An idyll is defined as “a simple descriptive work in poetry or prose that deals with rustic life or pastoral scenes or suggests a mood of peace and contentment.” In Charlotte Mason’s 1912 article entitled “Three Educational Idylls,” she includes a footnote in which she recommends that educators implementing her method should read her volumes every two years. …
At the 2016 Living Education Retreat, I conducted a workshop entitled “Whose Great Recognition?” The workshop reveals the theological roots of Charlotte Mason’s Great Recognition from Holy Scripture, the Deuterocanonical books, and the history of the church. We then trace Mason’s unfolding articulation of her view of the role of the Holy Spirit in education. Finally, we discuss how the ministry …
When one begins to read Charlotte Mason’s writings, one quickly notices how important the concept of “ideas” is to her theory of education. In 1998, Karen Andreola gave us an early articulation of the centrality of ideas to Mason’s method: “Aren’t life and growth miraculous? A plant grows from within. When the environment is right the …
It is not difficult to find a consensus as to what is meant by the phrase “classical tradition.” The first known use of the word “classical” in the English language dates back to 1546, and its meaning in that first instance was, “of or relating to the ancient Greek and Roman world, especially to its literature, art, …
Horace West Household (1870-1954) was the Secretary for Education of Gloucestershire County in 1916 when he first encountered Charlotte Mason’s theory of education. He wrote of that encounter and what followed: It was in November 1916 that in common with all my fellow directors in education I received from Miss Mason a pamphlet that told the story of …
The fresco in the Spanish Chapel of Santa Maria Novella in Florence “forms the ‘educational creed’ of [Mason’s] House of Education.” As such, it is difficult to overemphasize the importance of this fresco. Because it was so significant to Charlotte Mason, it is essential to explore how Mason applied it, so that we can properly …
In other articles I have shown that Charlotte Mason looked to the Gospels, the discoveries science, and her personal observations of children to guide the development of her theory of education (see this article and this article). In those articles, I supply evidence from Mason’s own testimony about how she developed her theory. In this …
Charlotte Mason wrote that the fresco in the Spanish Chapel “forms the ‘educational creed’ of the House of Education” (Parents’ Review, volume 14, p. 961). She goes on to write, “It represents the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, on the Day of Pentecost, not only upon prophets, apostles and holy men and women, but upon …
At the 2016 Charlotte Mason Institute Eastern Conference, I attended a workshop entitled “Charlotte Mason’s Great Recognition.” The workshop explored in detail the famous fresco in the Spanish Chapel at Santa Maria Novella, described in many places in Mason’s collected writings. To be sure, I already knew that the phrase “Great Recognition” was not meant to describe an “a-ha” …