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Consider This: Charlotte Mason and the Classical Tradition
The educators of ancient Greece and Rome gave the world a vision of what education should be. The medieval and Renaissance teachers valued their insights and lofty goals. Christian educators such as Augustine, Erasmus, Milton, and Comenius drew from the teaching of Plato, Aristotle, and Quintilian those truths which they found universal and potent. Charlotte Mason developed her own philosophy of education from the riches of the past, not accidentally but purposefully. She and the other founding members of the Parents’ National Educational Union in England were inspired by the classical educators of history and set out to achieve their vision in modern education. They succeeded—and thanks to Charlotte Mason’s clear development of methods to realize the classical ideals, we can partake of the classical tradition as well.
The classical tradition as it informs teaching is good not because it is old or “classical,” but because it works; and what works, whether old or new, is best. That’s the Mason message admirably conveyed by [Karen] Glass. —David V. Hicks
Classical education is an education of the heart and conscience as much as it is an education of the mind. This book explores the classical emphasis on formation of character and links Charlotte Masons ideas to the thinkers of the past. This is not a “how to” book about education, but a “why to” book that will bring clarity to many of the ideas you already know about teaching and learning.
“I thought that my fire for heart education could not be further stoked; I was mistaken. Karen Glass has here laid out the thrilling joy of education, for both the teacher and the taught.”—Michelle Miller, author of the TruthQuest History series
“From the very beginning I couldn't put it down! What a gem!”—Sonya Shafer of Simply Charlotte Mason
“Karen says everything I would have loved to say about education in a clear, understandable, and easy to read style. It is the missing link between what we call Classical Education and the Charlotte Mason approach.”—Cindy Rollins, contributor at The CiRCE Institute
The classical tradition as it informs teaching is good not because it is old or “classical,” but because it works; and what works, whether old or new, is best. That’s the Mason message admirably conveyed by [Karen] Glass. —David V. Hicks
Classical education is an education of the heart and conscience as much as it is an education of the mind. This book explores the classical emphasis on formation of character and links Charlotte Masons ideas to the thinkers of the past. This is not a “how to” book about education, but a “why to” book that will bring clarity to many of the ideas you already know about teaching and learning.
“I thought that my fire for heart education could not be further stoked; I was mistaken. Karen Glass has here laid out the thrilling joy of education, for both the teacher and the taught.”—Michelle Miller, author of the TruthQuest History series
“From the very beginning I couldn't put it down! What a gem!”—Sonya Shafer of Simply Charlotte Mason
“Karen says everything I would have loved to say about education in a clear, understandable, and easy to read style. It is the missing link between what we call Classical Education and the Charlotte Mason approach.”—Cindy Rollins, contributor at The CiRCE Institute
138 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
269 people are currently reading
2441 people want to read
About the author
Karen Glass
8 books146 followersOne of the founders of Ambleside Online (amblesideonline.org), Karen Glass (www.karenglass.net) has homeschooled her children for twenty years, and continues to read and learn about educational philosophy.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 213 reviews
August 19, 2014
This book has not been released yet but I have already read it 3 1/2 times and have two files full of highlights. It says everything I have every wanted to say about how Charlotte Mason fits into the classical tradition in such a way as to bring new life to these old ideas.
If you have any interest at all in what is popularly called 'classical education,' I beg you to read this book. It will take you far beyond the ages and stages model into the heart of what it really means to be classically educated.
If you have any interest at all in what is popularly called 'classical education,' I beg you to read this book. It will take you far beyond the ages and stages model into the heart of what it really means to be classically educated.
July 27, 2023
I remember when homeschoolers were first reading Susan Schaeffer Macaulay's For the Children's Sake. It sounded nice, but we had to scratch hard for the how-to's. That led many of us to the newly-reprinted CM Series books, and we started to find out where the most useful bits were, in all those pages. We all seemed to be hollering for practical, concrete, and writers like Catherine Levison obliged with concise CM-made-easier books. How to do copywork and narration, what Charlotte Mason said about math. The operative verb seemed to be "use": we "used" Charlotte Mason.
