Charlotte Mason Education Ideas in a Nutshell
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Charlotte Mason advocated for an education approach that focused on exposing children to "living books" or whole, quality works of literature rather than excerpts or anthologies. Students would narrate what they read to help them retain information. Lessons were short but frequent to allow for in-depth study of many subjects. Nature was also an important part of the curriculum through weekly nature walks and time spent outdoors daily. Art, journaling, copywork, dictation and creating a "Book of the Centuries" were also incorporated into Mason's philosophy of education. Afternoons were left open for free time activities.
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Charlotte Mason Education Ideas in a Nutshell
- 1. Charlotte Mason in a Nutshell by Debi Taylor-Hough
- 2. Let me start by saying I don’t believe anyone could fit Charlotte Mason’s ideas, methods and philosophies into an actual nutshell.
- 3. Miss Mason’s ideas were so broad and far reaching, it took six large volumes to contain her writings on just the topic of education. With that said, here’s a very brief overview of a handful of Charlotte Mason’s most familiar ideas.
- 4. TWADDLE: Twaddle is what parents and educators today might call “dumbed down” literature. It is serving your children intellectual happy meals, rather than healthy, substantive mind- and soul-building foods. Charlotte Mason advocated avoiding twaddle and feasting children’s hearts and minds on the best literary works available.
- 5. LIVING BOOKS: Living books are the opposite of dull, dry textbooks. The people, places and events come alive as you read a living book. The stories touch your mind and heart. They are timeless.
- 6. WHOLE BOOKS: Whole books are the entirety of the books the author actually wrote. If the author wrote a book, read the whole book. The opposite of this would be anthologies that include only snippets from other works—maybe a chapter from Dickens, a couple of paragraphs from Tolstoy, etc.
- 7. NARRATION: Narration is the process of telling back what has been learned or read. Narrations are usually done orally, but as the child grows older (around age 12) and his writing skills increase, the narrations can be written as well. Narration can also be accomplished creatively: painting, drawing, sculpting, play-acting, etc.
- 8. SHORT LESSONS: Charlotte Mason recommended spending short, focused periods of time on a wide variety of subjects. Lessons in the early years are only 10-15 minutes in length, but get progressively longer as the children mature. (Lessons increase closer to an hour per subject for high school students.)
- 9. NATURE WALKS: In spite of often rainy, inclement weather, Charlotte Mason insisted on going out once-a-week for an official Nature Walk, allowing the children to experience and observe the natural environment firsthand. These excursions should be nature walks, not nature talks.
- 10. DAILY WALKS: In addition to the weekly Nature Walks, Mason also recommended children spend large quantities of time outside each day, no matter what the weather. Take a daily walk for fun and fresh air.
- 11. ART APPRECIATION/PICTURE STUDY: Choose 1 artist at a time; 6 paintings per artist. Study 1 painting per week. Allow the child to look at the work of art intently for 2 to 5 minutes. Have him take in every detail. Then take the picture away and have him narrate (tell back) what he’s seen in the picture.
- 12. NATURE NOTEBOOKS: Nature Notebooks are artist sketchbooks containing pictures the children have personally drawn of plants, wildlife or any other natural object found in its natural setting. These nature journals can also include nature-related poetry, prose, detailed descriptions, weather notes, Latin names, etc.
- 13. JOURNALING: There’s great value in keeping a personal journal, encouraging reflection and descriptive writing. Record activities, thoughts and feelings, favorite sayings, personal mottoes, favorite poems, etc.
- 14. COPYWORK: Daily copywork provides on-going practice for handwriting, spelling, grammar, etc. Keep a notebook specifically for copying noteworthy poems, prose, quotes, etc.
- 15. DICTATION: Each day choose a paragraph, or sentence, or page (depending on the age of child). Have the child practice writing it perfectly during his copywork time. Have them look carefully at all punctuation, capital letters, etc. When the child knows the passage well, dictate the passage to the child for him to recreate the passage.
- 16. BOOK OF THE CENTURIES: A Centuries Book is a glorified homemade timeline; usually a notebook containing one or two pages per century. As children learn historical facts, they make notes in their book on the appropriate century’s page about famous people, important events, inventions, wars, battles, etc.
- 17. FREE-TIME HANDICRAFTS: Charlotte Mason’s schools finished daily academics in the morning, allowing the afternoon hours for free time to pursue crafts and other leisure activities or areas of personal interest.
- 18. HABITS: By training children in good habits, the school day (and home life in general) goes more smoothly. Focus on one habit at a time for 4-6 weeks rather than attempting to implement a long list of new habits all at once.</span>
- 19. For more information about Charlotte Mason, go to: http://charlottemasonhome.com