue more difficult than one might imagine. We’re looking for the function of an organ we’ve nearly destroyed.
But, don’t worry. There’s a path out of the bog.
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Mothers at the ready! Guard the city gates!
Actually, I’m not kidding. Your child’s soul is a bit like a city, and, in the pursuit of virtue, Plato, Mason, and St. John Chrysostom have quite a bit to say about guarding the City of Mansoul and the imitation of goodness.
Swords at the ready?
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Every so often, I like to lift the veil a bit to show what happens in Common House (formerly known as Patreon but now significantly better). I hope you enjoy today’s exclusive resource about the power of story and, well, a story.
Grab your kids and a cup of coffee and enjoy a tale of fair Bren and faithful Brohen!
*Note: I did not name my oldest two children Bren and Brohen. Just to clarify.
JOIN US IN COMMON HOUSE | $9/mo and almost 500 women from around the world learning to make truth, goodness, and beauty commonplace in their homes
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Everything has a catchphrase, including the classical world. Well, maybe we have two.
I bet you think I’m talking about some truth, goodness, and beauty, but no, not yet. I’m talking about the other one.
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Deciding to homeschool is one thing but finding the right method is a whole other thing. When you first start looking at educational philosophies, it can seem like classical education is just one of many options out there. How can you tell if one is better than another? Can one be better than the other? If only there was an objective way to measure an educational option.
Might I suggest there is?
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You can find the full episode notes here (including my footnotes for this episode). You can leave the podcast a rating and review here. (I thank you!)
Join the 430+ mother-teachers in Common House (It’s like a Patreon, but better.) where we think deeply and learn together through full courses, bonus minisodes, monthly Q+A video calls, resources, and more!
Right now, you can join two current, self-paced courses: Habits 101 & How to Start a Classical Charlotte Mason Co-op!
Who knew there was so much Charlotte Mason in the ideas of Plato? If we’re getting our bearings in the classical world, then we need to go all the way back to Plato and get a handle on the Greek vision of education. Actually, we need to go back even further.
I told you this was another world.
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You can find the full episode notes here (including my footnotes for this episode). You can leave the podcast a rating and review here. (I thank you!)
Join the 410+ mother-teachers in Common House (It’s like a Patreon, but better.) where we think deeply and learn together through full courses, bonus minisodes, monthly Q+A video calls, resources, and more!
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If I can give you a captain idea for this season, for all that’s to come, it would come from my dear St. Jack, or, as you might know him, C.S. Lewis. He once wrote, “For the wise men of old the cardinal problem had been how to conform the soul to reality.”
This is classical education.
And it’s on the other side of the wardrobe. Let’s go.
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You can find the full episode notes here. You can leave the podcast a rating and review here. (I thank you!)
Join the 400+ mother-teachers in Common House (It’s like a Patreon, but better.) where we think deeply and learn together through full courses, bonus minisodes, monthly Q+A video calls, resources, and more!
Right now, you can join two on-going, self-paced courses: Habits 101 & How to Start a Classical Charlotte Mason Co-op
You didn’t think I’d end the season without saying goodbye, did you?
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Do you remember the first episode of the season? I laid out the first morning of formal schooling with its materials galore: alphabet and math manipulatives, nature packs, watercolors, piles of books, cups of tea, and so on. I asked if buying and organizing supplies are what make a ready mother-teacher or if maybe, just maybe, we were missing the main thing.
You know, like how to teach.
From January to December, we’ve spent the entire year getting our pedagogy in place, learning our educational philosophy, and preparing to be mother-teachers. It’s been a joy to do this and I hope you feel yourself getting your bearings in the classical Mason world as we learn together.
Before I close us out this season, I have one more surprise. Today, the excellent Karen Glass joins me on the podcast to bring it all together: motherhood, philosophy, and education as one harmonizing whole. It was a dream to talk with her and I hope you enjoy our conversation!
To catch the bonus question at the end of the episode, join us in Patreon!
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Karen Glass homeschooled all of her four children from start to graduation using Charlotte Mason’s methods. She has immersed herself in Mason’s volumes and explored resources that Mason herself read and referenced. After many years of study, she has written several books to share some of the things she has learned, including Consider This: Charlotte Mason and the Classical Tradition and Know and Tell: The Art of Narration. After living overseas for 25 years, she has recently relocated to the United States and has been speaking and teaching on various topics related to Charlotte Mason and education. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook, as well as many encouraging articles on her blog, which is linked to her website.
