Poetic Knowledge (Or, Magic of Mother Academia) | The Commonplace

Poetic Knowledge (Or, Magic of Mother Academia) | The Commonplace | Classical CM Home Education

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The Commonplace | Classical CM Home Education

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@kaitlynbooth8843 4 ай бұрын

I just finished Little Men after reading Little Women this winter! Tears... tears of joy and laughter and sadness and beauty .... all throughout the books. Little Women taught me so much about family while Little Men taught me and made me feel so many memories about friendship. I truly believe this was my first time feeling “poetic knowledge”. To not have read these books as a kid makes my heart so sad- but to pre-read them for my children now is such a gift! Thank you for putting these books on my radar as a young mom (who was far from classically educated) of littles starting to educate. Next up on my list- Narnia!!!

@thecommonplacehomeschool 4 ай бұрын

Sometimes I feel that pain too! What a delightful childhood to be given these ideas from the start, right? But I'm also so grateful that we're never "beyond the age of ideas". Further up and further in! Little Men...*sigh*...it's the perfect book.

@linhtrinh6443 2 ай бұрын

Dear Autumn, I really admire your work and always look forward to watching your videos! I am an academic myself and your videos have been helpful for my own journey to reconcile my new role as a mother and a lifelong student. Please do not feel like you miss out a lot from graduate school. Academia is put on a high pedestal and it is no longer the kind of place that nurtures one's love for the true, good, and beautiful.

@thecommonplacehomeschool 2 ай бұрын

Ah, thank you for THIS. I recently thought that it's time for me to re-examine my childhood beliefs that academia belongs on a high pedestal. It did at one point, but I don't think, generally, American higher education is a pinnacle of thought and virtue anymore. But thankfully self-education is always available.

@linhtrinh6443 2 ай бұрын

@@thecommonplacehomeschool It was also a dream of mine from childhood that was perhaps too greatly influenced by the Oxford crowd. I highly recommend reading Saint John Henry Newman's The Idea of a University, if you have not already. Always gives me great hope for a traditional revival.

@shelaervin 4 ай бұрын

Man, what a good word. Grasping that these early years are a precious opportunity for cultivating poetic knowledge has given me all the permission to increasingly compartmentalize my duties and unapologetically go "out on adventures" with the kids. But you're right - they're doing it at home too. Really, such a wonder-filled life, when we receive eyes to see it.

@thecommonplacehomeschool 4 ай бұрын

Yes! Go on the adventures! In our monthly Q&A last month in Common House, I mentioned a similar habit I'm cultivating: naming the "greater good". Yes, I do need to fold the laundry and the kids do need good rest, but the greater good, at the moment, is chasing fireflies together way past bedtime. The greater good is always calling, but, man oh man, does it take wisdom to name it in the ordinary moments!

@laurenperron4130 4 ай бұрын

Spenser's The Faerie Queen was what helped me really cultivate poetic knowledge for myself. I read it for my children and found it so essential for myself.

@thecommonplacehomeschool 4 ай бұрын

Oh, yes. I've never made it all the way through but recently grabbed a copy at a library book sale! I love hearing which books worked magic on others!

@BC-fd8bf 4 ай бұрын

I happen to be reading Little Men right now because of a video you did once upon a long time ago (maybe for Advent?). It has only taken me a while to get here because I needed to read Little Women first. It has truly been a joy and a delight of mom-life to simmer in stories during small pockets of mom-time. Thanks for encouraging the stories and reading on your channel. Truly life-giving.🌷

@thecommonplacehomeschool 4 ай бұрын

YES. Whenever I hear anyone is reading it, I think that is my greatest win of 2024. Ha! It's a phenomenal read for mothers/women building "homes" for others!

@meganwiedeman5040 4 ай бұрын

I need to go borrow Little Men and Jo’s Boys from my 11 year old! I’m adding them to my ever-growing TBR list. Thank you for sharing your love of Narnia in these videos. After having my 6th baby in December (who thinks naps are an entirely optional and unnecessary part of her life), I very much realized my limitations. With homeschooling 4 children and keeping a toddler occupied and a newborn alive and keeping my house from falling apart, my brain space was limited, but Narnia was just what I needed. I could squeeze it into pockets of time while nursing or after kids went to bed or during naps and I loved every minute of it. The funny thing was, I was catching my husband picking the books up and reading them after me, and we ended up having wonderful conversations about all the best or most moving parts of the books. We were both shocked at the depth of emotion that “The Last Battle” elicited. I was a high school English teacher before I got married. I have read lots of books in my lifetime. I only wish that I had read Narnia sooner. But better late than never! Keep on encouraging!

