Episode 49: Listener Q & A #9


This episode marks the one year anniversary of this Charlotte Mason podcast. Over the past year, we have received dozens of questions from our listeners and this Q&A is exemplary of the requests we receive and our attempt to address widely varying topics, namely this week: where to find out-of-print living books, the relevance of Charlotte Mason today and the practice of “scaffolding” lessons.

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“The public good is our aim; and the methods proposed are applicable in any school.” (Vol. 6, p. xxvi)

“Before the reading for the day begins, the teacher should talk a little (and get the children to talk) about the last lesson, with a few words about what is to be read, in order that the children may be animated by expectation; but she should beware of explanation and, especially, of forestalling the narrative. Then, she may read two or three pages, enough to include an episode; after that, let her call upon the children to narrate,––in turns, if there be several of them…and when the narration is over, there should be a little talk in which moral points are brought out, pictures shown to illustrate the lesson, or diagrams drawn on the blackboard.” (Vol. 1, pp. 232-33)

Writing to Learn

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Addall Search Engine

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Main Lesson

Yesterday’s Classics

Living Library Press

10 thoughts on “Episode 49: Listener Q & A #9

  1. Nicole Williams

    Are you trying to play it on your phone or computer? I just tried it on my computer and it worked fine, which is why I'm asking. We are still trying to narrow down where the problem could be.
    ~Nicole

  2. Lynette Dickson

    Hi,

    It does work on my computer only. I requested the desktop version on my phone on Google Chrome and Safari with no luck.

    I hope you can figure out how to fix it on the podcast. It is so hard to listen to this from the computer speakers. My toddlers are loud and seem to scream when I am playing this, LOL. ?

    Thank you,
    Lynette

  3. Maria Lyle

    Works fine on my old little Android phone! I always listing to it thru the browser on my phone. Thanks ladies for the wonderful work you are doing and sharing! Congrats on your podcast anniversary! Keep it coming….

  4. Freedom Acres Farm

    In the upper grades would the scaffolding mostly be in the follow up time? I don't read many of my older student's books, usually I only listen to their narrations which often lead to some discussion. We just don't do much "set up", am I understanding this correctly?

  5. Nicole Williams

    Scaffolding is drawing knowledge back from memory into the present to attach new knowledge for the coming lesson to. Still, you do not necessarily have to read your child's material to do this work. Simply jot a note after your narration/discussion of the previous lesson so you remember something to remind them, to ignite their memory, and kindle their interest in what is to come. "Set-up," does not have to be an elaborate, in fact should not be, process. If your children are accustomed to this process, they can even scaffold for themselves, asking themselves to recall as much as possible from a previous lesson before beginning the current reading or work assignment; likewise, a child "CAN" narrate silently to themselves, but I only recommend this for experienced CM method, solid learners. I still feel, even for high school students who have been doing Mason for years, that some lesson every day should be somewhat planned by the teacher. The older child should be experienced enough to work almost entirely on his own, but interaction with others is part of the joy of learning so try to make it happen.

    -Liz

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