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You can find Karen on Instagram, Facebook, or her website.
Pst. You can also watch today’s interview on Youtube! Just search The Commonplace!
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Resources from Karen Glass
In Vital Harmony
Know and Tell
A Thinking Love
Consider This
Mind to Mind
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You can find the full episode notes here.
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For many of us, education is a thing outside of the sacred. We certainly know God made the world and the things in it, but school is something that’s done…over there. It’s just reading, writing, and arithmetic. If we want a Christian education, we need to add a Bible class and maybe a catechism. But what if I told you education is Christian if it’s true, harmonious, and whole? It’s time for Mason’s twentieth principle and for me to tell you why I’m always talking about truth, goodness, and beauty.
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You can find the full episode notes here.
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Did you think we were finally finishing Mason’s twenty principles?
Not. Just. Yet. My. Friend.
While thinking through some angles on educational philosophy and pedagogy I can’t speak to, I knew there was another important one besides the older, wiser mom (Catch Bethany in last week’s interview!): the dad.
The good news is that I do know a classical Charlotte Mason homeschooling dad.
Today’s guest is Trae Bailey, a classical educator married to his high-school sweetheart and father to four young children. He kindly joined me to talk about how dads can support the homeschool and the home at-large since every home is one of education.
While moms will certainly leave with some beautiful, encouraging ideas, this one’s for the dads.
Ps. If you’re curious about the story he mentions at the top of the episode, you can find “Bren and Brohen” in Patreon. Last month, I shared how we use story in our home to teach and inspire our children by sharing a story I made up on a Tuesday afternoon when my kids were listening to the Dragon Folly.
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You can find the full episode notes here.
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We've spent the whole year getting our pedagogy in place by studying Mason's 20 principles. But sometimes, we need help bringing all that philosophy down to the practical level, down to our commonplace homes.
Thankfully, today's guest is here to help. Bethany Douglass, a wife, mother of four, and writer at Cloistered Away, joins me to offer practical homeschooling encouragement on setting rhythms, cultivating atmosphere, important practices for moms, and how to pursue truth, goodness, and beauty through it all!
To catch the bonus question at the end of the episode, join us in Patreon!
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You can find Bethany on Instagram @cloisteredaway and at Cloistered Away.
Find the reel mentioned in the episode here.
Pst. You can also watch today’s interview over on Youtube! Just search The Commonplace!
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Resources from Cloistered Away
Homeschooling | Getting Started
Homeschooling | Preschool Years
Homeschooling | Childhood Years
Homeschooling | Encouragement
Homeschooling | Resources
Homeschooling | Gift Guides
Family | Motherhood
Home | Simply Rhythms & Routines
Food | Sabbath Routines & Dinners
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You can find the full episode notes here.
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Never in my reading life have I found a chapter in a book that mentions such a range of characters. In Chapter IX of Volume Six, Mason manages to pull together Florence Nightingale, Euclid, Pythagoras, Satan, William Shakespeare and Karl Marx in her exploration of the Way of Reason.
What point does she make? Reason is a yes man who will try to confirm any idea accepted by the Will.
Which is how we get Florence, Shakespeare, Marx, and your children all thinking their own thoughts right.
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You can find the full episode notes here.
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The world may call a defiant, difficult, and disobedient child “strong-willed”, but we know that’s not so.
A strong-willed child can command themselves to choose what’s right even if it’s not what they want. Sounds pretty magical, right? But also, maybe a little difficult.
How does a mother-teacher help a child train their will? Let’s talk about it.
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It’s classic Mason to give such a tidy explanation for such a huge idea. What are the two guides in the moral and intellectual self-management of a child? Oh, just little things called ‘the way of the will’ and ‘the way of the reason’.
Consider today your primer on these two ways before we dive in deep in the next two episodes!
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You can find the full episode notes here.
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Those of us formally schooling are kicking off the new year right around now, so I thought it was the perfect time to share a BONUS episode as a bit of beginning of the year fun.
I’m joined today by two dear friends, Amanda Faus and Brooke Johnson, to discuss how to form a classical Charlotte Mason co-op. I asked them my burning questions: how to build a co-op vision, how to share the group’s philosophy with enquiring moms, what to do for mother’s education, and more!
I know you’ll love their gracious wisdom and my opening troubles with technology.
