CM & the Upper Years

Fair warning: this is not a post of how to do CM in high school. Nor is this a post that details how we are doing CM in high school. This is simply a post with some CM quotes/notes as they pertain to the 'high school' years. You can find all of CM's writings at AmblesideOnline {my home away from home lol}. 

I've been typing for AO again the last couple of days. The last article from the Parents' Review was about Examinations. I am always needing more info on exams. I am still not done putting the kids' exams together that they will be doing in 2 weeks. Anyway, I get easily sidetracked as well. It's all CM and homeschooling so it's not too far distracted *wink*. I am going to share with you some bits from CM about how subjects looked in their 'high school' classes. And I've realized, once again, I need to improve. 

I did fix the typos when I pasted it here. 

Subject: History.

Group: History. Class IV. Age: 16.

Time: 40 minutes.

THE STATE OF FRANCE IN 1789.

OBJECTS.

1. To establish relations with the past.

2. To show how closely literature and history are linked together and how the one influences the other.

vol 3 pg 338

3. To try to give yet a clearer idea of the social and political state of France before the Revolution than the girls have now, and to draw from them the causes which brought about the Revolution in France and at this time (1789). 

This is followed by the lesson. The lesson is information from the teacher. But I do recall reading that the teacher is to be more of a mentor or guide. I'm pretty sure this is not what I'm referring but I'll quote it anyway:

Limitations of Teachers.––We wish to place before the child open doors to many avenues of instruction and delight, in each one of which he should find quickening thoughts. We cannot expect a school to be manned by a dozen master-minds, and even if it were, and the scholar were taught by each in turn, it would be much to his disadvantage. What he wants of his teacher is moral and mental discipline, sympathy and direction; and it is better, on the whole, that the training of the pupil should be undertaken by one wise teacher than that he should be passed from hand to hand for this subject and that. (emphasis mine)

"One wise teacher..." Hmmm.

And now for a slightly younger age:

Subject: The Godwins.

Group: History. Class III. Average age: 13.

Time: 30 minutes.

OBJECTS.

1. To recapitulate and enlarge on the period of history taken during the term (A.D. 871-1066).

2. To increase the children's interest in it by giving as much as possible in detail the history of one of the prominent families of the period.

3. To exemplify patriotism in the character of the Godwins.

In the lesson for this class, there are a few different books used that the students read from. There is less information, per se, from the teacher. 

I keep telling my kids that as the go further in their education, they must make it their own. It isn't mine. 

Children must Labour.––This, of getting ideas out of them, is by no means all we must do with books. 'In all labour there is profit,' at any rate in some labour; and the labour of thought is what his book must induce in the child. He must generalise, classify, infer, judge, visualise, discriminate, labour in one way or another, with that capable mind of his, until the substance of his book is assimilated or rejected, according as he shall determine; for the determination rests with him and not with his teacher. (emphasis mine)

And then I found what I was looking for- the teacher's part:

The Teacher's Part.––The teacher's part is, in the first place, to see what is to be done, to look over the of the day in advance and see what mental discipline, as well as what vital knowledge, this and that lesson afford; and then to set such questions and such tasks as shall give full scope to his pupils'

vol 3 pg 181

mental activity. Let marginal notes be freely made, as neatly and beautifully as may be, for books should be handled with reverence. Let numbers, letters, underlining be used to help the eye and to save the needless fag of writing abstracts. Let the pupil write for himself half a dozen questions which cover the passage studied; he need not write the answers if he be taught that the mind can know nothing but what it can produce in the form of an answer to a question put by the mind to itself. 

Ah, see, there is more work for me to do. I don't mind. I just forget sometimes now that they are older, and more 'in charge' of their education.

I still have so much reading left! Still so much to learn myself!