As I was preparing for the Weekend of Living Ideas, I revisited some notes about keeping a Citizenship notebook. I know that others have used certain aspects of this here and there, and certainly I have made use of all of these notebooking activities – just not compiled into one notebook. Here, all the ideas are gathered and placed in one 3-ring binder with 5 sections. As you can see, you could begin building this notebook with younger students and slowly expand to incorporate appropriate activities. I don’t share this to overwhelm you, but to inspire you! Seeing how all these elements could fit together will hopefully further your understanding of Citizenship.
1. OURSELVES
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- commonplace entries
- Fortitude journal
- written narrations
- Mansoul map
- habits log
- Way of the Will chart
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- narrations
- maps
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- narration entries
- progress of a bill
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- heroic
- patriotic
- poetry based on current events
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- commonplace entries/quotes
- striking words/definitions
- narrations of other great lives
- notes of historical events
- magnanimous folk
I bounced many ideas for this off of Bonnie and Jen a few years ago. I thought I might share with you in order that you might develop your own Citizenship notebooks. I would love to know your thoughts on this and perhaps what you have used with success in your homeschool.
Autumn blessings,
Nancy
P.S. – more of my thoughts on Citizenship can be found here.
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Hi Nancy!
We are reading “Ourselves” in my reading group and wondered if you could tell us more about the mansoul map? Thanks!
Hi Nancy! We are reading Ourselves in my reading and we were wanting to work on the mansoul map. Could offer some guidance on that?
Hello, Elizabeth!
Well, there really are no rules for this. This is a work of the student’s imagination. Charlotte only mentions this map a few times and I doubt she meant a literal map. I have just found that it helps the students grasp the metaphor better.
Charlotte Mason tells of a map of Mansoul or mapping mansoul. In vol. 4 p. 4 we read:
“They see a good deal of Mansoul, but they cannot see it all, for a curious thing is, that no map has been made of the country, because a great deal of it is unexplored, and men have not discovered its boundaries.”
And in Vol. 6, p. 131:
“It is time that we realised that to fortify the will is one of the great purposes of education, and probably some study of the map of the City of Mansoul would afford us guidance: at least a bird’s eye view of the riches of the City should be spread before children.”
So, we usually read and narrate that first chapter together. Then maybe discuss what a map would look like based on that reading. Then that’s their assignment. Going forward, I encourage them to add to the map based on their readings.
HTH,
Nancy
Thanks! That’s what I was thinking but I wanted to get your thoughts.
Nancy, I love your ideas for the Citizenship notebook! I would love to add following/tracking a bill to ours. Do you have any suggestions on how to keep up with what is happening with a specific bill?
Thanks, Tabitha! These individual notebooks can really make Citizenship come alive for some students. Notebooks done in Mason’s way (following her principles) literally are “forms of vitality”, as she calls them. A great site to help choose a bill to watch as well as track its progress is https://www.govtrack.us/.
As someone who is just starting AO, and CM methods, I'm confused about all the different notebooks. I think they are wonderful ideas, and great for recalling information-but what would distinguish something from going into a Citizenship notebook vs a Book of Centuries, for example? Are there some beginner podcasts or blogs that touch on how to use notebooks in a CM homeschool? Thank you for sharing!
Also wondering at what age you started a Citizenship notebook? It sounds like something I'd like to keep for myself!
Hello, Rachel! I agree, there are so many notebooks mentioned that it can get confusing. The book "The Living Page" by Laurie Bestvater is the best resource for learning about all the notebooks used in a Mason education. I highly recommend it. The Book of Centuries is a main history tool that is a very unique form of vitality. I usually recommend what Laurie calls the 3 Pillars – a commonplace book, a nature notebook, and a book of centuries – to get started with. And by that I mean working on these 3 for a few years before expanding out to some of the others.
I think of the Citizenship notebook as something for middle school and up and probably with a student who is not new to Mason. You should by all means be keeping at least a commonplace book and nature notebook if at all possible. Learn to live this rich life as you go – no need to wait!
Thanks for the great questions and let me know if you have any others!
Warmly,
Nancy
I can see this kind of notebook being a very rich, rewarding activity for mind and soul as we grow ourselves and our children in habits, inspiration, and ultimately, character. My children are still too young for this kind of activity, but I'll be both filing this away for the future and considering this for my own learning and growing. Thank you! <3
Oh, and thank you also for linking this up to Keeping Company. I was so tickled to see your name pop up. 🙂
Extremely timely and helpful! I'm in the beginning of Ourselves and just beginning current events with my oldest, so this gives me tons of ideas to build on, Nancy. 🙂
I'm glad you can use some of it, Amy dear! Savor and go slow with Ourselves…so many important things in that book.
Ok! Thank you for that advice!!! <3 Blessings.
Wow. I love this idea! It is such a worthy addition to our "keeping" efforts. Thanks for the inspiration, Nancy!
You're welcome, Dawn!