Charlotte Mason said, “The fatal mistake is in the notion that he must learn 'outlines', of the whole history… of the world. Let him, on the contrary, linger pleasantly over the history of a single man, a short period, until he thinks the thoughts of that man, is at home in the ways of the period. Though he is reading and thinking of the time of a single man, he is really getting intimately acquainted with the history of a whole nation for a whole age.”
I have read the quote that says learning isnt filling a bucket but rather lighting a fire and I agree with it but I still find myself with a set amount of information I want to fill my kids heads with!
This quote caught my attention because History is one of the areas that fill our bucket; so it was very applicable. Am I happy to slow down our history reading if one of my children wants to linger? I wonder if my children know that they have the freedom to read more about that particular person or period or subject? I must talk to them about this and make sure that they understand that though we have a reading list that takes us chronologically through History if they want to stop and become more acquainted they may.
But as I think more on this quote of Charlotte Masons I start to see the word Linger it is as if it is in large, bold, red print. Linger!
I can feel the muscles in my back relaxing even as I contemplate the word! I obviously need to linger.
I look over our days and they are fast paced. There is a lot squeezed into every moment. I dont think we linger very well.
I am reminded of the verse that Peter and I have as our verse it is posted at our front door – Ps 37: 3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
It goes on to say – vs4 Delight yourself also in the Lord; And He shall give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the Lord; Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass
Dwell in the land that is lingering I can only linger if I trust God.
So Charlotte Masons quote has me thinking of slowing down in all our endeavours to trust God in the very same. To trust God with the things that fill our days. Most of all, to Linger in Gods presence and get intimately acquainted with Him!
Hi Belinda,
Thanks for your Charlotte Mason quote. I think my kids are natural “lingerers” and that is how they learn. Yes, I’m sure she was right when she said that they are actually learning more about time periods and great ideas at the same time than any of us would believe. I’ve seen this borne out many times. I also like the way Charlotte Mason takes the onus off parents to frantically stuff their children’s minds with as many facts and figures about a particular era as we can and just trust the process and their own innate curiosity. It should be an interesting learning experience for all of us, after all, and not a hassle.
See you,
Paula