Question: How do I engage my child in “The Grand Conversation” or any grand conversation when she is resistant to anything philosophical, abstract, or not of immediate practical use to her?
Dear Sister,
When we answered God’s call to homeschool our children, we embarked on a grand journey filled with a vitalizing commerce of ideas over centuries, exquisite, heart-rendering music and the galleries of our mind being filled with masterpieces from various cultures and nations. We realize we are players in a grand scheme or story, and not merely bystanders. Each of us are called to play an integral part during our appointed chapter. Whether we rise to the challenge or not, we are judged only by the Author Himself. Our script? They are primarily found in THE living book, the Word of God, but also, He has left us His fingerprints in the great writings that have dictated the rise and fall of kingdoms and nations, their art and their music.
I’m reminded of Charlotte Mason’s words in A Philosophy of Education:
“[E]ducation is of the spirit and is not to be taken in by the eye or effected by the hand; mind appeals to mind and thought begets thought and that is how we become educated. For this reason we owe it to every child to put him in communication with great minds that he may get at great thoughts; with the minds, that is, of those who have left us great works; and the only vital method of education appears to be that children should read worthy books, many worthy books.” (P.12)
So you see? You have already been doing well by your child, and fulfilling your God-granted duty by supplying your child with “many worthy books.” You have been putting her in touch with great minds.
Remember that a hungry mind will only eat what it needs - no more, no less. Remember also, that there may not be any outward show.
I know, as parents and educators, we long to be witnesses of the fruit of our prayers and labors. We hope for those rich conversations with our children, especially in their high school years, when the hours upon hours of reading aloud and reading together, seem to be culminating. When they do not happen, the disappointment is not invalid.
But may I offer you hope? The Holy Spirit is relentless in His pursuit, and perfect in His counsel, guidance, and teaching. He will bring all things to completion that which He has begun.
In the meantime, keep supplying those “many worthy books” to your child, AND providing many, ample opportunities for her to share with you the inner workings of her own mind as she tries to comprehend, discern, filter, assimilate, and ingest the living ideas presented to her. She might want to do this through writing rather than speaking, or drawing rather than writing. She might need a wider berth of space and time, without timers or an upcoming appointment looming over her. And when she is ready to share, be sure to not make much of it, no matter how profound her ideas. Oftentimes, being made “much of” is what she is afraid of and the pressure to continue to “perform” such profundity bears upon her still fragile sense of self.
As for the practical implications of philosophy, by and by she will come to know that philosophy, doctrine, and principles have a direct bearing on one’s actions, and therefore character, identity, relationships, and life.
Especially as she grows into the upper years of her education, and the “large room” opens up ever larger before her, she will begin to feel her feet lift as she rises above the clamoring of self-aggrandizing conversations of the masses, and her higher vantage point enables her to see the wave upon wave of humanity’s warring thoughts of God, and consequently of each other, since Adam and Eve.
“The Grand Conversation” has had human excellence as its aim. It has striven to answer the questions: What does it mean to be human? What is the purpose of life? What is the best way to live? All very practical questions with a direct impact and bearing upon our will as our prevailing culture answers those questions upon the foundation of either FOR God or AGAINST Him.
I will venture to say that our current culture in America, where I live, does not want our young people to engage in this Grand Conversation nor even be aware of it. Rather, the prevailing thought of our day would have them cut off completely from the past. It is perceived that the living ideas - whether good or evil - of those before us are too dangerous for the average person to ponder. There is an attempt to burn to ashes their seat at the table, because even one thinking person can be that spark to start a revolution.
Charlotte Mason gives us this warning in Darwin:
“Darwin’s theories of natural selection, the survival of the fittest, the struggle for existence, struck root in Germany in fitting soil; and the ideas of the Superman, the super state, the fright of might - to repudiate treaties, to eliminate feebler powers, to recognize no law but expediency - all this appears to come as naturally out of Darwinism as a chicken comes out of an egg.” (P.3)
But therefore, the opposite can be true.
Can you imagine what one thinking person, who is God’s person, filled by His Spirit, and called by His Name, could do?
And so, we parents have no insignificant task as we stand on the watchtower. We are guarding a bridge for our children and their entire generation - the bridge of continual commerce of living ideas from the past. We are protecting their seat at the table of “The Grand Conversation” and filling the air with our prayers, so that whether our Father uses one or a mighty army, the tide of the conversation may turn toward an allegiance with the One True, Everlasting King. The only King and Author of Life who can answer the centuries-old questions. The Only King who alone has the words of eternal life. (John 6:68)
Your fellow guard on the watchtower,
Min Hwang
NOTE: This article was first published in Vol.5 Issue 3 of the Commonplace Quarterly magazine (2023).
