CMP Review 2026-05-26

May 26, 2026

People enjoying a lakeside scene: a green kayak with a paddler, a small motorboat with riders, and a paddleboarder on calm water, all beside a tree-lined shore under a partly cloudy sky.

As summer approaches and many families and schools are wrapping up their spring terms, the perennial question arises: what does it mean to spend the summer “the Charlotte Mason way”? Which elements of her philosophy of education, if any, apply to the weeks and months of the holidays?

This was the question contemplated by a school headmistress in 1917. A dedicated student of Miss Mason’s volumes, she asked herself how “atmosphere, discipline, and life” apply to the summer months. Her carefully thought-out paper rings true and offers food for thought for families and educators of our day. First published in the 1917 Parents’ Review, we revive it for you today. Find it here.

@artmiddlekauff