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Original Homeschooling #6
A Philosophy of Education
Charlotte Mason's classic series on home education
360 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1925
512 people are currently reading
1933 people want to read
About the author
Charlotte M. Mason
62 books228 followersCharlotte Mason, a renowned British educator, lived during the turn of the 20th century. She turned the idea of education being something of utilitarian necessity into an approach based upon living ideas. She believed that education is "an atmosphere, a discipline, a life" and a "science of relations." Her methods are embraced around the world today, especially among the homeschool community.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews
August 21, 2023
I am unsure of how many times I have read this but at least 5. This recent reading was very helpful in solidifying my own view of education and understanding Charlotte Mason more deeply. Such a wonderful, wonderful book.
February 17, 2024
I didn't realize this took more than a whole year to read this time. I was discussing with friends and we're all busy with older students and we just took our time.
Always worthwhile. I marked so many passages while thinking about Mason's role of the teacher - what she can and ought not do. She can turn a phrase for sure.
I don't recall the final Supplementary section "Too Wide a Mesh" from a previous read, but it made me think about knowledge and how the love of knowledge carries us through with delight.
Always worthwhile. I marked so many passages while thinking about Mason's role of the teacher - what she can and ought not do. She can turn a phrase for sure.
I don't recall the final Supplementary section "Too Wide a Mesh" from a previous read, but it made me think about knowledge and how the love of knowledge carries us through with delight.
July 12, 2018
My companion over the past year and a half, giving me many high ideals and very practical methods for bringing those ideals into reality. I believe one of my favorite chapters is The Basis of National Strength (and if course the basis is education!).
September 21, 2023
This time around I listened to it from beginning to end with audio provided by Cindy Rollins for her Patreon members. I highly recommend.
December 27, 2017
CM pens this novel after having years of experience and being in the trenches under her belt which give her adequate experience to base her philosophy on. She was definitely a rarity of her time. I found it interesting how some of the things she was saying about education then could be likened to what some are saying now about the current education system.
I marked and underlined so much of this book, but as I was thumbing through after I finished, this particular quote stood out to me: “There is but on sphere in which the word idea never occurs, in which the conception of an idea is curiously absent, and that sphere is education!”
As educators, may we go forth and encourage our students (some of which are our own children) to think for themselves, have their own ideas, and allow their imaginations to run wild.
I marked and underlined so much of this book, but as I was thumbing through after I finished, this particular quote stood out to me: “There is but on sphere in which the word idea never occurs, in which the conception of an idea is curiously absent, and that sphere is education!”
As educators, may we go forth and encourage our students (some of which are our own children) to think for themselves, have their own ideas, and allow their imaginations to run wild.
January 30, 2018
I heard about Charlotte Mason's philosophy to education from Booktubers Emily from ARRRGH! Schooling (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_CM...) and Maria from Read Create Repeat Homeschool (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYl7...) and was very intrigued by it.
I really like the main concepts introduced in this book. Everything Charlotte Mason mentioned in the first part of this book makes so much sense. She believed that "the desire of knowledge (curiosity!) is the chief agent in education," and that each child is born with innate curiosity (and an appetite for knowledge). The adults/teachers' job is to foster that natural desire to know and direct it such a way that children learn to educate themselves from the beginning of their formal education years. I also really appreciate Mason's preaching on how true learning only occurs when children assimilate knowledge into their own words and language.
The synopsis for the book was provided. The rest of the book was Mason explaining and justifying the following principles. At times I found it hard to stay engaged with the content and the book was a bit boring. Also, the language she used can be difficult to digest. So, really, the synopsis is the best part of the book.
===============================================
1. Children are born persons.
2. They are not born either good or bad, but with possibilities for good and for evil.
3. The principles of authority on the one hand, and of obedience on the other, are natural, necessary and fundamental; but -
4. These principles are limited by the respect due to the personality of children, which must not be encroached upon, whether by the direct use of fear or love, suggestion or influence, or by undue play upon any one natural desire.
5. Therefore, we are limited to three educational instruments presentation of living ideas. The P.N.E.U. [Parents' National Educational Union] Motto is: "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life."
6. When we say that "education is an atmosphere," we do not mean that a child should be isolated in what may be called a 'child-environment' especially adapted and prepared, but that we should take into account the educational value of his natural home atmosphere, both as regards persons and things, and should let him live freely among his proper conditions. It stultifies a child to bring down his world to the 'child's' level.
7. By 'education is a discipline,' we mean the discipline of habits, formed definitely and thoughtfully, whether habits of mind or body. Physiologists tell us of the adaptation of brain structures to habitual lines of thought, i.e. to our habits.
8. In saying that "education is a life," the need of intellectual and moral as well as of physical sustenance is implied. The mind feeds on ideas, and therefore children should have a generous curriculum.
9. We hold that the child's mind is no mere sac to hold ideas' but is rather, if the figure may be allowed, a spiritual organism, with an appetite for all knowledge. This is its proper diet, with which it is prepared to deal; and which it can digest and assimilate as the body does foodstuffs.
