Wilder's Little

Study Guide:

Wilder’s Little Men

Prepared by Rachel DeMille and Sara DeMille

This Study Guide is prepared as a companion to the Mentoring in the Classics Audio Series. For more information, visit TJEd.org/MIC Copyright © Oliver & Rachel DeMille, TJEd.org “An Education to Match Your Mission”

This Month’s Mentoring Content

The Introductory Mentoring Audio, provided via a link in your course email, is presented by Oliver DeMille. Later this month a Debriefing Audio will be sent to you.

Please take a moment to download your audio content to your computer immediately so you have uninterrupted access to it!

Ideas for Writing or Discussion:

• Which “Ingredients” from Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning are featured in this novel? • What other Leadership Education methods and practices are suggested by this novel? [Below is a partial list that we came up with, for things suggested by TJEd books: The 5 Habits of Highly Successful Homeschoolers; Thomas Jefferson Education for Teens; The Student Whisperer; etc. Can you find these things featured in the story?]

o The Bookshelf o Blank Page Brainstorming o The Interview o The Project o The Purge o The “No” o The Inventory o Discussion o Spring for Science o Evenings for Inspiration o Winter for Stories o Inspire not Require o Trust the Process o Detect and refine individual genius

Interacting with the text: [Page numbers are from the Puffin Classics 1994 edition; if you have a different edition that does not match these page numbers, you may use a online word search to find these quotes in context, as the text is easily accessed on the internet.]

• Page 8: “…for their rules were few and sensible….” What is the virtue of having few, and sensible, rules? Does this apply only to home and family management, or to communities? • Page 8: “…manners and morals were insinuated, without the pupils exactly knowing how it was done.” How is such a thing accomplished? • Page 19: “Grandpa March cultivated the little mind with the tender wisdom of a modern Pythagoras, not tasking it with long, hard lessons, parrot-learned, but helping it to unfold as naturally and beautifully as sun and dew help roses bloom.” Discuss. • Page 20 illustrates the serenity of parents who are willing to allow certain lessons to prevail at certain periods of life, and trust that other lessons will come in their time (including, specifically, academic ones). Discuss. • Page 27: “Boys at other schools probably learned more from books, but less of that better wisdom which makes good men.” Discuss. • Chapter 3, entitled, “Sunday,” illustrates the many ways in which preparatory work (Blank Page Brainstorming; creating an inspiring, simple environment; taking a break from tasks to spend time in nature and with each other; a weekly interview [see p 39] with each child; etc.) can help facilitate individual learning and personal progress. Identify some elements that you do well. Identify some elements that you are inspired to improve on. • Page 49: “Mrs Bhaer had meant to go and talk with Nat a moment before he slept, for she had found that a serious word spoken at this tie often did much good.” Have you found that bedtime talk has special import? Discuss. • The first paragraph of Chapter 4 illustrates the special care Mr. Bhaer took to help Nat avoid embarrassment. How can we help our children feel secure and avoid shame or loss of dignity? Why does this matter?

• Page 52: “Till he was stronger, much study was not good for him, however, and Mrs Jo found various amusements in the house for him while others were at their books. But his garden was his best medicine....” This seems to be Alcott’s equivalent of a “Reset” or “Detox.” Do you have a child who needs some time in nature or in home pursuits to help reset or detox? What benefits have you seen, or would you hope for, from such a change of pace and focus? • Page 54: “’Let him be a mechanic if he likes,’ said Mr Bhaer. ‘Give a boy a trade, and he is independent. Work is wholesome, and whatever talent these lads possess, be it for poetry or ploughing, it shall be cultivated and made useful to them if possible.’” Mr. Bhaer was keen on finding out the boys’ individual genius and interests, and believed these would be a key to fulfillment and independence. Discuss. • Page 56: “…where the heart is the mind works best.” Discuss. • Page 130: “’Help one another’ was a favourite Plumfield motto, and Nat learned how much sweetness it added to life by trying to live up to it.” What favorite family mottos do you have in your home? • Page 133: “Rainy evenings the members met in the schoolroom, and passed the time in games: chess, morris, backgammon, fencing matches, recitations, debates, or dramatic performances of a darkly tragical nature. In summer the barn was the rendezvous, and what went on there no uninitiated mortal knows. On sultry evenings the Club adjourned to the brook for aquatic exercises, and the members sat about in airy attire, frog- like and cool.” This passage suggests that uniformity of itinerary, schedule or activity was not a goal or ideal at Plumfield, but that each season and even time of day was treasured for the special purpose and pursuits it inspired. Discuss. • Page 156: “’Where is he?’ ‘In my room; but, dear, you’ll be very kind to him, no matter how gruff he seems. I am sure that is the way to conquer him. He won’t bear sternness nor much restraint, but a soft word and infinite patience will lead him as it used to lead me.’” Discuss. • Page 161: “’I am glad to find out this taste of his; it is a good one,

