Charlotte Mason Poetry: Recent Episodes
Charlotte Mason Poetry Team
Charlotte Mason Poetry is dedicated to promoting Charlotte Mason’s living ideas. We strive to share an authentic interpretation of Mason’s life work through a combination of original and vintage articles by a wide variety of authors. Our team draws from and transcribes many rare and wonderful documents from the PNEU many of which cannot be found anywhere else on the web.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff In last week’s episode we shared a second paper from the June 1920 teacher’s conference in Gloucester. This week we share a third paper by a professional teacher who embraced Charlotte Mason’s method, along with some brief discussion that followed. By Mr. C. Jones The Parents’ Review, 1920, pp. 570-575 …
The post The New Facility in Composition first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff One of the great chapters in the epic story of the Charlotte Mason method involves the introduction of the complete method, principles and practices, into the established British schools of Gloucestershire. H. W. Household began this project with five schools in 1917, and by May 1920 he had gone to …
The post Certain Difficulties first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff On the front page of the November/December 1971 PNEU Journal, editor Joan Molyneux wrote: There are PNEU Members in 95 countries living amongst people of other cultures, having different approaches to life, and it is essential that there should be understanding and communication between Members of every country. Later in …
The post Vehicle of Imagination first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Sermons by Francis Lewis frequently appeared in the pages of The Parents’ Review. He was a devoted friend of Charlotte Mason, and his sermons reveal how like-minded they were. Both pondered the child’s estate, and Rev. Lewis shared his reflections in this 1924 sermon. It was published the year after …
The post The Heart of a Child first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Essex Cholmondeley (1892–1985) is known to many as the first biographer of Charlotte Mason. In fact, she spent most of her adult life advancing Charlotte Mason’s ideas. Cholmondeley studied under Charlotte Mason at the House of Education and received her certificate in 1919. On February 15, 1923, she gave a …
The post First Bible Lessons first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff In 1902, George F. Husband left Stockton-on-Tees to work for the school system of neighboring Middlesbrough. There he eventually found himself headmaster of an elementary school. But it was no ordinary elementary school. It was a school “where the children came from among the poorest and most disreputable part of slumland, familiarized with …
The post Some Notes on Narration first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff At the Living Education Retreat this past summer, I introduced what I call the Fundamental Law of Scheduling: scope = pace × time Scope is how much content is covered. For example, how many chapters are in your algebra book. Pace is how fast the material is presented. For example, …
The post Notes from a Home Schoolroom Parent first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff In 1931, House of Education graduate Geraldine Downton wrote, “Special time is allowed for Nature Books on the time tables of all forms in the P.U.S.”[1] This remark puzzled me for several years, since I had never seen a PNEU time table that scheduled time for nature notebooks. From time …
The post The Group Organization first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff “I am quite sure that those who have gathered here this evening have come here full of anticipation because of the treat which is in store for us when we have the privilege of listening to Miss Evelyn Underhill,” announced Bishop Boyd Carpenter in 1916.[1] It was the first week …
The post The Education of the Spirit first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff In the summer of 1966, the name of The Parents’ Review was changed to The PNEU Journal. Joan Molyneux was editor at that time, and though the name of the periodical had changed, its purpose and philosophy had not. Parents and teachers were still filling its pages with articles that …
The post Now he wants to read first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff The 21st Annual Conference of the PNEU featured an impressive lineup of speakers. Henrietta Franklin, Honorary Secretary of the PNEU, gave a keynote address in which she insisted that “children must not be deprived of their simplicity of mind and the liberty that comes from wise authority.”[1] A doctor spoke …
The post PUS in Home Schoolroom first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Charlotte Mason put a heavy emphasis on meditation for the parent and the child. This talk explores what she meant by meditation and looks deeply at this neglected Christian practice. There is a not-surprising correlation between how we read Scripture and our school books! And the phrase, “read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest” might come …
The post Meditation: Narration of the Heart first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Nancy Kelly Some years ago, while meandering through the hushed archives of the Armitt Museum where so many of Charlotte Mason’s treasures are kept, I happened upon a little leaflet tucked into a plain box. Its title caught my eye immediately: Our Three-Fold Cord. I paused, heart stirred, and snapped a few quick …
The post Our Three-fold Cord first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff The PNEU Notes section at the back of the March 1924 Parents’ Review contained a fascinating account of a conference on the topic of “A Liberal Education for All.” Although we only have a synopsis of the messages delivered, even these short paragraphs tell us much about what is meant …
The post PNEU Notes first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff After only two years of teaching experience, Edward G. Bolton (1899–1964) became the headmaster of Barrowden School in 1925.[1] Apparently his first year as headmaster was difficult, described in his own words as “a period of dissatisfaction.”[2] He then heard about the Charlotte Mason method in a lecture, which prompted …
The post A Year of PNEU first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff The 1880s featured a public debate between two leading thinkers, both of whom were cited favorably by Charlotte Mason. These two thinkers were Thomas Huxley (1825–95) and Matthew Arnold (1822–88). Paul White summarizes this debate: In the public statements that are taken to epitomize the Victorian debate, Huxley’s 1880 lecture …
The post Professor Huxley and the PNEU first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
The Influence of Learning from Lives Well-Lived The lives of others—both past and present—offer wisdom, courage, and faith for our own journeys. Charlotte Mason knew that biography is more than a history lesson; it is an invitation to walk alongside those who have gone before us, learning from their choices, struggles, and convictions. Through living …
The post Stories That Last first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
A well-worn path of knowing “… for we are on the other side of all doubt once we know Him in whom we have believed.” — Charlotte Mason, Parents and Children, p. 135 If you’ve traveled the way of an educator for long, you know that it often leads us through periods of doubt. In …
The post The Other Side of All Doubt first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
The Hidden Force of a Charlotte Mason Education A Charlotte Mason education is different and stands alone among the educational philosophies of the world. This may be due in large part to its not-so-apparent foundation of vitality, the peculiarity distinguishing the living from the non-living and the capacity to live and develop. Careful reading of …
The post Vitality first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Let’s face it: homeschooling is hard. As parent-educators, we want to prepare our children spiritually, mentally, and physically for the fullness of life. On this journey we face pressures and doubts. We wonder about our pace and progress. We wonder about results. We feel inadequate and can’t help but compare ourselves to others around us. …
The post Trusting the Method first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff On October 10, 1934, Cerise Parker gave a presentation to the Dublin branch of the PNEU.[1] Mrs. Parker was a member of the branch and hosted at least one of its meetings.[2] Her husband Cyril was the Headmaster of Avoca School[3] and contributed at least one article to The Parents’ …
The post Games and Wet Day Occupations first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Charlotte Mason said that “joy reigns in all our schoolrooms.” Do our schools reflect this joy or do we sabotage its presence, making our homes joyless? Joy was such an important principle for a living education that a PNEU conference in 1908 had joy as its theme! Let’s explore what Mason said about joy and …
The post Joy: Mainstay of a Living Education first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note. Today we present the fourth and final article from the 1926 “Democracy and Taste” series, “Art” by Juliet Williams. By Juliet Williams The Parents’ Review, 1926, pp. 236-244 The “drawing” that is taught to the average child at school scarcely comes under the heading of “Art”—but it is essentially an important educational subject, …
The post Art (Democracy and Taste) first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff In 1926 a PNEU meeting was held in connection with the Conference of Educational Associations to consider the subject “Democracy and Taste.” The purpose of the one-day conference was explained as follows: The Chairman in his opening remarks said that he felt more imagination was needed in the educational scheme. …
The post Nature Study (Democracy and Taste) first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Felix Hope’s first “Readers and Critics” appeared in the March 1924 Parents’ Review. It ended with a promise — “To be continued.” That promise was fulfilled a month later in the April issue. The two articles provide a thought-provoking perspective on books, art, and what it all means to us. …
The post Readers and Critics, Part II first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Felix Hope was a writer whose fascinating articles appeared in The Church Quarterly Review, The Parents’ Review, and other vintage periodicals. His contributions to The Parents’ Review spanned the years 1924 to 1931 and included such interesting titles as “Some Thoughts on Reading Old Books.” His articles from 1924 dealt …
The post Readers and Critics first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Helen Wix was a House of Education graduate who played a significant role in the advancement of Charlotte Mason’s ideas during Miss Mason’s lifetime and beyond. As early as 1917 she was promoting the method by speaking at a meeting of Sunday School teachers. The paper she read was published …
The post The PNEU Method in Sunday Schools first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff The Teacher’s World was a journal published in the first part of the last century. Originally it appeared as two separate periodicals, The Woman Teacher’s World and The Teacher, but these were combined into one around 1914. The cover story of the March 4, 1914 issue was written by Charlotte …
The post The Week’s Message, by Charlotte Mason first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
“On my arrival at Ambleside I was interviewed by Miss Mason who asked me for what purpose I had come. I replied: ‘I have come to learn to teach.’ Then Miss Mason said: ‘My dear, you have come here to learn to live.’” — a new student at Charloe Mason’s teacher training college It is …
The post Learning to Live first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Richele Baburina 2025 marks the 250th year of Jane Austen’s birth. In celebration, we are adding another article to our Jane Austen repertoire. This one comes in the form of a Scale How Tuesday, an evening gathering in which a teaching student at the House of Education presents on a favorite author …
The post Jane Austen first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff In 1906 “the head of an important school” approached Charlotte Mason and suggested that she convene a conference of educational leaders. The purpose would be “to confer as to the possibility of introducing a common curriculum for children under 14 into secondary schools.”[1] Charlotte Mason followed the suggestion, at least …
The post Conference at the House of Education first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff The final Scale How Meditation to be published in Charlotte Mason’s lifetime appeared in the 1909 Parents’ Review. However, and perhaps to the surprise of readers, a new meditation was unveiled two years after Mason’s death in the April 1925 issue. It was said to be Miss Mason’s Easter Day …
The post Easter Day first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note. This letter from Charlotte Mason was first published in The Times and then reprinted in the April 1915 issue of The Parents’ Review. In this letter Mason formally addressed the nation as the doyen, or senior representative, of teachers. By Charlotte M. Mason The Parents’ Review, 1915, pp. 269-274 Sir,—This is a time …
The post The War And The Children first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
You might recall the homeschool product reviews the Andreola family wrote for a Christian catalog for 14 years (2000–2014). Who knew anything about the quantity of stuff we didn’t review? Here’s a look at one evening during our last year of writing reviews. Another Box of Curriculum Samples Letting the dishes soak, I decided to …
The post Escaping the Clutches of the Cadillac Course first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff The final issue of Aunt Mai’s Budget opened with these lines: My dear Children,—This month I am very, very sad. The time has come when I feel I must say good-bye to you… For eight happy years we have lived together, and I have watched you all growing with the …
The post A Letter to the Children first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
“Prayer is the key to open the day and the bolt to shut in the night.” — Jeremy Taylor, The Golden Key Did you know that Charlotte Mason talks about prayer in each of her six volumes? Her words on this subject are some of the most precious to me and have truly strengthened my …
The post Prayer: Speech of the Soul first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff On January 23, 1918, a PNEU-sponsored meeting was held at the University College of London. The purpose was to discuss the adoption of the Charlotte Mason method in the schools of England. The speakers included the Director of Education in Bradford, a school headmaster, and two headmistresses. At 2:30, attention …
The post A Liberal Education for All (H. W. Household) first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
In December and January, the Classical Et Cetera podcast of Memoria Press released a three-part series entitled “Charlotte Mason Explained: A Classical Education Perspective.” These recorded conversations between four classical education experts provoked much reaction and discussion within the Charlotte Mason community. Although opinions vary, I think there is one thing we can all agree …
The post Ask Art #6 — A Classical Education Perspective on Charlotte Mason first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Claude Jenkins (1877–1959) was a Church of England clergyman and historian. He was Lambeth Librarian from 1910 to 1952 and taught Ecclesiastical History at King’s College in London.[1] An avid collector of books, he was said to have acquired 30,000 by the end of his life.[2] Known for his eccentricities …
The post Things New and Old first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Dawn Rhymer “There is, at the present time, a broad distinction made between science and the humanities.” — Dr. Telford Petrie, 1928 I smiled, as in reading the words of Dr. Petrie, I recognized a friend. Almost a century after Dr. Petrie published his ideas, I heard author and speaker Dr. Jonathan …
The post A Note on the Teaching of School Science first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Ellen Parish delivered this address at the PNEU Conference of 1914. At the time, she was the General Organizing Secretary of the PNEU. For more information about Ellen Parish, see last week’s article. By E. A. Parish The Parents’ Review, 1914, pp. 379-390[1] Mrs. Gray has made us all feel the great need …
The post Imagination as a Powerful Factor in a Well-Balanced Mind first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Ellen Alice Parish (1869–1947) “devoted 34 years of her active life to forwarding the work of Charlotte M. Mason.” The Parents’ Review in 1947 summarized her legacy: She was trained by [Mason] at the Home of Education, Ambleside. Afterwards she became General and Organizing Secretary of the P.N.E.U. in London, …
The post The Teaching of History to Young Children first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Barbara Webber was born in 1893 near London, and at age 17 her skill as a writer became known when her first short stories were published. She then married George Hodges and they had three children.[1] For some time she home educated her children using the Charlotte Mason method, and …
The post Should Children Reason? first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note by Richele Baburina Scale How Evenings or Scale How Tuesdays were devised by Charlotte Mason for her teaching students at the House of Education to “amuse and edify one another” by having them choose a “favourite author, musician, or artist, with one member giving a sketch of the life and the others supplying …
The post The Brontës first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff The opening article of the eleventh issue of The Parents’ Review was entitled “Dorothy Elmore’s Achievement: A Forecast of the New Education, By the Editor.” Divided into five chapters and published in January 1891, it spanned 19 pages of Charlotte Mason’s fledgling periodical. An early reader was struck by this …
The post The Cure of a Mental Habit first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Charlotte Mason & The Classical Tradition Revisited As conflicting modern ideas about education cast us about, many have dug into the very bedrock of western thought looking for inspiration and a stable base; and while much that is good has come to us via the great Greek thinkers, there is a particular fallacy that says: …
The post “God with Us” as the Lost Tool of Education first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note. Today we share the ninth chapter of Children and the Stress of Life by Dr. Helen Webb. This chapter also appeared in the Parents’ Review in 1914 and 1929. For more information about Dr. Webb and her book, please see last week’s editor’s note. by Helen Webb Children and the Stress of Life, …
The post Seed Time first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff In 1929, the PNEU published a small hardcover book entitled Children and the Stress of Life, composed of chapters by Dr. Helen Webb. I was thrilled when I finally got to see this little volume in 2023. Dr. Webb was one of Charlotte Mason’s oldest friends and was endearingly referred …
The post Early Influences first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note. Today we conclude our Advent series of sermons by Rev. Francis Lewis. See the December 10th episode for more information about this dear friend of Charlotte Mason. By the Rev. F. Lewis The Parents’ Review, 1920, pp. 399–402 “Flower in the crannied wall, I pluck you out of the crannies, I hold you …
The post The Mystery of the Kingdom of God first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note. Today we continue our Advent series of sermons by Rev. Francis Lewis. See last week’s episode for more information about this dear friend of Charlotte Mason. By the Rev. F. Lewis The Parents’ Review, 1918, pp. 425-429 There is a close connection between the two things. It was a “heavenly vision” which changed …
The post Transfiguration or the Heavenly Vision first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Rev. Francis Lewis was the headmaster of a grammar school in Ambleside for eighteen years. During this time he became an examiner for the Parents’ Union School and then a part-time instructor at the House of Education. Charlotte Mason named him in her will as one of the individuals entrusted …
The post The Nobility of Work first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Joseph H. Allen was a Lancashire educationalist who lectured on educational topics and was also known for his service to the elderly.[1] He contributed multiple articles to The PNEU Journal, and his 1975 piece on the teacher is striking for its faithfulness to Charlotte Mason’s ideas so many decades after …
The post The Whole Teacher first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff On August 14, 1913, Avice M. Cox became the wife of A. V. Cecil Moore.[1] Avice was a House of Education graduate from the class of 1903[2] whose work had appeared in The Parents’ Review.[3] Her groom was a teacher at a boys’ preparatory school. Through their relationship, Mr. Moore …
The post Examinations and the PNEU first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Miss B. E. Moore was the headmistress of a girls’ elementary school “in one of London’s most needy districts.”[1] In the early 1920s, she decided to adopt the Charlotte Mason method. Soon afterwards she gave a lecture during which she was reportedly “enthusiastic over the results of P.N.E.U. methods during …
The post Citizenship and Literature first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
In most schools today, technology is king. All students are given tablets and everyone learns to code. We are told that this approach gives kids an advantage. It prepares them for a future that is becoming more and more digital every day. Other schools reach back to a nearly forgotten past. A time when science …
The post Technology: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Heidi Buschbach Last week, Part I of this article was posted, so if you would like to read more about the history of Morris Dance or the Espérance Club, or the reasons why we include folk dance in our Charlotte Mason curriculum, please read that editor’s note and article. Here in Part …
