About Unpublished Trail Guide - A Charlotte Mason Podcast
A collection of talks and workshops from Jason Fiedler (pastor of Water City Church and CM dad) for a better way to educate, exploring the timeless philosophy of education from Charlotte Mason. Discover Mason's philosophy through living ideas, authentic encouragement, and education that rejects apathy. Whether you're new to Mason's living education or a seasoned traveler, this podcast offers thoughtful reflections and inspiring conversations to guide you along the way.
“Our God is described as ‘the God of Hope’; and we might get through many a dark day if we realize this, and that hope is a real if not tangible possession, which, like all the best things, we can ask for and have.”
Charlotte Mason, Children as ‘Persons’
It’s not surprising that Mason, in writing to educators, felt compelled to address the importance of hope. She knew that even in our schoolrooms filled with goodness and living ideas, there would still be “many a dark day.” Yet with humble confidence, Mason directs each of us to a hope that lies not in the perfect execution of her method of education, nor any other number of shifting circumstances. She invites us to know what she knew firsthand: it is our deepest Hope in Christ, “well and wisely fixed” that gives life.
https://www.unpublishedtrailguide.com/podcast/hope-well-and-wisely-fixed/
RESOURCES:
Slides – PDF (https://www.unpublishedtrailguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Hope-Well-and-Wisely-Fixed.pdf)
“Children As ‘Persons'” by Charlotte Mason
Charlotte Mason Poetry article (https://charlottemasonpoetry.org/children-are-born-persons/)
Article in the archives (https://archive.org/details/BoxCM6FileCMC41icmc41/mode/2up?view=theater)
Picture Study – Hope by George Frederic Watts (1866) (https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/watts-hope-n01640)
“Scale How Meditations” by Charlotte Mason (article from Nancy Kelly – Sage Parnassus) (https://sageparnassus.com/scale-how-meditations/)
12 Jul 2024
20 Mile March – Celebration of Chronic Consistency
“The power to distinguish what must be done at once, from what may be done, comes pretty much by habit. At first it requires attention and thought. But mind and body get into the way of doing most things; and the person, whose mind has the habit of singling out the important things and doing them first, saves much annoyance to himself and others, and has gained in Integrity.” Charlotte Mason Vol. 4, p. 172
Everyone knows the saying: “Insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different outcomes.” While there's truth to that, our culture's obsession with constantly seeking new or improved things often overlooks something crucial. Instead, we should find peace in the steady rhythm of everyday life, understanding that a life of faithfulness is valuable and not pointless.
https://www.unpublishedtrailguide.com/podcast/20-mile-march/
9 Jul 2022
The Overdone Brain: Failing at The Habit of Attention
"But truly, one of the most fertile causes of an overdone brain is a failure in the habit of attention.” Mason Vol. 1, p. 146
If the Jeopardy answer was “The Victorian equivalent of modern mental burnout”, the answer in the form of a question would be “What is the ‘overdone brain’?” Although this is language we may no longer use, it’s a concept we are all too familiar with. And Mason, ahead of her time per usual, tells us that the problem most often stems from a failure of the habit of attention.
In this workshop, we’ll unpack those same ideas as they relate to the unique role we, as educators, play in the formation of this habit of attention. Mason tells us that “it is not the things we do, but the things we fail to do, which fatigue us, with the sense of omission, with the worry of hurry in overtaking our tasks.” (vol. 1, p 146). Let us courageously examine and even cull the multitude of “things we fail to do” that we might find rest and peace for our overdone brains.
