Editor’s Note, by Dawn Rhymer On the plane bound for the Living Education Retreat, I was trying to read through several Parents’ Review articles on science, but my eyes grew heavy. I shook my head to stay awake and slid the sleep-inducing articles to the bottom of the stack, hoping the next one would capture …
Editor’s Note: The ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus famously wrote: God … either wishes to take away evils, and is unable; or He is able, and is unwilling; or He is neither willing nor able, or He is both willing and able… if He is both willing and able, which alone is suitable to God, from …
What role does observational science play in your philosophy of education? John Amos Comenius (1592-1670), the “father of modern teaching,”[1] broke with tradition when he called out: And why should we need other teachers than these our senses to learn to know the works of Nature? Why, say I, should we not, instead of these …
Several years ago I attended a Charlotte Mason conference that included a special event: a craft display. Attendees were encouraged to bring sample objects produced by their children during handicraft lessons. The aim, of course, was to show for attendees what it really means to work with the hands. The aim was to inspire attendees …
A mother contacted me a few months ago because her Form 1B student was enjoying everything in the program except Bible lessons. She asked for my advice. Should she try a different Bible translation? A different commentary? A different lesson format? My answer may have surprised her. I suggested a different attitude. An attitude of …
Charlotte Mason introduced her philosophy at a time when education in England was in a state of flux. From the early years of the PNEU to the last days of Mason’s life, a tug-of-war was taking place between advocates of science education and advocates of the humanities. Mason’s Parents’ Educational Union went national in 1890; …
I fear the reader may be inclined to think that I am inviting his attention for the most part to a few physiological matters—the lowest round of the educational ladder. The lowest round it may be, but yet it is the lowest round, the necessary step to all the rest. For it is not too …
Editor’s Note: In 1887, the year after the publication of Home Education, Charlotte Mason was invited to lecture at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. According to Elsie Kitching, Mason’s topic was “Home Education in its bearing on Technical Education.” Kitching found the summary of the lecture in the British Association …
Editor’s Note: In 1913, Agnes Drury was in charge of the scientific work at the House of Education, and Alfred Thornley was the inspector of nature notebooks. Drury gave a lecture to the students of the House of Education on the topic of nature study, and it was published in the March issue of The Parents’ Review. This early predecessor …