The post Something About Morris and Country Dances, Part II first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Heidi Buschbach Why do we dance? Why was folk dance included in Charlotte Mason’s programmes? Why would an article which describes the history of collecting folk dances matter enough to be included in a Parents’ Review article in 1914? Why does it matter to you and me? Mason expressed in her volumes …
The post Something About Morris and Country Dances first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
When Charlotte Mason published her fifth volume in 1906, she seemed to have decided it was time to move on to other projects. With the publication of Some Studies in the Formation of Character, the Home Education Series was complete. Having apparently said all that she had to say on the subject of education, it …
The post The Story of An Essay Towards a Philosophy of Education first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Last week we shared Arthur Burrell’s “Recitation: The Children’s Art,” the ground-breaking 1890 article that paved the way for his 1891 book Recitation: A Handbook for Teachers. In this book, which was heartily endorsed and recommended by Charlotte Mason in Home Education, Burrell carefully explained the differences between reading aloud, …
The post The Art of Story-Telling first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff The inaugural issue of The Parents’ Review appeared in February 1890. The second issue, published in March, contained a groundbreaking article that initiated reverberations which continue even to our day. The article was by Arthur Burrell and was the first of several articles he would write for The Parents’ Review …
The post Recitation: The Children’s Art first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
“Who aimeth at a star, Shoots higher, far, Than he who means a tree.” Charlotte Mason quotes this phrase from the poet George Herbert when describing “the power and beauty of a holy youth” (Formation of Character, p. 209). She chides us for not having a higher standard when it comes to the religious training …
The post A Programme for Sunday Reading first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff The May 1952 “memories” issue of The Parents’ Review offered many vivid recollections of the early days and later developments of the Charlotte Mason movement and the House of Education. Our final transcription from the memories issue is this article by Joyce van Straubenzee, who was then the principal of …
The post The Charlotte Mason College first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Back in 2021 I interviewed Anesley Middlekauff when she had just completed her first semester at Iowa State University. We talked about the enormous transition from a Charlotte Mason high school to a campus of 30,000 students. At the time I couldn’t help but wonder what the next three years had in store for her. …
The post From Charlotte Mason to College and Beyond first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff In the November/December 1971 issue of The PNEU Journal, Joan L. Molyneux concluded her systematic overview of the educational philosophy of Charlotte Mason. In this final chapter, she explains how Charlotte Mason’s first principle is the essential and unifying element of the philosophy. by Joan L. Molyneux The PNEU Journal, …
The post The Educational Philosophy of Charlotte Mason (6 of 6) first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff In the September/October 1971 issue of The PNEU Journal, Joan L. Molyneux continued her systematic overview of the educational philosophy of Charlotte Mason. In this chapter, she explores the third instrument of education: “education is a life.” by Joan L. Molyneux The PNEU Journal, 1971, pp. 198–204 5. Living Ideas …
The post The Educational Philosophy of Charlotte Mason (5 of 6) first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff In the July/August 1971 issue of The PNEU Journal, Joan L. Molyneux continued her systematic overview of the educational philosophy of Charlotte Mason. In this chapter, she explores the second instrument of education: “education is a discipline.” by Joan L. Molyneux The PNEU Journal, 1971, pp. 154–160 4. Freedom and …
The post The Educational Philosophy of Charlotte Mason (4 of 6) first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff In the May/June 1971 issue of The PNEU Journal, Joan L. Molyneux continued her systematic overview of the educational philosophy of Charlotte Mason. In this chapter, she explores the first instrument of education: “education is an atmosphere.” by Joan L. Molyneux The PNEU Journal, 1971, pp. 98–104 3. The Child’s …
The post The Educational Philosophy of Charlotte Mason (3 of 6) first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff In the March/April 1971 issue of The PNEU Journal, Joan L. Molyneux continued her systematic overview of the educational philosophy of Charlotte Mason. She called it the “Masonian” philosophy, a term we do not use today, but which nevertheless respects Mason’s wish that her method be “protected by the name …
The post The Educational Philosophy of Charlotte Mason (2 of 6) first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Joan L. Molyneux (1908–1986) once wrote, “I have always lived within the sphere of influence of Charlotte Mason, as my parents became PNEU members before I was born.” She “was taught at home by a PNEU governess until she went to the PNEU School in Burgess Hill in 1921,” and …
The post The Educational Philosophy of Charlotte Mason (1 of 6) first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff E. C. Allen was a student at the House of Education from 1897–1898 where she interacted extensively with Charlotte Mason. During that time she also met Julia Firth, a student of John Ruskin who became a major force in the development of picture study in the PNEU.[1] In 1904, Miss …
The post A Letter From E. C. Allen first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Why and How We Started Writing Poetry The word poetry can conjure up many thoughts and emotions in different people. Some remember with fondness a favourite poem or two; others reflect on a favourite poet; there are those who can recite any number of poems; and then there are those who are filled with a …
The post Poetry-Making first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Charlotte Mason wrote that the teacher’s “part is not the weariful task of spoon-feeding, but the delightful commerce of equal minds where his is the part of guide, philosopher and friend.” It’s easy to assume that Miss Mason herself coined the phrase, but the fact is that people had been applying the label “guide, philosopher …
The post Guide, Philosopher, and Friend first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff After reading about the House of Education under the principalships of Ellen Parish and Joyce van Straubenzee, readers of the “memories” issue of The Parents’ Review were treated to a memoir of the time when Charlotte Mason herself was the principal of the school. Kathleen Conder arrived at the House …
The post Memories of Scale How first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff In 1937, Essex Cholmondeley resigned from her position as the third principal of the House of Education. She was succeeded by Miss Joyce van Straubenzee, who presided over the renaming of the school to the Charlotte Mason College in 1938. Miss Straubenzee had previously served as the principal of the …
The post Charlotte Mason College Students in 1952 first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
I recently received a text message from a fellow Charlotte Mason educator. “It’s interesting,” she wrote, “to meet another mom who is doing Charlotte Mason and just told me that she has never read any of the 6 volumes.” My friend’s message revealed a common assumption: anyone who is really “doing Charlotte Mason” is also …
The post Idyll Challenge V first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Tucked away in northwest England, Ambleside continues to represent the geographical heart of a Charlotte Mason education for many. The stunning landscape of the region is punctuated by sparkling blue lakes, rolling green hills, and meadows adorned with wildflowers so celebrated by the poetry of William Wordsworth. While novelist Daniel Defoe declared it to be …
The post Education in the Far-Flung Chain of the Empire first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff After an opening article by Henrietta Franklin, the “memories” issue of The Parents’ Review continued with a reprint of Charlotte Mason’s “Educational Manifesto,” found today on page 214 of School Education. Next was an article by Essex Cholmondeley sharing memories about the House of Education under its second principal, Ellen …
The post The House of Education Under Miss E. A. Parish first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff The May 1952 issue of The Parents’ Review was dedicated to looking back. But this was no mere nostalgia or reminiscence; always the view was towards linking the work of Charlotte Mason in the past to the new work of the present and the future. Some articles touched on specific …
The post Memories of the Past first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Charlotte Mason wrote, “Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.” In other words, “parents and teachers should know how to make sensible use of a child’s circumstances (atmosphere) to forward his sound education; should train him in the discipline of the habits of the good life; and should nourish his life with ideas, the …
The post Habits at Home: A Conversation With Jennifer Pepito first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
In January we ran a series of vintage articles by Olive Norton, a homeschool mother of the 1950s and ’60s who became the headmistress of a PNEU School. She had a special connection with history because it was her school that the daughters of Susan Schaeffer Macaulay attended, and thus it was through Mrs. Norton …
The post A Modern-Day Olive Norton first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff On November 23, 1897, the Rev. Herbert Spenser Swithinbank (1853–1937) gave an address to the Dulwich Branch of the PNEU. His text was Luke 2:43 from the English Revised Version: “the boy Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem.” By contrast, the King James Version reads, “the child Jesus tarried behind in …
The post The Boy Jesus first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Readers of Charlotte Mason’s Home Education know the name Arthur Burrell from the chapter on recitation: “On this subject,” writes Charlotte Mason, “I cannot do better than refer the reader to Mr Arthur Burrell’s [book] Recitation.”[1] It is hard to imagine a stronger endorsement of Burrell’s1891 Recitation: A Handbook for …
The post How to Preserve the Imaginative Power in Children first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note by Richele Baburina Little could Charlotte Mason imagine that one day the Annual Conference of the PNEU would be held at the House of Parliament. There, surrounded by portraits of England’s kings and queens, William Dyce’s oils of King Arthur and his court, along with mosaics, friezes, and sculptures depicting important moments in …
The post Can Appreciation of Art Be Taught? first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Charlotte Mason’s most obvious link to John Ruskin is found in her lengthy quotation from Mornings in Florence in Parents and Children. Less obvious is the link from Ruskin to the practice of picture study in the House of Education, the Parents’ Union School, and homeschools today. This fascinating piece …
The post Art Studies first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Mary Gillies began her studies at Charlotte Mason’s House of Education in 1914. Six years later she joined the staff of the Burgess Hill PNEU School, serving as assistant mistress.[1] Burgess Hill had been founded in 1906 by Beatrice Goode and was notable for teaching girls through all six forms, …
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Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Madeline C. M. Lambert (1892–1965) arrived at the House of Education in 1912 where she learned the art of living and teaching from Charlotte Mason herself. Miss Lambert then cared for her “widowed father until she was free to teach.” Then in 1919, she was invited to help Laura Faunce …
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Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff As Charlotte Mason’s ideas become more and more popular in homeschools and other kinds of schools, an increasingly common question is whether her philosophy can be applied within the church context, such as in Sunday school. At Charlotte Mason Poetry, we have shared two accounts from people who have introduced …
The post Sunday School Teaching first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Imagine what it would be like to have a quiet growing place for parents in a digitally saturated world. A place where parents and educators could be mentored and instructed in Charlotte Mason’s ideas without looking at a screen. A place where the beauty of the printed page could speak to the heart. Cara Williams …
The post An Uncommon Quarterly first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note by Angela Reed The defense of Latin is a tradition almost as old as the language itself. In the modern era, one can find many passionate defenders of lingua Latina in homeschool discussion forums or in Facebook groups, where they swiftly emerge out of the digital woodwork in response to posts like the …
The post Latin — the elegant Tongue first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff In 1944, Essex Cholmondeley had not yet written her biography of Charlotte Mason, and she was no longer principal of the House of Education. Nevertheless she was still quite active in the PNEU, and she occasionally wrote articles for The Parents’ Review to shed light on educational issues of her …
The post The Mind at Work first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Daisy Golding was the Headmistress of the Hanham Road Girls’ Elementary School in Bristol. In 1918, her school took the bold step of adopting the Charlotte Mason method. She quickly became an expert in the method and corresponded frequently with Miss Mason herself. In June 1920, a conference was held …
The post The Disappearance of Difficulties first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff In the fall of 1927, a headmistress wrote to Elsie Kitching to ask about a fine point in the practice of narration in a group setting. Elsie Kitching’s response not only clarified the fine point but also provided a robust model for how to interpret and apply Charlotte Mason’s method. …
The post Concerning Repeated Narration first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff In the final pages of the December 1921 issue of The Parents’ Review, five paragraphs appeared under the heading, “Extract from a letter.” No information was given about the writer or recipient of the letter, but the excerpt described a method by which a school with “a little organisation will …
The post The Group System first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Personhood Explored: The Atmosphere of Personhood This is the final article in a series on Charlotte Mason’s concept of personhood. The first article dealt with Mason’s doctrine of personhood, discussing what Mason believed the human person is. The second article explored how Mason’s doctrine of personhood inevitably led her to urge the pursuit of specific …
The post Charlotte Mason’s Paradoxical Principle, Part 3 first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Personhood Explored: The Discipline of Personhood This is the second article in a three-part series exploring Charlotte Mason’s concept of personhood. The first article was concerned with personhood from the angle of doctrine. That is, what did Mason believe theologically about the personhood of human beings, and thus the personhood of children? Out of doctrine …
The post Charlotte Mason’s Paradoxical Principle, Part 2 first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Personhood Explored: The Doctrine of Personhood From the time I was very young, I felt strongly that I was a person. I felt I was a unique individual, with undiscovered depths within me waiting to shine forth. One way I attempted to “shine forth” my unique personhood as a child was in climbing a large …
The post Charlotte Mason’s Paradoxical Principle, Part 1 first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Two weeks ago we met Olive Norton, the homeschool mother who taught her daughter at home all the way through the secondary level. Then we learned that after graduating her daughter, Mrs. Norton became the headmistress of a small PNEU school. On a fateful January day in the early 1970s, two girls visited that school. …
The post Olive Norton: The Recording first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Last week we shared the remarkable story of Olive Norton, the homeschool mother. Her testimony as a mother-teacher was reported in the 1962 issue of The Parents’ Review, soon after her daughter had left the “home-schoolroom … at the age of sixteen and a half years.” As with many parents …
The post Olive Norton: The PNEU Teacher first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff In December 1962, an extraordinary article appeared in The Parents’ Review. Entitled “A P.U.S. Home-Schoolroom,” it was written by a veteran homeschool mother named Olive Norton. Mrs. Norton wrote the article at the end of her homeschooling journey; she had educated her children for more than twelve years. On this …
The post Olive Norton: The Homeschool Mother first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Twenty-two years ago I was a young father with a little boy, my first child, aged two. My father-in-law called me aside. “How are you going to educate your son?” he asked. I had no idea. I had hopes and fears for the future, but I had no vision. I wanted the best for this …
The post A Father and Son Look Back first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Frances Blogg (1869–1938) served as the Organising Secretary of the PNEU from 1896–1901.[1] During this time she was courted by and then engaged to the celebrated writer and philosopher G. K. Chesterton. After their marriage in 1901, Frances Chesterton moved on from her formal role in the PNEU, but she …
The post The Carol of the Three Brothers first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff In April 1890, the third issue of a fledgling periodical entitled The Parents’ Review was delivered to subscribers. Under the standard subtitle “A Monthly Magazine of Home-Training and Culture,” this third issue included yet another heading: “Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.”—Matthew Arnold.[1] The next and following issues …
The post Conversation Piece first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Back in March we shared a 1961 article entitled “Joy to be Shared” by a schoolteacher named Donald Beswick. He was writing at a time when the popular conception of music was undergoing rapid and radical change, and he offered a bold and compelling case for the enduring value of …
The post Joy to be Bought first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff “Many interesting letters from all parts of the world have been received at the Office,” stated the annual report of the PNEU in 1936. For example, “a letter of enquiry was received from Vancouver, the writer having been encouraged to write by reading of Mrs. Egerton Evans’ experiences in her …
The post A Home-Schoolroom in Madeira first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
In July 2019 I had the privilege of attending the CiRCE National Conference. The topic that year was “A Contemplation of Form,” and the event was nothing less than a celebration of absolutes in a world of relativism. The conference opened with a panel discussion designed to “set the tone for the conference,”[1] and set …
The post The Relativization of Classical Education first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Merriam-Webster defines an idyll 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.”[1] In November 1912, Charlotte Mason observed that three educational idylls had emerged on the world scene. The first idyll was described …
The post Three Educational Idylls first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
When do children outgrow the Charlotte Mason method? The firm belief of Charlotte Mason and the PNEU was that they never do. That’s what we believe too. We’ve shared several Parents’ Review articles that address the upper forms from many perspectives, and now we’re discussing the lessons we’ve learned. In this very special episode, Antonella, …
The post High School Roundtable first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Jennifer Talsma On December 6, 1935, over 50 people from around Ireland gathered to attend a meeting of the PNEU’s Dublin Branch, held in Milford, County Armagh. They were addressed by Mrs. Claudia Shelley and Mr. Monk Gibbon. Mrs. Shelley, who gave the address that follows, was a graduate of the House …
The post Education in The Parents’ Union School first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Elsie Kitching served as Charlotte Mason’s personal assistant for many years before succeeding her as editor of The Parents’ Review and Director of the Parents’ Union School. Kitching’s understanding of and devotion to Miss Mason’s ideas were unparalleled, making her an especially valuable interpreter of Charlotte Mason’s thought. On several …
The post A Measuring Line first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff In January 1931 “the largest P.N.E.U. School in England” was at Burgess Hill. At that time, the school had been operating for more than two decades and had “a most excellent record of success.”[1] It was one of five registered PNEU schools that covered all six forms, educating young people …
The post The P.U.S. Work in a PNEU School first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff The Craig Preparatory School of Windermere was founded in 1899 and led by William Snow, its first headmaster, until 1936.[1] When the Great War came to England, the headmaster’s son, Thomas William Snow, went to serve in France. He fought in “the 57th West Lancs Divisional Artillery and was awarded …
