“What is the most precious thing to have in a house?” Charlotte Mason poses this question at the dinner table one evening. She gleans answers from the dinner guests that we all would agree with: answers such as “a bookcase” and “a cradle.” But not Mason; she rebuts with, “I think I would put space …
I didn’t know her name. I only knew her question. She wrote it anonymously on a piece of paper, a question for the “experts.” We were wrapping up two wonderful days of celebrating Charlotte Mason’s life-giving method at the 2018 Charlotte Mason Soirée Summer Mountain Mini. I was feeling a glow as I sat with the …
Just over two years ago, I first read the article “Three Educational Idylls,” by Charlotte Mason. Published in 1912, it reveals many profound thoughts about Charlotte Mason’s vision for education. (To be honest, I had to look up the word idyll; it means, “a simple descriptive work in poetry or prose that deals with rustic …
Charlotte Mason wrote, “Now our objective in this most important part of education is to give the children the knowledge of God.” Mason did not approach this “most important part of education” in a haphazard fashion; rather, she developed a progressive program of study for children from ages 6 to 18 that is breathtaking in …
Editor’s Note: In April of 1930, the Ambleside Old Students’ Association held their biennial conference at Scale How in Ambleside. The conference featured ten papers which focused on three elements of Charlotte Mason’s thought: the sacredness of the person, the evolution of the individual, and the solidarity of the [human] race. The topic of the sacredness of the person was …
Editor’s note: Roger N. Goodman (1863-1941) was a practicing medical doctor who served patients out of his own house. He was also an avid educationalist and a leader in the Surbiton branch of the PNEU. He was a keen advocate of manual training in education, including sloyd in particular and woodworking in general. In today’s article he notes …
Editor’s Note: In 2017, Simplicity was the theme for the Living Education Retreat. I didn’t attend, but I did get to hear Mary Beuving’s recorded talk on her journey toward simplifying her life, getting rid of things to make room for people. Mary’s testimony is moving and inspiring, but also filled with practical wisdom for …
Editor’s Note, by Heidi Buschbach Mr. W. Henry Leslie, choral director, judge, and music educator wrote an important Parents’ Review article in 1926, three years after Mason’s death. The article, “On Music Teaching,” was listed for many years in the PNEU programmes under the Singing heading. It was to be read by parents and teachers to …
A Charlotte Mason education is, for most of us, a radical shift in thinking. We are educating in a way we ourselves have not experienced. Though we admire how her philosophy and practice go hand in hand, we often have more questions than answers, the natural result of a lack of knowledge and experience. The …