Charlotte Mason

Who Was Charlotte Mason?

Charlotte Mason was a British educator who lived during the late 19th and early twentieth centuries. She was born in 1842 on New Year's Day in an English town called Bangor. Her mother died when she was just 16 years old and her father died soon after. She subsequently lived with friends until she reached 18 years of age. At that time, the young Mason traveled to London in order to attend teacher's college at an institution called The Home and Colonial School of Society. After earning her teaching certificate, she embarked on a lifelong career in education that continues to influence the way many homeschooled children are taught today.

Teaching the Teachers

In the 1880s, Mason was distressed at the inadequate education provided by governesses who taught the children of the middle class. In response to this crisis, she published a book called Home Education in the year 1886. The book became widely popular because of its then-revolutionary ideas on education. As a result, she began to conduct lectures on the subject of her book, informing the public about her educational philosophy. Soon influential people of the time asked Mason to establish a school designed to train governesses in Mason's teaching methods. Mason agreed, and the House of Education at Ambleside was born. The teacher's college first opened its doors in January 1892 with only four students. Throughout the years, the prospective teachers attending her college continued to swell in number. She continued involvement with the school until her death at the age of 81 in January 1923.

The Charlotte Mason Method

Why were Charlotte Mason's methods so popular? This was because her teaching concepts were something unheard of before her time. Her philosophy of education was comprised of three important factors:

Atmosphere
Discipline
Life

Mason was convinced that if a teacher developed lessons with these three factors in mind, the student would be successful in all areas of life.

When Mason spoke of atmosphere in regards to education, she believed that children absorb their environment. They are sponges influenced by their surroundings. Therefore, atmosphere comprises one third of a child's education. Discipline is crucial to a child's education because human beings need to cultivate good habits and excellent character. Developing these traits is another one third of a child's education. Finally, Mason spoke of life as being the final third of a child's education. In other words, children should not be spoon-fed dry facts. Instead, teach children vibrant thoughts and ideas that breathe with life.

Ultimately, she believed that knowledge of God was the most important knowledge anyone could ever possess. She taught that each child is an individual-not a receptacle in which information is crammed. Mason believed in teaching students faith, citizenship, good habits, fine arts, and academics. She often said that good habits were railroad tracks parents lay down so that children can travel it throughout their lives into adulthood.

How the Method Works

In the Charlotte Mason method, lessons are brief. They should not last more than 20 minutes when young children are involved. As children grow older, lessons increase to about 45 minutes. This progression trains students how to pay attention. Lessons vary, alternating quiet lessons with those involving more activity and noise.

Literature and History

Students do not pore over boring textbooks. Books are in the form of a story written by an author who has a deep love of the subject. She called these books living books because they infuse excitement into the subject.

Spelling

Her method states that spelling should never be learned through the memorization of boring word lists. In the Charlotte Mason method, students learn to spell by reviewing passages from great literature.

Science

When students learn science, they draw and write in nature notebooks.

Math

Math lessons involve the use of manipulatives.

Foreign Language

Foreign language lessons are another important aspect of the Charlotte Mason method, stressing the hearing and speaking of a foreign language before progressing toward reading and writing.

From reading the Bible aloud to art appreciation, the Charlotte method embraces all aspects of knowledge in hopes of creating a well-educated individual.

The Return of Charlotte Mason's Philosophy

Charlotte Mason's method of teaching eventually faded into obscurity until Susan Schaeffer Macauley wrote the book For the Children's Sake in 1987. The publication of this book brought back attention to Mason's philosophy of education. Soon, homeschooling parents embraced her ideas on how to teach a child in the classroom. Today, Mason's vision of education lives on through her school, now part of St. Martin's College, and through the millions of parents who homeschool their children by using the methods Mason developed so long ago.

Written by Kimberly Solis