Charlotte Mason (1842-1923) was a British educator whose philosophy of education so accurately described how children learn naturally that it has withstood the test of time and is as relevant in our day as it was in hers. She believed that children where persons capable of intelligent independent thought, in contrast to the common belief that children were blank slates to be written on by the teacher or an empty bucket to be filled with knowledge. Mason believed, and I think correctly, that children are born persons with abilities, dispositions with the power of independent thought. They need vital ideas to feed their growing minds rather than dry facts. Rather than the teacher becoming the middle man dispensing filtered knowledge to the child, the child should do the work of dealing with the ideas and making connections. Mason believed that education is “…an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.” It is about finding out how we fit into this universe that God has created for us. Her philosophy of education has revolutionized thought on how children learn and therefore should be educated. You can read Charlotte Mason's Original Homeschooling Series at http://www.amblesideonline.org/CM/toc.html.
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