Author Archives: Nicole

Secrets of Paul Fleisher: The Man Behind the Book by Michele Jahncke

Last summer, I had the idea to include a short biography of each author I use with my living science curriculum. So I approached Michele Jahncke to see if she would be interested in writing them, and thankfully she said yes! Now you can find a lovely biography of every one of them on this website and inside the guides. Each one is so fun to read, as Michele included fun details that are particularly fascinating to the Charlotte Mason community.

Today, Michele brings another special treat. She joins us to share her conversation with Paul Fleisher, author of Secrets of the Universe and one of the CM community’s FAVORITE living science writers.

Mr. Fleisher asked to be alerted when this article is published, so I encourage you to leave a comment below. Let him know what his work has meant to your family.


Writing short biographies of the science authors used for Sabbath Mood Homeschool’s Living Science Guides was no easy task.  While researching Mr. Paul Fleisher, you can imagine my surprise to find that he only lives five short hours away from me!  If it weren’t for a global pandemic, he would have found a geeked out fangirl persistently ringing his front doorbell.  Since he was spared that scene, Mr. Fleisher graciously granted a barrage of emails and a  phone conversation to allow me to explore more of his life as well as the lifecycle of his much sought-after book, Secrets of the Universe, the foundation of the Living Science Guide: Physics for forms 3 & 4.   Continue reading

Living Science Through the Lives of Scientists

“That which has become the dominant idea of one person’s life, if it be launched suddenly at another, conveys no very great depth or weight of meaning to the second personhe wants to get at it by degrees, to see the steps by which the other has traveled.” (Charlotte Mason, Home Education, p.97)

Charlotte Mason happens to be talking about an idea of her own here, which she wants us to understand, but she knows that if she simply states her conclusions, it will have far less impact on us than if we “get at it by degrees.” The same is true for the principles of science. So then, why do we think it is acceptable to unload a bundle of scientific facts onto children and expect them to learn or simply memorize them? Is it because that is how we were taught, and therefore, we don’t know any other way? Or perhaps it is because we consider them common knowledge. Continue reading