CMP Review 2026-03-03

March 3, 2026

On a fateful January day in the early 1970s, two girls visited a school. Their names were Margaret and Kirsteen. The mother described what happened when the girls got home:

After the first day, Kirsteen came home glowing with life and interest. ‘We had the most exciting story today, but Mrs. Norton stopped at just the wrong place. I can’t wait to hear the next part of the story!’ And what was this exciting, vitalizing story? To my astonishment, it was Pilgrim’s Progress, read to them in the original.

Kirsteen’s mother was intrigued and spoke with the headmistress, whose name was Olive Norton. Years later she would write, “Thank you, Olive Norton, for introducing us to Charlotte Mason in the first place.” Kirsteen’s family was deeply involved in L’Abri and wanted to introduce Charlotte Mason to the wider community. What better way than to invite Mrs. Norton to speak? And so she did. And the lecture was recorded.

The name of Kirsteen’s mother is Susan Schaeffer Macaulay. Macaulay went on to write For the Children’s Sake, the book that introduced countless parents and teachers around the world to Charlotte Mason. The cassette recording of Mrs. Norton’s lecture has survived for half of a century. However, the quality of that recording has deteriorated so much over those years that it now takes effort and concentration to make out what exactly she is saying.

So, two years ago we began a project to transcribe the recording. A team of volunteers painstakingly studied every syllable on the cassette to piece together the original lecture. Today we present the complete transcript. The text was originally delivered as a lecture, however, and we wanted you to be able to hear it as well. So our talented reader Jennifer Talsma has produced a tour de force recording that captures the spontaneity of a live speech while maintaining word-for-word fidelity to the original text.

“I know that may sound to you just an ideal,” said Olive Norton, “but I can honestly tell you it is an actual fact.” Read or hear the lecture that started a movement, brought to life in a new way today. Find it here.

@artmiddlekauff