CMP Review 2023-05-09

CMP Review 2023-05-09

May 9, 2023

You could say that I collect Parents’ Review articles. I keep them in a list, and as I read them, I record notes and observations. I classify them. I extract quotes.

One such article in my list has only one note. It’s just one word: “Magnificent.”

In 1911, Charlotte Mason wrote her monumental essay entitled “Children as Persons.” Two years later, her beloved friend, the “beloved physician,” wrote an essay on the essay. It was a talk on Charlotte Mason’s first principle. A talk on “The Child as a Person.”

With stunning insight and careful explanation, Dr. Webb identifies three characteristics common to all children. As her talk unfolds, the reader begins to realize something. These three characteristics are perfectly matched to Mason’s three instruments of education — these three characteristics point to education as an atmosphere, discipline, and life.

Dr. Webb’s paper was published as a booklet and recommended in the 1926 Occupations Leaflet. Evoking our memory of the Teacher of teachers she writes, “Centuries ago we were told not to offend or put stumbling blocks in the way of little children, and it is advice we all do well to bear in mind at the present-day.” In our present-day too.

Please read or listen to Dr. Webb’s talk. All I can say is that it is magnificent.

@artmiddlekauff