sound advice

Someone on a Charlotte Mason list linked to this article called Concrete Problems at Parent's Review Archives. It's sort of a panel discussing common upbringing questions and there is all kinds of good sense in it. Here's a bit from the introduction that I think needs to be kept in mind whenever talking about parenting and homeschooling questions:

....none of us speak with the voice of infallibility, we are all learners, and we do not lay down rules of conduct, or a system of education, which each of us can go home and then and there apply to our children. Alas, our task as parents and as child trainers is not so easy. We have to have certain true educational principles which we must master, digest, and quietly work out in all our homes in a reverent and prayerful spirit.

I am afraid that some among our members do what we are always urging that the children should not be allowed to do, viz., swallow raw material without digesting it. Someone will advocate "cold baths," and they will at once, regardless of the child's physical condition, previous habits, etc., etc., go home and then and there start the practice. Someone else will speak in praise of certain gymnastics and at once a fashion and a cult is started for them without due thought and weighty consideration.