@thecommonplacehomeschool 4 ай бұрын

Steal 'em now! Steal the books! I have the happiest goosebumps reading your Narnia adventure! The wardrobe really is for everyone.

@amanda1363 4 ай бұрын

I LOVE your message, here and appreciate the honesty! Classically minded moms need this reminder. I also love these videos in front of your bookshelves!

@thecommonplacehomeschool 4 ай бұрын

Thank you! Always fun to switch up the recording background. (Full shelf or half shelf? Ha!)

@nataliefeliciano2894 3 ай бұрын

Autumn, I’m wondering if you can answer this question. Poetic knowledge, Charlotte Mason & classical education are all things that speak to me and how I would love to teach my child. I’ve also been learning a lot about child led learning, reading John Holt and John Taylor Gatto. Although I LOVE a classical education, my child isn’t interested in the same things I am and I wonder if an education that is child led would produce better results. So my question is, how does a classical Charlotte Mason education compare to child led learning?

@thecommonplacehomeschool 3 ай бұрын

I don't know the specifics of child-led learning but I will say that classical/CM knows that the child is a person but an immature person. Education ought to help them become a mature person, meaning they love the right things at the right time and in the right way ("ordo amoris"). Children don't know what they ought to love, so they can't take the lead in their own education. (It'd be like your six-year-old taking the lead in their diet. They'd get some good stuff in, but it wouldn't be the best for them.) Now, I think delight is a big part of child-led learning and it's a big part of poetic knowledge too. Delight is crucial for learning. But delight doesn't come because the child is getting to pursue their whims/interests; it comes from beautiful ideas given in their proper form. (Sometimes delight must grow too. We're all learning to love lovely things!) I'm in charge of the formal instruction: what, when, and how much. But, of course, I take my children's interests into consideration in planning adventures, read alouds, trips, and everything else in our non-school hours.

@nataliefeliciano2894 3 ай бұрын

@@thecommonplacehomeschool thank you, this is a great explanation.

@humblyhaley 4 ай бұрын

Paradise Lost by John Milton is having the same effect on me that Dante is having on you. Definitely have noticed a gap in my education in regards to the Homeric epics and Greek mythology. So many great classics have references to these and that will be my next area of study in Mother Academia. Charlotte Mason’s methods really encapsulate the Poetic Knowledge and I’m seeing this for my children and for myself since I’m narrating and reciting as well. Love this series! 😄

@thecommonplacehomeschool 4 ай бұрын

Ah, Paradise Lost is a masterpiece! Someone in Common House just mentioned going there next too! You really cannot grasp the depths of great literature without knowledge of the epics/mythology. You're completely right. Same is true of Dante! Ah, or Shakespeare!

@luccalele9740 Ай бұрын

Im rewatching this video after gathering more info on the poetic mode, Charlotte mason and all the things, and am understanding it so much better this time around. So many ideas to make sense of! I have a question… what about Charlotte Mason (we love her, of course) and her methods pull the child out of poetic mode or don’t align with this goal as you go through the years? I am looking at the Children’s Tradition for next year, what about it keeps that phase of poetic mode learning more protected than a strictly CM curriculum like say ambleside online or CMEC… is there something specific happening in the way of teaching that shifts the focus? I hope my question makes sense but I can see you’re a couple years ahead of me and have worked through some of these questions already, haha!

@thecommonplacehomeschool Ай бұрын

I think Mason does protect the poetic mode! I think, with any solid Mason curriculum, the mother can protect or pull from the poetic in how she instructs/introduces the material, types of questions she asks, etc. I loved our first two years with the CMEC and believe they were wonderful for our start. I've never been a Mason purist (preferring the larger tradition and loving Mason in that context), so there were certain Mason-purist-book-selections that were not my top picks but we left the CMEC for logistical reasons. (Our co-op was no longer using their common subjects, our scout group doesn't use their natural history; I made novel swaps each year anyway, etc. So it didn't make sense to pay for 1/4 of a curriculum.) I was trying to pull my own thing together and then learned Amanda had done it for me! Ha! As for instruction concern: there are certain ways of narrating that might pull a child into the analytic (like asking for an oral narration for sensory-rich material like artist study; it might be more poetic to ask for a drawn/painted narration instead). Some comprehensive history spines (common in CM circles) may pull into the analytic, but you could buffer that with great biographies and historical fiction!