Grab a pen and some paper, and settle in. This is my hour-long gift to you for this second season, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to introduce you to the world of co-ops through a conversation with our amiable guests, Amanda and Brooke!
Pst. You can also watch today’s interview over on Youtube! Just search The Commonplace!
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You can find Amanda on Instagram at @commonplacecontemplations or on her blog commonplacecontemplations.wordpress.com where she may eventually write about motherhood in the early years and homeschooling with a classical Charlotte Mason approach if she ever finds the time.
You can find Brooke on Instagram @brookejohns where she is consistently inconsistent with posting. When she remembers, she may share a thought on Christian formation, hobby-farming, discipleship, motherhood, and homeschooling.
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To catch the bonus question at the end of the episode, join us in Patreon!
You can find the full episode notes here.
Interested in hearing bonus mini episodes and joining the monthly Q+A? Then you may enjoy The Commonplace on Patreon.
It’s narration week! I mean, really, what’s more Mason than talking about narration?
(Actually, a lot of things. You have to talk about all the things.)
But let’s get to it! What is narration? Why does it happen after a single reading? What if you have a lot of students narrating at once? How do you narrate a piece of music? Is it the same thing as a discussion?
…what if the kid’s narration was…subpar?
We’re going to talk about all of it and more! Let’s go!
You can find the full episode notes here.
Interested in hearing bonus mini episodes and joining the monthly Q+A? Then you may enjoy The Commonplace on Patreon.
You’d think with all our knowledge about Mason’s principles it’d be easy to pick a curriculum. But the options seem endless and while they all claim to be some type of classical Mason curriculum, they’re all doing it a little bit differently.
What’s a mom to do?
Come shop at resources at Commonplace Market.
You can find the full episode notes here.
Interested in hearing bonus mini episodes and joining the monthly Q+A? Then you may enjoy The Commonplace on Patreon.
At first take, Mason’s eleventh and twelfth principles seem a little obvious. We’ve been studying hard this season and we know some stuff! We know children need living ideas and to be allowed to make connections on their own, that they need natural relationships with a wide array of things.
But today, I want to ask: why. Why does it have to be done this way? Why these living ideas?
Let’s figure out how living ideas and the science of relations are necessary for a proper education. Together, they form Mason’s captain idea of education, and by adhering to them, we’ll find we’re working with the grain of truth, goodness, and beauty towards virtue and wisdom in our homeschools.
Come shop at resources at Commonplace Market.
You can find the full episode notes here.
Interested in hearing bonus mini episodes and joining the monthly Q+A? Then you may enjoy The Commonplace on Patreon.
We’re not fully aware of how deep the children-have-bucket-minds educational philosophy runs in our world today, but Mason knew of its dangers way back at the turn of the 20th century. It’s an appealing philosophy at first take. Why shouldn’t we treat children’s minds like buckets and just toss in pre-packaged ideas to fill them up? Won’t we guarantee ourselves students who know exactly what we want for them? Does it matter how a child learns if they’re taught a lot?
Mason had much to say about this approach. And it appears I do too.
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You can find the full episode notes here.
Interested in hearing bonus mini episodes and joining the monthly Q+A? Then you may enjoy The Commonplace on Patreon.
An education for persons should be life-giving. It should nurture and grow the mind, bringing life to it, but it should also form students wholly, leaving them fit for the flourishing life.
It’s time for our third and final instrument of education. What does Mason mean when she says, “Education is a life”?
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You can find the full episode notes here.
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If we habit train, is it even authentic?
Modern talk tells us authenticity is a great virtue, possibly even the highest virtue. We should only ever do that which feels most satisfying to us at the moment, and only if it comes to us spontaneously and organically.
liveauthentic #youdoyou #mytruth
If we could only be our truest selves, free from internal and external constraints, we’d be happy. Maybe even have world peace.
This is obviously untrue. But it does lead to a good question: if we habit train our children, is anything they do authentic? Or, to put it another way, does habit training program a machine or form the affections of a person?
Follow me on Instagram to enter. the big giveaway: @thecommonplacehomeschool
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You can find the full episode notes here.
Interested in hearing bonus mini episodes, reading book reviews, joining in discussions about classical education, and more? Then you may enjoy The Commonplace on Patreon.
When we modern moms think about atmosphere in the homeschool, we usually think about the materials. We have a mental image of what the perfect home or homeschool looks like; what kind of stuff covers the walls, table, and floor. It can really feel like things must look a certain way to be done a certain way.