and may perhaps prove the making of him. If he should turn out a great naturalist, and Nat a musician, I should have cause to be proud of this year’s work.…’” Mr. and Mrs. Bhaer seem very interested in detecting the unique genius in their wards. Discuss. • Page 164: “’I believe in rewards of a certain kind, especially for young folks; they help us along, and though we may begin by being good [or applying ourselves to some other task that our mentor values, while we perhaps do not… ~RD] for the sake of the reward, if it is rightly used, we shall soon learn to love goodness for itself.’” Think: Bean Counter game? Or some other incentive used to help a child who struggles to do something that is right in timing and purpose, but which lacks immediate appeal? How do you feel about using such incentives? Do you believe, as Jo states, that the need for the incentive fades as the intrinsic value of the thing becomes more palpable? Discuss. • Page 167: “’I know it, dear, and for that reason I don’t expect as much from you as from Demi, though he is younger; you shall have all the help that we can give you now, and I hope to teach you how to help yourself in the best way.’” How can we help our children to avoid unfair comparisons? • Page 184-85: The pupils have a sort of “Event.” They were given the option to either write, or give an oral presentation. Is this model something that might work for you? Do your children/students have the option to present themselves in a variety of ways, according to their choice? What is the virtue of giving a choice? Discuss. • Page 188: “Mrs Bhaer…[was] much relieved, for she loved to make them happy, and always felt miserable when she had disturbed the serenity of her little sons; for she believed that the small hopes and plans and pleasures of children should be tenderly respected by grown-up people, and never rudely thwarted or ridiculed.” Discuss. • Page 202: “… no matter how lost and soiled and worn-out wandering sons may be, mothers can forgive and forget everything as they fold them in their fostering arms. Happy the son whose faith in his mother remains unchanged, and who, through all his wanderings, has kept some filial token to repay

her brave and tender love.” Discuss. • Page 212: “…Nan looked up with such an earnest little face that Mrs Jo felt satisfied, and said no more, for she liked to have her penalties do their own work, and did not spoil the effect by too much moralizing.” Discuss. • Page 239: “Nat felt the difference in the way they spoke of Demi and himself, and would have given all he had or ever hoped to have to be so trusted; for he had learned how easy it is to lose the confidence of others, how very, very hard to win it back, and truth became to him a precious thing since he had suffered from neglecting it.”

and…

Page 247: “The lie was wrong, but the love that prompted it and the courage that bore in silence the disgrace which belonged to another, made Dan a hero in their eyes. Honesty and honour had a new meaning now; a good name was more precious than gold; for once lost money could not buy it back; and faith in one another made life smooth and happy as nothing else could do.”

How can we help our children to learn lessons of character vicariously, without having to experience personal loss, shame or tragedy for every lesson? Discuss. • Page 251: “’I see what we can do for that child. She wants something to live for even now, and will be one of the sharp, strong, discontented women if she does not have it. Don’t let us snub her restless little nature, but do our best to give her the work she likes….” Discuss. • Page 270: “’Yes, … my wild hawk needs a larger cage; and yet, if I let him go, I am afraid he will be lost. I must try and find some lure strong enough to keep him safe.’” Page 271: “He was rather taken aback by this unexpected permission to play truant, and somehow it seemed to lessen his desire to go. He did not understand why, but Mrs Jo did, and, knowing the natural perversity of the human mind, counted on it to help her now. She felt instinctively that the more the boy was

restrained the more he would fret against it; but leave him free, and the mere sense of liberty would content him, joined to the knowledge that his presence was dear to those whom he loved best.” Page 273: “’Before he is tired of this I will find something else and have it ready when the next restless fit comes on….’” Have you ever had the challenge of mentoring/parenting such a free spirit? How does this excerpt instruct on the principles that govern success in such a circumstance? Discuss. • Chapter 17, “Composition Day”: Consider the details of how this Event was carried off. How were individual children empowered to participate on their level? Can you think of a way the principles of success for the event in the book might apply to an event you plan? (Spelling Bee, Freedom Bowl, Poetry Recital, Science Fair, etc.) Discuss. • Do you like the way the book ended? Why or why not? • A challenge for you: Send an annotated list of all 55 Ingredients mentioned in Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning, and cross-reference where they appear in the text of Little Men.

Resources for Additional Study:

• DeMille, Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning • Alcott, Little Women • Fisher, Understood Betsy • Warner, The Boxcar Children • Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables • Case, Applesauce Needs Sugar (best to find this title on Abe or Thrift Books) • Wilder, Little House in the Big Woods • Moody, Little Britches

Level 5 Mentor Prompt on Little Men:

1. Go to the 55 Ingredients in Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning and review them all. 2. Read Little Men and look for anything you can find that is a recommendation on environment. [Perhaps use a special, distinct color of highlighter for this?] 3. Look for anything in the 55 Ingredients or Little Men that you need right now in the environment of your home/classroom or that any of your kids need in their environment. Create a specific list. 4. Have a blank page with the name of every person you mentor: as you go through the 55 Ingredients and Little Men, any time you come across something that relates to them, add it to the list. Update the list as you find these and also each time you are setting aside the book for a time.