@emmawilson7819 4 ай бұрын

Feeling brave enough to comment from your aside on replying to comments! Firstly, thank you for specifying your symposiums include non-mothers. I am in the boat of those "37, and learning for myself". Without children of my own, I have been aimless with the ending of my season as a hybrid Charlotte Mason/Classical educator. I am so encouraged by the notions you share about self-education for the sake of the Thing rather than the pursuit of title or degree; it is a treasure to find resources like what you provide. Thank you! Also, please tell me more about "petitive". I haven't come across it before and am intrigued by its part in training the 'whole soul'.

@thecommonplacehomeschool 4 ай бұрын

Oh yes, you're very welcome in these parts! The appetitive! Meaning "the belly" or the base desires of all persons. It's all desire (no goal) and when ordered, not bad. But often these desires are disordered and must be brought into line by the rational/mind/head through the chest/spirited/right loves.

@MelonieL83 4 ай бұрын

This is so good. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

@thecommonplacehomeschool 4 ай бұрын

Thanks for listening!

@christiejean2653 4 ай бұрын

This was so eye opening for me. Thank you!!!

@thecommonplacehomeschool 4 ай бұрын

You're quite welcome!

@adamtaylor2057 2 ай бұрын

Autumn, great video! Have you read the book ‘Poetic Knowledge’?

@thecommonplacehomeschool 2 ай бұрын

Adam Taylor, might you be James Taylor's son? I'm in my first read of it along with a few others I've gathered since meeting John Senior last year. It has been a fascinating read and one I will need to return to many times!

@adamtaylor2057 2 ай бұрын

@@thecommonplacehomeschool Yes, in fact. Happy to hear that you've enjoyed the read and that it's bearing good fruit for you and your fellow teachers.

@ezekielfenjavandehei3189 3 ай бұрын

I feel like my mothering has been greatly encouraged by Up from Slavery this summer and also reading Little Women as a light read ❤ I've always planned our own curriculum but I always have such a hard time limiting, I want to do all the things and I have all sorts of ideas... but my kids and I are humans, so I have to limit. How do you go about doing this?

@thecommonplacehomeschool 3 ай бұрын

Oh, I’m similar. I have to follow a written path, even if I write it myself. I’ll usually have a master list of what I hope to read with them over the next 18 years (or so) but I’ll break into years, seasons, liturgical seasons, etc to help me focus on a smaller part of it! It also helps me to remember the vast lists can be a gift of humility if I choose to remember I’ll never enjoy or know it all.

@ezekielfenjavandehei3189 3 ай бұрын

@thecommonplacehomeschool a gift of humility, very true. Thank you!

@EmilyCharlotte-iw8gt 4 ай бұрын

Love this so much! Your passion for this subject came through so clearly and I'm looking forward to more discussion around it! The idea of poetic knowledge is super new to me, but it gives me a lot of food for thought as an aspiring Middle Grade author. Do you have any thoughts on the key differences/'red flags' between children's literature that invites them to enter into poetic knowledge vs. the ones that don't? And Is it always the classics and old books that are saturated in this?

@thecommonplacehomeschool 4 ай бұрын

If you're really interested, I recommend reading Poetic Knowledge by James Taylor!! Are you familiar with C.S. Lewis? He believed in the 'atmosphere' of a story. It's not so much that you tell the child true things (or anything) but, rather, you show it to them. That's a pretty good flag system. Analytic writing leans didactic, explanatory, and factual/materialistic. Poetic writing breathes the reality into you. It's not always old books that can do this, no. Not every old book is a good book. But, yes, generally, the old classic books do this really well. (And the newer ones that can do it-like Susanna Clarke-are students of the older ones.)

@EmilyCharlotte-iw8gt 4 ай бұрын

@@thecommonplacehomeschool Those thoughts are very helpful! Thank you so much! Now that you mention him, I remember hearing someone referencing Lewis' term 'the Donegality of a place', as well as his essay on the Kappa element (Kappa coming from the initial of a Greek word that meant 'cryptic', I believe?) that talks of the atmosphere of a story, so now I'd love to dig deeper and read more on his thoughts specifically :) Thank you again!

@gorgo4910 4 ай бұрын

I heard you mention the church calendar in the past- do you have a video or can you point me towards resources beyond integrating advent and lent into the home life?

@thecommonplacehomeschool 4 ай бұрын

I have a guide in my shop about it: www.thecommonplacepodcast.com/market/p/liturgia But I haven't made any video-specific resources on this topic yet! I would go through old A Drink with a Friend podcast episodes! Or search key phrases: liturgical life, sacramental living

@01Camillag 4 ай бұрын

Such an insightful video. Thank you. I'm chewing on this "poetic knowledge" concept only for a little while now, and I have a question, if you would be so kind to address it somewhere :) I left the charismatic church/movement because of the shakiness that I found in its emphasized way of subjectively experiencing and feeling everything. I find myself leaning more to reformed ideas now. I want to be careful of leaning to either opposite extremes. So my question is ... Q: Considering some dangers that go hand in hand with experienced and emotional based things in the church, media, philosophies (those found in the hyper charismatic movement), how does "poetic knowledge" differ from these modern experienced based route?

