CMP Review 2026-09-03

September 3, 2026

According to Essex Cholmondeley, in 1890 Charlotte Mason was “busy lecturing.” On one speaking tour she visited Sheffield, a city about 120 miles southeast of Ambleside.

Within months after Miss Mason’s visit, a new PNEU branch “sprang to life.” An early featured speaker at this Sheffield branch was Thomas Rooper, who spoke at both the October and November 1891 meetings. These lectures were later published in the Parents’ Review, and I’ve read and enjoyed them both.

This week I’m in Sheffield. But it’s not to research Charlotte Mason’s visit or the early days of the PNEU. I’m here because my son is competing at the second annual Bolero Cup.

But my visit does have something to do with Charlotte Mason after all. My son was homeschooled from birth using this method, which urged us to educate the whole person, body, mind, and spirit. And it urged us to see how the whole person is involved in beautiful activities such as dance.

But Charlotte Mason taught me something else. If a child is a person, as she so cogently argued, then it seems wise for a father to listen when his child dreams. And to take those dreams seriously.

@artmiddlekauff