10. Such a doctrine as e.g. the Herbartian, that the mind is a receptacle, lays the stress of Education (the preparation of knowledge in enticing morsels duly ordered) upon the teacher. Children taught on this principle are in danger of receiving much teaching with little knowledge; and the teacher's axiom is "what a child learns matters less than how he learns it."
11. But we, believing that the normal child has powers of mind which fit him to deal with all knowledge proper to him, give him a full and generous curriculum; taking care only that all knowledge offered him is vital, that is, that facts are not presented without their informing ideas. Out of this conception comes out principle that, -
12. "Education is the Science of Relations"; that is, that a child has natural relations with a vast number of things and thoughts; so we train him upon physical exercises, nature lore, handicrafts, science and art, and upon many living books, for we know that our business is not to teach him all about anything, but to help him to make valid as many as may be of "Those first-born affinities that fit our new existence to existing things."
13. In devising a syllabus for a normal child, of whatever social class, three points must be considered:
(a) He requires much knowledge, for the mind needs sufficient food as much as does the body.
(b) The knowledge should be various, for sameness in mental diet does not create appetite (i.e., curiosity).
(c) Knowledge should be communicated in well-chosen language, because his attention responds naturally to what is conveyed in literary form.
14. As knowledge is not assimilated until it is reproduced, children should 'tell back' after a single reading or hearing: or should write on some part of what they have read.
15. A single reading is insisted on, because children have naturally great power of attention; but this force is dissipated by the re-reading of passages, and also, by questioning, summarizing, and the like. Acting upon these and some other points in the behaviour of mind, we find that the educability of children is enormously greater than has hitherto been supposed, and is but little dependent on such circumstances as heredity and environment. Nor is the accuracy of this statement limited to clever children or to children of the educated classes: thousands of children in Elementary Schools respond freely to this methods, which is based on the behaviour of mind.
16. There are two guides to moral and intellectual self-management to offer to children, which we may call 'the way of the will' and 'the way of the reason.'
17. The way of the will: Children should be taught, (a) to distinguish between 'I want' and 'I will'. (b) That the way to will effectively is to turn our thoughts from that which we desire but do not will. (c) That the best way to turn our thoughts is to think of or do some quite different thing, entertaining or interesting. (d) That after a little rest in this way, the will returns to its work with new vigour. (This adjunct of the will is familiar to us as diversion, whose office it is to ease us for a time from will effort, that we may 'will' again with added power. The use of suggestion as an aid to the will is to be deprecated, as tending to stultify and stereotype character. It would seem that spontaneity is a condition of development, and that human nature needs the discipline of failure as well as of success.)
18. The way of reason: We teach children, too, not to 'lean (too confidently) to their own understanding'; because the function of reason is to give logical demonstration (a) of mathematical truth, (b) of an initial idea, accepted by the will. In the former case, reason is, practically, an infallible guide, but in the latter, it is not always a safe one; for, whether that idea be right or wrong, reason will confirm it by irrefragable proofs.
19. Therefore, children should be taught, as they become mature enough to understand such teaching, that the chief responsibility which rests on them as persons is the acceptance or rejection of ideas. To help them in this choice we give them principles of conduct, and a wide range of the knowledge fitted to them. These principles should save children from some of the loose thinking and heedless action which cause most of us to live at a lower level than we need.
20. We allow no separation of grow up between the intellectual and 'spiritual' life of children, but teach them that the Divine Spirit has constant access to their spirits, and is their continual Helper in all the interests, duties and joys of life.
===============================================
Few interesting ideas I got out of this book include:
- post-reading narration; reenactment of scenes/chapters from books
- illustration of favourite scenes and/or passages in books (for art class)
- nature journaling (observation, drawing)
- exposure to good music from an early age (music appreciation)
I'm somewhat skeptical about the complete hands-off approach that Mason advocated extensively. She believed that school children should be provided with great literary work and be left alone to interpret and digest the texts on their own. She believed that by offering generalization, analysis, comparison, judgement and so on, adults effectively stifle the cognitive functions children possess naturally. She believed that everything should come from within children themselves, and that children are born with the abilities to do so. I guess in a sense Mason asked for children to start building a repertoire of good material and knowledge in their mind from a young age, so that over time, and as they mature mentally, they would have a solid foundation of ideas to draw from, whether it is for application in further schooling or making decisions in life.
Mason presented some wonderful educational principles in this book... but at the same time these ideas seem a bit lofty and maybe just a bit outdated? I can imagine her approach to education being incorporated as part of the curriculum at some expensive private/boarding school where each teacher is responsible for 10-15 students, if not less. This can also be done by some very well-educated and dedicated parents through homeschooling. I am interested to know if someone is implementing Charlotte Mason's method to the fullest (without "modern" supplements) in today's environment.
