Teaching Citizenship with Plutarch & Service

If you were asked to name a famous Roman leader, you might jump in and call out Julius Caesar or Ceasar Agustus. If you were asked to name a famous Egyptian leader, you might pause for a moment and then recall King Tutankhamun, Cleopatra, Queen Nerfertiti, or maybe even Rameses II. If you were asked to name a famous Greek leader, you might draw a blank. Greek leader, you say? Do philosophers count? I can do some of those!

But if you haven’t studied Ancient History or watched movies set in the Classical Age, you may hear crickets chirping in the room. But what if I said, “Alexander the Great?” Ahhh, yes, that name sounds familiar. What about Leonidas? Oh, wasn’t he in the movie, “The 300?” Yes. 

How about Pericles? (chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp) No? Nothing ringing a bell? Well, you’re not alone. I for one had no idea who he was until I prepared for this episode on Plutarch and his collection of Greek and Roman biographies, technically known as the Lives of Famous Greeks and Romans, or known more famously as Plutarch’s Lives.

You may not have even heard of the name Plutarch, which I would claim the same up until a few years ago when I began learning about British educator Charlotte Mason, who made the study of Plutarch’s Lives an indispensable subject in her schools’ curriculums. 

Today, I am excited to have back on the show Rachel Lebowitz of a Charlotte Mason Plenary. One of her passions is teaching Plutarch and so in the first part of the hour we are going to discuss who this Greek historian and philosopher was and why his name should be familiar to us today as it was centuries ago. For the second half of the hour, I have Curt and Carol Hoke, a lovely couple who will inform us on ways in which we can take some of the goals of Citizenship, like cultivating character and serving one another, and apply them to our lives today.

Favorite Resources:

• The Annotated Plutarch Series and Picture Studies by Rachel Lebowitz of A Charlotte Mason Plenary
• A Philosophy of Education: Annotated Edition by Charlotte Mason and Rachel Lebowitz
• Home Education: Annotated Edition by Charlotte Mason and Rachel Lebowitz
• Vol. 4: Ourselves by Charlotte Mason
• Stories From the History of Rome by Emily Beesly
• The Stuff They Left Behind in the Days of Ancient Greece by Simply Charlotte Mason
• The Stuff They Left Behind in the Days of Ancient Rome by Simply Charlotte Mason
• Joni and Friends ministry
• Volunteer at a Retreat or Getaway with Joni and Friends
• Queen for a Day hosted by Brick Lane Community Church, Elverson, PA

 

COMMONPLACE QUOTES

"The object of children’s literary studies is not to give them precise information as to who wrote what in the reign of whom? - but to give them a sense of the spaciousness of the days, not only of great Elizabeth, but of all those times of which poets, historians and the makers of tales, have left us living pictures. In such ways the children secure, not the sort of information which is of little cultural value, but wide spaces wherein imagination may take those holiday excursions deprived of which life is dreary; judgment, too, will turn over these folios of the mind and arrive at fairly just decisions about a given strike, the questions of Poland, Undian Unrest. Every man is called upon to be a statesman seeing that every man and woman, too, has a share in the government of the country; but statesmanship requires imaginative conceptions, formed upon pretty wide reading and some familiarity with historical precedents.” - Charlotte Mason, Vol. 6: A Philosophy of Education, p. 184-185

“Plutarch shows us that it is the small decisions in a man’s life that make up his character. We then get to see the consequences of those decisions. Plutarch does not judge for us. He lays the man’s life before us and we are left to judge. It truly is a remarkable way to study character and morality.” - Rachel Lebowitz, "Preface" to the Annotated Plutarch Series: Pericles

"Though you have not seen Him, you love Him, though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls." -1 Peter 1:8-9

". . . give a child a single valuable idea, and you have done more for his education than if you had laid upon his mind the burden of bushels of information . . . " - Charlotte Mason, Volume 1: Home Education, p. 174

 

APPLICATION

1. Consider exploring Citizenship in your homeschool or classroom by adding a study of Plutarch's Lives, Shakespeare's plays, Bible reading, and understanding how the government works.
2. Discuss with your children or students how they can participate in some kind of service project, local long-term service opportunities, or mission trips.
3. Begin reading through Charlotte Mason's Volume 4: Ourselves with your middle/high schooler and be ready for some great discussions!