If you don’t believe me, just take a poll of any mom friends you have by asking: What comes to mind when you think of a Charlotte Mason homeschool?
[You know what I’m talking about, friend.]
Today, we’re going to leave behind our wooden manipulatives and botanical wall posters to give the world—and ourselves—a clearer picture of the Mason homeschool atmosphere:
A really good, commonplace family life.
You can find the full episode notes here.
Interested in hearing bonus mini episodes, reading book reviews, joining in discussions about classical education, and more? Then you may enjoy The Commonplace on Patreon.
This bonus minisode was first recorded for The Commonplace patrons but is brought to you today by Classical Academic Press. Take 20% off all individual products until April 22nd, which includes our favorite thing: books.
If you enjoy today’s bonus minisode, you can find more resources just like this over at Patreon. We’d love to have you.
You can find the full episode notes here.
Interested in hearing bonus mini episodes, reading book reviews, joining in discussions about classical education, and more? Then you may enjoy The Commonplace on Patreon.
Now, maybe you feel differently, but it can feel like everything you’ve ever known to ‘teach’ in motherhood is off the table after Mason’s fourth principle. It’s a bit jarring to feel stuck in a moment asking yourself, ‘Wait, is that going to manipulate them? Will this? What. Can. I. Do?’ But Mason encourages us to focus on what is possible once we cross the hurdle of the fourth principle. She says:
‘Having cut out the direct use of fear or love, suggestion or influence, undue play upon any one natural desire, emulation, for example, we are no longer free to use all means in the education of children. There are but three left for our use and to each of these we must give careful study or we shall not realize how great a scope is left to us.’
Well, here we go, my friend. We are finally at the threshold of the mother-teacher’s tools.
Consider today’s episode your very own primer on the atmosphere, discipline, and life of a Charlotte Mason education. We’re going to take a high-level look at all three as interdependent tools, and then in the next three episodes, we’ll focus on each one separately.
Are you ready?
You can find the full episode notes here.
Interested in hearing bonus mini episodes, reading book reviews, joining in discussions about classical education, and more? Then you may enjoy The Commonplace on Patreon.
In the last episode, we learned how authority and docility are natural, necessary, and fundamental for our homes. But in her fourth principle, Mason introduces a limitation to these two things: the respect due to the child’s will.
(Okay, so technically she says ‘personality,’ but I’m here to translate that Victorian English for you, and she’s definitely not talking about your kid’s Enneagram type.)
We want children with strong wills who choose what’s good because it’s the right thing to do. But there are just so many ways to get the right behavior with the wrong heart motivator, and that’s what we’re discussing today.
Just remember: what you motivate a child with is what you motivate them towards. And anything other than “For it is right,” is wrong.
You can find the full episode notes here.
Interested in hearing bonus mini episodes, reading book reviews, joining in discussions about classical education, and more? Then you may enjoy The Commonplace on Patreon.
Moms know a thing about tension, about holding two things in balance: speaking and silence, instruction and waiting, pizza and broccoli. Understanding the complementary particulars of home life and nurturing children is kind of our job. As we head into the next principle, just remember: you’ve been training for this in so many ways before today. In her third principle, Mason shares two ideas that are natural, necessary, and fundamental to the homeschool but must be held in tension with one another: authority and docility.
Now, what exactly does that mean?
You can find the full episode notes here.
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This is the principle that first sent me running from Miss Mason and eventually brought me back. Rather than have you make the same loop, I’ll save you the time and let you in on the secret now: she’s talking about a child’s character, not the state of a child’s soul. All children have the capacity for good or evil, and education should draw a child towards goodness with the best of ideas. But, I also like to use my personal favorite tool: winking.
You can find the full episode notes here.
Interested in hearing bonus mini episodes, reading book reviews, joining in discussions about classical education, and more? Then you may enjoy The Commonplace on Patreon.
‘Children are born persons,’ seems kind of obvious. What else would they be born as? But as we dive deeper into this principle, it’s easy to see how quickly we forget this little truth and how, consequently, our education misses its mark. Before we ever choose a curriculum or resource, we need to understand what a child is and how they learn. This is the first principle.
You can find the full episode notes here.
Interested in hearing bonus mini episodes, reading book reviews, joining in discussions about classical education, and more? Then you may enjoy The Commonplace on Patreon.
