Essays on the Life and Work of Charlotte Mason, Volume 1
The first volume in the series of Essays on the Life and Work of Charlotte Mason. Published by the Charlotte Mason Institute in June, 2014, this book contains several plenaries and research papers collected from CMI Conferences over the past decade.
From the Introduction by Carroll Smith…
"This book begins with four essays by John Thorley, PhD. Using Mason’s few surviving letters as his primary sources, John provides us with interesting insight into the life and work of Mason from 1860 to 1890. John first presented his research to the Charlotte Mason Education Conference in 2008. The lectures continued at the 2009 conference and were finally published in the Charlotte Mason Educational Review.
Continuing with Mason’s personal history, we come to the formidable research of Margaret Coombs, MPhil. At the 2012 conference, Margaret gave us a glimpse into the ancestry of Mason specifically discussing her Quaker heritage. Through her research Margaret has uncovered new details about Mason’s early life. Margaret’s discoveries help us to better understand Mason’s work and accomplishments.
Art Middlekauff, BSCS, shared with us two important lectures at the 2012 and 2013 conferences. First, Art responds to some of the challenges to Mason’s theology. He asks the question—is it orthodoxy or innovation? Art draws from many different sources to answer this question. In 2013 Art delighted the conference attendees with an introduction to the poetry of Charlotte Mason originally published in a six volume set entitled The Saviour of the World. His unique and thought-provoking essay begins with a discussion of the use of poetry in Scripture. In addition to the poetry presented in Art’s essay, there are six poems selected by Art along with Gladys Schaefer that have been included in this book. Don’t miss Art’s introduction.
At the 2013 conference Jennifer Spencer, EdD, ploughed new ground during her lecture toward a Theory of Personal Integration. In her essay, she shares with us her dissertation research—showing us how narration prepares children to be good writers. Practitioners of Mason’s methods will be especially interested in this essay.
We close the book with a delightful discovery made by the mother and daughter research team of Deani Van Pelt, PhD, and Meghan Van Pelt. Deani is the founder of the Charlotte Mason Digital Collection now housed at Redeemer University College where it is maintained by Marlene Powers. Her daughter Meghan was hired to assist with the project. Through the process of digitizing the Mason archive Meghan re-discovered L’Umile Pianta, the journal of the graduates of the House of Education (later known as the Charlotte Mason College). Deani and Meghan originally presented their findings at the conference in June 2012. They have uncovered for us a hidden treasure in the Pianta."