The Original Home Schooling Series by Charlotte Mason

by Charlotte M. Mason

Book Overview

Charlotte Mason's ideas were far ahead of her time. She believed that children are born persons worthy of respect, rather than blank slates, and that it was better to feed their growing minds with living literature and vital ideas and knowledge, rather than dry facts and knowledge filtered and pre-digested by the teacher. Her method of education is gentle and flexible, especially with younger children, and includes first-hand exposure to great ideas through books in each school subject, conveying wonder and arousing curiosity through reflection upon great art, music, and poetry; nature observation as the primary means of early science teaching; use of manipulatives and real-life application to understand mathematical concepts and learning to reason, rather than rote memorization and working endless sums; and an emphasis on character and on cultivating and maintaining good personal habits. Schooling is teacher-directed, not child-led, but school time should be short enough to allow students free time to play and to pursue their own interests. Traditional Charlotte Mason schooling is firmly based on Christianity, although the method is also used successfully by secular families and families of other religions. Here in one affordable volume is her complete Homeschooling Series:

Home Education: Six lectures by Charlotte Mason about the raising and educating of young children (up to the age of nine), for parents and teachers. She details how lessons in various school subjects can be done using her approach. She concludes with remarks about the Will, the Conscience, and the Divine Life in the Child, Parents and Children: A collection of 26 articles from the original Parent's Review magazines to encourage and instruct parents.

School Education: Thoughts about the teaching and curriculum of children aged 9-12, either at school or at home.

Ourselves: A character curriculum book written directly to children. Book I, Self-Knowledge, is for elementary school students; Book II, Self-Direction, is for older students. Formation of Character: Includes case studies of children (and adults) who cured themselves of bad habits; reflections on subjects including both schooling and vacations (or "stay-cations" as we now call them); various aspects of home schooling, with a special section detailing the things that Charlotte Mason thought were important to teach to girls in particular; and examples of how education affected outcome of character in famous writers of her day.

Towards a Philosophy of Education: Charlotte Mason's final book, written after years of seeing her approach in action. This volume gives the best overview of her philosophy, and includes the final version of her 20 Principles. This book is particularly directed to parents of older children, about ages 12 and up, but is a valuable overview for parents of younger children as well, covering both theory and practice.

Formation of Character: Includes case studies of children (and adults) who cured themselves of bad habits; reflections on subjects including both schooling and vacations (or "stay-cations" as we now call them); various aspects of home schooling, with a special section detailing the things that Charlotte Mason thought were important to teach to girls in particular; and examples of how education affected outcome of character in famous writers of her day.

Towards a Philosophy of Education: Charlotte Mason's final book, written after years of seeing her approach in action. This volume gives the best overview of her philosophy, and includes the final version of her 20 Principles. This book is particularly directed to parents of older children, about ages 12 and up, but is a valuable overview for parents of younger children as well, covering both theory and practice.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 160459439X
• ISBN13: 9781604594393
• Release Date: August 2008
• Publisher: Wilder Publications
• Length: 812 Pages
• Weight: 3.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 7.0" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

Absolutely wonderful! ...just one note of caution

I've known that I want to homeschool my children since birth and have slowly but surely been devouring everything I can about the subject. I started by reading general guides on the subject of homeschooling, then progressed into some more specific books based on the methods and curriculum choices that appealed to me the most. I purchased Charlotte Mason's original series after reading Karen Andreaola's companion book (which is excellent). When I began reading Charlotte Mason's original work, I couldn't believe how much wisdom just oozed out of it. It seemed to be dripping from the pages. I interrupted my husband's reading and tv shows to share her pearls of wisdom about 20 times an hour while reading it. I have been totally impressed with her general philosophy but, now that I have read further, I'm even more impressed with the VERY specific instructions to the homeschooling mother. I mean, just her discussion of teaching children about geography and boundaries, including the use of a compass, was mind-numbingly useful. I absolutely recommend her books to anyone interested in incorporating Charlotte Mason techniques into their homeschool. So, where's the caution? All of the other reviewers are right. This is some heavy reading and the reviewer who said you need to read it little by little in order to digest the wisdom is completely correct. That does not mean that it is intimidating reading! It is simply packed to the gills with incredibly useful information. I would like to caution anyone considering buying this six volume set to first select a companion guide to read. I found that falling in love with the idea of Charlotte Mason instruction by reading a companion guide gave me the patience to read through the original works because I had a general idea of the wisdom contained therein. If I hadn't read a companion guide first, I might have grown impatient with the sheer weight of the originals. This may not be true for everyone, but I know it would have been for me. So, I recommend this without hesitation but with the recommendation to get your feet wet with a companion guide prior to reading the full set.

Must have if you're serious about Charlotte Mason

I had read comments in other books about Charlotte Mason's writings being very difficult to read, so I was nervous about getting her books. I read several of the companion books on the market before I decided to get these books. They are wonderful. They are not a quick, easy read, but they are full of wonderful, valuable information that the companion books don't give you. If you want to incorporate only a little of Charlotte Mason into your homeschool the companion books will probably be sufficient for you, but if you are serious about having a Charlotte Mason homeschool you should read these books for yourself.

Best Series on Homeschooling I've Ever Read

For those of you who want to have direct information, I strongly suggest reading this series. I borrowed and read five other books about Miss Mason's techniques but felt that I really needed to have the original. This series has not been disappointing. I will use this as reference material for many years to come and am so glad that I have been able to read through these books for myself. Please do not be fooled by the titles in the series and skip over any. The first one was especially useful. This is a MUST READ for ALL Homeschoolers.

Must reading for those interested in philosophy of education

This six volume set is certainly not light reading, but it's well worth your time. Miss Mason was a widely read educator in Victorian England. She gathered ideas from many sources, and shared her conclusions on education with her readers. Her books are deep and thought provoking. She discusses everything from the proper amount of fresh air, to the development of good habits, the training of the will, the formation of character, to what sort of books contribute to a truly educated person. She also explains why to teach certain subjects as well as how. She is passionate about encouraging the natural love of learning in children. I do not agree with everything Miss Mason has to say, but I cannot recommend her more highly as wonderful reading for the serious home educator.

The complete Charlotte Mason method.

Well for those of you homeschoolers who have heard the name Charlotte Mason, this is it! This is her complete works written by Charlotte Mason herself. For those of you not familiar with this method of teaching and learning I will explain a little. A very basic definition is that she suggests a narrative method of learning. For just one exmple, a child reads a history lesson. The child then repeats back to you in his own words, what they have read. This assures comprehension of the material read. For those of you with reluctant writers, or younger children, this is great! Of course older children can write down what they have learned & experienced. She suggests studying the classics verus dry textbooks for learning. Similiar to that of a unit study approach. If you want the true Charlotte Mason method, this is all the material you will ever need.