Charlotte Mason

Charlotte Mason - painted in 1902 by Frederic Yates

Charlotte Maria Shaw Mason (1 January 1842 – 16 January 1923) was a British educator and reformer in England at the turn of the twentieth century. She proposed to base the education of children upon a wide and liberal curriculum. She worked for five years under Fanny Trevor at Bishop Otter College.

Mason's philosophy of education has been summarized as emanating from two principles, that "children are born persons" and "education is the science of relations." Mason promoted a humanistic and highly integrative model for education which emphasized cultivating a love of learning in children as well as spiritual and moral formation. Her theories have become especially influential in the Christian education and homeschooling movements.

Quotes about Mason

• Creating a lifelong love of learning was Mason’s goal. If children developed an early hunger for ideas, she reasoned, it would sustain them through life. Mason’s philosophy was that in addition to the proper nutrients needed to thrive, children require ideas to chew on, to properly grow. And the source of these ideas, she reasoned, was not typical textbooks.
  Rather than suggesting that these ideas originate in the mind of the teacher, administrator, or even the parent, Mason believed that the best resource for these ideas were books of “literary quality” or great books.
  • Beth Herman, "What Government-Run Schools Can Learn From A 19th-Century Teacher Homeschoolers Adore", The Federalist (September 19, 2025)

External links

• Media related to Charlotte Mason on Wikimedia Commons
• Encyclopedic article on Charlotte Mason on Wikipedia