Author’s note: I wrote this article on July 3, 2008 in response to an article I read by a classical educator who wrote, “After studying Charlotte Mason’s six volumes, a Christian should conclude that her educational philosophy is not for the children’s sake.” Recently someone shared with me an article by Aimee Natal entitled, “Charlotte Mason: …
“And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3, RSV2CE) In Jesus’ High Priestly prayer, He reveals for all time the true nature of life. It is to know God, in all his Triune glory. Centuries later, Thomas Aquinas would comment on …
“They have believed that when He described the Comforter whom He would send from the Father, as the Spirit of Truth, He was not speaking of a relation, or of a property of their conceptions, but of a living and personal Teacher and Guide.”[1] (F. D. Maurice) The tourist who visits the city of Florence …
Maria Montessori was an educational theorist who lived from 1870 to 1952. She wrote several books about education which give specific guidance for educators of all ages of children, from the infant to the university student. As a committed Christian, she articulated ideas that reflect her Christian world view. A close look at Montessori’s theory …
Charlotte Mason was modest until the end. Even the title of her magnum opus first published in 1925 reflects that modesty: Towards a Philosophy of Education. It is important that we interpret Mason’s writings in light of her modesty. For example, consider Mason’s message for the June, 1894 Annual Meeting of the P.N.E.U. It may …
“In the beginning of the twentieth century, progressive educators advocated widespread reform and were quite successful in permanently changing the intellectual landscape of American primary and secondary schools.”[1] (Jonathan Beeson) Jonathan Beeson studied at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary before graduating from Yale Divinity School in 2003.[2] He served as a minister, and then in 2007 he …
“How many such instances occur in History, where the Ideas of Nature (presented to chosen minds by a Higher Power than Nature herself) suddenly unfold, as it were, in prophetic succession, systematic views destined to produce the most important revolutions in the state of Man!”[1] – S.T. Coleridge “Should the reader … be convinced of …
The stated goal of classical education theorists is to recover the tradition of classical education and apply it to the contemporary context. Some people suggest that Charlotte Mason was herself a classical education theorist. They say that Mason intentionally linked her ideas with the ideas of the classical past and brought them forward to her …
Charlotte Mason writes that “education is nothing or it is everything — a consuming fire in the bones” (V:145). My experience as a homeschooling father has brought me close to that flame. This fire drives regular parents like me to delve into educational theory, even though we have not obtained the relevant scholarly credentials. I have …