Don’t forget! You can get 10% off your new planner (Yes, the have homeschool layouts!) at Golden Coil through January 31 with the code: COMMONPLACE10
And we’re back!
Have you ever noticed how much of the homeschooling content points to what you should buy for your homeschool: supplies, resources, planners, wall art, and the like? This makes sense; we moms love to share a good tip. But when we spend our time focused on this part of homeschooling, all of that clicking, liking, saving, and buying can start to feel like we’re preparing to educate our children.
But are we?
Will the perfect materials a homeschool mom make? Or are we missing something?
In this second season of the podcast, we’re going to put the shopping lists aside, roll up our sleeves, and ready our minds to become home educators.
Join us?
You can find the full episode notes here.
Interested in hearing bonus mini episodes, reading book reviews, joining in discussions about classical education, and more? Then you may enjoy The Commonplace on Patreon.
Don’t forget! You can get 10% off your new planner (Yes, they have homeschool layouts!) at Golden Coil through January 31 with the code: COMMONPLACE10
When I launched The Commonplace, I knew what I could offer to other moms at the beginning of the homeschooling journey, but I also knew what I couldn’t offer: experience-earned wisdom. I needed an interview addition to the podcast, and the first person I thought of was Leslie. With only Ep 00 recorded, I asked if she would consider joining me to ‘talk shop,’ and she graciously agreed. We met early this summer at her kitchen table—joined by her dog, Pevensie, and intermittent fireworks—to discuss a great many things: feelings of fear or inadequacy in the early years, maintaining affection and delight for your children, funny mishaps common to all homeschools, and building a home with poetic underpinnings. There’s something in this episode for everyone, and I think it’s the perfect way to end season one.
Further up and further in! I’ll see you guys next season.
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You can find the full episode notes here.
Twaddle is such a funny word, and yet, it can strike fear into the heart of any new homeschooling mom. What if we pick the wrong books? Will our children ever recover? Will they love silly, idle talk and hideous illustrations? We worry we’ll ruin everything if we accidentally let a piece of twaddle through the door. We are, after all, the bookshelf gatekeepers.
So we set out to find the best of books, something Charlotte Mason moms refer to as ‘living books.’ But that’s almost just as hard to define. Every mom has a different list of living books and it’s easy to wonder if ‘living book’ just means ‘old book.’
But rather than fret or freeze when trying to choose books for our children, let’s work on gathering a few key characteristics of twaddle and living books so we’re able to quickly discern what’s best, what’s good, and what’s twaddle.
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PS. Bonus! I’ve made a video resource to bring this conversation down to the dirt. I grabbed a few books off my kids’ shelves to show you how I quickly assess a book to figure out if it’s likely to be a living book or twaddle. You can find it here.
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You can find the full episode notes here.
Have you ever read a word but never heard it said aloud? And maybe you liked the word, so you used it casually in conversation only to realize later you said it incorrectly? This has happened to me many times and is happening to me every time someone listens to this episode.
Fallow. Let us never forget how to pronounce /ˈfalō/.
But I hope it makes you laugh and serves as a reminder that we’re all learning and growing in these early years of a classical education.
We’re not so unlike our little ones.
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You can find the full episode notes here.
Education is not primarily a cognitive adventure, because born persons are not brains-on-sticks. Your children are primarily worshippers. So, the main influence within your child is their heart, which includes their cares, motivations, and desires. And how do you speak to a child’s heart? Through their imagination.
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You can find the full episode notes here.
This episode is as much of a surprise to me as it is to you.
It’s been a hard week, and I, for one, need a holiday. And I was thinking that maybe you might too.
So, if you’ll allow me, I’m going to offer you and your children a fifteen minute holiday through the story of The Velveteen Rabbit.
It’s about being made real by love.
We spend a lot of time thinking about the best habits for our children, but what about us moms? We’re (born) persons too, you know. But I’m not here to get into the specifics of habits you should or shouldn’t add into your rhythms. (Note: those are conversations best had with people who know you in a fuller, deeper context.) I am, however, here to talk about one of my favorite principles behind the heartbeat of habits: beauty.
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You can find the full episode notes here.
What is attention? I’m so glad you asked. Miss Mason defines attention as the act by which the whole mental force is applied to the subject at hand. It’s giving your full focus to something. And, of course, Miss Mason believed a mother could train attention to be a habit if she’s able to attract and hold the child’s attention through the right motive.
That Miss Mason. Always getting to the child’s heart, isn’t she?