This is a phenomenal book on education philosophy. Ideas presented in this book are fundamental to any methods of learning. Aside from the actual applications (The Charlotte Mason Method), Mason's ideas can be applied to the learning of all school children. Teachers and parents, in particular, should be reminded constantly that curiosity drives the craving for knowledge and that they should do whatever to foster that innate urge to know (and certainly not decimating it like most of the school systems do these days). I would urge all teachers and parents to read this book. It's a 4-star book for me.
I really like the main concepts introduced in this book. Everything Charlotte Mason mentioned in the first part of this book makes so much sense. She believed that "the desire of knowledge (curiosity!) is the chief agent in education," and that each child is born with innate curiosity (and an appetite for knowledge). The adults/teachers' job is to foster that natural desire to know and direct it such a way that children learn to educate themselves from the beginning of their formal education years. I also really appreciate Mason's preaching on how true learning only occurs when children assimilate knowledge into their own words and language.
The synopsis for the book was provided. The rest of the book was Mason explaining and justifying the following principles. At times I found it hard to stay engaged with the content and the book was a bit boring. Also, the language she used can be difficult to digest. So, really, the synopsis is the best part of the book.
===============================================
1. Children are born persons.
2. They are not born either good or bad, but with possibilities for good and for evil.
3. The principles of authority on the one hand, and of obedience on the other, are natural, necessary and fundamental; but -
4. These principles are limited by the respect due to the personality of children, which must not be encroached upon, whether by the direct use of fear or love, suggestion or influence, or by undue play upon any one natural desire.
5. Therefore, we are limited to three educational instruments presentation of living ideas. The P.N.E.U. [Parents' National Educational Union] Motto is: "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life."
6. When we say that "education is an atmosphere," we do not mean that a child should be isolated in what may be called a 'child-environment' especially adapted and prepared, but that we should take into account the educational value of his natural home atmosphere, both as regards persons and things, and should let him live freely among his proper conditions. It stultifies a child to bring down his world to the 'child's' level.
7. By 'education is a discipline,' we mean the discipline of habits, formed definitely and thoughtfully, whether habits of mind or body. Physiologists tell us of the adaptation of brain structures to habitual lines of thought, i.e. to our habits.
8. In saying that "education is a life," the need of intellectual and moral as well as of physical sustenance is implied. The mind feeds on ideas, and therefore children should have a generous curriculum.
9. We hold that the child's mind is no mere sac to hold ideas' but is rather, if the figure may be allowed, a spiritual organism, with an appetite for all knowledge. This is its proper diet, with which it is prepared to deal; and which it can digest and assimilate as the body does foodstuffs.
10. Such a doctrine as e.g. the Herbartian, that the mind is a receptacle, lays the stress of Education (the preparation of knowledge in enticing morsels duly ordered) upon the teacher. Children taught on this principle are in danger of receiving much teaching with little knowledge; and the teacher's axiom is "what a child learns matters less than how he learns it."
11. But we, believing that the normal child has powers of mind which fit him to deal with all knowledge proper to him, give him a full and generous curriculum; taking care only that all knowledge offered him is vital, that is, that facts are not presented without their informing ideas. Out of this conception comes out principle that, -
12. "Education is the Science of Relations"; that is, that a child has natural relations with a vast number of things and thoughts; so we train him upon physical exercises, nature lore, handicrafts, science and art, and upon many living books, for we know that our business is not to teach him all about anything, but to help him to make valid as many as may be of "Those first-born affinities that fit our new existence to existing things."
13. In devising a syllabus for a normal child, of whatever social class, three points must be considered:
(a) He requires much knowledge, for the mind needs sufficient food as much as does the body.
(b) The knowledge should be various, for sameness in mental diet does not create appetite (i.e., curiosity).
(c) Knowledge should be communicated in well-chosen language, because his attention responds naturally to what is conveyed in literary form.
14. As knowledge is not assimilated until it is reproduced, children should 'tell back' after a single reading or hearing: or should write on some part of what they have read.
15. A single reading is insisted on, because children have naturally great power of attention; but this force is dissipated by the re-reading of passages, and also, by questioning, summarizing, and the like. Acting upon these and some other points in the behaviour of mind, we find that the educability of children is enormously greater than has hitherto been supposed, and is but little dependent on such circumstances as heredity and environment. Nor is the accuracy of this statement limited to clever children or to children of the educated classes: thousands of children in Elementary Schools respond freely to this methods, which is based on the behaviour of mind.
16. There are two guides to moral and intellectual self-management to offer to children, which we may call 'the way of the will' and 'the way of the reason.'
17. The way of the will: Children should be taught, (a) to distinguish between 'I want' and 'I will'. (b) That the way to will effectively is to turn our thoughts from that which we desire but do not will. (c) That the best way to turn our thoughts is to think of or do some quite different thing, entertaining or interesting. (d) That after a little rest in this way, the will returns to its work with new vigour. (This adjunct of the will is familiar to us as diversion, whose office it is to ease us for a time from will effort, that we may 'will' again with added power. The use of suggestion as an aid to the will is to be deprecated, as tending to stultify and stereotype character. It would seem that spontaneity is a condition of development, and that human nature needs the discipline of failure as well as of success.)
