Educating Persons
I have a bit of a fascination with Charlotte Mason’s Twenty Principles (see here). It seems like such a good idea: twenty short-ish statements, the perfect introduction to a philosophy of education. Grasp these ideas and off you go! You can educate the Charlotte Mason way!
Except that reading the twenty principles often leave you more confused than when you began. They mention people you never heard of, make statements that leave you questioning the orthodoxy Charlotte Mason’s faith, and then you’re not really sure what to go and do after you read them.
It’s really only after reading Charlotte Mason’s volumes that I’ve been able to go to Charlotte Mason’s principles and start to appreciate the meaning of them as what they imply for my practice as a home educator, and see how they knit together.
In other words, Charlotte Mason’s twenty principles are a helpful summary of her philosophy, but that summary makes a lot more sense if you’ve read the unabridged version first.
Of course, reading her volumes takes time, and it’s reasonable to want that high level overview of her ideas before you dig into the finer detail.
Enter Educating Persons, my latest “mercifully short” book. (That review comes from Before Curriculum and is my favorite review ever.) Drawing from an extended email series I wrote over this past year, I take each principle, one at a time, and talk about what it means and how it fits into the rest of the Charlotte Mason philosophy. I also throw in a few personal examples and stories along the way!
Educating Persons is a jumping off point for the Charlotte Mason philosophy, a way to get your feet wet as you start to think about her method. It’s also a refresher for those of you who have been home educating a while and want to reorient yourself or renew your perspective. It’s not intended to be the final say on the Charlotte Mason method, but I hope it will inspire every reader to continue learning more.
You can find out more and purchase here.
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