In recent years, it seems that the most common questions of CM methods, though still sometimes misapplied, are well-understood enough to allow CM discussions to return to the big picture, the philosophy. This is very welcome, especially for those who may not be actively homeschooling but who find more and more wisdom in Mason's writings. As I wrote in a review of Laurie Bestvater's The Living Page (2013), talking about Charlotte Mason has become less homeschool-ish, more of a larger effort to value people and their families, homes and communities; a new understanding of why relationships matter, possibly because those things that were once taken for granted are now rare commodities. Susan Schaeffer Macaulay wrote regretfully about people seeing children just having fun playing outdoors together as unusual, families reading together as unheard of; that was thirty years ago, and things are worse than ever.
So when new CM books are published these days, they tend not to repeat the "user's manual" information; we seem to agree now that it's time to stop "using" Charlotte Mason and simply learn from her, as she learned from those who came before her. The Living Page discusses notebook keeping and the "blank page" philosophy in new ways. Consider This focuses on wisdom-in-action, examining a long classical tradition of character-centered education. The interesting thing is that all of this ends, like the best CM lessons, with the opportunity to do something about it: to find a blank book or, if need be, staple some pages together to write down favourite quotes; to sprout some seeds, to read a book, to look for loveliness. In a way, we're back to the ideals of happy family life described in For the Children's Sake. It's time now, and we need it more than ever.
If I were to make a word cloud of Karen's book, particularly the last, most hands-on chapters, I'd choose words like this: We need to begin with a life-giving, relational, synthetic (putting-together, making connections) kind of thinking and learning that begins with relationships, and involves delight, loveliness, wonder, enthusiasm, heroes. Much of that learning is going to be centered on names, words, language, books; books that make us want to know more, that show us that there is order in the universe, that truth exists and that we can know some of that truth, though we need the humility to see that we will never know all of it. We will incorporate analysis, picking-apart, facts and terminology, when they are useful and necessary, but the main focus, for most of the school years, will be synthesis.
In a way, you could skip the buildup to Karen's later chapters (but don't do that, the earlier part is interesting on its own); even stop worrying your way through Charlotte Mason's books, at least temporarily; and focus on what is indeed practical and concrete. Eat apples. Sprout seeds. Sail twigs. Read stories together. Narrate them back. Act kindly. Sing hymns and silly songs. Have courage. It's not only that everything fits into something else, but everything you've tasted and touched and read fits into you. Our learning is a gathering together. It is putting together and seeing wholeness before we try to take apart and analyze fragments. As parents and teachers, we need to provide a healthy learning environment, to offer ideals to strive for, to teach habits of right thinking (and right acting), and to allow children opportunities to think, to explore, and to act.
If that is classical, I'm in.
(Reviewed 2014)
In recent years, it seems that the most common questions of CM methods, though still sometimes misapplied, are well-understood enough to allow CM discussions to return to the big picture, the philosophy. This is very welcome, especially for those who may not be actively homeschooling but who find more and more wisdom in Mason's writings. As I wrote in a review of Laurie Bestvater's The Living Page (2013), talking about Charlotte Mason has become less homeschool-ish, more of a larger effort to value people and their families, homes and communities; a new understanding of why relationships matter, possibly because those things that were once taken for granted are now rare commodities. Susan Schaeffer Macaulay wrote regretfully about people seeing children just having fun playing outdoors together as unusual, families reading together as unheard of; that was thirty years ago, and things are worse than ever.