18. The way of reason: We teach children, too, not to 'lean (too confidently) to their own understanding'; because the function of reason is to give logical demonstration (a) of mathematical truth, (b) of an initial idea, accepted by the will. In the former case, reason is, practically, an infallible guide, but in the latter, it is not always a safe one; for, whether that idea be right or wrong, reason will confirm it by irrefragable proofs.
19. Therefore, children should be taught, as they become mature enough to understand such teaching, that the chief responsibility which rests on them as persons is the acceptance or rejection of ideas. To help them in this choice we give them principles of conduct, and a wide range of the knowledge fitted to them. These principles should save children from some of the loose thinking and heedless action which cause most of us to live at a lower level than we need.
20. We allow no separation of grow up between the intellectual and 'spiritual' life of children, but teach them that the Divine Spirit has constant access to their spirits, and is their continual Helper in all the interests, duties and joys of life.
===============================================
Few interesting ideas I got out of this book include:
- post-reading narration; reenactment of scenes/chapters from books
- illustration of favourite scenes and/or passages in books (for art class)
- nature journaling (observation, drawing)
- exposure to good music from an early age (music appreciation)
I'm somewhat skeptical about the complete hands-off approach that Mason advocated extensively. She believed that school children should be provided with great literary work and be left alone to interpret and digest the texts on their own. She believed that by offering generalization, analysis, comparison, judgement and so on, adults effectively stifle the cognitive functions children possess naturally. She believed that everything should come from within children themselves, and that children are born with the abilities to do so. I guess in a sense Mason asked for children to start building a repertoire of good material and knowledge in their mind from a young age, so that over time, and as they mature mentally, they would have a solid foundation of ideas to draw from, whether it is for application in further schooling or making decisions in life.
Mason presented some wonderful educational principles in this book... but at the same time these ideas seem a bit lofty and maybe just a bit outdated? I can imagine her approach to education being incorporated as part of the curriculum at some expensive private/boarding school where each teacher is responsible for 10-15 students, if not less. This can also be done by some very well-educated and dedicated parents through homeschooling. I am interested to know if someone is implementing Charlotte Mason's method to the fullest (without "modern" supplements) in today's environment.
This is a phenomenal book on education philosophy. Ideas presented in this book are fundamental to any methods of learning. Aside from the actual applications (The Charlotte Mason Method), Mason's ideas can be applied to the learning of all school children. Teachers and parents, in particular, should be reminded constantly that curiosity drives the craving for knowledge and that they should do whatever to foster that innate urge to know (and certainly not decimating it like most of the school systems do these days). I would urge all teachers and parents to read this book. It's a 4-star book for me.
December 31, 2024
“It is for their own sakes that children should get knowledge. The power to take a generous view of men and their motives, to see where the greatness of a given character lies, to have one's judgment of present events illustrated and corrected by historic and literary parallels, to have, indeed, the power of comprehensive judgment. These are admirable assets within the power of every one according to the measure of his mind; and these are not the only gains which knowledge affords. The person who can live upon his own intellectual resources and never know a dull hour (though anxious and sad hours will come) is indeed enviable in these days of intellectual inanition, when we depend upon spectacular entertainments pour passer le temps. If knowledge means so much to us, "What is knowledge?" the reader asks. We can give only a negative answer. Knowledge is not instruction, information, scholarship, a well-stored memory. It is passed, like the light of a torch, from mind to mind, and the flame can be kindled at original minds only. Thought, we know, breeds thought; it is as vital thought touches our minds that our ideas are vitalized, and out of our ideas comes our conduct of life.” - Charlotte Mason
December 29, 2023
Thanks to Cindy Rollins and plodding, eight years into AmblesideOnline, I have finally finished an entire Charlotte Mason volume! I realized trying to eye read along with listening was not going to get me through. I was trying too hard to understand every single phrase and started listening to the readings while showering. Fifteen minutes a day most days without pausing to suss out finer points helped me make progress, and I think I understood more than I would have if I had let myself get bogged down.
October 17, 2024
This was a fantastic summary and crowning of Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of education, her 20 principles, and her applied theory.
Also, 6 volumes in 6 years! Feel like I (and my whole reading group as we did it together) deserve some sort of finishers prize 😊
Also, 6 volumes in 6 years! Feel like I (and my whole reading group as we did it together) deserve some sort of finishers prize 😊
November 20, 2008
Charlotte Mason, who wrote nearly a hundred years ago but I find still timely now, envisions an education for everyone not with the purpose of future job training or material gain but for the enrichment of each individual's soul. This education is achieved through a wide and varied reading. In her words, "Treat children in this reasonable way, mind to mind; not so much the mind of the teacher to that of the child . . . but the minds of a score of thinkers who meet the children, mind to mind, in their several books, the teacher performing the graceful office of presenting the one enthusiastic mind to the other." If they do this, with books that are well planned "so that the knowledge is not scrappy and insecure," they gain food for their souls that can benefit them their whole life. I have been trying to follow her lead for two years now as I educate my family, and while my efforts have been far from perfect, the results have been promising. My favorite book I have ever read on education, "Towards a Philosophy of Education" is one I plan to reread frequently because I highlighted nearly 25% of what I read. Again, in her words that I have found true in my family, "The introduction of the methods I advocate has a curious effect on a whole family . . . . The whole household thinks of and figures to itself great things, for nothing is so catching as knowledge and that fine temper of mind that knowledge brings with it."
