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We have experienced a surge of interest in the tried and true educational
methods and philosophy of an educator from the late 1800’s…Charlotte Mason. Her
tender, gentle manner of teaching children has not been lost in the past.
Rather, it is experiencing a “revival” in Homeschools, private schools, and even
in the hearts and minds of public school teachers! This book is written to give
you a brief introduction to the method and philosophy of this dear woman along
with our application of this philosophy within our home. May you glean many
ideas from this priceless wisdom of yesterday!
Education is An Atmosphere, A Discipline, A Life
Miss Mason summarized her approach to teaching children in the simple phrase,
“Education is an Atmosphere, a Discipline, a Life!” This summary includes three
key teaching tools that Miss Mason used with every student she taught regardless
of background or ability. These teaching tools are the foundation for all of her
work. They were the secret to the Real Education that Miss Mason brought to
children of all classes, religious persuasions, capabilities, and interests.
Atmosphere
The first teaching tool is that of Atmosphere. Charlotte Mason believed that
children were of great worth to God. She felt that children should be free to
learn and to grow into maturity in an atmosphere of acceptance, value, respect,
nurture, serenity, contentment, and stability. She believed that the home
atmosphere was the center of a Real Education. Yes, nothing is like the home to
lend an atmosphere that is relaxed, stimulating, positive, and enjoyable for our
young students. All it takes for learning to take place at all times is a home
that is inviting, warm, and filled with opportunities to learn at all times!
Discipline
The second teaching tool in the Charlotte Mason education is that of Discipline.
In the 6 Volumes written by Charlotte Mason, one-third of her writing detailed
the importance of habit in the life of the child and how to go about
establishing good habits through lessons and real life training of the child.
Truly, the most critical aspect of teaching is the formation of good habits. The
responsibility for formation of habits in the children is ours…the parents.
Children constantly form either good or bad habits. They will either form
attentiveness, concentration, truthfulness, self-control, unselfishness,
service, excellence, obedience—or restlessness, wandering minds, dulled senses,
non-thinking, non-communication, failure, discouragement, and disobedience. We,
as parents must make the best use of our time to instill the habits of a good
life.
Life
The third teaching tool is that of “Real Life” and the Presentation of “Living”
Ideas. True education takes place in real life. When we begin to see all of life
as a classroom, we will truly equip our children to become self-educated,
life-long learners, who delight in learning! In order to do this, we must teach
our children how their education relates to real life. The artificial classroom
experiences stunt the growth of their minds. Their minds deteriorate without the
stimulus of ideas. Charlotte Mason believed that the minds of best intellectual
food—God’s Word, great literature, fine art, beautiful music, real living
history, and direct contact with God’s creation!
She taught that children need direct, real life contact with those real, living
ideas. She stressed that when the children are given the best “mind-food,” they
can glean directly from the mind of the author/artist the ideas presented,
formulate their own questions, and find answers directly from the work presented
to them. She felt that this process could breathe life into any study while
feeding the insatiable appetites so common with young children!
How-to Implement
These ideas may sound great…but how does one implement them into the home? Here
are some quick ideas to help you get started. For more details, take a look
later in this book!
Use Whole Living Books
There are multitudes of wonderful books that can be used to teach children their
school lessons. The problem presents itself as we find that we have limited time
with our treasures! Because our time is limited, we must be very selective about
our choices. Choose to read the best books available on each topic! Charlotte
Mason felt that books written by individuals passionate about their topic were
the “mind-food” that our children crave! She eliminated textbooks in favor of
whole entire books, first-hand resources, classics, and biographies. Textbooks,
busywork and activity branches must be pruned in order to have time to truly
enjoy whole, living books! Give the best! Give the children a direct
relationship with the best authors/artists/composers instead of just having a
nodding acquaintance with them…you won’t be sorry!