So when new CM books are published these days, they tend not to repeat the "user's manual" information; we seem to agree now that it's time to stop "using" Charlotte Mason and simply learn from her, as she learned from those who came before her. The Living Page discusses notebook keeping and the "blank page" philosophy in new ways. Consider This focuses on wisdom-in-action, examining a long classical tradition of character-centered education. The interesting thing is that all of this ends, like the best CM lessons, with the opportunity to do something about it: to find a blank book or, if need be, staple some pages together to write down favourite quotes; to sprout some seeds, to read a book, to look for loveliness. In a way, we're back to the ideals of happy family life described in For the Children's Sake. It's time now, and we need it more than ever.
If I were to make a word cloud of Karen's book, particularly the last, most hands-on chapters, I'd choose words like this: We need to begin with a life-giving, relational, synthetic (putting-together, making connections) kind of thinking and learning that begins with relationships, and involves delight, loveliness, wonder, enthusiasm, heroes. Much of that learning is going to be centered on names, words, language, books; books that make us want to know more, that show us that there is order in the universe, that truth exists and that we can know some of that truth, though we need the humility to see that we will never know all of it. We will incorporate analysis, picking-apart, facts and terminology, when they are useful and necessary, but the main focus, for most of the school years, will be synthesis.
In a way, you could skip the buildup to Karen's later chapters (but don't do that, the earlier part is interesting on its own); even stop worrying your way through Charlotte Mason's books, at least temporarily; and focus on what is indeed practical and concrete. Eat apples. Sprout seeds. Sail twigs. Read stories together. Narrate them back. Act kindly. Sing hymns and silly songs. Have courage. It's not only that everything fits into something else, but everything you've tasted and touched and read fits into you. Our learning is a gathering together. It is putting together and seeing wholeness before we try to take apart and analyze fragments. As parents and teachers, we need to provide a healthy learning environment, to offer ideals to strive for, to teach habits of right thinking (and right acting), and to allow children opportunities to think, to explore, and to act.
If that is classical, I'm in.
(Reviewed 2014)
January 17, 2015
First, as a practitioner of Charlotte Mason's model, I thought the way Glass explained both the "whats" and the "whys" of Mason's methods was extremely good. She is obviously a master of Mason's ideas, and in that way, this book will be very valuable to the Mason community. Second, I am so glad to see someone attempting to push back against the neoclassical ideas of people like Dorothy Sayers and Susan Wise Bauer. I find absolutely nothing of Mason in the neoclassical movement that has become so popular with homeschools, private schools, and charter schools alike. As a matter of fact, Mason said that this kind of education would lead to children to become priggish. So in that respect, go Karen!
Where I thought the book broke down was in that the author's attempt to root Mason's philosophy within the traditional understanding of classical education. It felt a bit forced to me. As an academic in the field of education, I cannot see "the classical tradition" as one cohesive idea from my studies of the evolution of education the way the author seems to portray it in her book. I rather agree with classical scholar Dr. John Thorley's assessment (found here:http://www.charlottemasoninstitute.or...) in that regard. Of course, Mason was well-read in the classics, and she kept up with the latest educational theories. But I do not believe she weighed new ideas against classical ones; rather, I believe she weighed all ideas against scripture--what it means to be a person and an Image-bearer. Glass does devote an afterward to this idea, but I think this book would have been a home run if she had made that the focus of the book rather than trying to root Mason in the classical tradition.
Although Mason drew from truths wherever she found them, her work is distinctive from any other educational philosopher's, as she says herself in a excerpt from L'Umile Pianta (June, 1922), which is quoted in this book on page 123:
"You, dear people, are torch-bearers, bearing the light. It is not because we are clever, not because we know more, but because it has been our good fortune that a philosophy of education has come our way, our vocation has led us. We have received a call and are working on principles not worked on before. There is no cause for vanity on our part. If you picked up a bracelet lying by the way it would be no credit to you. It is precisely the case with us. These principles are picked up, found, a find which is no one's property; they belong to all who have wit enough to take them."
Still, thank you, Karen Glass, for your courage in stepping into the arena and giving Mason and classical educators alike fodder for stimulating conversation that has the potential to refine our understanding of both these models of education.