July 31, 2020
I finished my walk through the CM series. While I was initially very hopeful that each of these works would outdo the ones before them, the hype I was told about did not quite live up to my experience.
As a set of works concerning a whole philosophy of education, these works are a fantastic study for a point-in-time view of English educational study. Adapted for today, the pillars of this philosophy will still be there, but parents who pursue CM will find themselves having those "aha" moments when they see all of the websites dedicated to applying CM method to today. We are currently, and will continue to for the future, employ the pillars of the CM method as they are the most beneficial ways to approach education that I have ever seen. However, when the reader gets down into the bulk of the CM series works, they find that much of it is more detailed and can be confusing for some while enlightening and encouraging for others.
As a reformed believer looking to teach my children in a way that I feel most encourages them to >love< learning about their world, I find that following the pillars of this method really work well for our family, while modifying more of the particulars.
That said, I would recommend readers go into these works looking to gather beneficial information for their children's education and not seek to apply this method as stated in these works verbatim.
As a set of works concerning a whole philosophy of education, these works are a fantastic study for a point-in-time view of English educational study. Adapted for today, the pillars of this philosophy will still be there, but parents who pursue CM will find themselves having those "aha" moments when they see all of the websites dedicated to applying CM method to today. We are currently, and will continue to for the future, employ the pillars of the CM method as they are the most beneficial ways to approach education that I have ever seen. However, when the reader gets down into the bulk of the CM series works, they find that much of it is more detailed and can be confusing for some while enlightening and encouraging for others.
As a reformed believer looking to teach my children in a way that I feel most encourages them to >love< learning about their world, I find that following the pillars of this method really work well for our family, while modifying more of the particulars.
That said, I would recommend readers go into these works looking to gather beneficial information for their children's education and not seek to apply this method as stated in these works verbatim.
April 4, 2025
Some brilliant insights, a few oversights.
The basic premise that education must consist of 'feeding the minds of persons with knowledge which is their necessary food, and that this knowledge must be in literary form' seems to me truly sound and excellent. It resonates with my own mind and experience, as well as with Scripture - God revealed himself to us not with charts or lists of facts, but with a story. This is how we learn best. Reading this book inspires me to continue to enrich my children's lives with all sorts of good books.
Mason's hope for this form of education, is, I think, too positive. There is a strange, mushy blurring of the distinction made by regeneration in her writing. She sees the work of the Spirit of God in general revelation and knowledge- which I think we do forget - but doesn't note that an educated mind without Christ is still far from the kingdom of God, even if it is educated in the priceless language of Scripture. The 'knowledge of God' which should be the first part of education (agreed!) will often come to people in their natural state as something to be resisted. Her assumption that everyone who is well educated will be good overlooks the rebellion against God inherent in fallen nature, and so her dreams for an educated populace are overly rosy. That doesn't mean her methods aren't good, just that they aren't gospel.
I especially took issue with her (Victorian!) idea of expurgating literature so that students could read more wholly and widely, especially when she ventured to include the Old Testament ('a very guarded process') and saying 'we cherish a too superstitious piety' about the sacredness of Scripture. No, just no. How about cherishing a too Victorian notion of tbe innocence of children's minds? I would like to reply to that one:
If you think anything in the Bible is inappropriate reading, you need to recheck your views. There are things in the Old Testament that are deeply disturbing and embarrassing to read about, but do you think God didn't know that? Maybe he wanted us to feel that way? There is no better place for children to learn what they must know about the depravity of sin than in the Bible, where God puts exactly no more and no less than is good for us to know. I let my children hear details from the Bible about stuff they never read about elsewhere in the books I choose for them. As they grow and come face to face with sin in their hearts, they will know that God's word is there for them. No other book can so safely teach these dark realities.
Keep your Victorian scissors off the Bible, Miss Mason. But I still like you. Good book.
"It is a great thing to possess a pageant of history in the background of one's thoughts. The present becomes enriched for us with the wealth of all that has gone before."
"A misguided theory neatly put is more dangerous than an ill-example."
The basic premise that education must consist of 'feeding the minds of persons with knowledge which is their necessary food, and that this knowledge must be in literary form' seems to me truly sound and excellent. It resonates with my own mind and experience, as well as with Scripture - God revealed himself to us not with charts or lists of facts, but with a story. This is how we learn best. Reading this book inspires me to continue to enrich my children's lives with all sorts of good books.
