The things I read in CM's 3rd volume have still been lingering with me. Particularly one part that I didn't even mention in my first post...and that is...
"Let's try, however imperfectly, to make education a science of relationships. In other words, in one or more subjects, let's try to let children work with living ideas." (location 2049)
That is, the child knows, has intimacy with, the various topics (God, places, events, nature, art, music, etc.). This is really the core of a CM education. I've been mulling over what this means for science. I've never enjoyed science, and I have had a difficult time trying to decide how to handle science in our homeschool. CM recommends nature study and living natural history books for the elementary years. This is to provide the foundation for further science lessons.
These next quotes helped me to understand why she says this and how to do it. These should be my goals in elementary science lessons.
"This child's parents understand that recognition is the first step in intimacy. So they don't measure his educational progress only by his proficiency in the 3 R's. They also want to know how many living and growing things he knows by name, sight and habitat." (location 1027)
"Appreciation for beauty usually comes after recognition." (location 1035)
"Soon the child goes from nodding acquaintance to pleasant recognition of familiarity, to real knowledge -- the kind of knowledge that we'd call science." (location 1041)
"In Science, or, actually, nature study, we place a high priority on recognition." (2924)
So, the purpose of nature study is to have the child development relationships - first with God through His creation, then by recognizing things in nature, appreciating their beauty, and becoming familiar with them, which then will make them ready for real science.
I think I'm starting to get it. Maybe.
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