1. Religious Training: Miss Mason’s Christian belief was the driving force behind everything she taught. She knew that any educational system or philosophy, including her own, was doomed to failure without a foundation in God’s Word.
2. Character Training/Habit Formation: Miss Mason believed that all children should be cultured and well mannered. This training begins very early and includes everything from the social graces to the habit or power of attention (yes….children can and must be taught this very important skill).
3. Living and Whole Books: Charlotte knew that the child’s mind responds naturally to literary forms of writing and memory experts support this view. There were no boring dry textbooks used in her classrooms, only complete books where people, places and events come alive by authors who were excited about their subject matter. As a result, not only are the facts remembered but the ideas behind them.
4. “Twaddle”: In today’s vernacular that would be “dumbed down” literature and textbooks and was a problem in her day as well. She believed in feeding the minds of children on only the best of literature, including reading straight from the Bible and avoiding someone else’s renderings.
5. Narration: This is simply a retelling by the students of what was read to them, orally (for the younger students) or written (students, ages 9 and above.) This can also be done through painting, drawing or acting, etc. It is a proven fact that this rehashing by the student makes this information their own and commits it to memory as opposed to rote memorization (i.e. for a test) that is soon forgotten.
6. Short Lessons: Charlotte was in favor of short, focused lessons on a variety of subjects to prevent boredom, inattentiveness and the mere hatred of a subject. This ranges from 5-15 minutes for the young child to 1 hour per subject for the high school student. This concept becomes particularly important for the more difficult subjects such as math, even for an older student.
7. Nature walks and Nature notebooks: These are drawings in sketchbooks that students have made of plants and wildlife encountered on nature walks. This not only teaches observation of details but points the student to God, their Creator.
8. Book of Centuries: This is essentially a student illustrated timeline of important events through various readings in all subjects. The student is encouraged to create, not just a timeline, but more like a pictorial walk through a museum of history. This is a more effective and interesting way to commit those cumbersome dates to memory.
9. Copywork/Dictation: This is simply a daily copying of poems, quotes, or Bible passages for practice in handwriting, spelling, and grammar. This was a method that Ben Franklin and Jack London used to become writers. After much practice, the older students are expected to write these passages as the teacher dictates them.
10. Art/Music Appreciation: Several classical artists and composers are chosen each year to be studied in depth. For art, this is through “picture study” and for music, by listening to at least one piece of classical music per week. This promotes a cultured mind and creates “Renaissance” kids. (Note: While many public schools are cutting their budgets and/or completely eliminating the arts and music departments…..this will not happen at Kent Christian Academy. It will be a centerpiece of our educational philosophy.)
This is in no way an exhaustive explanation of Charlotte Mason’s educational principles, methods or subjects taught. For more information, click on the following website.
www.amblesideschools.com
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