Mason's hope for this form of education, is, I think, too positive. There is a strange, mushy blurring of the distinction made by regeneration in her writing. She sees the work of the Spirit of God in general revelation and knowledge- which I think we do forget - but doesn't note that an educated mind without Christ is still far from the kingdom of God, even if it is educated in the priceless language of Scripture. The 'knowledge of God' which should be the first part of education (agreed!) will often come to people in their natural state as something to be resisted. Her assumption that everyone who is well educated will be good overlooks the rebellion against God inherent in fallen nature, and so her dreams for an educated populace are overly rosy. That doesn't mean her methods aren't good, just that they aren't gospel.
I especially took issue with her (Victorian!) idea of expurgating literature so that students could read more wholly and widely, especially when she ventured to include the Old Testament ('a very guarded process') and saying 'we cherish a too superstitious piety' about the sacredness of Scripture. No, just no. How about cherishing a too Victorian notion of tbe innocence of children's minds? I would like to reply to that one:
If you think anything in the Bible is inappropriate reading, you need to recheck your views. There are things in the Old Testament that are deeply disturbing and embarrassing to read about, but do you think God didn't know that? Maybe he wanted us to feel that way? There is no better place for children to learn what they must know about the depravity of sin than in the Bible, where God puts exactly no more and no less than is good for us to know. I let my children hear details from the Bible about stuff they never read about elsewhere in the books I choose for them. As they grow and come face to face with sin in their hearts, they will know that God's word is there for them. No other book can so safely teach these dark realities.
Keep your Victorian scissors off the Bible, Miss Mason. But I still like you. Good book.
"It is a great thing to possess a pageant of history in the background of one's thoughts. The present becomes enriched for us with the wealth of all that has gone before."
"A misguided theory neatly put is more dangerous than an ill-example."
April 29, 2024
This book me nearly four months to read, but I am glad to have read it (and glad to finally be done!). I read Home Education, Charlotte Mason's first book in her six volume series on homeschooling, last fall and knew I would want to dive into this volume next even though the Victorian language was a bit rough at times to understand. The annotated versions by Rachel Lebowitz are a great help with this though, because she has short notes about the many references Charlotte uses (poetry, contemporary scientists and thinkers, books, etc) without changing or defining her text (she lets you still do the work of learning what Charlotte is saying, which is a very Charlotte Mason thing to do). I found the long introduction chapter and the last few chapters to be a slog (mainly because the focus was on British culture and her disagreements with how education was being handled at the time), but enjoyed the sandwiched middle (Book 1) that dove deep into different parts of the Charlotte Mason education philosophy and method. I was familiar with a lot of the areas covered, but it was still great to read Charlotte's words in the original context since I have read and heard her words in different books and podcasts. Her twenty principles that guide her educational philosophy are explained as practical ways to implement this education are laid out as well. This book is dense and hard to get through at times since it took a lot of brain power to understand overall, but I enjoyed diving deeper in the concepts and feel more equipped with the philosophy of the Charlotte Mason educational model, which has positively impacted our home so much even in the early years before formal education.
May 2, 2023
Delightful, insightful, thought provoking. Not a light read. Hard not to think about the section I read for the rest of the day. Below are some snippets I saved when I was still early enough in the book that I thought it would be possible to actually keep track of the quotes I liked ha!
Quotes:
Children no more come into the world without provision for dealing with knowledge than without provision for dealing with food. They bring with them not only that intellectual appetite, the desire of knowledge, but also an enormous, an unlimited power of attention to which the power of retention (memory) seems to be attached, as one digestive process succeeds another, until the final assimilation. "Yes," it will be said, "they are capable of much curiosity and consequent attention but they can only occasionally be beguiled into attending to their lessons." Is not that the fault of the lessons, and must not these be regulated as carefully with regard to the behavior of mind as the children's meals are with regard to physical considerations? --pg 15
In urging a method of self-education for children in lieu of the vicarious education which prevails, I should like to dwell on the enormous relief to teachers, a self-sacrificing and greatly overburdened class; the difference is just that between driving a horse that is light and a horse that is heavy in hand; the former covers the ground of his own gay will and the driver goes merrily. The teacher who allows his scholars the freedom of the city of books is at liberty to be their guide, philosopher and friend; and is no longer the mere instrument of forcible intellectual feeding. --pg 32
Science, history, philosophy, literature, must no longer be the luxuries of the 'educated' classes; all classes must be educated and sit down to these things of the mind as they do their daily bread. History must afford its pageants, science its wonders, literature its intimacies, philosophy its speculations, religion its assurances to every man, and his education must have prepared him for wanderings in these realms of gold. --pg 43
Examination papers representing tens of thousands of children working in Elementary Schools, Secondary Schools, and home schoolrooms have just passed under my eye. How the children have reveled in knowledge! and how good and interesting all their answers are! How well they spell on the whole and how well they write! We do not need the testimony of their teachers that the work of the term has been joyous; the verve with which the children tell what they know proves the fact. Every one of these children knows that there are hundreds of pleasant places for the mind to roam in. They are good and happy because some little care has been taken to know what they are and what they require; a care very amply rewarded by results which alter the whole outlook on education. --pg 45
