{"id":530,"date":"2017-10-27T16:09:31","date_gmt":"2017-10-27T16:09:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/masonslivinglanguages.com\/?page_id=530"},"modified":"2017-10-27T16:09:31","modified_gmt":"2017-10-27T16:09:31","slug":"teachers-ideals","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/masonslivinglanguages.com\/?page_id=530","title":{"rendered":"Teacher’s Ideals"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you’re like me, you probably spent a lot of time preparing for the new school year, filled with excitement, hope and enthusiasm for the year to come.\u00a0 As far as I was aware, I had everything ready for the greatest year yet!\u00a0 And certainly the books were<\/em> wonderful.\u00a0 My understanding of Charlotte’s Mason’s method had grown<\/em> a lot from the year before.\u00a0 I was<\/em> the most prepared and equipped than any year previously.<\/p>\n

Our first term began and it was beautiful.\u00a0 My eldest was more inspired by his science than in any year previously.\u00a0 My middle son took to Pilgrim’s Progress<\/em> more intently than I had imagined.\u00a0 My youngest, who is not yet six, played wonderfully on his own when needed and sat in with us peacefully when invited.\u00a0 Success!<\/p>\n

And as in every term, we finished our term with exams.\u00a0 I was sure this also would be beautiful.\u00a0 But as exams always do, they reveal more about the books and the teacher than they do about the students.\u00a0 There were celebratory moments and moments of disappointment.\u00a0 The exams revealed areas where the books and my approach were strong and areas that needed some overhaul.\u00a0 And if I’m honest, those latter areas hurt just a little…okay maybe a lot.\u00a0 But the Lord is faithful to help me recognize that’s my pride being rubbed away and that is a good and Godly thing.\u00a0 As I began thinking about our next term and the changes I would make, I was reminded of this short piece I had read in The L’Umile Pianta<\/em>.\u00a0 It blessed my heart to tears, and I pray it provides you also with the same encouragement and understanding we all need in this “vast and infinite work.”<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

From The L’Umile Pianta: For the Children’s Sake,<\/em>\u00a0July 1901, pg 14<\/h5>\n

(my emphasis added)<\/p>\n

“The higher the ideals with which a teacher has started the more likely is she to become discouraged at the difficulty of their realization.\u00a0 The greatness of her work, as a whole, becomes absorbed and obscured in the multitude of seeming trifles and details that go to make up a practical life.\u00a0 In such a case, the teacher must remember that nothing is unimportant in her work<\/strong>; at the same time she must be willing to follow Nature’s lead.\u00a0 She must not let her plan of education (and she should have some definite plan, aiming at definite objects) become a mere system.\u00a0 She must not be discouraged because she only propose and not dispose for her pupils.\u00a0 If some of her means fail her aim may yet be advanced in other ways.\u00a0 If the object of education were merely to impart the knowledge of certain facts, to train certain faculties or events, cultivate certain habits of mechanical action, she might expect to fulfill these objects in a given time.\u00a0 But when she aims at helping a child in his start at an infinite career, at opening to him infinite possibilities<\/strong>, she must not be surprised to find her work also vast and infinite.\u00a0 The more she does, the more appears still undone, but this does not mean that there has been no progress.\u00a0 The teacher wants to arm herself against despondency by a vivid enthusiasm for her work, which must be quite distinct from personal ambition, a candid attitude towards others so that although she has opinions and methods of her own they shall not be exclusive, and a hopeful mind willing to do her best and leave the rest<\/strong>.\u00a0 To keep up their enthusiasm and interest teachers should communicate as much as possible with others, read educational works, and, as far as possible, keep some other good, though not necessarily professional, works at hand.\u00a0 The more objective interest she can bring into her own life the better it will be for her pupils, and the more she can keep in touch with others who are fired with enthusiasm in their work the more likely is her own enthusiasm to burn brightly.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you’re like me, you probably spent a lot of time preparing for the new school year, filled with excitement, hope and enthusiasm for the year to come.\u00a0 As far as I was aware, I had everything ready for the greatest year yet!\u00a0 And certainly the books were wonderful.\u00a0 My understanding of Charlotte’s Mason’s method… Read More Teacher’s Ideals<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"nosidebar-page.php","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-530","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P8TsXj-8y","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/masonslivinglanguages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/masonslivinglanguages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/masonslivinglanguages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masonslivinglanguages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masonslivinglanguages.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=530"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/masonslivinglanguages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":541,"href":"https:\/\/masonslivinglanguages.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/530\/revisions\/541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/masonslivinglanguages.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}