Over the past month I’ve been pondering homeschooling philosophies and browsing through A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola. There are several ideas in the book that resonate with me, giving me much food for thought. On page 43, the author quotes Charlotte Mason as saying, “We feed upon the thoughts of other minds, and thought applied to thought generates more thoughtfulness.” I had been reading the book right before bed, and all the thoughtfulness it generated impacted me immediately; it did not allow me to fall sleep.
Of course the chapter I was reading is not about the parent’s thought-life, but the child’s. “About the child hangs, as the atmosphere around a planet, the thought-environment he lives in. And here he derives those enduring ideas which express themselves as a life-long kinship towards sordid or things lovely, things earthly or divine.” (p. 51, quoting Charlotte Mason.)
This reminded me of another book I read parts of this past year (I can’t remember when I last read an entire adult book), Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard. In his chapter about Spiritual Formation and the Thought Life, he begins by saying:
“As we first turned away from God in our thoughts, so it is in our thoughts that the first movements toward the renovation of the heart occur. Thoughts are the place where we can and must begin to change. There the light of God first begins to move upon us through the word of Christ, and there the divine Spirit begins to direct our will to more and more thoughts that can provide the basis for choosing to realign ourselves with God and his way.” (p. 95).
Returning to A Charlotte Mason Companion, the author says, “The teacher’s part is to provide children with a wellspring of right thought to draw from. Right thought flows upon the stimulus of an idea… These instruct the conscience and stimulate the Will, and man or child ‘chooses.’” (p. 82).
In Isaiah 55:8-9, God says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.” So in education, my goal should not be to conform Hosea’s thoughts to my thoughts, but rather to conform his mind to Christ – and hopefully further conform my own mind in the process.
My thoughts are not Hosea’s thoughts. A 2-year-old’s thought life is part utter mystery, causing me to say at times, “What is he thinking?!” Other times it is not a mystery, but his thoughts are simply incompatible with mine. He thinks it would be fun to throw crackers all over the floor, and he seems to think they taste better off the floor, too. I think, “I do not want cracker crumbs ground into the carpet and hidden in every crevice!!”
Frequently his thoughts are very simple and transparent – basic wants, likes, and dislikes. More and more, Hosea is capable of sharing his thoughts with me, in rudimentary form. A significant portion of his thoughts lately have involved motorcycles. The following conversation has been repeated many times:
Hosea: Vroom vroom! (twisting his fists as if revving a motorcycle)
Mama: Oh, a motorcycle?
Hosea: Guy!
Mama: Yes, a guy – a MAN – was riding the motorcycle. (Note the vain attempt to elevate his vocabulary.)
Hosea: Yeah. Helm! (patting head)
Mama: He was wearing a helmet. Yes, you have to wear a helmet to ride a motorcycle – or bicycle. (I have repeatedly introduced this thought to him.)
Hosea: Yeah. Vroom vroom!
I can have that conversation with Hosea “without thinking”; he has taught me how to think like a toddler about a passing motorcycle. But sometimes I am surprised by a conversation. About two months ago I had the following conversation with Hosea (he was still using a lot of sign language):
Hosea: (Makes sign for “Jesus“)
Mama: Jesus?
Hosea: Yeah. (Signs “Jesus”) Up up up! (Pointing up.)
Mama: Up?
Hosea: Up! (Signs “Jesus”)
Mama: (Silence. What is he talking about?? Maybe something from one of his Bible storybooks?) Oh, you mean Jesus went up up up in the sky to heaven?
Hosea: Yeah. (Signs “star”)
Mama: Star?
Hosea: Yeah. (Signs “star”) Baby!
Mama: Oh, there was a star in the sky where baby Jesus was?
Hosea: Yeah. Baby. (Wiggles little finger.) Hi. (A silly illustration in one of his Bible storybooks shows a shepherd wiggling a finger above baby Jesus.)
Mama: Hi, baby Jesus! (Wiggling finger.) Yes, the shepherds came to see baby Jesus and said hi.
Hosea: Yeah. (Signs “Jesus” and then “Hurt/Owie”).
Mama: Oh, you mean Jesus helped the people who had “owies”? Yes, he made them feel better.
Hosea: Yeah.
Hosea was just repeating back parts of stories I have read to him. But it has entered his thought life. Life-giving truth can have humble beginnings. And pretty soon I’m taking on Hosea’s thoughts. Here’s our prayer at breakfast this morning:
Mama: Dear God, thank you for breakfast.
Hosea: Dada. Owie.
Mama: Yes, and please heal Daddy’s owie and help him feel better. Amen.
Facing Jordan 