The post Boys’ Preparatory Schools first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff In 1931, a letter appeared in The Times Educational Supplement. “Dear Editor,” it began, “I have been asked to answer the criticism that the Parents’ National Educational Union (a) offers help to parents for young children only, and (b) disapproves of public examinations.” The author of the letter was Rev. …
The post The PNEU and Public Examinations first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
“The great recognition, that God the Holy Spirit is Himself, personally, the Imparter of knowledge, the Instructor of youth, the Inspirer of genius.” It’s an idea that infuses education with meaning and life. What could more powerfully transform the daily routine of a home educator than the thought of “the divine teaching as co-operating with …
The post The Theology of the Great Recognition first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Vera Pim attended the House of Education in 1926, where she received distinction in the subject of teaching.[1] After graduating, she went to Dublin and on January 18, 1928, she read an original paper at the Dublin Branch of the PNEU.[2] The paper was entitled “Education and Life,” and it …
The post Education And Life first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
“Two years ago I had the privilege of visiting the Spanish Chapel of Santa Maria Novella in Florence,” wrote Rose Amy Pennethorne in 1935. “I was shown over the Chapel by a policeman, and having never seen the colours of the frescoes before, I was struck by the prevailing colours of green, white and red. …
The post Thomas Aquinas and the Great Recognition first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff When do children outgrow the Charlotte Mason method? The firm belief of Charlotte Mason and the PNEU was that they never do. However, Mason and her followers were realistic about the challenges faced by teachers who wished to apply the method in the upper years. These challenges were openly discussed …
The post The Parents’ Union in a Secondary School first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
“Upon first hearing the foundational principle of Charlotte Mason’s philosophy, ‘Children are born persons,’ I couldn’t have been less impressed,” wrote one homeschool mother. Said another: “It’s hard to imagine that anybody even needed to say that.” She went on: “I’ve heard some people say this first principle is not really needed anymore… We know …
The post The History of an Idea: Children Are Born Persons first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff Rhoda M. Harrison was a student at the House of Education in 1928.[1] After graduating, she served on the staff of the PNEU School at Burgess Hill[2] before becoming the co-principal of her own PNEU School in Haslemere.[3] Through her study of Charlotte Mason’s writings and her own experience as …
The post The First Steps of Education first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff In 1897, the Women’s Institute was founded in Saltfleet, Ontario.[1] Ethel Somers describes its origins: The women of Canada, in their scattered homes, often many miles apart, felt the urgent need of each other’s help and advice—the need of discussing domestic problems, educational difficulties and social possibilities. They tried the …
The post What Is Education? first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
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 …
The post Where Virtue is the Goal first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
by Sheila Fawcett 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 I …
The post The Only Child first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
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 …
The post Education of Conscience first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
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 post What is a Liberal Education? first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
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 …
The post Jesus’ Bible Lessons first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
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 …
The post The Book of Centuries and How to Keep One first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
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 …
The post Three New Educational Common Factors first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
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 …
The post The Way of Reason first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
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 …
The post Character Training first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
A paper submitted to Dr. Bruce Hindmarsh in fulfillment of the requirements for the Graduate Diploma in Christian Studies from Regent College April 2023 “My dear, my life does not matter… It is the work that matters and, I say it with all reverence, it will some day (not in my lifetime) be seen to …
The post Charlotte Mason and the Spirituality of Motherhood first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff In 1936, Elsie Kitching wrote a book review for The Parents’ Review, the journal she edited from 1923 to 1949. Published in the April issue, the piece covered The Year Book of Education, 1936, edited by Harley V. Usill. Kitching enumerated the key sections of the book and noted some …
The post The Conflict of Philosophies first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff N. McLeod enrolled in the House of Education in 1914[1] before heading up a PNEU school in Richmond, Surrey from at least 1921[2] to 1931.[3] In 1927, she contributed a short article to The Parents’ Review entitled “The P.U.S. Motto.”[4] The article is memorable to me because it opens with …
The post Obedience first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff In November 1909, the 13th Annual PNEU Conference was held in Birmingham.[1] On the morning of the second day, a paper by Dr. Helen Webb was read entitled “Environment in Relation to Nervous Stability.” It offered advice on how to raise healthy children in our modern hectic era, and it …
The post Why Small Things Matter first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Only eternity will reveal how many lives were changed, hearts inspired, and works completed because of the motto of Charlotte Mason. Four powerful verbs — I am, I can, I ought, I will — recited, contemplated, and implemented for generations. But what is the origin of this remarkable motto? Did Miss Mason make it up? …
The post Ask Art #5 — The Motto first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note by Haley Struecker Today, we continue our short series of recommended reading from the Occupations leaflet with another article by Charlotte Mason’s “Beloved Physician”, Doctor Helen Webb. In the 1913 volume of the Parents’ Review, a lecture she gave at a PNEU Conference nurses’ meeting was published as “A Talk to Nurses on …
The post A Talk to Nurses on “The Child as a Person” first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Art Middlekauff “Dr. [Helen] Webb was one of the oldest friends of our dear Founder, Miss Charlotte Mason,” recalled Elsie Kitching. “She was a member of the original Council of the P.N.E.U. and was already lecturing for the Union in 1891… From then onwards few years passed without lectures from her, … …
The post Thought-Turning first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
I cannot tell you how often the aroma of freshly baked bread, or the smell of rice cooking, or the scent of wet grass transports me to my childhood, almost as immediately as I close my eyes and take a deep breath of those “sensations sweet.” When I listen to certain songs I am reminded …
The post My Sensations Sweet first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Antoinette Devonshire was born in 1893 and arrived at the House of Education in 1915.[1] As a student of Charlotte Mason herself, Antoinette seems to have particularly excelled in French: her “Notes of Lessons” on French reading was published in the November 1915 Parents’ Review. Then the March 1917 issue of L’Umile Pianta …
The post Miss Mason’s Principles In Character Training first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Essex Cholmondeley (1892–1985) is mostly remembered today as the biographer of Charlotte Mason. She also wrote the impactful booklet Parents Are Peacemakers, revived in recent years by Nancy Kelly. Cholmondeley’s association with the PNEU began in 1911 when Helen Wix, a graduate of the House of Education, became the governess of Essex’s younger …
The post Work: Partakers of His Resurrection first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Haley Struecker In the second part of her article “Children Up to School Age and Beyond,” Elsie Kitching clarified for parents: There should be no so-called ‘lessons’ in the playroom. ‘Occupations’ is the right word, and for these no time-table should be set and there should be a sense of much freedom …
The post Occupations for Children Under Schoolroom Age first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Donald Beswick was born in 1928 near Manchester. “After two years at a Teacher Training College and one year at Trinity College of Music, he took up teaching and [became] music master at a Secondary Modern School in London.” It was said that “his hobbies [were] singing with the Oriana Madrigal Society, and …
The post Joy to be Shared first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: The appearance of Maria Montessori’s first book in English in 1912 greatly alarmed Charlotte Mason and the PNEU. Mason’s response was swift and strong. On December 3 of that same year The Times Educational Supplement published her letter entitled, “Miss Mason on the Montessori System.” This letter became chapter VII of the 1913 …
The post The Advanced Montessori Method first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Thoughts and Encouragement for Habit Training Probably one of the first principles of Charlotte Mason I encountered when I started reading and researching her philosophy was that of habit training. At that stage I had no idea that it formed part of one of her twenty principles—that of “Education is a Discipline.” I read somewhere …
The post Three Habit Hacks first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: In 1919, a set of students at Charlotte Mason’s House of Education were each invited “to write an essay on some subject suggested by the volumes of the ‘Home Education Series.’”[1] Charlotte Mason herself then reviewed these essays and published them in the opening pages of the November 1919 issue of The Parents’ …
The post Habit first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: This year we are celebrating the Charlotte Mason Centenary — the one-hundred-year anniversary of Charlotte Mason’s death. However, this is not the first Charlotte Mason Centenary. In 1942, a different anniversary was celebrated — the one-hundred-year anniversary of Charlotte Mason’s birth. The January 1942 issue of The Parents’ Review was named the “Centenary …
The post The First Centenary first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note. Lucy Barnes was born in 1805 as the first of four children of the poet and philologist William Barnes. She recalled that she and her siblings “never had in the remotest corner of their memories the shadow of an unkind word from their father, who was as ready to play ‘bears’ with them …
The post Family Bickerings first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note. “Just before the summer holidays [in 1887],” reminisced Charlotte Mason, “a few persons met in a neighbouring drawing-room to discuss a scheme for a Parents’ Educational Union.”[1] As a direct result of that meeting, the PNEU was born. But that was not the only momentous event in PNEU history that took place in …
The post The Work and Aims of the PNEU first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
My early childhood memories are of me running barefoot on a farm in South Africa. My grandparents had a small piece of land where we milked cows by hand, raised our own chickens, and grew our own corn. Whenever I visit a dairy farm, the scent of fresh cow dung always transports me back to …
The post In Praise of Romanticism first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: A letter dated February 15, 1935 from Elsie Kitching to Henrietta Franklin included a tantalizing line: Thank you very much for your letter, and all the trouble you have taken to improve the pamphlets. I kept up the type of the Playroom Leaflet, but we had to get some printed off, as we …
The post The Playroom Leaflet first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Which seems more interesting to you? Reading stories of Greek and Roman heroes, or sitting in a dim classroom all day memorizing historical dates? When I was little, my schoolwork looked like reading books and spending time out in nature. Many of us have childhood memories of schoolwork that looks like a blank classroom and …
The post Charlotte Mason and the Child Who Loves To Learn first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: By Dean and Karen Andreola In an episode of Wodehouse’s humorous stories of Wooster and Jeeves, the servant Jeeves ruefully remarks to his hapless master that he is retiring to bed “with an improving book.” Ha. Not likely. Jeeves is good at pulling the wool over the eyes of Bertie Wooster. “An improving …
The post Mother Culture first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note by Richele Baburina In 1942, the hundred-year anniversary of Charlotte Mason’s birth, a special Centenary edition of The Parents’ Review was published to commemorate all she had done for education as a life. The writers were varied. From former Parents’ Union School students to members of the royalty, each gave thanks to the woman who …
The post Children Under Six first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Last week we shared Dr. R. Bryce Gibson’s February 1915 article “Education and Personality.” Gibson was a professor in Melbourne, Australia who was intrigued by Charlotte Mason’s reflections on the philosophy of Rudolf Eucken. He prepared an address for the Victorian Branch of the PNEU which was later published in The Parents’ Review in …
The post Education And Responsibility first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: In Charlotte Mason’s day, The Parents’ Review reached the ends of the earth — or at least, the ends of the English-speaking earth. Charlotte Mason’s fascinating June 1914 article “Trop de Zèle” was no exception, and it quickly reached the great island continent of Australia. Dr. R. Bryce Gibson was a Professor of …
The post Education And Personality first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: In 2009, Dr. Benjamin Bernier completed his groundbreaking book entitled Education for the Kingdom: An Exploration of the Religious Foundation of Charlotte Mason’s Educational Philosophy. The book remains the finest exposition in print of the theological origin and basis of the Charlotte Mason method. In his research, Bernier explored many documents that had …
The post Introducing Rudolf Eucken first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: On June 18, 1926, Henrietta Franklin welcomed parents and teachers to the 28th Annual PNEU Conference in Caxton Hall, Westminster. She “plunged” her audience “directly into the pith and marrow” of the PNEU enterprise with an address entitled “Miss Mason’s Contribution to Educational Thought.” She insisted that while Mason’s fresh ideas had “changed …
The post The Mother Who Teaches Her Own Children first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: The January 1936 issue of The Parents’ Review opened with this announcement: It is fifty years since Miss Mason published Home Education, which formed the basis of her work as founder of the P.N.E.U. In commemoration of this, all P.N.E.U. members—parents, teachers, and Parents’ Union School pupils (past and present)—are invited to meet …
The post Our Founder: Charlotte M. Mason first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
We live in a world where homeschool families are often far away from relatives. They do all the work of teaching themselves, without tutors or help. A governess? Just a relic of the past! Can Charlotte Mason’s volumes speak to these kinds of families? Families like ours? In 1924, Elsie Kitching reached out to mothers …
The post Letters from Mothers first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Our fifth article in the Elsie Kitching Series brings us to 1936. That year was the fiftieth anniversary of the Charlotte Mason method, born by the publication of Home Education in 1886. Elsie Kitching had been serving as the Director of the Parents’ Union School and the editor of The Parents’ Review since …
The post After Fifty Years first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Haley Struecker Miss Ellen A. Parish was known in Ambleside as a woman of constant bravery, and such a reputation must have befitted her, for in January of 1923, the will of Miss Charlotte Mason named her “Principal of the House of Education for life.” Ms. Essex Cholmondeley, biographer of Miss Mason, …
The post Home Education Under Six first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: On January 5, 1927, a PNEU Meeting was held in London in conjunction with the Conference of Educational Associations. The subject under discussion was “Modern Educational Agencies and the Parents’ Union School.” Henrietta Franklin chaired the meeting and opened by explaining how the late Charlotte Mason had evaluated new developments in education during …
The post Too Wide A Mesh first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: The December 1926 issue of The Parents’ Review was subtitled “Of Little Children” and said that “This number has been prepared by special request.”[1] The issue was to contain several articles and poems about children, but the editor also wanted to include first-hand advice from actual mothers who had been trained at the …
The post Two or Three Witnesses first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Jennifer Talsma On April 14, 1925, Miss Elsie Kitching delivered the opening address to “The Parent’s Union School Gathering at Canterbury,” an event that fulfilled a wish Charlotte Mason had expressed in 1910, when, during a trip to that old city, she told Miss Kitching “What a wonderful place this would be …
The post A Great Inheritance first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Several years ago, a good friend of mine told me that he had been asked by his church to teach a class for some of the children. He had never done anything like this before, so he was not sure what to do or what to expect, but he said he would do it anyway. …
The post A Code of Education in the Gospels first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: The closing pages of the very first Parents’ Review in 1890 contained a short section entitled “Notes and Queries.” Charlotte Mason introduced it as follows: We have received some valuable “Notes,” but do not publish all in this number, partly, that we may first take an opportunity to make clear to our readers …
The post Notes and Queries by Elsie Kitching first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Dawn Rhymer On the plane bound for the Living Education Retreat, I was trying to read through several Parents’ Review articles on science, but my eyes grew heavy. I shook my head to stay awake and slid the sleep-inducing articles to the bottom of the stack, hoping the next one would capture …
The post The Place of Science in the Education of Children first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: The December 30, 1955 issue of The Times included an obituary with the title “Disciple of Charlotte Mason.” The article surveyed the life of a woman who had died two days before: She took the intermediate examination in Arts at London University in 1893, but instead of proceeding to a degree she joined …
The post Moral Training first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: The Fourteenth Annual PNEU Conference was held in July 1910 in London. Charlotte Mason was not present, but the conference opened with a reading of her new paper, presented by her friend Ella Glover. It was a unique essay entitled “Two Differing Ideals and a Danger.” In it, Mason offered a close analysis …
The post Two Educational Ideals first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
1906 was a big year for Charlotte Mason. It’s the year that she completed the Home Education Series! In that fateful year Mason published the fifth and final volume of the series, entitled Some Studies in the Formation of Character. Now you may correct me and say that there are actually six volumes in the …
The post The Story of Formation of Character first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: When the reader of Charlotte Mason’s first volume has reached only the twelfth page, he or she is struck by Mason’s bold hermeneutical stance: It is worth while for parents to ponder every utterance in the Gospels about the children, divesting themselves of the notion that these sayings belong, in the first place, …
The post Of Such Is the Kingdom first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
The following thought exercise is based on a true story. Imagine that you get a call from your oldest daughter who has just started her first semester at college. This is the first phone call you have received from her since starting college away from home. Naturally you’re excited to hear from her: “Well, how …
The post Critical Thinking Through Narration first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: The ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus famously wrote: God … either wishes to take away evils, and is unable; or He is able, and is unwilling; or He is neither willing nor able, or He is both willing and able… if He is both willing and able, which alone is suitable to God, from …
The post Letter From a Scientist first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
In most schools today, technology is king. All students are given tablets and everyone learns to code. We are told that this approach gives kids an advantage. It helps them thrive in the information age. It prepares them for a future that is becoming more and more digital every day. Other schools reach back to …
