I received this email recently from a homeschooler: ”Hello!!! I would LOVE and even pay for a beginners guide to teaching citizenship and Plutarch. It feels so overwhelming to me for some reason I don’t even know where to begin, and I saw you mention in one of your videos it’s one of your favorite subjects to teach.” Warm wishes! - KM
I DO love teaching citizenship! But sometimes it sounds intimidating and I can understand why. Public school approaches these topics through “social studies” and when homeschoolers talk about things like Rome and Plutarch and your child is 5 years old… it can feel confusing and overwhelming.
My initial response is to suggest checking out Heroes & Hope and Exploring Political Ideologies for older students, but these are launching pads to dive even deeper and appreciate this subject area.
That’s why today, I’m diving into how we can teach citizenship with purpose to all ages.
Reading through our Heroes & Hope book with my kids in April 2020!
Charlotte Mason viewed citizenship as an essential part of education, helping individuals understand their role and responsibility within society. Her approach was rooted in character formation, moral integrity, and a deep understanding of history, government, and social order.
We also don’t structure our homeschool like a traditional school, with social studies workbooks and tests.
Still, I firmly believe that citizenship encompasses the whole person—their values, beliefs, internal moral compass, and leadership development.
One key aspect I should mention is that I approach citizenship studies differently with my son and daughter, based on their God-given strengths, skills, and interests. In other words, our son is wired differently than his little sister. Nevertheless, they both deserve exposure to Plutarch, for example. While they may not both be naturally inclined to pursue studies in battle leadership, they are both inclined toward character development.
Here’s a brief overview of how we’ve approached teaching citizenship over the past 10 years:
Starting in Form 2B (Grade 4): We begin by gradually reading Stories from the History of Rome by Ms. Beesly. The children give an oral or a drawing narration.
Moving to Citizenship Primers: After completing Stories from the History of Rome, we introduce a citizenship primer like The Young Citizen Reader by Paul Reinsch. Alongside this, we start reading through a Plutarch Primer to familiarize the children with the lives and teachings of Plutarch, the Greek historian and biographer. Plutarch's Lives (or Parallel Lives)—biographies of notable Greeks and Romans—are considered foundational in classical education, including in Charlotte Mason's method.
Incorporating Other Stories and Guides: While working through the primers, we also explore other historical stories and biographies, using resources like Heroes & Hope, Courage and Exploring Political Ideologies to discuss the ideas and values tied to citizenship. We enjoy poetry like Lyra Heroica, and books like Ourselves and the Socratic Dialogues. There are a plethora of great books depending on what you think your child might enjoy reading and discussing! I offer more ideas in my form guides which you can find here and here.
Diving Deeper into Plutarch: As we progress, we read Plutarch’s Lives together and discuss the various lives. Initially, my son and I read together, using guides from communities like The CMEC, The Alveary, and Ambleside Online. However, as our schedule became busier and I was reading aloud for most of the day, my son transitioned to online Plutarch classes with a community of students. For the past two years, his favorite has been classes with Thomas Banks from House of Humane Letters.
Engaging in In-Person Discussions on GREAT books: Finally, our kids participate in in-person groups where they get to discuss good books and citizenship values with their peers, focusing on the good, the true, and the beautiful. These can include things like sci-fi or fantasy fiction novels, historical fiction and more.
The key is to not box yourself in! Sure, we can enjoy a path with what others have studied for history AND we can include exciting books and dialogue with others based on modern society and the world we live in and the ideas and challenges we battle today.
In the end, as homeschool parents, our role isn’t to teach everything. It's about exposing our children to a rich feast of ideas and allowing them to explore these topics at their own pace.
I hope this is helpful!