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 …
In 1923, Horace West Household (1870-1954) wrote in memoriam about Charlotte Mason: “If [parents] observe the progress of their children, and compare the education which they are receiving, with the education which they had themselves, gratitude to the illustrious lady who worked such a revolution in methods and results, should move them to do what …
Lady Isabel Margesson was known as Lady for good reason. She was the daughter of the Earl of Buckinghamshire, and in late Victorian England, she was not one to be trifled with. Lady Isabel was keen to educate her children in the most enlightened way possible, so she became conversant with the best ideas in …
According to Michael Sacasas, in an article published by the CiRCE Institute, “Dorothy Sayers’ little essay, ‘The Lost Tools of Learning,’ is something of a foundational text for the modern classical education movement.” Sayers (1893-1957) was an English writer, best known for her mystery novels and short stories. However, in 1947 she delivered a lecture at Oxford to which “the …
In 1914, Mason’s close associate Agnes Drury wrote, “[Mason] has herself told us that she has drawn her philosophy from the Gospels, where we may study and note ‘the development of that consummate philosophy which meets every occasion of our lives, all demands of the intellect, every uneasiness of the soul.’” This testimony from a member …
In 1981, David V. Hicks first published his ground-breaking book entitled Norms & Nobility: A Treatise on Education. His (1981/1999) book “is about an ancient ideal expressed as ‘classical education’ against which the modern school is weighed and found wanting” (p. v). Hicks (1981/1999) describes the “modern school” as an institution dominated by “the aimless tyranny …
The CiRCE Institute recently hosted a discussion on the relationship between Charlotte Mason and classical education. It was recorded in the July 22 edition of The Mason Jar Podcast entitled “The Mason Jar Q&A: LIVE from the 2016 CiRCE Conference.” In this episode, David Kern asked: “So you think that when people think that Charlotte Mason …
In Parents and Children chapter 12, Charlotte Mason writes, “we really have existing material in the philosophy of the ages and the science of the day to formulate an educational code whereby we may order the lives of our children and regulate our own” (p. 119). Some have misunderstood this line to mean that Charlotte Mason …