Charlotte Mason on Education as the Science of Relations

Miss Mason says this: “Education is the Science of Relations.” What does that mean?

Studying her words, in another place, Miss Mason expounds on it as follows:

“that a child has natural relations with a vast number of things and thoughts: so we train him upon physical exercises, natural lore, handicrafts, science and art, and upon many living books, for we know that our business is not to teach him all about anything, but to help him to make valid as many as may be of—“Those first-born affinities that fit our new existence to existing things.””

When I was still researching on the different methods to use for my oldest son’s homeschool, I came across a method that utilizes lessons that focus on a particular theme over a period of time. I liked the idea, and tried my hand at creating “themed” lessons, incorporating the “theme” across all subjects. For example, in reading the story of Noah’s ark, my lessons would include counting by twos for Math, learning about different types of animals for science, making an ark for handicraft, and so on. 

Charlotte Mason on Education as the Science of Relations

But when I studied about the Charlotte Mason method, I learned that it’s not our role as parents or teachers to make connections for our children. Instead, children are perfectly capable of making these connections themselves, and should in fact be left to do that themselves! 

For example, a child in a CM homeschool who reads about one person, say, Queen Elizabeth, in one book, may recognize the name in another book and point it out excitedly. But another child may not have the same reaction, and instead notice something else. This is the science of relations at work, while also giving room for every child’s individuality. 

Science of Relations Requires a Wide Curriculum

But of course, the science of relations won’t really work as well if there aren’t many ideas to connect in the first place. We believe that our children actually require much knowledge, and that this knowledge needs to be varied. Just as, in our physical bodies, eating the same food over and over stifles our appetite, the same is true for our minds: always having the same thing for our mental diet stifles appetite, or what we call curiosity.

From the quoted passage above, it appears that we need to give our kids a feast of at least the following:

• physical exercises
• nature lore
• handicraft
• science
• art
• many living books

Aren’t these the types of things we generally have in our weekly schedule as a CM homeschool family? That’s good news!

So I guess our encouragement to you is: trust the process, Mama! Just keep spreading a feast before your children, and watch them do with the ideas as they would. They are capable of more than we give them credit for!