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![After over two decades of motherhood, I am still astounded at how many people recommend technology use to parents as a way of "preparing the children to live in the real world."
While each mother can choose to do what she deems best for her own children, she should be under no illusions that handing a child some sort of device is doing such things. (Those of us born in the 70s when no one even had a personal computer can tell you that we adapted just fine to the era of smart phones thankyouverymuch. We were never handicapped by riding our bikes instead of playing video games.)
"[The] absence of literary culture is actually a marker of future blindness," says Taleb -- and well he might! But let's be clear: literary CULTURE. Not reading the occasional book for school.
Culture is only taught through immersion. This means owning books (all kinds -- novels, yes, but also history, poetry, and more), reading them aloud, reading them on your own (kids and parents), discussing them, and referencing them in conversation. At some point, books become part of who you are and what you are like, what your family is and what it is like. THIS is when it actually becomes culture.
And what does literary culture do? It opens your eyes for the future. You can often see what's coming -- or at least what is possible -- because you've already read something similar. The more you've read, the more you have to draw on.
Literary culture is your child's bank account. It's an important inheritance you can leave them as no amount of money or tech can make up for cultureless ignorance.
#antifragile
#nassimtaleb
#charlottemasonliving
#charlottemasonirl
#charlottemasonmama
#literaryculture
#readabook
#readaloudrevival
#readalonerevival
#justread
#motherhood
#homeschoollife](https://afterthoughtsblog.net/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
3 Comments
Hi, Brandy,
Thank you for your post, “Twin Duties.”
As a 12th year homeschool mom to 5 children I will say that, despite what I now know and understand about teaching children, obstacles stand in the way of executing the ideal. Homeschooling 3 different age groups (a joy and challenge), leaving the house almost daily for appts. and the “cares of life” have presented challenges I still work to overcome. A friend and I today were talking about how we felt we were not “getting ‘er done” in our homeschools, i.e. setting and meeting enough goals, sticking to schedules enough, starting/completing enough, etc.
THEN, I saw your post! While my children have not accomplished all of Charlotte’s lists of attainments, or completed all we had hoped, we are SMASHING IT with the twin duties of parents/teachers – the formation of habits of behavior and thinking is a daily focus for us as is the discussion of “loving, right and noble ideas.”
I have been on quite a transformational journey where much has been accomplished in my own life through habits and ideas – starting a few years ago with Pam Barnhill’s morning routine challenge through my enrollment today in DARREN Hardy’s —The Heroes Journey. This has all lent itself to an overflow of God, habits and ideas into our daily conversations and studies.
Thank you for posting this article and giving this mother a joyful Mother’s Day as I bask in the knowledge that both God’s and Charlotte’s ways are not the world’s ways. At the end of the day, all I want to hear is “Well done, good and faithful servant!”
Blessings,
Jennifer Schrandt
P.S. I love Afterthoughts. Reading it is an enriching time spent with kindred spirits 💖. Thank you for all you pour into it!
Oh, never mind! Got it!
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