Quotes:
Children no more come into the world without provision for dealing with knowledge than without provision for dealing with food. They bring with them not only that intellectual appetite, the desire of knowledge, but also an enormous, an unlimited power of attention to which the power of retention (memory) seems to be attached, as one digestive process succeeds another, until the final assimilation. "Yes," it will be said, "they are capable of much curiosity and consequent attention but they can only occasionally be beguiled into attending to their lessons." Is not that the fault of the lessons, and must not these be regulated as carefully with regard to the behavior of mind as the children's meals are with regard to physical considerations? --pg 15
In urging a method of self-education for children in lieu of the vicarious education which prevails, I should like to dwell on the enormous relief to teachers, a self-sacrificing and greatly overburdened class; the difference is just that between driving a horse that is light and a horse that is heavy in hand; the former covers the ground of his own gay will and the driver goes merrily. The teacher who allows his scholars the freedom of the city of books is at liberty to be their guide, philosopher and friend; and is no longer the mere instrument of forcible intellectual feeding. --pg 32
Science, history, philosophy, literature, must no longer be the luxuries of the 'educated' classes; all classes must be educated and sit down to these things of the mind as they do their daily bread. History must afford its pageants, science its wonders, literature its intimacies, philosophy its speculations, religion its assurances to every man, and his education must have prepared him for wanderings in these realms of gold. --pg 43
Examination papers representing tens of thousands of children working in Elementary Schools, Secondary Schools, and home schoolrooms have just passed under my eye. How the children have reveled in knowledge! and how good and interesting all their answers are! How well they spell on the whole and how well they write! We do not need the testimony of their teachers that the work of the term has been joyous; the verve with which the children tell what they know proves the fact. Every one of these children knows that there are hundreds of pleasant places for the mind to roam in. They are good and happy because some little care has been taken to know what they are and what they require; a care very amply rewarded by results which alter the whole outlook on education. --pg 45
August 14, 2023
This is the summation of Mason’s educational philosophy after many years of seeing it in practice. Hence this is required reading for those seeking to implement her ideas in their educational endeavors. Way ahead of her time, Miss Mason’s ideas are brilliant. This book is both inspirational and eminently practical. Nothing written about her compares with actually reading what she wrote. My third reading of this book and it just gets better!
November 29, 2023
I wanted to add this later, because I’d finished listening to Cindy Rollins read it aloud, but I really wanted to go back and read it myself carefully. I haven’t had the time to do that yet, though I did start, so I’ll review more thoroughly whenever that happens. Thankful for Mrs. Rollins’s recordings, because at least that way, I’ve been exposed to the book once, even if I don’t remember much right now.
July 23, 2022
Truly a masterpiece!!!! Written in 1922, it is amazing how relevant it is for today. The things she was seeing in her culture then have been multiplied a hundredfold in ours now. I came away even more convinced that she was a genius and her philosophy is the best one for educating children!
May 25, 2023
Perfect mix of theory and practical. Lots of great quotes.
January 12, 2023
I'm torn between wishing I had read this book earlier and knowing that my years spent reading Charlotte Mason's words helped prepare me to read this book now.
Either way, I'm grateful for the educational legacy Mason passed down and to be able to foster her philosophy in our home.
Either way, I'm grateful for the educational legacy Mason passed down and to be able to foster her philosophy in our home.
August 9, 2024
Decided to continue with the abridgement by Karen Glass, Mind to Mind
August 26, 2024
I’ve been reading *about* Charlotte Mason since Abe was a baby, but only in the past three years have I been reading through her volumes. I don’t regret reading *about* her because I think that body of summaries helped me more fully grasp the context and deep meaning of this book. But there is nothing like reading words from the original source.
I don’t think I can put into words how much her methods have connected with me and helped me understand my own education. I had always loved to learn until regurgitated learning and wanting-to-pass-the-test made me a “good student” only by being a people-pleaser rather than a knowledge-seeker. I didn’t realize it at the time, but much of this was restored when I started homeschooling in middle school. The pressure was off to perform and I could truly be curious again!
Because of Charlotte Mason, my children have the gift of being seen as people from the beginning, receiving ideas from living books, and knowing through narration. We are still on the beginning on our journey but I am so thankful for a method to educate the whole person, meeting my children where they are and giving them the feast for which their minds were created!
I don’t think I can put into words how much her methods have connected with me and helped me understand my own education. I had always loved to learn until regurgitated learning and wanting-to-pass-the-test made me a “good student” only by being a people-pleaser rather than a knowledge-seeker. I didn’t realize it at the time, but much of this was restored when I started homeschooling in middle school. The pressure was off to perform and I could truly be curious again!
Because of Charlotte Mason, my children have the gift of being seen as people from the beginning, receiving ideas from living books, and knowing through narration. We are still on the beginning on our journey but I am so thankful for a method to educate the whole person, meeting my children where they are and giving them the feast for which their minds were created!