The post Using Technology Well first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: In May of 1913, the PNEU held their 17th annual conference at Caxton Hall in London. It was a fitting venue for a gathering of educational reformers; just four years prior it had hosted a major rally calling for women’s suffrage. The year 1913 was an important one for the PNEU. Only a …
The post Self-Education first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
I’ve dealt with fear my whole life as a mom. I was so excited about the process, but fear spoke to me constantly, telling me lies about my capability, my circumstances, and God’s faithfulness. Listening to fear caused a loss of joy as I believed these lies. I prolifically read parenting books in an effort …
The post To Overcome Fear first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Harlow College in Essex was established in 1862 and enjoyed a proud history until it was closed in 1965.[1] The years 1904–1935, however, were known as its “golden era.” Those were the years that E. Percival Horsey served as Headmaster. A student from the 1920s recalled, “It was Mr. Horsey who made the …
The post The Mason Method of Teaching first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Growing up in public schools I somehow caught the idea that discovery was for the professional. For the explorer or the scientist or the mathematician, but not for me. I thought that a discovery was only worth making if it was a “first,” like being the first person to discover a new species of dinosaur, …
The post Scouting — The Joy of Discovery first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
In 2 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul writes that “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” I don’t know about you, but I’ve experienced a lot of sorrow in my homeschool journey. And to be honest, I don’t think I’m the only one. Many parents I …
The post Godly Sorrow, Worldly Sorrow, and Joy first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Heidi Buschbach In the days of the PNEU, experts would come and speak about topics of interest. Their presentations would be transcribed and included in the Parents’ Review. Mr. Walter Ford was one of those presenters. He worked with notable men such as folksong collector Cecil Sharp and British composer Ralph Vaughn …
The post Songs For Children first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
“Miss Mason’s philosophy and methods are very fully set forth in her books, but the books are written with such apparent simplicity that, as a friend once said to me, there is a danger of sliding along the top of the words without touching the profound thought below. It is good, therefore, to confer together, …
The post Idyll Challenge IV first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Many a student who came to Charlotte Mason’s House of Education came because she wanted to become a professional teacher. Some, however, had a different vocation in store: some were to become full-time mothers. A notable example is Eleanor Hughes-Jones. In In Memoriam (1925), she reminisced about her days with Miss Mason in …
The post Decoration of the Nursery first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Last year I received an email from a friend that included the following: When you have a moment, I would be very interested in your thoughts on this from Ourselves: “Nay, that very story of the stopping of the sun in its course, an embedded myth, let us say, is recorded, we may believe, by …
The post Charlotte Mason on the Authority of Scripture first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
In a Charlotte Mason education, we rely on books—not a teacher or a set of “tools” or textbooks—not only to inspire interest in the subject but also to ignite and shape our children’s imaginations; invite imitation of the True, Good, and Beautiful; and imbibe fruitful ideas that cause them to grow as persons. But have …
The post Charlotte Mason and Worldview Formation first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Lady Hankey’s “introduction to the P.N.E.U. was the discovery of Miss Mason’s book Home Education, and this happened when [her] eldest son was about 2½ years old.”[1] She soon discovered that “Miss Mason’s ideal is that education is a very wide term. It is not a system but an atmosphere which a child …
The post Nursery Games For Children first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
We all know the story. A young, impressionable Miss Mason travels to Florence. With guidebook in hand, she beholds a glorious fresco, the embodiment of a medieval philosophy of education. Her eyes are opened and in her heart she cries, “Eureka!” Unlooked for, unasked for, yet marvelously presented to her mind, she receives as if …
The post The Great Recognition Mason Brought To Florence first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: When Charlotte Mason famously wrote in Home Education that “Mothers owe ‘a thinking love’ to their Children,”[1] she was quoting Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. Mason was very familiar with Pestalozzi’s work: at age 18 she had studied at the Home and Colonial Society, a school dedicated to training teachers to follow the Pestalozzian method.[2] …
The post Pestalozzi: The First Modern Educator first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Karen Andreola’s 1998 A Charlotte Mason Companion introduced a generation of parents to the Charlotte Mason philosophy. Her encyclopedic book explored element after element of the method, showing parents that Mason’s principles really could be brought to life in our time and place. The 29th chapter of the book delved into poetry and …
The post The Approach to Poetry first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Richele Baburina speaks with the great-granddaughter of Emeline Steinthal, Charlotte Mason’s dear friend and colleague, who brings the PNEU to life with fascinating details and astounding anecdotes of Ambleside, G. K. Chesterton, and more. Links: G. K. Chesterton’s Christmas Poem, published in The Parents’ Review A Devoted Life: Celebrating Emeline Steinthal Influence, by Emeline Steinthal, …
The post Living Memories of Emeline Steinthal: An Interview first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Mary Alice Douglas (1860–1941) was the daughter of a rector and was “educated at home by a governess in [a] tight-knit, deeply religious family.”[1] In 1890, Douglas was appointed headmistress of Godolphin School in Salisbury. When she assumed the role, there were only 22 students at the school. From these humble beginnings, “she …
The post Religious Teaching in the Home first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
In 1984, Susan Schaeffer Macaulay published her groundbreaking book For the Children’s Sake. For many of us, it was our first introduction to the Charlotte Mason method. But how did Macaulay herself learn the method? In her book, she describes how her children were blessed by a school that “still practiced the gentle art of …
The post Susan Schaeffer Macaulay Interviews Joan Molyneux first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
During most of the past six years I have volunteered helping with the pre-school and elementary aged children at our church. Although our church family includes many loving and well-intentioned educators, I am not aware of anyone else inclined towards Mason’s philosophy. In fact, much of what I observed over the years runs contrary to …
The post My Experience with Charlotte Mason in Sunday School first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note by Richele Baburina Without the influence of Emeline Steinthal, the Parents’ National Education Union might never have come to be. And, without her influence, it might not have had such a far-reaching positive and enduring impact for good. Biographer Essex Cholmondeley explains what happened after their first membership enrollment: Mrs Steinthal was not …
The post Influence first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
“When Miss Mason was alive, for example, children were instinctively more obedient and respectful than they are today.”[1] As I have studied Charlotte Mason’s volumes with dozens of men and women over the past six years as part of the Idyll Challenge, I have noticed an occasional but recurring theme. Sooner or later, someone inevitably …
The post Do Charlotte Mason’s Ideas Still Work? first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note. The first article I ever read by House of Education graduate Eleanor Frost is her 1913 “Bible Teaching in The Parents’ Union School.” Presented at the 17th annual PNEU Conference, it has been one of my main “go to” references for Bible lessons, and I have read it more times than I can …
The post The Teaching of Citizenship first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
What was Charlotte Mason’s source for her philosophy of education? It is a question that I have discussed and debated at length over the past several years. And it is a question which does not seem yet to be settled to everyone’s satisfaction within the Charlotte Mason community. Answers seem to fall into three general …
The post The Source of Miss Mason’s Teaching first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: The PNEU motto was “Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life.”[1] This motto encapsulated what Charlotte Mason saw as the only three valid instruments of education: “the atmosphere of environment, the discipline of habit, and the presentation of living ideas.”[2] But did these three instruments function like the three legs of …
The post Education is a Discipline first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: One of the most common questions we hear is how to handle a homeschool situation where there are multiple children in multiple forms. This is not a new question; it has challenged teachers for generations. Essex Cholmondeley, Charlotte Mason’s confidante and biographer, took on this and other questions in a 1927 “Notes and …
The post Managing Multiple Forms first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Heidi Buschbach Our author, W.H. Leslie, wrote Part II of this article and it was included in a later printing of The Parents’ Review that year. Part I focused on the early years of teaching Sol-fa which included basic things such as having good tone, training the ear to hear pitch, melody, …
The post A Few Remarks on Music Teaching, Part II first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
The first principle of Charlotte Mason’s twenty-point synopsis reads simply, “Children are born persons.” Comprised of only four words, it’s the shortest principle in the synopsis. This economy of wording has led to a variety of interpretations of what Mason means by this principle. Through an extensive survey of Mason’s writings, I’ve attempted to uncover the …
The post Charlotte Mason’s First Principle first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: “Children are born persons” is a phrase that is inseparably associated with Charlotte Mason. It may be surprising, however, to learn that the phrase does not appear in Mason’s printed works until the publication of the Synopsis in 1904 — a full 18 years after the publication of Home Education. She then offered …
The post Children Are Born Persons first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Back in August of 2020, we shared “The Story of Scale How Meditations,” which describes how Charlotte Mason’s 1898 reflections on the Gospel of John became available to the world. In that article, I noted that in 1906, Charlotte Mason wrote an article for The Parents’ Review entitled “Meditation.” This article set the …
The post Meditation by Charlotte Mason first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Charlotte Mason developed a program and method for Bible lessons for children from ages 6 to 18 that is breathtaking in its simplicity, elegance, and efficacy. I have spent many years researching, writing, and speaking about this wonderful program, and now I am taking the time to respond to some questions that I have been asked …
The post Bible Lessons FAQ (Part 2) first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: In July 1919, Charlotte Mason wrote to her House of Education graduates. Her letter included this note: We must not forget either, our fellow helpers in India who have … addressed meetings and held up a standard of work to wistful mothers in India; we call to mind especially Mrs. Tasker, Miss Bruce …
The post Bible Teaching In The P.N.E.U. first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
When speaking of Bible lessons, Charlotte Mason writes, “Now our objective in this most important part of education is to give the children the knowledge of God.”[1] After years of careful research, I have concluded that Mason did not approach this “most important part of education” in a haphazard fashion. Instead, I have discovered that she developed a …
The post Bible Lessons FAQ first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note by Richele Baburina The scene of a country vicar collecting insects among the ancient oaks of Sherwood Forest might make you think you’ve wandered into a G.K. Chesterton novel. In fact, it was the real life setting of Reverend Alfred Thornley, the clergyman naturalist who examined and graded the nature notebooks of Charlotte …
The post Nature Study In The Home first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: The 24th Annual Conference of the PNEU was held at the House of Education in Ambleside in 1922. It was the first time the conference had ever taken place at this location so cherished by Charlotte Mason.[1] Henrietta Franklin gave the opening address, during which she explained that before coming to the conference, …
The post A Year in Review — 1922 first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: In 1912, Charlotte Mason wrote a series of seven letters to The Times Educational Supplement. The letters were published under the general heading “The Basis of National Strength,” and two years later they were reprinted in The Parents’ Review, with this note: The Editor thinks that perhaps a series of letters published in …
The post The New and Old Conceptions of Knowledge first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Have you ever corresponded with someone so often that you felt you knew the person, even though you’d never met? That’s how Charlotte Mason felt in 1920. She had exchanged so many letters and children’s examination papers with teacher Daisy Golding that she felt she already knew the woman — even though they’d …
The post Knowledge and Narration first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Although I grew up in a liturgical church with the changing seasons (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany into Ordinary Time, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and then back to Ordinary Time) and the changing colors (purple, white, green, purple, white, to green again), I thought that these seasons and colors were silly and shallow — my life was run …
The post Advent and Time first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Doreen Russo was educated at the Charlotte Mason College, formerly the House of Education. She later described how this training left an indelible mark upon her life: I think, in a way, we took the College with us when we left to teach… the syllabus and timetables… which we worked in the Practising …
The post A Philosophy of Education Restated first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Dawn Tull As part of the special “Baby Number” edition of the Parents’ Review issued in July 1917, Mrs. Howard (Ella) Glover, the founder of Music Appreciation in the PNEU, wrote an article about musical ear training for the youngest children. Other articles in this “Baby Number” included: Religious Training at Home …
The post Music In The Nursery first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note by Richele Baburina An artist awakens with a start to the bright glow enveloping her London studio. She rushes to the window and can barely believe her eyes. Snow! Without a thought to her appearance, she flings on her coat and hastens out the door—grabbing her paint box and easel on the way. …
The post The Teaching of Drawing first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
What do you think of when you hear the word Montessori? Perhaps you imagine a room specifically designed for children, with small carpets and special shelves filled with activities. Perhaps you think of a carefully structured method to learn mathematics, reading, and even chores and crafts. Perhaps you envision a teacher following precise guidelines to …
The post Maria Montessori and the Classical Tradition first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Geraldine Downton was a student at Charlotte Mason’s House of Education in the late 1920s.[1] She took a special interest in nature study, and excerpts from her nature notes were published in several issues of The Parents’ Review in the following decade.[2] By 1936, she was on the staff of the House of …
The post The Charm of Nature Study first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Many homeschoolers are inspired by Charlotte Mason’s emphasis on nature study, living books, and narration. However, it can be difficult to envision what this emphasis would look like in high school. Does the Charlotte Mason method lose its distinctive features when teaching older teens? Or do Mason’s ideas have a unique application in the final …
The post High School at Home with Charlotte Mason first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note. In February of 1943, readers of The Parents’ Review were able to read the second part of Elsie Kitching’s monumental “Children Up to School Age and Beyond.” The first part had been published in the January issue and has also been transcribed and recorded by the Charlotte Mason Poetry team. It provided principles …
The post Children Up To School Age and Beyond (Continued) first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
I first encountered the philosophy of Charlotte Mason when my oldest child was just three years old. We joined a book club studying A Charlotte Mason Companion, and my heart was stirred by the vision of a homeschool centered on goodness and beauty. I was drawn to this method that left space in the day …
The post Cultivating a Divine Education with Charlotte Mason first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: The December 1926 issue of The Parents’ Review was entitled “Of Little Children”[1] and was arranged at the special request of Henrietta Franklin.[2] As with the earlier 1917 “baby number,” the issue contained articles of special interest to parents of young children. However, unlike its predecessor, this issue also contained an official document …
The post Children Up To School Age and Beyond first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
I was a mess. Between the global pandemic, a cross-country real estate search, getting our house listed, sold, and the subsequent move, all sense of normalcy and routine had eroded. One by one, I’d allowed a slew of bad habits to creep into my life that turned my daily rhythms into a cacophony. With work …
The post I Tried Charlotte Mason’s Schedule for 30 Days first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: The name G. H. Smith may be familiar to readers of In Memoriam. His contribution to that 1923 volume is entitled “Elementary Schools.”[1] In his tribute, he wrote: We remember Miss Mason because she showed us how practice in school might be natural and simple, natural because it used the inherent element of …
The post The Teaching Of English first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
The goal of this article is to conclude my three-part series examining Charlotte Mason’s views on health. So far we’ve covered skin disease, food, and water consumption. The focus of today’s article will be fresh/night air and exercise. I have reviewed Mason’s comments on these topics and have attempted to interpret them from her cultural …
The post A Physician’s Look at Charlotte Mason’s Views on Air and Exercise first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Leaflet H of the Parents’ Union School enumerated nine rules for mothers implementing Charlotte Mason’s method at home. Rule #7 stated, “Bad postures are to be corrected.”[1] We might reasonably ask how posture managed to make it into such an elite list of rules. The answer may be found in understanding the stress …
The post Physical Culture first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
It was the end of the school year and I was drowning. I was overwhelmed and miserable, and that misery often stared back at me during our school hours in the faces of my children. Sure, we had our bright moments, but they were not what I knew was possible with a Charlotte Mason education. …
The post From Tired to Inspired first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
(A Bible Study) by Charlotte Mason The Parents’ Review, 1898, pp. 46-54 In the course of our Scale How Bible Readings in St. Luke’s Gospel, we came upon a discourse of our Lord’s, so full of illuminating and connected teaching upon the subject of Simplicity that it seems well to draw the attention of parents …
The post Simplicity first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Readers of the January 1901 issue of The Parents’ Review were treated to a new article by Charlotte Mason entitled “Ourselves, Our Souls, And Bodies.”[1] It was the first time this phrase appeared in the PNEU literature, but Mason made sure readers understood exactly where it came from: the article’s title was enclosed in quotation …
The post The Story of “Ourselves” first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Rose Amy Pennethorne (1875-1955) studied at Charlotte Mason’s House of Education and graduated in 1898. After that she “had several posts in Home Schoolrooms,” during which time she was the editor of L’Umile Pianta, the alumnae magazine of the House of Education. Eventually she became the Organising Secretary of the PNEU, a position which she held …
The post Neglected Nature first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Dr. Jack Beckman, in his monumental 2003 dissertation entitled “Lessons to Learn,” describes a change that took place in the Charlotte Mason College (formerly the House of Education) in the early 1950’s: By Winter term 1950, certain new Staff were recruited for the College representative of the changes required by both the Ministry …
The post On First Reading Charlotte Mason’s Books first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
