Charlotte Mason’s Tabernacle
Yesterday I had the privilege of conducting a “conversation” at the l’HaRMaS Charlotte Mason gathering in Canada. My topic was “Charlotte Mason’s Tabernacle.” When describing the human person, Charlotte Mason employed an analogy to the Old Testament “tabernacle in the wilderness.” In my conversation, we explored how this analogy helps us better understand certain themes and elements in Mason’s writings. I asked several capable volunteers to read selections from Mason’s writings while two artistic volunteers drew a model on the white board as we went. I was delighted by the end result:
Here is a table that indicates which selection from Mason’s writings corresponds to which row in the white board diagram.
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Ourselves, Book I, pp. 1-4 |
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Ourselves, Book I, p. 10, beginning with “The Four Chambers…” |
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Ourselves, Book II, pp. 2-4, beginning with “The House of Body is…” |
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Towards a Philosophy of Education, Chapter 3 (pp. 46-67) |
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Towards a Philosophy of Education, p. 63 |
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Scale How “Meditations” No. 21 (comments on v. 27, paragraph 2) |
If you have any interest at all in Charlotte Mason, I strongly urge you to read her Scale How Meditations. This devotional commentary on the Gospel of John from Mason’s pen shows so clearly how Mason rooted her theory of education in the Gospels.
Editor’s note: I have since conducted this as a workshop at the CMI Eastern Conference (2017). Here is the end result on the white board from this wonderful session:
Editor’s note: I also conducted this as a workshop at the Living Education Retreat (2017). Here is the end result on the white board from this session:
