Piney Woods Homeschool

18. The way of reason : We teach children, too, not to 'lean (too confidently) to their own understanding'; because the function of reason is to give logical demonstration (a) of mathematical truth, (b) of an initial idea, accepted by the will. In the former case, reason is, practically, an infallible guide, but in the latter, it is not always a safe one; for, whether that idea be right or wrong, reason will confirm it by irrefragable proofs. - Charlotte Mason, Volume 6  Charlotte Mason suggested two guides to "moral and intellectual self-management": 'the way of the will' and 'the way of the reason.'  Teaching a child to recognize and use the strength of his own will power allows him to manage his thinking and behavior.  Teaching a child to recognize and beware the limitations of reason helps him to avoid being deceived by his own mind. Reason can be a powerful tool.  But when reason is used to provide support for an idea, it can find support for...

When each child reaches K or 1st (depending on the child and what all is going on), we begin slightly formal musical instruction with a lap harp.  Lap harps work well for early music instruction because each string makes one note, so the child doesn't have to try to make the instrument produce the right sound, and the song sheets lie under the strings and show the child where to pluck.  I've used three different lap harps, one for children, one for adults, and another one for children that I just bought.  This last is by far my favorite for this type of instruction:   Hape Early Melodies Happy Harp .  During our lap harp phase, I expect to work on rhythm, music reading (just learning to read the different types of notes), and hearing the scale.  I tune the instrument myself and sit with the child during each lesson and most practices. After a year or two of lap harp, each child has moved to a recorder.  I never have bought a recorder because I was gi...