Home Education in Modern English: Volume 1 of Charlotte Mason's Series

by Leslie Noelani Laurio

Volume 1 of Charlotte Mason's Original Homeschool Series paraphrased sentence by sentence into plain English by Leslie Laurio. This is a good place for parents of very young children to begin, since Charlotte Mason details ways to prepare children up to age 9 for a CM education. If you prefer to print or read this book online for free, the complete text is also available at

Genres: Education, Nonfiction

204 pages, Paperback

First published August 2, 2007

Reviews

[Kayla Hollabaugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ This is a helpful resource when thinking through the philosophy of education, and focuses on the purpose of learning and the method of teaching. While I found the principles that Charlotte Mason held to be of value, her application of some of them were either extreme, or for her times (late 1800s).

For example, nature is an important part of early education, and being out of doors is good for your health, however 4-6 hours outside daily with your children, with little regard of weather, is a bit extreme for me!

Other examples that are constrained to the times, are due to limited information. Her ideas of the brain and health are stuck in the 1800s and were not very relevant for today in light of modern scientific and medical discoveries.

Overall, her idea of children as complete persons with the ability to understand and learn from rich sources, and not watered down ideas, was refreshing. She held high standards for children and saw them capable of reaching such standards. Education is more than memorizing facts and passing exams — it’s about the child’s overall growth as a person and creating in them a knowledge and love for learning.

[July · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still not finished... but I will finish it in 2021. It is a dense book and I can only take small thoughts at it at a time. It has been on my list for months and months and I want to start the new year with a clear slate on books.

[Stevie Kinzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started this over the summer with a few friends and just finished up this week. Having already read Home Education by Charlotte Mason a few years ago, this was a nice refresher and much more easily digestible. Would recommend if Charlotte Mason's original volumes feel overwhelming.