What is the ultimate purpose of education? What are we trying to accomplishing in our homeschools and our schools? In the final analysis is education about “the assimilation of facts [and] the retention of information”? Is its goal to achieve “knowledge of external nature”? Or is it more about the heart than the head? Is …
by Sheila Fawcett (C.M.C) The Parents’ Review, 1957, pp. 71-73 Even in childhood I looked forward to the time when I should have children of my own. At first I thought six sons would be an ideal family, but later I reduced my aspirations to two sons and one daughter. Things turned out otherwise, and …
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Florence Mary Parsons (1864–1934) was an accomplished author and acknowledged expert in 18th-Century literature and art. She was also friends with Henrietta Franklin, and in the late 1890s she was introduced by Mrs. Franklin to a growing movement of educational reform known as the PNEU. In 1899, Parsons gave a …
In 1917, the Times newspaper published a letter by Charlotte Mason in which she made four bold claims: (a) That our people are capable of receiving a liberal education in a generous sense of the term. (b) That no limitation of vocabulary or environment need be an obstacle. (c) That the method and means of …
The Bible lesson is a unique, wonderful opportunity to dialogue over the Living Word with your child. Jesus had such discussions himself with some of the Father’s Children. Charlotte Mason writes, “It is only by trying the method oneself on such an incident, for example, as the visit of Nicodemus or the talk with the …
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Gertrude M. Bernau studied under Charlotte Mason at the House of Education in 1894. By 1906, she was the principal of a PNEU school for girls in London.[1] One benefit of having a school in London is that they were relatively close to the British Museum. Bernau recalled later: “When …
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Rose Amy Pennethorne studied at Charlotte Mason’s House of Education in the class of 1898. She remained involved in the PNEU, eventually becoming Organising Secretary in 1921. In this capacity she traveled widely, lecturing, visiting schools, and representing the PNEU at international events. Henrietta Franklin remembered her as “a brilliant …
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff England in the late 1950s had not yet forgotten about Charlotte Mason. In fact, many educators still wanted to learn Mason’s philosophy, but they didn’t have the opportunity to study in Ambleside. To meet this demand, Charlotte Mason’s former friend and colleague Helen Wix proposed an intriguing innovation. Her idea …
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff In April 1936, “418 members and friends of the Parents’ National Educational Union, and 268 children being educated in the Parents’ Union School” converged upon Ambleside in England’s lovely Lake District for an extraordinary conference.[1] It was “The Jubilee Conference for Parents and Teachers and The Children’s Gathering,” celebrating the …