CMP Review 2025-11-06

November 6, 2025

Something people notice about a Charlotte Mason education is that the books are not written down to the “child’s level.” Parents find themselves enjoying the books they read to their children. Children of ten read Shakespeare. The poems that move our young ones move us. We enjoy the same art and listen to the same music.

What fewer people notice is that there is another side to this aspect of a Charlotte Mason education. Because the banquet is not brought down to the child level, it remains nourishing for life. Picture study is meaningful for a six-year-old, and picture study continues to yield meaning for a sixteen-year-old.

We all know that a Charlotte Mason education begins outdoors. The mother secures “a quiet growing time” when the littlest child receives the tenderest education from nature itself.

What not everyone knows is that a Charlotte Mason education continues outdoors for life. The father secures “a quiet growing time” for his son who has become a man. A walk in the woods away from screens and stress, deadlines and studies, pressure and work, and together we receive tender care from the birds, the woods, and the leaves.

@artmiddlekauff