The moral development of children: it’s what motivates many parents to homeschool in the first place. But if that’s the goal, how do we achieve it? Charlotte Mason’s surprising answer focuses not on the training we conduct but rather on the knowledge we provide. Recorded live at the Rocky Mountain Homeschool Conference, July 2021. The …
The post The Role of Knowledge in Moral Development first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
What role does observational science play in your philosophy of education? John Amos Comenius (1592-1670), the “father of modern teaching,”[1] broke with tradition when he called out: And why should we need other teachers than these our senses to learn to know the works of Nature? Why, say I, should we not, instead of these …
The post Charlotte Mason and the Philosophy of Science first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: The debate between Charlotte Mason and classical education has been going on for years. Does it really make a difference whether Mason was a classical educator or was influenced by classical theories of education? In this episode, Shannon weighs in on this topic as she recounts her journey from classical teacher to Mason educator and researcher. …
The post Classical Meets Charlotte Mason first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Agnes Drury was in charge of the scientific work at the House of Education, and she had a particular delight in nature study and nature notebooks. In this paper from the 25th annual conference of the PNEU, Drury explains how nature study and science instruction were carried out at Mason’s school for teachers. …
The post The Nature Work at the House of Education first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
When people first hear about the Charlotte Mason method, many decide they want to try it out. They start small, with a few elements such as nature study and narration. Over time they begin to see results in their family, and they want more. For some, this becomes a quest for the perfect Charlotte Mason …
The post The Perfect Charlotte Mason Education first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: The August 1906 issue of The Parents’ Review closed with a preview of what was coming next: “The September number of the Parents’ Review will be devoted to the subject of Religious Education in the Home, and will contain several papers on a subject which is a cause of some anxiety to parents…”[1] …
The post Religious Training In The Home first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Scouting is one of the Charlotte Mason subjects that caught my imagination as soon as I heard of it. It seemed to combine everything I wish I had been taught about self-sufficiency and living a life immersed in nature. But so broad was the scope that I knew I had to put it on the …
The post A Modern Take on Scouting first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Nicole Williams In The Story of Charlotte Mason, Essex Cholmondeley wrote: Another choice is an instance of Miss Mason’s understanding of the out-of-school needs of boys and girls. In 1905 a small military handbook came to her notice. It was called ‘Aids to Scouting’ and had been written by Robert Baden-Powell to provide …
The post Scouting first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Everyone remembers the good times they had in school, and while the setting may be different for each party or hangout time, the one thing that remains constant is that everyone involved is surrounded by friends. But what about homeschooled children? If they mainly interact only with their families, where do they make friends? Most …
The post Homeschooling and Socialization first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: In the September 1909 issue of The Parents’ Review, Charlotte Mason wrote: The Editor is taking the opportunity of the summer months’ Nos. to unearth some papers of unusual value from an early volume of the magazine (1890). It seems a pity that so much weighty thought should be buried…[1] Among the articles …
The post On The Teaching Of Religion To Children first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
People frequently ask, “Which atlas or map should I use?” This is a very personal choice and is therefore difficult to answer. Rather than suggest one specific atlas, I would like to present some options for your consideration as you choose the best atlas for you. Aside from any preexisting preferences the teacher might have, …
The post The Best Atlas for You first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
The Parents’ Review, 1912, pp. 492-510 By Miss C. M. Mason It is a great pleasure to me to meet, if not in the flesh, then in the spirit, people with whom I have had much intercourse, parents of children who belong to the P.U.S. I should like to thank them for the faith which …
The post The Parents' Union School first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Several years ago I attended a Charlotte Mason conference that included a special event: a craft display. Attendees were encouraged to bring sample objects produced by their children during handicraft lessons. The aim, of course, was to show for attendees what it really means to work with the hands. The aim was to inspire attendees …
The post Teaching Tech first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Miss E. Bruce Low graduated from the House of Education and then travelled to India to begin teaching. There she met two other House of Education graduates. Together, they conducted a Charlotte Mason “mini-conference” in 1917. One of the trio, Mrs. J. H. Tasker, introduced themselves as follows: Miss Loveday, Miss Bruce Low …
The post Practical Carrying Out first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note by Richele Baburina Charlotte Mason’s personal reading rotation often included one of Jane Austen’s novels, which were also among those assigned to her upper form students during study of the historical time period. She frequently references both the author and her works to illustrate certain principles in her philosophy of education, even borrowing the …
The post Jane Austen by Charlotte Mason first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
A mother contacted me a few months ago because her Form 1B student was enjoying everything in the program except Bible lessons. She asked for my advice. Should she try a different Bible translation? A different commentary? A different lesson format? My answer may have surprised her. I suggested a different attitude. An attitude of …
The post Reverence in Action first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: In March 1930, the PNEU hosted its 32nd annual conference in London. While most of the speakers were either PNEU leaders, school administrators, or educational specialists, one speaker was simply an ordinary mother. Her presentation was described as follows: During the morning session, Mrs. W. J. Brown’s address entitled “History of a P.U.S. …
The post The Story of a Home Schoolroom first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
In my first article in this series, I highlighted a quality that Charlotte Mason said should accompany “all our teaching of children”: reverence. This is a quality that I began to realize was sorely lacking in my own lessons, so I resolved to do something about it. But was this going to be something that …
The post Reverence in Lessons first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
By Miss C. M. Mason The Parents’ Review, 1913, pp. 561-572 The curriculum of the child is the provision for the man. “Do as you like,” is the new commandment for children,—so we are told; but there are two things against this rule of life. In the first place, it is not possible, and in …
The post The Reading Habit And A Wide Curriculum first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Knowledge awakens. It’s the inspiring, startling, audacious claim of Charlotte Mason, a claim that’s at the heart of her method. “We know that religion can awaken souls,”[1] she writes. That claim isn’t so controversial, even today. But knowledge? I have to tell of the awakening of a ‘general soul’ at the touch of knowledge. Eight …
The post All Our Teaching of Children first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note by Richele Baburina Scale How Tuesdays were a special time of enjoyment conceived by Charlotte Mason for her teaching students at the House of Education. In the drawing room of Scale How each week, a student from the training college would give a biographical sketch of her favorite author, artist, or musician, while …
The post A Jane Austen Evening first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
English children should have such a familiar and intimate knowledge of the geography of their own country as would make a railway journey a delight; and this is especially the case in these days when “cheap trips” afford opportunities “to see for themselves” to persons whose eyes have been opened by previous instruction.[1] It was …
The post The Story of The Counties of England first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Dawn Tull It can be difficult for students to comprehend ideas which they cannot physically see in person. What means does the teacher have at his or her disposal in this regard? For example, how do we realistically convey the concept of the topography of a geographical area in a way that …
The post On Learning Geography first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Many parents get interested in the Charlotte Mason method when their children are young, and they wonder what happens when children educated in this manner get older. Is the Charlotte Mason method a good preparation for life and/or for college? Recently I had the opportunity to talk to a young woman who was homeschooled from …
The post From Charlotte Mason to College first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Mary Charlotte (Carta) Sturge was born in 1852 and earned a degree in moral science at the University of Cambridge. She was a frequent speaker at PNEU events from as early as 1896, lecturing on topics such as “The psychology of attention,”[1] “The place of imagination and poetry in Education,”[2] “First Elements of …
The post Spiritual Joy first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Elsewhere I have told the story of how I learned about a medieval saint from Amy Steedman’s In God’s Garden. In the months and years that followed, I read everything I could get my hands on by and about this saint named Catherine of Siena. All of her works had been translated already from her …
The post My Latin Journey first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note by Angela Reed On a stormy day in 1938, a crowd gathered under a canopy on the grounds of Burgess Hill School in West Sussex (about forty miles south of London) to pay honor to three sisters, the “Misses Goode,” on the occasion of their retirement. There were dignitaries in attendance, religious and …
The post The Teaching of Latin first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Charlotte Mason introduced her philosophy at a time when education in England was in a state of flux. From the early years of the PNEU to the last days of Mason’s life, a tug-of-war was taking place between advocates of science education and advocates of the humanities. Mason’s Parents’ Educational Union went national in 1890; …
The post The Teaching of Chemistry first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
In 1944, Horace West Household was 74 years old. He had retired from his role as Secretary for Education of Gloucestershire County eight years before. An associate of Charlotte Mason and a pioneer in adopting her method, he had a unique perspective as he witnessed the evolution of education before his eyes. He observed a world in the …
The post Knowledge Versus Information first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Today is a huge milestone for the Charlotte Mason Poetry team. It’s our two hundredth podcast episode! Can you believe it? It seems like only yesterday when we launched the podcast in August of 2017. But here we are more than three years later, and we’re excited about the next 200 episodes to come. But …
The post Episode 200 first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Charlotte Mason had just completed her November 1896 dedication of Parents and Children when she began exploring other topics in The Parents’ Review, the monthly journal of the Parents’ National Educational Union. First on her list was an exposition of “Docility and Authority,” which she published in two parts, in the March and May issues …
The post The Story of School Education first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
We live in a time of great confusion: meaning and fact, history and truth have become separated. As the poet W.B. Yeats wrote of the world in the time between the two world wars, “Things fall apart, the center does not hold.” The people of Jerusalem went through even more difficult times in the years …
The post Emmanuel, the Key to Our Hope first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: In June of 1915, the PNEU held its 19th annual conference. This conference promised an interesting feature: The morning of June 15th will be devoted to classes of children who live in or near London and who are members of the Parents’ Union School. These classes will be taught by Ex-Students of the …
The post Conference Lessons first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: One of the great joys for me of the past four and a half years has been the opportunity to lead the Idyll Challenge discussion groups for men. In these monthly meetings, I have had the privilege of observing many dozens of men interact with Charlotte Mason’s ideas and consider how to apply …
The post School Discipline first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: This week we continue our journey through The Changing Year. For more information on how to use this inspiring resource by Florence Haines, please see the episode entitled “A Walk in February.” We hope this week’s episode will give you interesting ideas for special studies, as well as a nudge to go outside …
The post A Walk In December first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: In May of 1927, the 29th annual conference of the PNEU was held in Gloucestershire, England. The conference featured a wide range of speakers, including a homeschooling mother, a former student, a school headmaster, and a medical doctor. One of the most distinguished speakers, however, was Horace West Household, the Director of Education …
The post Charlotte Mason And Gloucestershire first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: This article was first published in the 1932 Parents’ Review. It was republished in 1940 and 1956. Here we share the 1956 version. by Elsie Kitching The Parents’ Review, 1956, pp. 239-244 I am, I can, I ought, I will There are many things to think of in looking at the beautiful badge designed …
The post The Badge And The Motto first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
I discovered Charlotte Mason pretty early in my twenty-year homeschool journey. My firstborn had learned to read and write, but spelling was not yet on our radar. Therefore we heard about the dictation method before we became familiar with any of the mass-market spelling programs. Some of Mason’s views on spelling were burned into my …
The post Spelling by Dictation first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: This week we continue our journey through The Changing Year. For more information on how to use this inspiring resource by Florence Haines, please see the episode entitled “A Walk in February.” We hope this week’s episode will give you interesting ideas for special studies, as well as a nudge to go outside …
The post A Walk In November first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Translated by Tina Schallhorn My name is Lizie Henrique and I live in Brazil. I was born here, so Portuguese is my mother language. When my husband and I opted for homeschooling 4 years ago, I had no idea how to start or how to do it. I searched the Internet for a turn-key curriculum …
The post A Living Education in Brazil first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Amber Johnston Poetry is difficult to define, but in a Parents’ Review article from 1908, M. H. Simpson attempts to do just that while acknowledging that she has yet to encounter a satisfactory description. After settling on poetry as “the expression of our spiritual instincts which our present materialism will not let …
The post On The Teaching Of Poetry To Children first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
The first time I ever spoke at a Charlotte Mason event was the 2008 Living Education Retreat. I thought I did pretty well, but I wasn’t sure I would ever be invited back. (I was, thankfully, in 2015.) A key element of my 2008 presentation was Charlotte Mason’s theology. My focus was narrow, however, and …
The post Charlotte Mason and the Millennium first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: This week we continue our journey through The Changing Year. For more information on how to use this inspiring resource by Florence Haines, please see the episode entitled “A Walk in February.” We hope this week’s episode will give you interesting ideas for special studies, as well as a nudge to go outside …
The post A Walk In October first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
When I’m trying to explain the Charlotte Mason method to friends and co-workers, this is a common question I ask. The question itself makes two assumptions: That they do enjoy learning about history, and That they didn’t enjoy history until they were an adult. In other words, that they enjoy learning about history, but did …
The post When Did You Start To Enjoy History? first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: In 1917, H.W. Household introduced the Charlotte Mason method to the schools of Gloucestershire County. He started small, with only five county schools adopting Mason’s programmes in the first year. But adoption grew rapidly, so that by 1925, 196 schools were using the method. The PNEU had never before tried to introduce the …
The post Conference on PNEU Methods first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
One autumn afternoon, I (Richele) was in the kitchen when my teen breezed in and grabbed an apple. He paused on his way out the door and said, “Hey, mom, thanks for algebra today.” My voice and my heart trailed after him as I called out, “You’re welcome!” And then I sat for a moment …
The post Math for Older Students first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Emeline Steinthal was with Charlotte Mason at the start of the PNEU in 1887, and three decades later she was still supporting her friend and the movement she started. Steinthal was a sculptor and a painter, and Essex Cholmondeley explains what happened at this time: For many years [Steinthal’s] classes in clay modelling …
The post Some Experiences of a Pioneer School first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: This week we continue our journey through The Changing Year. For more information on how to use this inspiring resource by Florence Haines, please see the episode entitled “A Walk in February.” We hope this week’s episode will give you interesting ideas for special studies, as well as a nudge to go outside …
The post A Walk In September first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
In 1861, a nineteen-year-old was starting her first full-time job. She had just moved and was by all accounts feeling overwhelmed by her new set of responsibilities. She was a teacher and of course she had a lot to worry about. But her thoughts drifted not to all the work to be done without, but …
The post The Story of Scale How Meditations first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
I consider myself an ardent follower of Charlotte Mason’s principles, and sheepishly, I confess that I have been known to audibly react as she reaches out through her volumes. Whether to give a sigh of relief at the grace imparted or a grunt of dismay at the conviction roiled up inside, I say what I …
The post The Promises of Poetry first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Amber Johnston In January 1919, a writer identified only as M.A.W. wrote an article for the Parents’ Review addressing how and why poetry should be taught. What struck me while reading the author’s thoughts was how timely the 100-year-old observations are for parents and educators today. An argument is made for teaching …
The post On the Teaching of Poetry first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: This week we continue our journey through The Changing Year. For more information on how to use this inspiring resource by Florence Haines, please see the episode entitled “A Walk in February.” We hope this week’s episode will give you interesting ideas for special studies, as well as a nudge to go outside …
The post A Walk in August first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Antonella Greco speaks with Maeva Kosse of Charlotte Mason France about applying Charlotte Mason’s philosophy to the French homeschooling milieu.
The post A Living Education in France first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: The August 1906 issue of The Parents’ Review announced that the next month’s issue would “be devoted to the subject of Religious Education in the Home”[1] and would include, among other articles, a paper on “Teaching Children to Pray.” Charlotte Mason was the chief editor of The Parents’ Review, and she often solicited …
The post Teaching Children to Pray first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Helen Emma Wix was a “torch-bearing”[1] graduate of Charlotte Mason’s House of Education. She was born in 1882 in Sydney, Australia and left this world one hundred years later in 1982.[2] She graduated from the House of Education in 1903[3] and by 1910 was serving as a governess.[4] She then served for a …
The post Scripture Teaching first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: This week we continue our journey through The Changing Year. For more information on how to use this inspiring resource by Florence Haines, please see the episode entitled “A Walk in February.” We hope this week’s episode will give you interesting ideas for special studies, as well as a nudge to go outside …
The post A Walk in July first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Art Middlekauff speaks with Amber Johnston of HeritageMom.com in which they discuss the relevance and application of Charlotte Mason’s ideas for mothers and families today. Links Recipe Versus Thought Ask Art #2 – What Happened?
