Every child is born a person. This is the first on the list of Charlotte Mason's Philosophy of Education. It simply means that every child is already born whole, with personality traits, just like that of an adult. They are not blank slates, that we, grownups and educators around them can shape or mold into the person they will become in the future. Because they already are. The person that they are. We just need to wait for that personality to unfold.
I'd like to think of it this way: A child is born with all their physical aspects already natural to them. They have black hair, dark brown eyes, has long, curly eyelashes, busy eyebrows, etc. They were born with it. And just like their physical attributes, their emotional and mental qualities are also natural to them. You may notice that there are kids who are more naturally curious than others. There are those who cry a lot. Those are inherent to them. They were born that way.
Now, I talked about this with a fellow parent and their reaction was "What, so I just let them be? Because they already are a person, I got nothing to do anymore?" This is actually where the second philosophy of education according to Charlotte Mason comes in.
Children are not born good or bad, but with the possibilities for good and evil.
They are born persons with tendencies towards good or evil. Our job as parents and parent-educators is not to form them into a person that we feel they should be, but to laydown the rails so that their tendencies for goodness will overpower, overshadow, and eradicate their tendencies for evil.
Just like how it is with artists and musicians, or any other discipline, every child needs direction and practice. The philosopher Lao Tzu once said "...watch your habits, they become your character." I keep that in mind in laying down the rails in my child's habit training. In Charlotte Mason's book Home Education, there is a huge chunk of it about habit training. You can read about it here.
Aristotle once said "Give me a child until 7 years and I will show you a man." This statement says it is crucial that during the early years, a child's tendency to goodness should be honed so that their tendencies for evil should be attenuated. Sound's easy enough. We just have to be very mindful and intentional in our parenting and teaching as homeschool educators.
There is a challenge though that even the most intentional or brilliant educator faces. I have been made aware through the CM method of teaching that children are born persons. This I had to learn and understand for a little while. Now, I always take this into consideration whenever we have tasks and lessons that we need to do in our homeschooling journey. But there's one thing I tend to forget. I, too, am a person. I, too, have a set of characteristics that could have an effect to my daughter's learning. My own personalities may or may not affect or overpower my little student's personality which may suppress her own.
During our lessons, my basic teaching tool is narration. That is my daughter narrates or retells the passage that we just read. You would think that since it's the student that narrates and not the presenter, her personality should shine in her narrations. For the longest time, that has always happened. But I noticed that she was looking at my non-verbal cues, my smiling, my note-taking, my nods, and even the wrinkling on my forehead.
This is because children are always eager to please their parents and wants to always meet the expectations set to them by the person they look up to. Even to the extent where they are already in a sense of overpressure. Too much of those nods and becks from their teacher during their narration or presentations would present itself as a Pied Piper situation.
A "strict" parent, always watchful, always ready to correct (or punish) any misconduct ensures an obedient child. In some ways, this could be a good thing. The parent could rest assured that their child is disciplined. However, in this example, the strong personality of the adult silences and suppresses the student's personality. Even after the punishments for incorrect actions are discontinued, the habit has already been formed and the child now thinks the way they do because that is the only way they won't be punished or reprimanded.
The real challenge lies in how the parent educator would be able to lay down the rails, counteract their possibilities towards evil, eradicate their tendencies towards greed, sloth, and all other evilness. All this being done without suppressing, but completely respecting their personality. Taking into consideration the educator's personality as well. This sounds all so stressful the way I say it. But in reality, all I do is to just approach it in the most relaxed way possible. It's actually very simple. Just let the kid talk. Listen, with all intent, just let them speak their truth, and hear out their thoughts and opinions.
