When Children Love to Learn: A Practical Application of Charlotte Mason's Philosophy for Today

by Eve Anderson

The obsession with testing in the United States especially is becoming epidemic, primarily due to the collapse of quality education and the desire to hold schools accountable. Standardized test scores of students are seen as the primary way to judge the quality of a teacher and ultimately of a school. This trend is leading to calls for a standardized national curriculum so that all assessments can be equalized, a practice already adopted in the U.K. and other Western nations. Surely the tail is wagging the dog when tests and examinations are dictating what the curriculum of schools should contain. In the midst of all this is the unfortunate teacher whose passion for learning and motivation for teaching is brought captive to tests and exams that control the destiny of her students and herself as well! As Alfie Kohn has stated, “Every hour that teachers feel compelled to try to raise test scores is an hour not spent helping kids become critical, creative, curious thinkers.”