The post Charlotte Mason and Your Heritage first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Oxford defines an idyll as “an extremely happy, peaceful, or picturesque period or situation, typically an idealized or unsustainable one.”[1] It’s not a word I would normally be expected to know, even though I am familiar with the adjective form idyllic, which means “extremely happy, peaceful, or picturesque.” The only reason I know the noun …
The post Idyll Challenge 3 first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: In 1921, H.W. Household was the Education Secretary for Gloucestershire, in which at least sixty-one schools[1] were following the Charlotte Mason method. Household was enamored with the method, but he was not content only to “preach to the choir”; therefore he wrote articles for two British journals: The Teacher’s World and The Journal of …
The post Teaching Methods of Miss Charlotte Mason first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: The August 1928 issue of The Parents’ Review was devoted to the 37th annual report of the Parents’ National Educational Union. It contained updates about every element of the PNEU, including the annual conference, the House of Education, the PNEU Reading Course, and the Gramophone Club. One section gave an update on the …
The post Principles Before Programmes first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: This week we continue our journey through The Changing Year. For more information on how to use this inspiring resource by Florence Haines, please see the episode entitled “A Walk in February.” We hope this week’s episode will give you interesting ideas for special studies, as well as a nudge to go outside …
The post A Walk in June first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: J. D. Rose worked in industry[1] until at some point in his life when he opted for a career change. He entered the Matlock College of Education and began an in-depth study of Charlotte Mason’s writings. While a student at Matlock, he had the opportunity to teach young people himself.[2] His unique background …
The post The Educational Philosophy of Charlotte Mason first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Dawn Tull Rose Amy Pennethorne (1875-1955) studied at Charlotte Mason’s House of Education and graduated in 1898. After that she “had several posts in Home Schoolrooms,”[1] during which time she was editor of L’Umile Pianta, the alumnae magazine of the House of Education. Eventually she became the Organising Secretary of the PNEU, a position …
The post The Teaching Of Geography, by R. A. Pennethorne first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
We can only imagine how Charlotte Mason felt when she saw the positive response to her new book Home Education in 1886. But perhaps she was not surprised. Margaret Coombs noted that Mason’s “remarkable assurance … infuses the original version”[1] of her book. It seems that assurance was derived from Mason’s deep conviction that she …
The post The Story of Parents and Children first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: This week we continue our journey through The Changing Year. For more information on how to use this inspiring resource by Florence Haines, please see the episode entitled “A Walk in February.” We hope this week’s episode will give you interesting ideas for special studies, as well as a nudge to go outside …
The post A Walk in May first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
About three years ago, while looking through the curriculum programmes in the Charlotte Mason Digital Collection (CMDC), my attention was drawn to the Geography section. Up to that point most of our geography study had involved looking up locations on a map before reading a chapter in our history books. That, and reading the books …
The post Geography Using Map Questions first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Dawn Tull At the 31st Annual Conference of the PNEU, Captain Benjamin Dooley Parkin was asked to “state in general a few of the basic principles and objectives of Geographical teaching, and in particular, the methods adopted by the Parents’ Union School to carry them out.” Parkin was the headmaster of the …
The post The Teaching Of Geography first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
At Charlotte Mason events over the years I’ve met many dads who say they do not help with the homeschooling. It is not uncommon for a dad to attend a conference so that he can better support his wife, even if he has no intention of directly teaching his children. Sometimes these dads want to …
The post Now That Dad Is Home first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: This week we continue our journey through The Changing Year. For more information on how to use this inspiring resource by Florence Haines, please see the episode entitled “A Walk in February.” We hope this week’s episode will give you interesting ideas for special studies, as well as a nudge to go outside …
The post A Walk in April first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: In September of 1886, Charlotte Mason had just finished the “Introductory” for the first edition of Home Education, writing from Manningham, a neighborhood of Bradford.[1] The book would be published before the end of the year. One month later, the Bradford Geographical Exhibition was held.[2] Mason was invited to read a paper. She was …
The post Geography as a Means of Culture first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Este artigo também se encontra disponível em Português. “For to understand one human being so completely that you feel his feelings and think his thoughts is really like gaining possession of a new world; it is gaining the power of living in another’s life.” (Charlotte Mason, Ourselves, Book I, p. 95) In the summer of …
The post Ourselves: Nossos Corpos, Nossas Almas first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: The July 1917 issue of The Parents’ Review was called the “Baby Number.” Each article treated a different aspect of education for the “early years,” children under age 6. One article was written by Charlotte Mason herself, some were written by long-time PNEU influencers such as Dr. Helen Webb and Ella Glover, and some …
The post Babies’ Habits first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
To the world many of us, as homeschooling mothers, have stepped into the shadows. The focus of our lives, in this season, is raising and educating our children. “I want” is replaced by “I must” as our desires are put aside to attend to the more pressing needs of our children. And yet, we are …
The post What Hands Are For first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: This week we continue our journey through The Changing Year with a walk in March. For more information on how to use this inspiring resource by Florence Haines, see last month’s episode entitled “A Walk in February.” We hope this week’s episode will give you interesting ideas for special studies, as well as …
The post A Walk in March first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Grandma was visiting. (I’m Grandma.) I was staying at my daughter Sophia’s house. One misty morning she telephoned her husband when he was at work. My grandson and I couldn’t help overhearing. According to the neighborhood’s online community, two bear cubs were sighted in the vicinity. “That means a mother bear is somewhere nearby, too,” …
The post Truth Telling first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Richele Baburina The autumn landscape was a riot of color as Michael Allenby and his governess, Katharine Loveday, moved stealthily along the hedgerow until stopping at an expanse of trees shading the long narrow lane. The boy clambered up a tall sycamore and positioned himself across a large sturdy branch, peering through …
The post Brush Drawing first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Ice surfaces are a scarce resource, even in the Detroit area. Figure skaters compete with hockey skaters for access to this precious commodity. Junior skaters compete with senior skaters. And singles skaters compete with ice dancers. The quest for ice is so difficult that school hours are enticing. Many skating families choose to homeschool just …
The post My Scheduling Journey first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Last month we shared the first chapter of Florence Haines’s The Changing Year, a book assigned in the PNEU programmes for many years. As we share the second chapter today, we thought it would be helpful to provide some information as to how this resource has been used by Charlotte Mason educators. I’ve …
The post A Walk in February first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: In September of 1908, educationalists from around the world were invited to present and discuss their views at the first International Moral Education Congress in London. A notable delegate from America named Felix Adler will be familiar to those who have read chapter 10 of Charlotte Mason’s Parents and Children. Interestingly, Adler argued …
The post Moral Instruction, by Charlotte Mason first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Dawn Rhymer Asking our children to narrate is deceptively hard. It seems like such a simple question: “Tell me what you heard.” How can something so simple possibly end in tears, disappointment, a sense of failure, and even anger? As I have spoken on narration over the past four years, my greatest …
The post The Method of Narration first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: In her final volume, Towards a Philosophy of Education, Charlotte Mason summarized the nature work assigned to children of Form II: They are expected to do a great deal of out-of-door work in which they are assisted by The Changing Year, admirable month by month studies of what is to be seen out-of-doors. …
The post A Walk in January first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
In 1885, Charlotte Mason was a published author who had written several books on geography, but not on the general topic of education. Nevertheless, she had gained a great deal of experience from teaching at the Davison School and the Bishop Otter Memorial College. She had also read many books, both scientific and spiritual, and …
The post The Story of “Home Education” first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: One way that Charlotte Mason revolutionized education was by taking seriously the fact that a great portion of our thinking is “automatic.” She wrote: Thought is, for the most part, automatic. We think, without intention or effort, as we have been accustomed to think, just as we walk or write without any conscious arrangement …
The post Life’s Decisions first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: From time to time I am asked about the place of creative writing in a Charlotte Mason education. It turns out that in the days of “Aunt Mai’s Budget,” creative writing took a most vibrant and visible place. “Aunt Mai’s Budget” was the special children’s section of The Parents’ Review which ran from …
The post A Visit to Winterland first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: By the time the May, 1917 issue of The Parents’ Review went to print, planning for the upcoming “Baby Number” was well underway. In that May issue, Henrietta Franklin wrote, “We are anxious to compile a list for publication in the July (Baby) number of the Parents’ Review. Suggestions should reach me before …
The post The Religious Training of Children at Home first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
In the introduction to her devotional that accompanies the Gospel of John, Charlotte Mason penned these words: All important things are simple, and I often bear this in mind as we go about our days, whether we are gathered at the kitchen table for lessons or taking to the halls of our local art gallery. …
The post All Important Things first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Maria Bell In 1896, the PNEU recommended a book which remains in publication today, A Manual of Clay-Modelling: “The instructions are very clear and good, the plates admirable, and the list of suggested models is exceedingly helpful to the teacher. The preface, by Mr. [T.G.] Rooper, deserves great attention as setting forth …
The post The Training of the Artistic Perception first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Elizabeth Agnes Smith was born in 1884[1] and graduated from the House of Education twenty years later.[2] She was active in the alumnae association,[3] and in 1911 she married the Rev. Richard Bevan Pyper.[4] In 1912 the couple had their first child, followed by a second in 1915.[5] Elizabeth passed along her enthusiasm …
The post The Child in the Garden first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Richele Baburina In 1909, the ink barely dry on her diploma from the University of London, a young woman by the name of Irene Stephens traveled north to join Charlotte Mason’s House of Education.[1] Her role at Ambleside was twofold—with a degree in mathematics and astronomy, she would serve as Lecturer in …
The post The Teaching of Mathematics to Young Children first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: The July 1917 issue of The Parents’ Review was the “Baby Number,” dedicated to giving parents guidance for the early years. Charlotte Mason called upon several trusted thinkers and friends to contribute articles discussing activities for children younger than age six, when “definite lessons should begin.”[1] To treat the topic of books for …
The post Reading in the Nursery first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
A question I commonly hear from home educators (both men and women) is how to integrate spirituality with the mundane tasks of home and work life. The Preacher of Ecclesiastes said that God has “set eternity in the hearts of men” (3:11, NIV). At some time or another we all crave a deeper and richer …
The post From the Cell to the World first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Charlotte Mason wrote in Home Education that “At six or seven, definite lessons should begin.”[1] What then for children younger than six? Is there a Charlotte Mason education for them? The question has prompted endless discussion and debate. Fortunately, Mason herself provided some clarity back in 1917. As the editor of The Parents’ …
The post Nature in the Nursery first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: In 1836, the Home and Colonial School Society established a teacher training school modeled after the ideas of Swiss educational reformer Johan Pestalozzi. The school’s first teacher was Elizabeth Mayo, an educational reformer with the distinction of being the first woman ever employed in England to train teachers. Twenty-four years later, the college …
The post Art and Handcraft first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
In my previous article I shared some reflections and conclusions from my research into music appreciation in the PNEU. Many of you do not need to be convinced to include music appreciation using Miss Mason’s methods. Instead your question is, “What do I do now?” How can we apply what we have learned from the …
The post Music Appreciation in the 21st Century first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: From time to time I am asked about apparent contradictions in Charlotte Mason’s writings. For example, we are told that narrations are to be in the child’s own words. And yet when it comes to Bible lessons, Mason says that while narrating, the child should be “keeping as close as he can to …
The post The Teaching of Scripture first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Marjorie Evans graduated from the House of Education in 1899.[1] Six years later her first article appeared in The Parent’s Review, entitled “Beauty as a Factor in Education.”[2] The following year “[s]he, with Laura Faunce, started the first Girls’ P.N.E.U. Day School in London.”[3] Shortly thereafter she returned to the pages of The …
The post Picture Study first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Laura Faunce graduated from the House of Education in 1899. “Trained by Miss Mason herself, she made her principles her own and her lessons were delightful and appreciated by her pupils, as were the addresses which she gave from time to time to PNEU audiences.” One of those addresses we share today: our fourth in …
The post How We Teach Citizenship first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s note: Janet Smith graduated from the House of Education in 1911.[1] As a student there she met friends for life. In 1913 we find her at an “Old Students’ Meeting,” encouraging former classmate Daphne Chaplin to lead the small gathering of alumnae in “Morris dancing.”[2] By 1914 she was already on the Executive Committee …
The post How We Teach Geography first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s note: In May of 1922, the alumnae of the House of Education gathered in the Lake District for the Ambleside Old Students’ Association conference. The educators were not to be disappointed, because Miss Mason herself was scheduled to speak. On May 1 at 11:30 AM she came forward to address the assembly. Did she know she had …
The post Our Principles first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Background This is the second article in my series on Charlotte Mason’s health recommendations. The first article was primarily focused on Mason’s recommendations regarding the skin. This article will focus on her recommendations for food and drink. I wrote the article on skin care first because, as a board-certified dermatologist, skin is my primary area …
The post A Physician’s Look at Charlotte Mason’s Views on Food first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s note: In 1917, England was at war. An important notice in the July issue of The Parents’ Review stated that due to wartime printing constraints, the August and September issues would be canceled. Five years before, Maria Montessori’s first book had appeared in English. The world was changing, and Charlotte Mason must have felt the pressure. …
The post The Mind of a Child first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
My last article concluded a chronological progression of music appreciation in the PNEU from its conception in 1905 through the last half of the 20th century. As I traveled on my journey through the PNEU music programmes, I reflected on my original questions. The results of my research answered many of them and prompted new …
The post Reflections on Music Appreciation first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Dawn Tull Seventeen years after her inaugural music programme, and eleven years after she wrote her last programme in 1911, Mrs. Ella Howard Glover was still contributing to music appreciation in the PNEU. She gave a lecture in 1922 at the twenty-fourth annual PUS conference on music appreciation, which was later published …
The post Musical Appreciation first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
There is a quality that Charlotte Mason said “is our first duty and our last duty, and includes all our duties.” She said it “is the hall-mark of character,” and that “all men are divided into two sorts”: those who have this quality and those who do not. Only the “few” have this quality, but …
The post The Loyal Parent first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s note: Lucy Gore attended the House of Education during its first decade. While there, she enjoyed nature walks under the guidance of M. L. Hodgson, the naturalist credited with instituting the practice of nature notebooks at the school. Many years later, classmate E.C. Allen recalled a poem that Gore wrote: Now students dear, Miss …
The post Early Drawing Lessons first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
In 1890, Charlotte Mason wrote, “Is not physiology hurrying up with the announcement that to every man it is permitted to mould and modify his own brain?” By 1894, Mason clearly saw the implications: “Within our own time the science of Education has been absolutely revolutionised, not by educationalists, but by Physiologists, who have made …
The post Habits for Life first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: In 1905, Charlotte Mason published the fourth volume of her Home Education Series and called it Ourselves, Our Souls and Bodies. Four years later, a teacher wrote about her experiences using the book with a class of children. Published in the 1909 Parents’ Review, this article stirs the imagination with what can be accomplished with Miss Mason’s …
The post Ourselves first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: On November 26, 1948, the PNEU celebrated its Diamond Jubilee. Many great figures from the PNEU were present and spoke, including Henrietta Franklin, Elizabeth Molyneux, and Elsie Kitching. One man was invited, but he was unable to attend. “How I wish that I could be at the Anniversary Luncheon to bear testimony,”[1] he wrote. Why …
The post Reminiscences first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s note: In April, 1909, Charlotte Mason hosted the Fourth Students’ Conference at Scale How, which drew fifty-five former students of the House of Education to Ambleside: In all our annals was ever a conference like this in the world before? And the days flew by, and the week was done, did ever week go so …
The post On Teaching French To Young Children first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Mrs. Dermod O’Brien was the President of the Dublin Branch of the PNEU for many years. In the January 1943 issue of The Parents’ Review (which was published after her death) it was stated that she was “a most loyal and brilliant colleague and a most gracious personality… Her wise as well as witty …
The post My Tongue’s Use first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: In Charlotte Mason circles today, we sometimes hear the claim that Miss Mason retracted or even recanted some of her beliefs about the role of habit in education. I like to say that if that’s the case, somebody forgot to tell the rest of the PNEU. As late as 1967, an article in the PNEU …
The post The Place of Habit first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
In my first and second articles, I traced the history of music appreciation in the PNEU from its commencement in 1905 all the way to 1924, the year after Charlotte Mason’s death. I showed how a variety of music programme authors influenced how music appreciation was conducted, and I also showed the impact of technology, …
The post A Tradition of Music Appreciation first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Agnes Drury, Charlotte Mason’s trusted colleague, was the inspector of nature notebooks at the House of Education from 1939 until her death in 1958. As early as 1913, she wrote an article in The Parents’ Review on nature study. Then in 1941, she wrote her magnificent manual on how to keep a nature notebook. Finally, in 1952, she again …
The post Nature Note Books first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
A listener asked, “If Charlotte wanted us to rely most of all on the Holy Spirit for guidance, why was she so specific (e.g. the timetables etc.)? If we were handed her 20 principles alone, I think there would be a wider array of practices, but she expounded on the specifics of her methods. Should …
The post Ask Art #4 – The Spirit and the Letter first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Este artigo também se encontra disponível em Português. Editor’s note: On November 15, 1909, the faithful of the Parents’ National Education Union gathered in Birmingham for their thirteenth annual conference. By this time, Charlotte Mason had already completed the first five volumes of The Home Education Series. On day two of the conference, Lady Campbell read …
The post Opinions and Principles first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Music appreciation changed over time in the PNEU due to various personal, historical, and technological influences, but still maintained certain important elements. In my first article on music appreciation we looked at Mrs. Glover’s first eleven music programmes. Over the years the different authors’ own experiences, opinions, and perspectives influenced their music selections and articles, …
The post Music Appreciation in the PNEU first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Dawn Tull Charlotte Mason met Mrs. Glover’s “musical baby” in 1895 during a visit to London. In that same year a ground-breaking article was published in the Parents’ Review detailing the careful musical training she had given him in early childhood and explaining how the musical atmosphere had affected him. In a …
The post Music first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: In 1903, F. Noël Armfield wrote a letter to the editor of The Parents’ Review stating: I would like to mention that an active interest in the P.N.E.U. is being taken by our Colonial members, a branch of the P.N.E.U. is likely to be formed in Melbourne, a lady at Bulawayo has interested six of her …
The post Sunday Schools first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
My introduction to Charlotte Mason was similar to many of you who started homeschooling before the current era of blogs and podcasts. Ten years ago a good friend gave me a copy of For the Children’s Sake, and we had many discussions about it in the year leading up to our daughters starting kindergarten. She …
The post A Journey in Musical Appreciation first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Dawn Tull In 1949 Henrietta Franklin spoke on the history of the PNEU during the Diamond Jubilee celebration. She reflected on the various lectures heard over the years. Moreover, it was not only the great and learned ones of the time who gave lectures, ‘simple mothers’ if one may call them so …
The post Our Relations with Music and Art first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
What is scaffolding? Does it mean one thing in some educational circles and something else in Charlotte Mason educational circles? Is there anything wrong with scaffolding “the Charlotte Mason way”? Does the concept affect how we approach lessons in a living education? Join me as I weigh in on the scaffolding debate in a detailed discussion with Ashley Olander. …
The post Ask Art #3 – Scaffolding first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: In 1924, H.W. Household visited several PNEU schools and found that narration was not being conducted the Charlotte Mason way. To correct this, he wrote a memorandum to the staff of each school for them to read and discuss. His memorandum offered several clarifications on how narration lessons should be done. But more than …
The post Narration the Charlotte Mason Way first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
From time to time, people ask, “What happened to the PNEU?” There is usually more than just idle curiosity behind the question. The asker is often wondering, “If the Charlotte Mason method is so great, why didn’t the PNEU just keep growing and growing?” Or some wonder if there is an active PNEU somewhere in the …
The post Ask Art #2 – What Happened? first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Este artigo também se encontra disponível em Português. Editor’s Note: In May of 1913, Daphne Chaplin was among five former students of the House of Education addressing attendees at the annual PNEU Conference. Their subject matter: how certain subjects are taught in the Parents’ Union School, with Miss Chaplin’s focus on the teaching of Literature. Her …
The post How We Teach Literature first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of original articles by Nicole Handfield on the topic of keeping a nature notebook. In my first article on nature notebooks, I invited you to enter with open heart and eyes into God’s Out-of-Doors. In my next article I explained how to expand your nature notebooking …
The post Supplies for Nature Notebooking first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Charlotte Mason wrote: Well did our Lord say: ‘I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me.’ The pity of it is that He, the altogether lovely, is so seldom lifted up to our adoring gaze. Perhaps, when our teachers invite us to behold the face of Christ, we shall learn …
The post The Object of Faith first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
I fear the reader may be inclined to think that I am inviting his attention for the most part to a few physiological matters—the lowest round of the educational ladder. The lowest round it may be, but yet it is the lowest round, the necessary step to all the rest. For it is not too …
The post A Physician’s Look at Charlotte Mason’s Views first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: In July of 1931, educators from around the world converged on Belford, England to discuss the topic of “Education in a Changing Empire.” Representatives from Canada, South Africa, and Australia all expected to hear about educational problems due to differences of nationality and climate. One speaker, however, came with a different agenda. He was …
The post The Teaching Methods of Charlotte Mason and the PNEU first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Over the years, I have had the privilege to sit on “question and answer” panels at Charlotte Mason retreats and events. Many of the questions I’ve received were thought-provoking, impactful, and sometimes even moving. It is clear that many parents want a deeper understanding of Mason’s ideas, and want to see more clearly how these …
The post Ask Art #1 – Creative Writing first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: In 1887, the year after the publication of Home Education, Charlotte Mason was invited to lecture at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. According to Elsie Kitching, Mason’s topic was “Home Education in its bearing on Technical Education.” Kitching found the summary of the lecture in the British Association …
The post Parents and Education, by Charlotte Mason first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: In 1913, Agnes Drury was in charge of the scientific work at the House of Education, and Alfred Thornley was the inspector of nature notebooks. Drury gave a lecture to the students of the House of Education on the topic of nature study, and it was published in the March issue of The Parents’ Review. This early predecessor …
The post Nature Study, by Agnes Drury first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Mary Hardcastle (1901-1964) spent her entire life under the umbrella of the PNEU. As a child, she attended a PNEU class taught by R.A. Pennethorne, and then at age 17 she entered the House of Education. She graduated in 1921, and by 1925 she was serving as the Secretary of the school. She …
The post The Strait Gate first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
“Teaching is not a technique exercised by the skilled on behalf of the unskilled. It is a sharing of the effort to know, using all that is best in the world of books, of music, of pictures, all that can be observed and cherished out of doors, all that hand and eye can make; all …
The post Sharing the Effort To Know first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Charlotte Mason began the House of Education in 1892, and by 1893 the teacher-students were already keeping nature notebooks. The first “inspector of nature notebooks” was Herbert Geldart, who served in the role from 1893 to 1902, when he was succeeded by Alfred Thornley. One of the first notebooks Thornley inspected was that of …
The post How to Keep a Nature Note-Book first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s note: Today we are pleased to share chapter 6 of the new book by Karen Andreola entitled Mother Culture – For a Happy Homeschool. This exclusive excerpt entitled “Twice Blessed” is used by permission. Read by Ashley Olander. The family who takes part in the Gentle Art of Learning (what I call Charlotte Mason’s …
The post Twice Blessed first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s note: Merry Christmas from the Charlotte Mason Poetry team! Today we have something special to help focus your attention on Christ during this season of Christmastide. For the first time, we present recorded versions of poems by Charlotte Mason. These two Christmas poems are read by Antonella Greco, our Chief Editor, who has spent …
The post Christmas Poems first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
When Barbara and I made the decision to homeschool, we agreed that we would divide the teaching activities between us. I felt an overall sense of responsibility for the education of my children, so I intuitively chose the subjects that I felt (at the time) were either the most important or the most difficult. The …
The post First Reading Lessons first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Violet C. Curry was born in 1892 and enrolled in the House of Education in 1911. Her early interest in nature was evidenced by an inspection of her nature notebook the following year: A very full and interesting book. The notes show close and careful observation of Nature, and the Drawings are very good.[1] Furthermore, she …
The post The Teaching of Nature Study first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. – Isaiah 9:2 (KJV) Our family has approached the season of Advent intentionally over the years. One year, my husband Kent carefully crafted a wooden ring with 24 holes for candles and a miniature Mary on a donkey accompanied by Joseph on foot. Each …
The post Waiting for the Light first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of original articles by Nicole Handfield on the topic of keeping a nature notebook. When I started learning about Charlotte Mason about five years ago, I was pretty sure the nature notebook was supposed to look like Edith Holden’s The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady. …
The post Nature Notebook Phases first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Este artigo também se encontra disponível em Português. Editor’s Note: Charlotte Mason defined her Short Synopsis in 1904. We typically refer to it today as her “Twenty Principles.” Sixty years later, some in the PNEU were thinking that this synopsis was no longer the most accessible “elevator pitch” for the Charlotte Mason method: For some time …
The post Characteristics of a PNEU School first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Chapter 13 of Charlotte Mason’s Parents and Children is a lengthy exposition of Henry Beeching’s Eleven Sermons on Faith. This chapter is a lynchpin of Mason’s theology, a stunning repudiation of dualism. In fact, she opens the chapter with the heading, “Things ‘Sacred’ and Things ‘Secular’ an Irreligious Classification.” For years, Mason’s detailed exposition …
The post Sermons on Faith first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: At the 2018 Charlotte Mason Living Retreat, I spoke on the topic of “How to Learn the Charlotte Mason Method.” In that talk, I suggest that parents new to the method “start with four.” When I finished my presentation, my fifteen-year-old daughter Anesley came forward and shared about her experience growing up with these …
The post Growing Up with Charlotte Mason first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Edith Escombe (1866–1950) was a writer of stories and essays who contributed many articles to The Parents’ Review. A collection of her articles was republished in 1906 in a book entitled Old Maids’ Children. Charlotte Mason described the book as being “evoked, we may hope, by the Parents’ Review.” According to Mason, “The author knows …
The post Of Punishments first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Is education scientific or is it sacred? Is it physical or spiritual? Pragmatic or ideal? Listen to Art Middlekauff’s synthesis of Charlotte Mason’s thought. Recorded live at the 2018 Charlotte Mason Living Retreat. The accompanying slides are available for download.
The post The Sacrament of Education first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Rose Amy Pennethorne (1875-1955) studied at Charlotte Mason’s House of Education and graduated in 1898. She then “had several posts in Home Schoolrooms,” during which time she was editor of L’Umile Pianta, the alumnae magazine of the House of Education. Her love for the Charlotte Mason method blossomed into full-time service to the PNEU when the Executive Committee …
The post The Spirit and the Letter first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Not so very long ago, I was in the car with my six-year old when he asked, “Did God make that truck?” “Nope. But God made the people who made the truck.” He studied my face. “Okay.” Then he resumed staring out the window. Several weeks later, I thought of that exchange, and I saw …
The post The Origin of Ideas first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s note: On January 5, 1929, six years after Charlotte Mason’s death, Horace West Household spoke at the The North of England Education Conference in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Household was then the Director of Education for Gloucestershire, and he would later be referred to as Mason’s “ardent disciple.” The topic for his talk was “A Liberal Education in the Rural Elementary School.” …
The post A Liberal Education first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
June was a big month for me: it was my first time teaching a workshop about the Charlotte Mason method. I was the local hostess for the Charlotte Mason Soirée Summer Mountain Mini, and my topic was scaffolding. I worked out a session description with my co-presenter: With such a rich feast it’s easy to …
The post Building Without Scaffolds first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
“Great things are done when men and mountains meet: This is not done by jostling in the street.” —William Blake. By Elsie Kitching The Parents’ Review, 1921, pp.44-54, 92-101 We all feel the jostling of the after war problems and are sometimes inclined to wonder if ever the jostling will cease and a time come …
The post The Meeting first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
An Exploration of the Religious Philosophy of Charlotte Mason A paper submitted to Dr. James Moore in fulfillment of the requirements for the Educational Ministries Capston Portfolio/Internship course of the Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Deerfield, Illinois September 2017 Introduction to Charlotte Mason Charlotte Mason is a name not much heard of in Christian education. Mason was a devout …
The post The God of Living Ideas first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Situated on Chambersburg Street, a main thoroughfare of historic Gettysburg, is a nineteenth-century church that is home to the sorts of gatherings we seldom hear of in our modern time—evenings of song, speech, and verse, evenings dedicated to remembering the lives of men and women who were pressed into the service of our nation, as …
The post Ruminating on Recitation first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s note: I am pleased today to share the final essay in our series by Dr. Benjamin Bernier, read to us so engagingly by musician Greg Rolling. I am confident that with Dr. Bernier’s careful presentation of original documents and historical facts, “the essential Christian discipleship aspect of Mason’s work will be recognized for what it …
The post Education for the Kingdom (Part 5 of 5) first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s note: Today we share the fourth in a series of five essays from 2017. This episode explains that the core of Charlotte Mason’s philosophy “is the concept that the primary task of education is the ‘nourishment of ideas.’ This nourishment is directly related to both the work of the Holy Spirit (as the educator of mankind) and the person …
The post Education for the Kingdom (Part 4 of 5) first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s note: Today’s episode is the third in a series of five essays from 2017 which demonstrate that Charlotte Mason’s educational philosophy can be characterized as a Christ-centered philosophy of education for Christian discipleship, a unique contribution in the history of Christian and educational thought. Greg Rolling shares his wonderful talent as reader and performer to bring …
The post Education for the Kingdom (Part 3 of 5) first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s note: Today we share the second in a series of five essays from 2017 which demonstrate that Charlotte Mason’s educational philosophy can be characterized as a Christ-centered philosophy of education for Christian discipleship, a unique contribution in the history of Christian and educational thought. Greg Rolling has again shared his wonderful talent as reader and …
The post Education for the Kingdom (Part 2 of 5) first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s note: In the early months of 2017, Dr. Benjamin Bernier wrote a series of five original essays to demonstrate that Charlotte Mason’s educational philosophy can be characterized as a Christ-centered philosophy of education for Christian discipleship, a unique contribution in the history of Christian and educational thought. Later that year, Charlotte Mason Poetry introduced a …
The post Education for the Kingdom (Part 1 of 5) first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Oh, the wonder of finding a kindred spirit—how we treasure that person in our heart and how they have a way of recognizing and drawing out our potential! Charlotte Mason and Emeline Steinthal found such kindred spirits in each other, and their relationship has positively impacted generations of people. We thought you might enjoy meeting …
The post A Devoted Life first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
My name is Anesley Middlekauff. I am 15 years old and have been homeschooled with Charlotte Mason my whole life. I am the daughter of Art and Barbara Middlekauff, and I have enjoyed having them as my teachers and travel companions for every conference I’ve been lucky to be a part of. I am very …
The post A Journey with “The Scarlet Letter” first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
I am a huge fan of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. But I knew little of their writing group, the Inklings, until I read the book Bandersnatch. Had it only been about meeting in Lewis’s dusty rooms to read their latest poems and book chapters I would have been sold, but there is so much more …
The post Christian Conflict with the Inklings first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Did you know that keeping a nature notebook has the power to awaken your senses, to teach you how to truly see things that you may have “seen” in a vague way thousands of times before yet never truly seen at all? It’s true. And, by truly seeing, you can then be truly grateful to …
The post Into God’s Out-of-doors first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
I know of two ways to learn the Charlotte Mason: the way I learned it, and a better way. You don’t have to make the same mistakes I made. Listen in on this talk recorded at the 2018 Living Education Retreat. Special thanks to the music performance by Greg Rolling and Tyson Suemnicht. The accompanying slides …
The post How to Learn the Charlotte Mason Method first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
“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 …
The post The Atmosphere of Education first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
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 …
The post Applying an Authentic Interpretation first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
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 …
The post Idyll Challenge 2.0 first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
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 …
The post Mason’s Program for Bible Lessons first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
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 …
The post The Sacredness of the Person first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
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 …
The post The Value of Manual Training in Education first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
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 …
The post Highest Thinking and Simplest Living first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
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 …
The post A Few Remarks on Music Teaching, Part I first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
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 …
The post On Questions and Questioning first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Paul Hughes: In 1929, the PNEU branch in Melbourne, Australia met to hear the words not of a great educationalist, but of an ordinary mother. Her name was Mrs. H. J. Hannah, and she explained that Charlotte Mason’s call to parents makes us exclaim, “Who is sufficient for these things”? But Mrs. Hannah doesn’t end …
The post From an Ordinary Mother’s View Point first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Tessa Keath: In June of 1915, World War I had been underway for almost a year. Charlotte Mason wanted to speak to the children about the war. With the harsh realities they were facing each day, we might have expected her to speak words of comfort. Instead, she told the children that …
The post Miss Mason's Message to the Children first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
When I first started learning about Charlotte Mason, I realized pretty quickly that nature study was important. If I was going to attempt a Charlotte Mason education in my home, I would have to figure out what nature study is. I looked in Mason’s volumes, but it wasn’t clear to me exactly what I was …
