The Commonplace

Latest Episodes:

Ep 02 | Children Are Not Born Good or Bad (Principle #2) Feb 10, 2022

Show notes

This is the principle that first sent me running from Miss Mason and eventually brought me back. Rather than have you make the same loop, I’ll save you the time and let you in on the secret now: she’s talking about a child’s character, not the state of a child’s soul. All children have the capacity for good or evil, and education should draw a child towards goodness with the best of ideas. But, I also like to use my personal favorite tool: winking.

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You can find the full episode notes here.

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Ep 01 | Children Are Born Persons (Principle #1) Jan 27, 2022

Show notes

‘Children are born persons,’ seems kind of obvious. What else would they be born as? But as we dive deeper into this principle, it’s easy to see how quickly we forget this little truth and how, consequently, our education misses its mark. Before we ever choose a curriculum or resource, we need to understand what a child is and how they learn. This is the first principle.

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You can find the full episode notes here.

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Ep 00 | Welcome to Season Two Jan 13, 2022

Show notes

And we’re back!

Have you ever noticed how much of the homeschooling content points to what you should buy for your homeschool: supplies, resources, planners, wall art, and the like? This makes sense; we moms love to share a good tip. But when we spend our time focused on this part of homeschooling, all of that clicking, liking, saving, and buying can start to feel like we’re preparing to educate our children.

But are we?

Will the perfect materials a homeschool mom make? Or are we missing something?

In this second season of the podcast, we’re going to put the shopping lists aside, roll up our sleeves, and ready our minds to become home educators.

Join us?

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You can find the full episode notes here.

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Ep 10 | Let’s Talk Shop: An Interview with Leslie Bustard Nov 04, 2021

Show notes

When I launched The Commonplace, I knew what I could offer to other moms at the beginning of the homeschooling journey, but I also knew what I couldn’t offer: experience-earned wisdom. I needed an interview addition to the podcast, and the first person I thought of was Leslie. With only Ep 00 recorded, I asked if she would consider joining me to ‘talk shop,’ and she graciously agreed. We met early this summer at her kitchen table—joined by her dog, Pevensie, and intermittent fireworks—to discuss a great many things: feelings of fear or inadequacy in the early years, maintaining affection and delight for your children, funny mishaps common to all homeschools, and building a home with poetic underpinnings. There’s something in this episode for everyone, and I think it’s the perfect way to end season one.

Further up and further in! I’ll see you guys next season.

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You can find the full episode notes here.

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Ep 09 | Twaddle Dee and Twaddle Dum Oct 21, 2021

Show notes

Twaddle is such a funny word, and yet, it can strike fear into the heart of any new homeschooling mom. What if we pick the wrong books? Will our children ever recover? Will they love silly, idle talk and hideous illustrations? We worry we’ll ruin everything if we accidentally let a piece of twaddle through the door. We are, after all, the bookshelf gatekeepers.

So we set out to find the best of books, something Charlotte Mason moms refer to as ‘living books.’ But that’s almost just as hard to define. Every mom has a different list of living books and it’s easy to wonder if ‘living book’ just means ‘old book.’

But rather than fret or freeze when trying to choose books for our children, let’s work on gathering a few key characteristics of twaddle and living books so we’re able to quickly discern what’s best, what’s good, and what’s twaddle.

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PS. Bonus! I’ve made a video resource to bring this conversation down to the dirt. I grabbed a few books off my kids’ shelves to show you how I quickly assess a book to figure out if it’s likely to be a living book or twaddle. You can find it here.

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You can find the full episode notes here.

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Ep 08 | For the Five and Younger Crowd Oct 07, 2021

Show notes

Have you ever read a word but never heard it said aloud? And maybe you liked the word, so you used it casually in conversation only to realize later you said it incorrectly? This has happened to me many times and is happening to me every time someone listens to this episode.

Fallow. Let us never forget how to pronounce /ˈfalō/.
But I hope it makes you laugh and serves as a reminder that we’re all learning and growing in these early years of a classical education.

We’re not so unlike our little ones.

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You can find the full episode notes here.

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Ep 07 | For King and Country!: The Mythic and Moral Imaginations Sep 23, 2021

Show notes

Education is not primarily a cognitive adventure, because born persons are not brains-on-sticks. Your children are primarily worshippers. So, the main influence within your child is their heart, which includes their cares, motivations, and desires. And how do you speak to a child’s heart? Through their imagination.

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You can find the full episode notes here.

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Bonus! | The Commonplace Holiday Episode Aug 28, 2021

Show notes

This episode is as much of a surprise to me as it is to you.

It’s been a hard week, and I, for one, need a holiday. And I was thinking that maybe you might too.

So, if you’ll allow me, I’m going to offer you and your children a fifteen minute holiday through the story of The Velveteen Rabbit.

It’s about being made real by love.

Ep 06 | Moms Are (Born) Persons Too Aug 12, 2021

Show notes

We spend a lot of time thinking about the best habits for our children, but what about us moms? We’re (born) persons too, you know. But I’m not here to get into the specifics of habits you should or shouldn’t add into your rhythms. (Note: those are conversations best had with people who know you in a fuller, deeper context.) I am, however, here to talk about one of my favorite principles behind the heartbeat of habits: beauty.

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You can find the full episode notes here.
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Ep 05 | Habit: Attention Jul 29, 2021

Show notes

What is attention? I’m so glad you asked. Miss Mason defines attention as the act by which the whole mental force is applied to the subject at hand. It’s giving your full focus to something. And, of course, Miss Mason believed a mother could train attention to be a habit if she’s able to attract and hold the child’s attention through the right motive.

That Miss Mason. Always getting to the child’s heart, isn’t she?

These habits are so much more than tapping a toddler into housework or finishing a school day. You’re offering your child a way in which to live with joy and delight and imagination and pleasure in God’s world.

Just imagine that.

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And bonus fun: today is the day I finally mention Plato. We’re real classical homeschoolers now.

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You can find the full episode notes here.

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Continuing Education Picks

‘Habit Training Part 2: The Practice of Habit Training,’ Patrick Egan

The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg

‘Cultivating the Habit of Attention,’ My Little Robins

‘Duty, Being, and Building with Dirt,’ Lindsey Brigham Knott

Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman