An education can not be living if it does not extend beyond Mason’s table.
In fact, an education can not actually be “Charlotte Mason” unless it extends beyond Mason’s table.
A Charlotte Mason education has to align with her core and foundational ideas in order to be labeled as such…
And Mason’s core ideas are that children are persons and that ideas are alive.
There is nothing *less* reflective of Mason’s revolutionary ideas of personhood and the living nature of ideas than mimicking her.
Doing what she did, replicating her programs, choosing books primarily from her book list, and feasting only on subjects that were dishes at her table…
Is a recipe for an education that is not actually Charlotte Mason (or living) at all.
The more an educator tries to mimic Mason, the less they are carrying the torch of her contribution to educational philosophy.
When an educator has a program for their own homeschool that looks precisely (or even nearly) like Mason’s, it is evidence that they do not (yet) understand Mason’s principles.
Here are a few reasons why a truly living education must extend beyond Mason’s table:
1️⃣ Truly Timeless Principles Must be Practiced Differently in Every Time and Family
If we believe that Mason’s principles were cemented in the 20th century and within her practices, then we don’t actually believe that they’re timeless.
2️⃣ If Ideas Are Alive, They Must Come From Every Age
Again, if we believe that good ideas come solely from the centuries past, we don’t actually believe that they’re alive.
3️⃣ Mason Was Extremely Forward Thinking
To claim to be mimicking Mason but to ignore that everything we know about her indicates that technology and modern arts, etc would be in her programmes if she were alive today is cognitive dissonance (and quite frankly, iconography of a fallible human)…
4️⃣ Mason Missed the Mark Sometimes
She was fallible and imperfect. She was limited by her single life in a single country in a single age.
In this month’s workshop (➡️) I’ll discuss these (and more) reasons that we must extend beyond Mason’s table… and how to do it.
In fact, an education can not actually be “Charlotte Mason” unless it extends beyond Mason’s table.
A Charlotte Mason education has to align with her core and foundational ideas in order to be labeled as such…
And Mason’s core ideas are that children are persons and that ideas are alive.
There is nothing *less* reflective of Mason’s revolutionary ideas of personhood and the living nature of ideas than mimicking her.
Doing what she did, replicating her programs, choosing books primarily from her book list, and feasting only on subjects that were dishes at her table…
Is a recipe for an education that is not actually Charlotte Mason (or living) at all.
The more an educator tries to mimic Mason, the less they are carrying the torch of her contribution to educational philosophy.
When an educator has a program for their own homeschool that looks precisely (or even nearly) like Mason’s, it is evidence that they do not (yet) understand Mason’s principles.
Here are a few reasons why a truly living education must extend beyond Mason’s table:
1️⃣ Truly Timeless Principles Must be Practiced Differently in Every Time and Family
If we believe that Mason’s principles were cemented in the 20th century and within her practices, then we don’t actually believe that they’re timeless.
2️⃣ If Ideas Are Alive, They Must Come From Every Age
Again, if we believe that good ideas come solely from the centuries past, we don’t actually believe that they’re alive.
3️⃣ Mason Was Extremely Forward Thinking
To claim to be mimicking Mason but to ignore that everything we know about her indicates that technology and modern arts, etc would be in her programmes if she were alive today is cognitive dissonance (and quite frankly, iconography of a fallible human)…
4️⃣ Mason Missed the Mark Sometimes
She was fallible and imperfect. She was limited by her single life in a single country in a single age.
In this month’s workshop (➡️) I’ll discuss these (and more) reasons that we must extend beyond Mason’s table… and how to do it.
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