May 9, 2025
2025. Read with a friend and discussed and 5 stars as always.
I think this was my 4th read through that I specifically remember. It is amazing what different things stick out as I learn more and as my children grow older.
I think I first read this in 2009.
I think this was my 4th read through that I specifically remember. It is amazing what different things stick out as I learn more and as my children grow older.
I think I first read this in 2009.
July 19, 2024
It might be most accurate to describe myself as on the fringe of CM.
I don’t particularly adhere to one educational philosophy, but from a distance, CM has seemed one of the more reasonable ones I connect with and I’ve called myself CM-ish, at times, lol. Although now after reading her work, I wonder how truly accurate that is.
I listen to CM based podcasts, have read books about/around her principles, but this is my first time reading her.
I found her ideas very thought provoking. I’m not sure if I agree with them all (not claiming I have much of a leg to stand on here, either.). But I did have quite a few sincere questions raised throughout reading. I think this book would best be read with another thoughtful educator to discuss some of these ideas, especially since I’m not sure if it’s CM’s philosophies or how she expresses them that I’m struggling to wrap my mind around.
I think reading more of her work would help, and rereading this eventually.
That aside, clearly she was a strong & brave innovator in education (if innovation can be peeling back all the “new-fangled” techniques to simply expose children to good books so they grow up to love learning) who was willing to tear into the status quo to value children as human beings and to see them educated well to shape their characters and their development as human beings.
I don’t particularly adhere to one educational philosophy, but from a distance, CM has seemed one of the more reasonable ones I connect with and I’ve called myself CM-ish, at times, lol. Although now after reading her work, I wonder how truly accurate that is.
I listen to CM based podcasts, have read books about/around her principles, but this is my first time reading her.
I found her ideas very thought provoking. I’m not sure if I agree with them all (not claiming I have much of a leg to stand on here, either.). But I did have quite a few sincere questions raised throughout reading. I think this book would best be read with another thoughtful educator to discuss some of these ideas, especially since I’m not sure if it’s CM’s philosophies or how she expresses them that I’m struggling to wrap my mind around.
I think reading more of her work would help, and rereading this eventually.
That aside, clearly she was a strong & brave innovator in education (if innovation can be peeling back all the “new-fangled” techniques to simply expose children to good books so they grow up to love learning) who was willing to tear into the status quo to value children as human beings and to see them educated well to shape their characters and their development as human beings.
July 22, 2025
I will be forever grateful for being introduced to Charlotte Mason. Having not grown up in a Christian home nor familiar with homeschooling; I had a very secular view of what home school in my own house would look like…just public school but in our house with some tweaks to science and history and add some Bible. After reading volume 1 and 6 of her series I have been changed for the better in my philosophy, desire, and goal for schooling my children. I’m thankful for the gift that I get to give to them and that I’m better equipped with the understanding of the feast of knowledge I can present to my children. Even if you don’t plan on doing a CM homeschool I would encourage you to read this volume, it is so worth the mental effort in coming to her words directly.
May 3, 2024
Loved this book! It really made clear the philosophy. As we have pretty much fully integrated this in our home I am definitely seeing all the fruit.
Let me share one of my favorite quotes:
Education is a life. That life is sustained on ideas. Ideas are of a spiritual origin, and God has made us so that we get them chiefly as we convey them to one another, whether by word of of mouth, written page, Scripture word, musical symphony; but we must sustain a child’s inner life with ideas as we sustain his body with food.
I cannot being in to explain how much Miss Mason has opened my eyes and I am very thankful to her work and I am so glad I can return to these volumes again and again as I build a life of imagination, wonder, and truth for my children.
Let me share one of my favorite quotes:
Education is a life. That life is sustained on ideas. Ideas are of a spiritual origin, and God has made us so that we get them chiefly as we convey them to one another, whether by word of of mouth, written page, Scripture word, musical symphony; but we must sustain a child’s inner life with ideas as we sustain his body with food.
I cannot being in to explain how much Miss Mason has opened my eyes and I am very thankful to her work and I am so glad I can return to these volumes again and again as I build a life of imagination, wonder, and truth for my children.
December 10, 2025
Closely studied much and skimmed some of this home education classic. I am very on board with most things Mason says, and sometimes I think she lacks a certain "down to earth" quality. Overall very helpful even just for parenting philosophy in training our young children.
July 10, 2019
A brilliant and original defense of education as an act of mind through ideas, against materialism in the schools. Mason speaks with the authority and eloquence of experience, which makes even her most surprising conclusions extremely thought-provoking and instructive.
September 14, 2023
I need to commonplace all the things!
February 21, 2024
As always, lots to ponder, debate, and be called up to. I still have a year of discussing this with my study group but couldn’t help myself—she’s so interesting, I had to read through.
May 15, 2024
Will forever be the book that made me fall in love with Charlotte Mason & her style of education - here’s to spreading a wide feast for my littles and diving into the next CM book!
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