A Different Approach to Teaching Language
I call this Language Arts…The EASY way! Miss Mason substituted Narration
(retelling what is read), Dictation (writing down what is read to you) and
Transcription (Copywork…copying directly from books) for tedious Language
Workbooks or Grammar Lessons. Because the lessons include seeing good models of
writing, the students do not need formal grammar lessons until older
(around 4-8th grade…even at that age we have found informal lessons will
suffice). They are able to learn the art of writing by modeling after great
literature. This method is an easy, natural way to encourage young writers.
Don’t destroy their natural inclinations toward Language when you can choose an
easy, natural and effective method proven throughout history!
Short Lessons
Short lessons have several benefits. They encourage children to develop the good
habits of attentiveness and excellence—in quality and neatness—while preventing
the contrary habits of dawdling and sloppiness. Lessons are completed early in
the day, usually before noon, leaving afternoons for leisure and real learning!
For children, this means running, climbing, yelling, exploring, building. This
also means time for working alongside of the parents, practicing instruments,
nature study, handicrafts, chores, family business or ministry, visiting lonely
relatives/neighbors, cooking, sewing, so on. This adds depth to the lifestyle of
real learning! The children know exactly what is expected of them each day. They
get their academic work done promptly and correctly so the rest of the day is
free for natural learning so common in the average home centered on real
learning. These short lessons also eliminate the need for homework while giving
the children plenty of time for real life and relationships!!
Time for Humanities
Short lessons have another added benefit. In most schools, the children are kept
so busy with tedious repetitive lessons that they never have time to be exposed
to humanities…much less come to love Art, Music, Poetry and Fine Literature.
Art, Music, Poetry, and Literature are vital for a well-balanced life and are a
vital aspect of a living education. By presenting only skills, we starve the
child and ourselves of beauty, emotion, and understanding. We need not do this.
Instead, we can begin introducing and studying the humanities while our children
are young and forming their personalities. They should be given the best…the
excellent. Betty Carlson in The Gift of Music has said, “The more we acquaint
ourselves with that which is truly great and beautiful, the more we will dislike
and turn away from that which is shallow and ugly.”
This captures what Charlotte Mason encouraged us to bring before the child—that
which is great, beautiful, and truly excellent. Inspire with Ideas…The emphasis
in our society has moved from encouraging people to think, reason, and
discern—to now accept, feel, and conform. This was not so in the Charlotte Mason
Education. Children were inspired to really think. They were encouraged to enjoy
knowledge for its own sake rather than for grades or artificial recognition.
Miss Mason felt this was best taught as we inspire them with Real, Living Ideas.
You can do this by simply putting them in direct contact with great minds via
great literature, art, music, and history. Miss Mason encouraged parents to give
their children at least one new idea each day. She did this by introducing them
to a wide and varied curriculum including all forms of human
(and divine!) expression.
Reach toward Self-Education
This education may seem overwhelming, but there is a key toward attaining this
ideal education. The key is Self-education. Charlotte Mason believed in
equipping the child with skills needed for self-education. Self-education
meaning that the child learns the skills of researching, relating to, and
responding to information for himself. The child gains learning skills, which
move the child to independence in learning. The child is not dependent upon the
teacher to gather, pre-digest, and teach the material. Instead, the teacher
directs the child toward the carefully chosen words of the author, leaves the
child and the author alone and then allows the child to respond to the
information by various means (narration, discussion, demonstration, or creating
a product to communicate their knowledge). Self-education begins the process of
building life-long learners.
A School Day in a Charlotte Mason Homeschool
So, what does this education look like in the home? There are as many
applications of the Charlotte Mason Approach as there are families. There is no
right or wrong way to implement these ideas…just take these wonderful ideas and
implement them your own way! That is just what we have done…our own way!
In our home we have implemented a well-rounded plan for our lifestyle of
learning. Our plan includes seven aspects of a Real Education. Come join us as
we walk through our typical day in our Charlotte Mason Homeschool…
Quiet Times…Our days begin with each family member having his/her own personal
quiet time. This is not pre-determined by me. Each member of our family spends
their quiet time based on their own abilities and preferences for study and
worship. The one thing that is determined as a standard is the set time and the
respect for the quiet time of one another.