https://www.unpublishedtrailguide.com/podcast/overdone-brain/
RESOURCES:
“The Overdone Brain” Slides (https://www.unpublishedtrailguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/The-Overdone-Brain.pdf)
Picture Study – Profetie van Agabus, Jacob Folkema, after Houbraken, 1702 – 1767 (Public Domain) (https://www.unpublishedtrailguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/RP-P-OB-102.605-scaled.jpg)
Good Faith Podcast: Episode 33 Feeling Overwhelmed by the News Cycle (https://good-faith.simplecast.com/episodes/feeling-overwhelmed-by-the-news-cycle)
20 Jul 2021
Fortifying Against Doubt: The Three Paths Before Us
"How to Fortify them against Doubt – How to fortify the children against the doubts of which the air is full, is an anxious question. Three courses are open: to teach as we of an older generation have been taught, and to let them bide their time and their chance; to attempt to deal with the doubts and difficulties which have turned up, or are likely to turn up; or, to give children such hold upon vital truth, and at the same time such an outlook upon current thought, that they shall be landed on the safe side of the controversies of their day, open to truth, in however new a light presented, and safeguarded against mortal error." Charlotte Mason, Vol 2, p. 41
Charlotte Mason’s words of encouragement, however, are not for the faint of heart and challenge many commonly-held views in modern Western Christianity. Her’s is a refreshing voice in a time when so many are abandoning their faith when times of doubt come. There is hope. There is a better way.
This is a recording of the closing plenary talk given at the 2021 “Living Education Retreat” (LER) (https://sageparnassus.com/living-education-retreat/).
https://www.unpublishedtrailguide.com/fortifying-against-doubt/
Resources:
“Fortifying Against Doubt” Slides (https://www.unpublishedtrailguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/The-Knowldge-of-God-Slides.pdf)
“Fortifying Against Doubt” Reference List (https://www.unpublishedtrailguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Fortifying-Against-Doubt-reference-list.pdf)
18 Jul 2018
The Knowledge of God
“…the knowledge of God is the principal knowledge, and the chief end of education.” Charlotte Mason
What did Charlotte Mason mean by this statement? As Mason educators, do we read this statement with the careful consideration it deserves? What does it look like to make educational decisions for our students with this “chief end” always in mind? Does our own knowledge of God (and our ongoing pursuit of it) have a lasting effect on the lives of our children? How does the knowledge of God differ from knowledge about God?
As a father, pastor, and educator, I’ve been asking myself these questions recently. This is the talk that came from those questions.
https://www.unpublishedtrailguide.com/the-knowledge-of-god/
Resources:
“The Knowledge of God” Slides (https://www.unpublishedtrailguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/The-Knowldge-of-God-Slides.pdf)
“The Knowledge of God” Reference List (https://www.unpublishedtrailguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/The-Knowledge-of-God-reference-list.docx)
10 Jul 2017
Outfitting the "Chief Explorer": Why Cultivating Imagination Matters
“Imagining is perhaps as close as humans get to creating something out of nothing the way God is said to.”
Frederich Buechner, “Whistling in the Dark”
This year (2017), I was honored to give the closing plenary at the Charlotte Mason Institute (https://charlottemasoninstitute.com/) (CMI) Annual Conference. A few weeks later, I was able to give the Outfitting talk at a workshop at the 2017 Living Education Retreat (http://sageparnassus.blogspot.com/p/living-education-retreat_25.html)(LER). Once again, I am thrilled to be able to release this talk “into the wild” and hope that it might be an encouragement as you outfit your children for the life that is unfolding before them.
https://www.unpublishedtrailguide.com/outfitting-the-chief-explorer/
Resources:
“Outfitting the Chief Explorer” Slides (https://www.unpublishedtrailguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Outfitting-the-Chief-Explorer.pdf)
“Outfitting the Chief Explorer” Reference List (https://www.unpublishedtrailguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Outfitting-the-Chief-Explorer-Reference-Guide.pdf)
14 Jul 2016
The Unpublished Trail Guide
Have you ever thought: “Where’s my guidebook? What have I gotten myself into?" or "Where are we going exactly?” Perhaps you’ve got a spouse or an extended family member asking these questions about homeschooling right now.
This talk is the story of my own process of movement from “homeschool skeptic” and “CM illiterate” to owning my role in an education that truly is “an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life”. Together, we’ll be reminded why this messy, beautiful, life-giving journey is absolutely worth it.
Notes and Slides available here:
https://www.unpublishedtrailguide.com/an-unpublished-trail-guide/
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