Perhaps the better question is, “What’s the big deal about Charlotte Mason?” Or, “Why are so many modern day homeschoolers still leverage the philosophies and methods of an English teacher who passed away in 1923?”

Of course, the full answer lies not in a cursory overview of her life. She was a complex character brimming with life and ideas that were well ahead of her time. She was an advocate for diverse, multicultural education, yes. But even more so, she was an advocate for children. She regarded children as whole, “born persons,” affirming the fullness of humanity in each child even at their youngest, most vulnerable, and least educated.

It was with this theme at heart that she spent her entire life dedicated to the holistic liberal arts education of children. While Ms. Mason taught for more than ten years at Davison School in Worthing, England, it was 1891 in Ambleside that she established the House of Education, a training school for governesses and others working with young children. This is where many of her educational methods were further synthesized, shared, and written about—not to mention her six volume study of the life and teaching of Jesus, “The Saviour of the World.”

Of course, she had no idea what impact her writing and ideas would make upon the world, but here we are, over a century later, still referencing her and her impressive body of work. Her 20 principles of education remain just as relevant today.

To learn more about Charlotte Mason, you may enjoy quick reads from Everything Charlotte Mason and Wikipedia that provide a brief overview of her life and work from 1842 to 1923. Or, in the tradition of Stories of Color, we would encourage all who are interested in Ms. Mason and her philosophy to read her many volumes and biographies about her.

As you begin (and continue) your journey in learning about Charlotte Mason and her ways, we expect that it will lead to a growth of living ideas.

And on that topic, it is only fitting when speaking of her that we conclude with her own words:

“The intellectual life, like every manner of spiritual life, has but one food whereby it lives and grows—the sustenance of living ideas. It is not possible to repeat this too often or too emphatically, for perhaps we err more in this respect than any other in bringing up children.”

Charlotte Mason wasn’t just busy educating children—she spent a great deal of her time articulating what she thought an ideal education should look like for children everywhere. It’s her 20 principles of education, in particular, that have become a guiding light to homeschooling families around the world. And it’s these same principles that you can find printed at the beginning of the six volumes on Home Education that she wrote for parents and teachers alike.

Review all of Ms. Mason’s 20 principles so that you can read, download, print, and consider these principles in your own teaching efforts. She starts with one of our personal favorites:

“Children are born persons.”

Review the next 19 principles now.

Children are much wiser than society often gives them credit for—even their educators. As an advocate for children’s abilities and personhood, it was Charlotte Mason who wrote…

“We spread an abundant and delicate feast in the programs and each small guest assimilates what he can.”

As an adult, it shouldn’t be too difficult to recognize this. Anybody can tell you the different things they have each taken in during their education and experience, as everyone has their own, various tastes. As such, it’s imperative to set a feast of ideas before each child in the books they read, the subjects they study, the nature they observe, and so on. Each child—in all their glorious uniqueness—will try, consume, and experience something different when presented with such possibilities.

Spreading a feast is one of the key tenets behind Charlotte Mason’s methods—and one that remains a pillar to those who follow her 20 principles of education to this day. That’s why it’s an essential component of the Stories of Color mission. Reading diverse living books is one small way to spread a more abundant feast before each child, though it surely isn’t the only way.

Keep spreading a feast before your students. Feast on.

Charlotte Mason’s 20 principles of education begins with a simple, but profound statement: “Children are born persons.”

In other words, children do not need to “become” something to grow into a whole person with a unique personality, interests, and so on. Education is not meant to shape them into what we desire as their parents and educators—a slightly different mold of ourselves—but to help them continue their growth into the person they were meant to be since their creation. May we see them as born persons.

Try these ten.

Even though the Home Education volumes themselves are numbered differently, you might gain more value in approaching them in this sequence, instead.

1. Volume 1: Home Education
2. Volume 6: Philosophy of Education
3. Volume 2: Parents and Children
4. Volume 3: School Education
5. Volume 5: Formation of Character
6. Volume 4: Ourselves

For reasons on why we suggest this order, read this.

Even though terms like “woke” didn’t exist back when Charlotte Mason was educating children in the late 1800s and early 1900s, she was no less ahead of her time. In fact, she had quite a bit to say on the topic of diversity if we peer through her 19th century, English-born worldview.

For starters, she knew that both positive and negative influences are everywhere. To help safeguard against bias, she believed, “None of us can be proof against the influences that proceed from the persons he associates with. Wherefore, in books and men, let us look out for the best society, that which yields a bracing and wholesome influence.”

She lived out that principle in her work. For example, she encouraged, “We introduce children as early as possible to the contemporary history of other countries as the study of English history alone is apt to lead to a certain insular and arrogant habit of mind.”

Though perhaps a bit hyperbolic, she even believed children’s sanity was at stake if we were not to provide them with a more multicultural education. “We cannot live sanely unless we know that other peoples are as we are with a difference, that their history is as ours, with a difference, that they too have been represented by their poets and their artists, that they too have their literature and their national life.”

She carried this perspective into learning languages, as well. As she put it, “Therefore to acquire the speech of neighboring nations is not only to secure an inlet of knowledge and a means of culture, but it is a duty of that higher morality (the morality of the family) which aims at universal brotherhood. Therefore every family would do well to cultivate two languages besides the mother tongue.”

Finally, it is most worth noting why it is she felt a more diverse, multicultural education was so important. Her reason is perhaps best summarized in one of her most famous passages, “The question is not, — how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education — but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him?”

And these are just a select few of her many quotes and wisdom on the subject. In a holistic study of Charlotte Mason’s volumes and life, it becomes clear that she was a staunch advocate of and forerunner in providing children with a diverse, multicultural education not simply to check a box or signal virtue to others, but for one reason alone: because it’s the most loving thing to do for our children and the world around us.

May we all continue in the tradition of that Spirit. That Love.

Charlotte Mason was a staunch believer and advocate in the fact that all “children are born persons.” Whatever their age, stage, or grade level, their view of the world is constantly being molded, shaped, and refined. That’s why it’s so important for us to provide them with more diverse, representative literature at every stage of their learning journey.

Given the fact that Charlotte Mason was British, however, the terminology she used—and that most Charlotte Mason curricula still uses today—doesn’t quite match up with modern American terminology. While the American school system uses grades to indicate progression (i.e. 1st grade, 2nd grade, etc.), the British school system uses forms (i.e. form 1, form 2, etc.).

As a general rule, you can correlate the forms that the very British Ms. Mason used to today’s grade levels like this:

Form 0 is the equivalent of PreK and Kindergarten
Form 1 … 1st-3rd grade
Form 2 … 4th-6th grade
Form 3 … 7th-8th grade
Form 4 … 9th grade
Form 5 … 10th-11th grade
Form 6 … 12th grade

In the case of some curriculum, it can get even more granular (and confusing). For example, staunch Charlotte Masoners will often break down form 1 into:

Form 1B … 1st grade
Form 1A … 2nd-3rd grade

Some take it even one step further, distilling it down to:

Form 1B … 1st grade
Form 1A Lower … 2nd grade
Form 1A Upper … 3rd grade

As you navigate our features, you’ll often find the different forms referenced throughout Stories of Color, though we steer clear of these more granular breakdowns for the sake of simplicity. To determine whether a particular title is suited for your children, we encourage you to read more about it in our catalog. The information you need should all be there, and there’s nobody better than you to make that decision.

Enjoy searching and exploring our book lists by forms or grades. Your children deserve to grow up reading the very best.

That’s what Stories of Color was made for. Browse all our living book lists today.

Explore recommended resources for Charlotte Mason homeschoolers.