{"id":2539,"date":"2025-05-22T14:32:12","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T18:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/?p=2539"},"modified":"2025-05-23T14:14:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T18:14:14","slug":"reading-and-growing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/reading-and-growing\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading and Growing"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row_content&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;true&#8221; custom_padding_t=&#8221;30&#8243; custom_padding_b=&#8221;30&#8243; row_hide_sm=&#8221;yes&#8221; row_hide_md=&#8221;yes&#8221; row_hide_xs=&#8221;yes&#8221; css_zindex=&#8221;999&#8243; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1706567709549{background-color: #faf5eb !important;}&#8221;][vc_column]<div class=\"templatera_shortcode\"><div class=\"container-fluid row_section vc_row_cp_lr_15 vc_row_cp_t_0 vc_row_cp_b_0\"><div  class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_column-gap-15 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Mason<\/a>\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/blog\/\">Articles & Magazine<\/a>\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/the-ambleside-difference\/\">Video Series<\/a>\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.sharepoint.com\/sites\/ASIAllMember\">Member Resources<\/a>\n  <\/div>\n<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row_content&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;true&#8221; custom_padding_t=&#8221;45&#8243; custom_padding_b=&#8221;45&#8243;][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/4&#8243;][vc_single_image source=&#8221;featured_image&#8221; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221; img_size=&#8221;stretch&#8221;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;30&#8243;][vc_separator width_in_percentages=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;30&#8243;][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]Browse more Ambleside Schools International <strong>Resources<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;30&#8243;][vc_separator width_in_percentages=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;30&#8243;]<div class=\"templatera_shortcode\"><div class=\"container row_section vc_row_cp_lr_15 vc_row_cp_t_0\"><div  class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_column-gap-30 vc_row-6953aa82cf49a795407586\"   style=' text-align:left; z-index:0;'><div class=\"row-container container-fluid\"><div class=\"row-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12 vc_column_container_6953aa82cf523780740099\" style=\"z-index:0\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner \"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><div class=\"vc_custom_heading vc_custom_heading_6953aa82cf5eb959253676\" ><h5 style=\"font-size: 17px;color: #000000;text-align: left\"><span class=\"hilight\"  ><a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/resources\/\">Resource Library<\/a><\/span><\/h5><\/div><div class=\"vc_empty_space  vc_empty_space_2\"   style=\"height: 10px\" ><span class=\"vc_empty_space_inner\"><\/span><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"vc_custom_heading vc_custom_heading_6953aa82cf6ef268769084\" ><h5 style=\"font-size: 17px;color: #000000;text-align: left\"><span class=\"hilight\"  ><a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/charlotte-mason\/\">Charlotte M. Mason<\/a><\/span><\/h5><\/div><div class=\"vc_empty_space  vc_empty_space_3\"   style=\"height: 10px\" ><span class=\"vc_empty_space_inner\"><\/span><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"vc_custom_heading vc_custom_heading_6953aa82cf830693031165\" ><h5 style=\"font-size: 17px;color: #000000;text-align: left\"><span class=\"hilight\"  ><a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/blog\/\">Articles<\/a><\/span><\/h5><\/div><div class=\"vc_empty_space  vc_empty_space_4\"   style=\"height: 10px\" ><span class=\"vc_empty_space_inner\"><\/span><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"vc_custom_heading vc_custom_heading_6953aa82cf959226035147\" ><h5 style=\"font-size: 17px;color: #000000;text-align: left\"><span class=\"hilight\"  ><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amblesideschools.com\/main\/educator-support\" target=\"_blank\">Members<\/a><\/span><\/h5><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;3\/4&#8243;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/blog\/\"><span style=\"color: #003865;\">&gt; Return to Articles<\/span><\/a><\/h4>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;30&#8243;][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;Reading and Growing&#8221; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h1|font_size:30|text_align:left|color:%23020202&#8243;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;30&#8243;][vc_separator width_in_percentages=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;30&#8243;][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>I conceive a knowledge of books<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>is the basis upon which other knowledge is to be built.<\/em><sup>1<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>America\u2019s first president, George Washington, was not educated formally; his two older half-brothers received their education at Appleby School in England. George\u2019s father planned to send him to England as well. His unexpected death, however, prevented George, now 11, from receiving the same education as his brothers.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Instead, George received his education by books and tutors.<sup>2<\/sup> In addition to reading, writing, and basic legal forms, he studied geometry and trigonometry \u2014 preparing him for his first career as a surveyor. Toward the end of his schooling, George copied 110 <em>Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation,<\/em><sup>3 <\/sup>which would shape his character and conduct for the rest of his life.\u00a0\u00a0His formal education ended at fourteen.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Throughout his life, Washington was a voracious reader; he took notes, jotted down memoranda, created personal indices, underlined, and on rare occasions, wrote in the margins. He took the time to thoroughly investigate a topic, collecting information from a variety of sources and perspectives, before pursuing his own opinions and course.<sup>4<\/sup><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>His pursuit of knowledge had been a hard-fought quest to overcome his educational deficit while simultaneously building his career. For him, reading was fundamentally an act of self-construction, a means of intellectual and moral improvement.<sup>5<\/sup><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Charlotte Mason understood keenly what Washington had learned from his studies:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>If we are to read and grow thereby, we must read to know, that is, our<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>reading must be study\u2014orderly, definite, purposeful. In this way, what<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>I have called the two stages of education, synthetic and analytic,<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>coalesce; the wide reading tends to discipline, and in the disciplinary or<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>analytic stage the mind of the student is well nourished by the continued<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>habit of wide reading.<sup>6<\/sup><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Maryellen St. Cyr<\/p>\n<p>Co-Founder and Director of Curriculum<\/p>\n<p>Ambleside Schools International<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\"><\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;30&#8243;][vc_separator width_in_percentages=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;30&#8243;][vc_column_text]<sup>1<\/sup> George Washington, 1771.<\/p>\n<p><sup>2<\/sup> His library collection consists of more than 1,200 titles and nearly 900 pages of notes from his reading survive today.<\/p>\n<p><sup>3<\/sup> Adapted by the 1595 work written by French Jesuit Priests.<\/p>\n<p><sup>4<\/sup> Issac, Amanda, C., <em>Take Note! George Washington the Reader, <\/em>Mount Vernon Ladies\u2019 Association, 213.<\/p>\n<p><sup>5<\/sup> Ibid.,<\/p>\n<p><sup>6<\/sup> Mason, <em>Formation of Character<\/em>, 382.[\/vc_column_text][vc_raw_html]JTVCeWFycHAlNUQ=[\/vc_raw_html][\/vc_column][vc_column][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>George Washington\u2019s hard-won pursuit of knowledge shows how reading shapes character and growth\u2014just as Charlotte Mason believed it should.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2541,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,12],"tags":[88,142,217,216],"class_list":["post-2539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-maryellen-st-cyr","category-philosophy","tag-charlotte-mason","tag-education","tag-formation-of-character","tag-george-washington"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - 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