Raising Little Bibliophiles

I discovered Charlotte Mason when we decided to homeschool our two children. Her philosophy on education was a perfect match with my love for literature. It was from reading her volumes that I came across the term ‘twaddle’. She says,

“We have never been so rich in books. But there has never been a generation when there is so much twaddle in print for children.”

Twaddle simply means trivial or lacking in quality. Miss Mason used this term to describe books that are deficient in depth, are poorly written and are like junk food for the mind (I guess this also applies to the type of entertainment we consume or conversations we have).

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Having amassed a library ever since I started collecting books, I had started to build a collection for my children and although still small in number, I quickly conducted an audit. I looked over each one and asked myself, is this book ‘worthy’ to be read and absorbed by the fresh minds of my children? So all the twaddle books went into a ‘donation’ box. It felt really good to see only a small pile of books to get rid of. From then on, I have kept an eye out for living books whenever I went to the thrift shop or while scrolling through book-buy-sell-swap groups on Facebook.

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After three years of homeschooling using the Charlotte Mason method, and reading along with my children, our library of living books, which include our lesson books as well as titles specifically selected for leisurely reading, has grown considerably, curated specifically for the feeding of the soul and of the mind. And they have fed even my grown-up heart and intellect. Having feasted on a specific diet of the best works written for children, my hope is that they will naturally develop a love for literature.

“Therefore, the selection of their first lesson-books is a matter of grave importance, because it rests with these to give children the idea that knowledge is supremely attractive and that reading is delightful.” – Charlotte Mason

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I invite you to come in, have a look around our little library. I'll put on the kettle and brew some tea (or coffee). Sit down and join us as we continue to discover the joy of reading!