Chores…Usually each family member rolls on into this aspect of our day as they
finish their Quiet Time. Because our quiet times vary in time, this was the next
logical time for our day. The children are expected to do their portion of the
chores. They feed their animals…help to clean the house…help with maintenance of
our vehicles…etc. These things are usually checked over while everyone gets
ready for our “table time.”
Table Time... This is the time each day that we teach the skills necessary for
our children to learn on their own. We have short lessons in Bible Study/Bible
Memory, Reading, Writing, Latin/Greek, and Math. These lessons are based on
their individual abilities and speed rather than on any certain grade level. We
have found that having a set time each day with set expectations has helped our
children to work independently at earlier ages…become responsible for their own
individual progress…and develop an enjoyment of these often tedious studies!
Family Time…Our family time is at a different time of the day than many
families. We have to finish our work early in the day so that we can enjoy our
morning and early afternoon with my husband. I used to wonder just why my
husband would not help me teach “subjects” that I “deemed” as important. Well,
it was because he had much more important things to teach than a mere textbook!
He has the responsibility from God to teach my children WHO HE IS. This is
perhaps one of the most vital lessons taught in our home. He teaches many skills
that only he could teach, but that is not enough to “educate” our children in
the way that God wants for our children to be educated. He has to teach his love
for God…his life story/message…his wisdom…his knowledge…his understanding. There
are so many lessons that are more vital than a mere subject and those lessons
are taught in our moments with him. This time usually frees me up somewhat
because often my children spend time with my husband while I catch up on my
responsibilities. I have been amazed to see the abilities of my children at such
young ages…but it all comes from “catching” who my husband is…what a family is
like…and who we are as a family!
Productive Free Time…This is the time that our children have free each day to
pursue interests, hobbies, and studies that they would like to pursue on their
own. If you were to come into our home, you would find our children doing a
whole host of things that they enjoy. Our typical day is a mix of anything from
observing and studying nature to writing books to helping dad build/fix things
to sketching prints studied in our picture studies to “dancing” to Classical
Music to climbing trees to playing dress up to re-enacting a war to running to
playing to doing crafts to practicing instruments to extending hospitality to
our extended family and friends…so on! These things may not seem like “school”
but they are actually the most productive times of learning for our family!
Ministry…This is one area of our lives that has afforded the most opportunities
for our children to be trained up for their callings. Although we do primarily
minister in many obvious ways, we also take great delight in the little acts of
service that are less obvious and what I would call “quiet ministry.” This
includes making cards for the sick…praying for those on our hearts…taking meals
to those in need…smiling at and encouraging those who are weary and worn along
the way (gas station, grocery store, bookstore, library…so on!)…sharing
hand-me-downs…offering hospitality…carrying books/boxes/etc…pushing shopping
carts into stores…cleaning the house so mom can have more time to write/bake/sew
for others…so on. The ideas are unlimited! Our training ground for our little
“missionaries” is within our own home. This training needs to be a part of every
day life for all committed Christians!
Family Reading…This is one of our most treasured times of the day! Actually if
you were able to come into our home during this time, you would consider this
one of the most “quaint” times of our day. We usually do our family reading
right before bedtime. Because I have a personal LOVE for tea and coffee time, we
usually have a ritual of making up hot tea or mocha coffee or hot chocolate
along with some light snacks. We curl up with our steaming cups and goodies
while we take turns reading our Daily Bible Reading selection, next chapter of
our Read Alouds (we alternate between Classics, Biographies, Stories, Fables,
Animal Stories, etc.…), and cuddle up to share observations and thoughts about
Art Prints. This is such a special part of our day…yet, the time that we “cover”
all the things that I desire for my children to study before they are grown!
This ends the typical day in OUR Charlotte Mason Homeschool! Perhaps, you can
gain a glimpse into the riches of this approach “revived” from this dear woman.
The approach and philosophy of Charlotte Mason brings gentleness and freedom
into educating children toward their callings in life. The ideas of this dear
lady live on because they are built upon premises that are as old as time.
Truly, we can agree that Education is an Atmosphere, a Discipline, and a Life!
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Texas
Home Educators