The post Nature Notebooks in the 21st Century first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Nicole Williams: Many people seek a Charlotte Mason education for their children because of nature study. They know intuitively that time outside is important, but once faced with actually doing “nature study” they are unsure what is required of them. In the following article, C. Cooper, a former House of Education student, …
The post Nature Study, by Christine Cooper first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s note: In October of 2017, we shared our first Parents’ Review article by Irene Stephens, entitled “Mathematics.” In the Editor’s Note, we highlighted the pivotal role played by Miss Stephens in the development of Charlotte Mason’s distinct approach to math instruction. We also shared some elements of Stephens’s life chronology, including how she ended up at …
The post Number: A Figure and a Step Onward first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Charlotte Mason (1989b) derides “nice little history books for children” that are mere outlines or childish retellings (p. 278). The formidable Plutarch’s Lives definitely does not fit into that category. This staple of Citizenship has been of particular interest to me and hearing others’ personal stories and experiences has been a delight! I want to share …
The post A Programme for Plutarch first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s note: On December 3, 1912, The Times Educational Supplement published a letter entitled, “Miss Mason on the Montessori System.” The following year, five introductory paragraphs were added to the letter, and it was published as Chapter VII of The Basis of National Strength. Two years after that, the original text of the 1912 letter (without the added paragraphs) …
The post The Montessori System first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
At Charlotte Mason Poetry, our goal is to promote an authentic interpretation of Charlotte Mason’s writings. What do we mean by an “authentic interpretation,” and why is it so important? Today we are delighted to partner with A Delectable Education in a joint release of the audio version of our defining 2017 article “Towards an Authentic Interpretation.” …
The post Towards an Authentic Interpretation first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
“What worked even fifty years ago will not work to-day, and what fulfils our needs to-day will not serve fifty years hence; there is no last word to be said upon education; it evolves with the evolution of the race.” (Charlotte Mason, Volume 3) Did you know Charlotte Mason said this? Have you read this …
The post What Worked Fifty Years Ago first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Cet article est également disponible en français, traduit par Maeva Kosse de Charlotte Mason France. On January 16, 1923, Charlotte Mason entered the next life. I can only suppose that the very next day some new question came up, and a PNEU member asked, “What would Charlotte do?” That question has probably been asked almost daily …
The post What Would Charlotte Do? first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Way-back-when, I remember being confronted with the topic of Learning Styles. It was a popular conference talk. It popped up in home school magazines. The speaker or magazine article challenged me to figure out which Style triggered the most learning in my student. The teacher might have several students who each learn best by means …
The post Learning Styles and Charlotte Mason first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
By H. W. Household The Parents’ Review, 1930, pp. 631-638 When I read in the August number of the the report of Mrs. Mary Hamilton’s delightful address, I regretted more than ever that an official engagement had made it impossible for me to be present. The subject is one that always attracts me. I still …
The post What I Owe to The Classics first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
I always thought I had a pretty good education. That is, until I met Charlotte Mason. It was like a whole new world was suddenly revealed to me. I had always enjoyed history, literature, poetry, and nature, but learning about Mason’s philosophy showed me how much more was out there and how much deeper I …
The post Wading in the Shallows first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Horace West Household was the Secretary for Education of Gloucestershire County in 1916 when he first encountered Charlotte Mason’s theory of education. He soon became, in the words of biographer Margaret Coombs, an “ardent disciple” of Charlotte Mason. He was deeply committed to Mason’s ideas and worked tirelessly to promote them within his jurisdiction and across England. He …
The post Miss Mason's Methods of Teaching in Practice first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
I’m an anxious father. Many nature walks with my young boys (ages 2 and 5) have degenerated into tension-filled treks through the woods, devoid of joy, devoid of laughter. Why? Because there’s a gnawing in my gut that compels me to use these walks as teaching moments. When these educational episodes don’t go as I …
The post A Look and Gesture of Delight first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Nicole Williams In the Autumn of 1916, the Church of England issued a proclamation in response to the low morale of the nation due to the First World War. It was called the “Mission of Repentance and Hope.” A committee prepared posters, postcards, resolution cards, pamphlets, hymn books, children’s books, and study …
The post The National Mission first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Christian Overman wrote, “Ideas do make a difference! And significant ideas cast much longer shadows than do the men or women who originally think them.” What ideas are casting a shadow on your practice of education? And how do these ideas make a difference? The focus of this presentation is to uncover which ideas correlate …
The post Charlotte Mason and the Educational Tradition first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
“… things I had never heard before… a radical change of the way I thought… It was totally different, totally new, totally amazing, and life-changing…” Art Middlekauff catches up with Shannon Whiteside in this exclusive interview in which Shannon describes how she went from being a teacher at a classical education school to an educator …
The post From Classical Teacher to Charlotte Mason Educator first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s note: In 1923, Dorothy Sayers introduced the fictional character of Lord Wimsey in her very first mystery novel. She went on to write many stories about Wimsey which all became quite popular, and Sayers is best known today as a crime writer. However, in 1947, she presented a composition of an altogether different nature. This was the …
The post The Fragmentation of Culture first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
When Charlotte Mason published Home Education in 1886, she began a chain reaction. First came the Parent’s Educational Union in 1887, which rapidly expanded to become the Parents’ National Educational Union (PNEU) in 1889. Then in February of 1890, Charlotte Mason became the editor of the first issue of The Parents’ Review. This amazing journal would continue to be …
The post Tools for You first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: “Education is a Life, but if we are to train others we must train ourselves.” What a terrifying realization. Everything about the way I live my daily life matters. Every choice I make and every moment I spend will affect the way my children learn to live and my example, for better or worse, …
The post How the PUS Helps a Young Mother first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Throughout my schoolgirl days I loved getting back to school in the fall. Not because I was looking forward to seeing my friends (I changed schools nearly every year), and not because I found the lessons to be so enriching (I found most school subjects to be dull and my teachers were mostly uninspiring); I …
The post On Distraction first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s note: Aspiring educators came to the House of Education in Ambleside to learn the Charlotte Mason method. Once there, they experienced a dynamic environment of discussion and reflection under the guiding hand of Miss Mason herself. Upon graduation, they received their certificates and went out into the world to teach. Of course they loved this …
The post How Past Students Can Keep In Touch first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
“If I stopped reading the Bible, I sometimes wonder if anyone would notice.” The statement caught me off guard and took me back a step. It flew in the face of everything I believed to be true and to be my solemn duty as a Christian man, husband, and father. “Of course people would notice,” …
The post A Look in the Mirror first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
“Is there, then, not need for more ‘Mother Culture’?” -A In April of 1892, the readers of The Parents’ Review were treated to a most mysterious article. Not the opening article, but the second one, beginning on page 13 of that month’s issue. Entitled “Mother Culture,” its author was never explicitly stated. It was signed merely “A.,” the pseudonym …
The post Mother Culture first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: The December, 1910 issue of The Parents’ Review featured a two-part article by Charlotte Mason. The first part was an Advent devotional to help readers prepare for Christmas. Mason wrote that the mystery of the Incarnation was too great to rush into suddenly. So she prepared a selection of excerpts from her first volume of poetry entitled …
The post The Nativity first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
In 2014, I experienced Shakespeare at the Globe Theater in London. At that point, I had been teaching Shakespeare to students for over 20 years as part of their Charlotte Mason education and this encounter was a dream come true! My husband and I eagerly took our spots up front, standing with the rest of …
The post A Programme for Shakespeare first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
When I happened upon Charlotte Mason and became determined to understand the philosophy, I quickly found out it would not be a week-long crash course and quick implementation of the curriculum. At the same time, I knew I needed something for homeschool and wanted to be authentic to the philosophy. It was April of 2017, …
The post From Urbanite to Conservationist first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: On August 4, 1914, Great Britain declared war on Germany, and in so doing, entered the world’s first Great War. By December of 1915, more than 100,000 British soldiers had lost their lives in service to their country. That month Charlotte Mason addressed the home front in The Parents’ Review. Even while acknowledging …
The post Women Must Weep first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Charlotte Mason’s method helps us to discover the beauty that is all around us. But does her method help us when beauty cannot be found? This is the rest of my Charlotte Mason story, recorded at the 2017 Living Education Retreat. This article is only available as audio, linked below. Special thanks to Jordan Sramek and The Rose Ensemble for …
The post A Dangerous Adventure first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
In my previous article, The Truth About Volume 6, I concluded that Volume 6 was meant to complement the other volumes, not to replace or supersede them. Rather than showing an evolutionary change in Mason’s method, it actually clarifies and unifies it. The evidence I presented supports the position that Miss Mason’s philosophy and method …
The post The Reception of Volume 6 first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: My first introduction into the world of Charlotte Mason was not through For the Children’s Sake, like I know it was for many others; it was through Karen Andreola’s lovely purple book, A Charlotte Mason Companion. It gave me firm footing in philosophy and a glimpse into the day-to-day or how-to of a Charlotte …
The post How to Safeguard the Love of Learning first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
I trusted the method. I bought the story that education was for life, not for a job, or a college, or a test score. And I bought the other part of the story—that if you follow Charlotte Mason’s method, your children will develop a love for learning, and they will do better at a job, …
The post Charlotte Mason and the SAT first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Over the past month, we have shared Richele Baburina’s series of articles on how physics can be part of a living education. On October 19, 1910, a living lesson in physics was given at the House of Education.[1] Oscar Browning was in attendance, and he wrote: Miss Stephens gave a lesson on Light, as …
The post Mathematics first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s note: This article is the third in a series on the teaching of physics by Richele Baburina, author of Mathematics: An Instrument for Living Teaching, published by Simply Charlotte Mason. In this series we have been using six questions posed by Rudyard Kipling in one of his most beloved poems to consider the study …
The post The Teacher of Physics first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
This essay was first published in Essays on the Life and Work of Charlotte Mason, Volume 2, published by Riverbend Press. ©2015 by the Charlotte Mason Institute. The recording is taken from the Vision for Children event at Joy Christian Fellowship, September 23, 2017. El artículo está disponible en español. In the past twenty-five years, many families and schools have …
The post Charlotte Mason’s Call to Parents first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note. In the Armitt Museum, one may request to see an overstuffed box containing a collection of handwritten documents penned by Charlotte Mason. Some of the documents are obviously rough drafts, hastily written and with many corrections. Among these pages are the early drafts for Mason’s seventh volume of The Saviour of the World, written sometime after 1914. But some …
The post Childhood’s Estate first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
For quite a while I have been thinking about what it would look like to bring Charlotte Mason’s philosophy into Sunday School. When my pastor called a church meeting a couple of weeks ago, I thought it would be a perfect time to share my ideas. The following is the email I wrote to him …
The post A Letter Towards Sunday School with Charlotte Mason first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Este artigo também se encontra disponível em Português. Editor’s Note, by Heidi Buschbach As I mentioned in my previous article, Musical Drill Practices, I have felt for many years that Mason’s music curriculum was sorely lacking the means to foster musical literacy in children. In my music training, I learned that children need to learn …
The post Education is the Science of Relations first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
In my last post we looked at how Mason developed her principles of education regarding rhythmic movement from special and general revelation. To develop her living principles, she studied God’s word and science, and she observed children. If you missed that post, I encourage you to go back and read or listen to it. It’s …
The post Musical Drill Practices first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Este artigo também se encontra disponível em Português. Editor’s note: Helen Wix graduated from Charlotte Mason’s House of Education in 1903, but she began writing articles for The Parents’ Review even when she was still a student. In May of 1903, an examination in cardboard sloyd was held at the House of Education, and Wix “passed with distinction.” …
The post Miss Mason’s Ideal: Its Breadth and Balance first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s note: This article is the second in a series on the teaching of physics by Richele Baburina, author of Mathematics: An Instrument for Living Teaching, published by Simply Charlotte Mason. In this series we are looking at the study of physics in a Charlotte Mason classroom using a Kipling poem as the device to …
The post Living Lessons in Physics first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note, by Heidi Buschbach Charlotte Mason valued music as a significant part of “the feast.” The two main components of musical training are pitch (tune) and rhythm (time). Our author, Miss Dorothy Walker, carefully observed children and noticed that they tended to struggle with rhythmic expression when playing instruments. She felt their performances lacked feeling, …
The post Rhythm In Music first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Rhythmic movement and sound can be observed all around you in the ticking of a clock, the daily movement of the sun, the marching of a band, and the crashing of the waves. The chicka-dee-dee-dee of a bird, the inching of a worm, and the mother rocking her baby to sleep while humming a tune …
The post Worship, War, and Musical Drill first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Este artigo também se encontra disponível em Português. l artículo está disponible en español. Editor’s note: In 1902, George F. Husband left Stockton-on-Tees to work for the school system of neighboring Middlesbrough. There he eventually found himself headmaster of an elementary school. But it was no ordinary elementary school. It was a school “where the children came from …
The post The Teaching Methods of Charlotte Mason first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s note: This article is the first in a series on the teaching of physics by Richele Baburina, author of Mathematics: An Instrument for Living Teaching, published by Simply Charlotte Mason. Imagine that you are inside a space capsule—a spherical capsule with no front or back end. Its engines are off, so you are not accelerating. …
The post Physics the Charlotte Mason Way first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: In the April, 1914 issue of The Parents’ Review, Charlotte Mason introduced the PNEU to Rudolf Eucken (1846-1926). Mason knew the German philosopher from a book by Meyrick Booth which she reviewed that month. Mason wrote that Booth “shows what the thinkers of the past have done towards the solution of ‘the great and ancient problem of’ …
The post Trop de Zèle first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
My family and I are Charlotte Mason newbies, as in, I just finished my first month of implementing her philosophy. We are new, but we are in love with every aspect of her method. We have seen first-hand how embracing her approach creates peace and cultivates learning in the home. Charlotte Mason is the first …
The post Smart About Your Wool first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
It is commonly known that Charlotte Mason left twenty principles as a compass to keep teachers on a steady course toward the right objective, but Mason also wrote six books. The Parents’ Review contains hundreds of articles. If the twenty principles cover everything, why is there so much literature on Mason’s method? I have a …
The post A Principle in the Practices first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: I have a confession to make. I don’t really know what I’m doing. I have read Miss Mason’s books and studied many Parents’ Review articles, but I don’t have the experience of teaching a child all the way through high school. My oldest child is nine and I have never homeschooled fourth grade. This …
The post Tinkers first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: When Charlotte Mason was laid to rest in the grounds of her home church of St. Mary’s in Ambleside, the Rev. Francis Lewis assisted at the burial service. Charlotte Mason had named only two individuals to execute her will. The first was her close friend Henrietta Franklin; the second was Rev. Lewis. Lewis had also …
The post Lessons of Rush-Bearing first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Authority… is also considerate, and that is why a good mother is the best home-ruler; she is in touch with the children, knows their unspoken schemes and half-formed desires, and where she cannot yield, she diverts; she does not crush with a sledge-hammer, an instrument of rule with which a child is somehow never very …
The post Nothing Is Trivial first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Editor’s Note: Margaret McMillan (1860-1931) devoted her life to the underprivileged children of England. In 1894, she was elected to the Bradford School Board where she obtained a platform to influence social policy. She wrote many books and pamphlets which spoke out against child labor and other harmful practices. In May of 1898, while still serving on …
The post Manual Training first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
After discussing the principles of sloyd in my first article, we looked at how to begin paper sloyd in Forms 1b and 1a. My previous article ended with this quote from Mr. Devonshire: “It should be clearly understood that it is Card-board Sloyd that is considered essential for the full development of the child…” In this article, …
The post Teaching Cardboard Sloyd first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
When we last talked about sloyd, we explored the principles to be employed while teaching it. This article assumes that the reader understands the principles. There are many ways that sloyd philosophy and Miss Mason’s philosophy agree and complement each other; however, the way Mason used sloyd in her programmes is what specifically concerns us, not …
The post Teaching Paper Sloyd first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
South India By Mrs. Senior The Parents’ Review, 1919, pp. 303-307 Editor’s Note: Many of the teachers-in-training at the House of Education were governesses. Does this mean that Charlotte Mason’s method can only be implemented faithfully by families with governesses? Not at all! Read this wonderful testimony from a mother in 1919 who implemented Mason’s method on her …
The post A Mother Without a Governess first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Reading through Charlotte Mason’s six volumes, you will rarely come across the word “sloyd,” but if you look through the archives you will find statements like this: “Miss Mason always says she believes Sloyd to be the most valuable and most educative of all the handicrafts” (Pennethorne, 1906, p. 3). So what exactly is sloyd and …
The post The Living Principles of Sloyd first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.
Cet article est également disponible en français, traduit par Un festin d’idées. G.K. Chesterton has famously said, “if a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly” (Chesterton, 1910, p. 320). Charlotte Mason specifically says (and often implies) that “what is worth doing is worth doing well” (Mason, 1989d, Book I, p.172). Is it …
The post The Mediocre Purist first appeared on Charlotte Mason Poetry.