These habits are so much more than tapping a toddler into housework or finishing a school day. You’re offering your child a way in which to live with joy and delight and imagination and pleasure in God’s world.
Just imagine that.
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And bonus fun: today is the day I finally mention Plato. We’re real classical homeschoolers now.
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You can find the full episode notes here.
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Continuing Education Picks
‘Habit Training Part 2: The Practice of Habit Training,’ Patrick Egan
The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg
‘Cultivating the Habit of Attention,’ My Little Robins
‘Duty, Being, and Building with Dirt,’ Lindsey Brigham Knott
Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman
Classical Heavyweight
After Virtue, Alasdair MacIntyre
The way Charlotte Mason talks about moms and kids and obedience can easily sound like she’s frolicking in a field of whimsical flowers with a rare sort of child. It’s tempting to lift your coffee mug to your smirking lips and remind yourself that she didn’t have children of her own.
She doesn’t really know what it’s like.
Or does she?
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Ps. Yes, I have a cold.
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You can find the full episode notes here.
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Continuing Education Picks
Obedience Series, Risen Motherhood
Heartfelt Discipline: Following God’s Path of Life to the Heart of Your Child, Clay Clarkson
The Habit of Obedience, A Thinking Love
“Motherhood is One Big Millstone-Avoidance Project,” Brandy Vencel
Classical Heavyweights
Hints on Child Training, H. Clay Trumbull
Paradise Lost, John Milton
Principles 3 and 4, Charlotte Mason
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The principles of authority on the one hand, and of obedience on the other, are natural, necessary and fundamental; but—
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These principles are limited by the respect due to the personality of children, which must not be encroached upon whether by the direct use of fear or love, suggestion or influence, or by undue play upon any one natural desire.
There’s a lot to habits in a Charlotte Mason philosophy: How are they formed and what part do they play in virtue? Which ones should we focus on and when? And do they really matter in the early years?
The heartbeat of habit training all begins in Miss Mason’s idea of a mother’s ‘thinking love’ for her children. Moms are qualified by God to be primary shapers in their children’s lives, which means we have a duty—and a delight—to cultivate the God-given faculties in our kids. We want to equip them so they are able to joyfully serve God throughout their lives. When it comes to habit training, the question before all of us is: to whose service should this child’s heart, head, and hands be dedicated and directed?
Welcome to Habits 101.
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You can find the full episode notes here.
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Continuing Education Picks
Habits: Part 2, Dwell Podcast
Atomic Habits, James Clear
“Choosing Words Wisely with Children” Abbey Wedgeworth on Daily Grace
Formation of Character, Volume 5, Charlotte Mason
Classical Heavyweights
Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle
Confessions, St. Augustine
Young children like things repeated and unchanged. They also love to know things, memorizing what they’ve heard in an almost effortless way. These are the trademark characteristics of the grammar stage in a classical education. As a child memorizes, they form natural relationships with the world around them and learn to love what they know. It’ll happen whether or not you offer them noble ideas, meaning their memories can be full of beauty or full of junk. It can be Bach or Cardi B, but something will fill and form your child’s memory, and that will shape their heart’s affections.
Let’s talk about it.
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Or you can find them here.
Would you like to help other new-to-homeschooling moms wrap their hands around the ideals and principles of a classical Charlotte Mason education? Leaving a podcast rating and review can do just that.
On your first Google search, it seems like a classical education is pretty different than a Charlotte Mason education. The former seems like a lot of memory work; the latter involves a lot of watercolor nature journaling. But in this episode, we’re going to explore the what and how behind these education methods. Spoiler alert: a Charlotte Mason education is classical. Come find out why!
Don’t forget you can get the episode notes straight to your inbox via A Commonplace Note.
Or you can find them here.
Would you like to help other new-to-homeschooling moms wrap their hands around the ideals and principles of a classical Charlotte Mason education? Leaving a podcast rating and review can do just that.
Consider this our podcast handshake.
There seems to be a gap between the starting line of the homeschooling journey and the resources in the classical world. Moms love the idea of morning time or nature journals but can easily feel overwhelmed by all the mentions of Plato and Plutarch. And what exactly did Charlotte Mason mean by twaddle? In this first season, we’ll be discussing the foundations of a classical education, habits in the early years, the moral imagination, the heart of virtue, and more.
This is where a classical education becomes commonplace. Plus, we’ll laugh.