@thecommonplacehomeschool 4 ай бұрын

Suuuuch a good questions. Gosh, this may become a video. You've hit the nail on the head: our current issue is an over-emphasis on personal feeling so how do we keep from that or the other ditch of hyper-rationalism? When I talk about sentiment in poetic knowledge, I'm referring to a right reaction to objective reality. (I will actually be exploring this in Common House through our slow reading of The Abolition of Man!) It's less of a personal feeling (although one does feel it), and more of an ordered understanding and love of the Right Thing. It's the way one feels disgust at the evil in a fairy tale or veneration when at the foot of a waterfall. One does feel, but according to Reality as defined by God. This is very different than "whatever you feel must be true", right? With poetic knowledge, it's a harmonious integration between the intellect, the emotional, and the senses (the whole person). If you're familiar with the Platonic soul, you might say: the head rules the belly through the chest. The rational mind (a good thing!) rules the appetites (also good unless disordered!) through the chest (sentiments! right loves and cares!). The hyper-emotionalism is an enlarged chest and the hyper-rationalism is an enlarged mind, and anything disordered (hyper or hypo) is a problem. Hope that helps!

@01Camillag 3 ай бұрын

Brilliant! What an exciting journey of discovery to be on. Thank you for your videos.

@emmaogilvie9908 4 ай бұрын

What translation of the Divine Comedy are you reading?

@thecommonplacehomeschool 4 ай бұрын

I'm using Everyman's which was translated by Allen Mandelbaum. If I have the time ever, I would like to read Dorothy Sayers' translation. Oh, and Anthony Esolen's. And Jason Baxter has one coming out in the near future and I've loved his Beginner's Guide so much... Gah. We'll need more Dante time.

@LionWolverine 4 ай бұрын

My 12 year old just reread Little Men in one day ❤ you mentioned that you are planning your own curriculum, are you no longer using CMEC?

@thecommonplacehomeschool 4 ай бұрын

Correct. We had a wonderful time with the CMEC but it's not the best fit for this coming year!

@Maria-bk7km 4 ай бұрын

@@thecommonplacehomeschoolI’d love to know more! Will you be sharing?

@LionWolverine 4 ай бұрын

I'd love to know more too! We've also enjoyed a lot of CMEC but I've been considering putting together my own program. I'm a bit nervous because I'll have four students this coming year (oldest in form three!) but going back to AO isn't my favourite option either.

@thecommonplacehomeschool 4 ай бұрын

@@Maria-bk7km @Lionwolverine I shared more in-depth in Common House (part of the summer planning series) but it boiled down to: 1. Our co-op isn't using the CMEC this year so I no longer need the common subjects part of the curriculum. 2. I joined primarily for the Mothers' Education Course (I LOVE they offer this.) but with my own work (about education, of course), I never found the time to join in this past year. 3. I was already making changes to the curriculum. I believe certain things (like fairy tales, myths, and fables) need to be part of education beyond Form 1. I was also making swaps for history, natural history, and term novels based on books I've collected and wanted to include. This left me preparing and completing "school" as well as the "second school" I put together for our other hours to make sure certain books/stories were being enjoyed by the kids. 4. Because of 1 and 2 and 3, it didn't seem worth spending the money to do so much additional work on my own. But the CMEC is still one of my highest recommendations for a curriculum. I think they do a tremendous job building from the PNEU and staying true to Mason's principles. They're by far my favorite CM option.

@thecommonplacehomeschool 4 ай бұрын

@@LionWolverine See above!

@ComptonArts 4 ай бұрын

So, wait... does this mean it's okay for me to just enjoy all the books I'm reading with my kids, even if I'm not able to yet analyze/understand/articulate the layers of meaning, etc.? (Does that mean this new-to-me classical education is working? 😅) Since falling into the classical wardrobe, I'm finding it more difficult to get swept into the stories because now I'm trying to "understand" them according to the literary tradition... but sometimes I just want to laugh with my kids at the misadventures of Nesbit's characters, for example. Does that fall under a "poetic" understanding?

@thecommonplacehomeschool 4 ай бұрын

Yes, you most certainly can enjoy the story with your kids. Delight and wonder are the heartbeats of poetic knowledge and are very necessary!