Who is Charlotte Mason?
What you will find below is just a nutshell summarizing what, in my opinion, defines Charlotte Mason education. Of course, there is much more that could be said than these points, but this is a start.
If you’ve been homeschooling for more only a short while, you will have found that there are many different methods with which to educate children. Traditionally the focus of education has been upon internalising an outline of people and events – the facts which make up cultural knowledge. Charlotte Mason proposed to give children a different education, one which would be more than a treadmill of subjects. It would, she said, so stimulate their imaginations that they would love learning for the rest of their lives. A nineteenth century English educator, Charlotte Mason’s philosophy contains some winning qualities which make it relevant for today. As a result there has been a worldwide explosion of interest in Charlotte Mason education.
What are some of the principles underlying Charlotte Mason education?
Firstly, because the child is an individual, made by God and thus worthy of thoughtful treatment, education should not be a matter of coercive force-feeding. Rather, providing interesting, literary-based materials which capture one’s imagination will better serve the purpose. This is one reason some people call this method a ‘gentle’ education method; despite the fact that it can be very rigorous in it’s application, it is the difference between holding a carrot before a donkey to encourage it to move ahead, or beating it with a stick.
Secondly, the parent and teacher is learning too. If you don’t find the materials interesting and mentally stimulating, why expect your child to be content using them? The parent should be learning and growing both mentally and in character so as to have something life-giving to share with their child.
Thirdly, and this is perhaps what Charlotte Mason is best known for, the books selected in her method of education are interesting and largely literary (ie. written as narrative, such as a story or biography). They should make the reader feel a sense of familiarity with the subject, enough to be able to care about some aspect of it. If this is accomplished, all the other ‘subjects’ (except maths and higher science) will be the development of tools to be able to communicate this concern and fresh understanding with the goal being good communication of these ideas from one’s own head and heart. This is what real education is.
Charlotte Mason’s methods are written down in her 6-volume set, the Original Series. You will find many books in this catalogue which make this wonderful information accessible to home educators today.
| <- Previous Page |