“Two years ago I had the privilege of visiting the Spanish Chapel of Santa Maria Novella in Florence,” wrote Rose Amy Pennethorne in 1935. “I was shown over the Chapel by a policeman, and having never seen the colours of the frescoes before, I was struck by the prevailing colours of green, white and red. …
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff When do children outgrow the Charlotte Mason method? The firm belief of Charlotte Mason and the PNEU was that they never do. However, Mason and her followers were realistic about the challenges faced by teachers who wished to apply the method in the upper years. These challenges were openly discussed …
“Upon first hearing the foundational principle of Charlotte Mason’s philosophy, ‘Children are born persons,’ I couldn’t have been less impressed,” wrote one homeschool mother. Said another: “It’s hard to imagine that anybody even needed to say that.” She went on: “I’ve heard some people say this first principle is not really needed anymore… We know …
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Rhoda M. Harrison was a student at the House of Education in 1928.[1] After graduating, she served on the staff of the PNEU School at Burgess Hill[2] before becoming the co-principal of her own PNEU School in Haslemere.[3] Through her study of Charlotte Mason’s writings and her own experience as …
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff In 1897, the Women’s Institute was founded in Saltfleet, Ontario.[1] Ethel Somers describes its origins: The women of Canada, in their scattered homes, often many miles apart, felt the urgent need of each other’s help and advice—the need of discussing domestic problems, educational difficulties and social possibilities. They tried the …
What is the ultimate purpose of education? What are we trying to accomplishing in our homeschools and our schools? In the final analysis is education about “the assimilation of facts [and] the retention of information”? Is its goal to achieve “knowledge of external nature”? Or is it more about the heart than the head? Is …
by Sheila Fawcett (C.M.C) The Parents’ Review, 1957, pp. 71-73 Even in childhood I looked forward to the time when I should have children of my own. At first I thought six sons would be an ideal family, but later I reduced my aspirations to two sons and one daughter. Things turned out otherwise, and …
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Florence Mary Parsons (1864–1934) was an accomplished author and acknowledged expert in 18th-Century literature and art. She was also friends with Henrietta Franklin, and in the late 1890s she was introduced by Mrs. Franklin to a growing movement of educational reform known as the PNEU. In 1899, Parsons gave a …
In 1917, the Times newspaper published a letter by Charlotte Mason in which she made four bold claims: (a) That our people are capable of receiving a liberal education in a generous sense of the term. (b) That no limitation of vocabulary or environment need be an obstacle. (c) That the method and means of …