Where I thought the book broke down was in that the author's attempt to root Mason's philosophy within the traditional understanding of classical education. It felt a bit forced to me. As an academic in the field of education, I cannot see "the classical tradition" as one cohesive idea from my studies of the evolution of education the way the author seems to portray it in her book. I rather agree with classical scholar Dr. John Thorley's assessment (found here:http://www.charlottemasoninstitute.or...) in that regard. Of course, Mason was well-read in the classics, and she kept up with the latest educational theories. But I do not believe she weighed new ideas against classical ones; rather, I believe she weighed all ideas against scripture--what it means to be a person and an Image-bearer. Glass does devote an afterward to this idea, but I think this book would have been a home run if she had made that the focus of the book rather than trying to root Mason in the classical tradition.
Although Mason drew from truths wherever she found them, her work is distinctive from any other educational philosopher's, as she says herself in a excerpt from L'Umile Pianta (June, 1922), which is quoted in this book on page 123:
"You, dear people, are torch-bearers, bearing the light. It is not because we are clever, not because we know more, but because it has been our good fortune that a philosophy of education has come our way, our vocation has led us. We have received a call and are working on principles not worked on before. There is no cause for vanity on our part. If you picked up a bracelet lying by the way it would be no credit to you. It is precisely the case with us. These principles are picked up, found, a find which is no one's property; they belong to all who have wit enough to take them."
Still, thank you, Karen Glass, for your courage in stepping into the arena and giving Mason and classical educators alike fodder for stimulating conversation that has the potential to refine our understanding of both these models of education.
January 21, 2020
I had read nearly all of this in book form and enjoyed it ... but got distracted and began other things ... and suddenly it was buried under a stack of books begun and unfinished. I suspect many readers can identify.
Happily, I won a copy of the newly released audiobook read by Donna-Jean Breckenridge immediately before a trip where I was driving by myself. I listened to nearly all of it on that trip and finished this evening while making pancakes for dinner and then while my children were watching Swallows and Amazons. Again.
What a helpful, lovely book.
Glass pulls together ideas from classical educators as and the principles of Charlotte Mason as the warp and weaves the idea of sythetic knowledge as the woof to reveal a glorious tapestry displaying what can be when we teach our children - and ourselves - in this way.
I was especially fascinated by her discussion of The Ways of Reason and Will. I am intrigued and ready to seek out more.
This book is a needed corrective of course to our modern educational courses and pathways. Highly Recommended.
Happily, I won a copy of the newly released audiobook read by Donna-Jean Breckenridge immediately before a trip where I was driving by myself. I listened to nearly all of it on that trip and finished this evening while making pancakes for dinner and then while my children were watching Swallows and Amazons. Again.
What a helpful, lovely book.
Glass pulls together ideas from classical educators as and the principles of Charlotte Mason as the warp and weaves the idea of sythetic knowledge as the woof to reveal a glorious tapestry displaying what can be when we teach our children - and ourselves - in this way.
I was especially fascinated by her discussion of The Ways of Reason and Will. I am intrigued and ready to seek out more.
This book is a needed corrective of course to our modern educational courses and pathways. Highly Recommended.
September 3, 2021
Bear with me, for this review requires some context. Prior to 2020, classical education and Charlotte Mason inhabited the outermost fringes of my life. I was homeschooled K-12 with a popular Christian homeschooling curriculum, got an undergraduate degree in education, started working in a public school district, and got a graduate degree in education. I knew classical education purely as a type of education other circles did, and I knew Charlotte Mason only as a name who popped up periodically in one of my Goodreads friend’s book reviews. Then at the beginning of 2020, I discovered the Literary Life Podcast and joined the Facebook group a few months later.
Suffice it to say, I have learned so much more about what it means to receive a Charlotte Mason education, though I still consider myself very much in the beginning stages of my learning. However, what I have learned spoke directly to a deep-seated dissatisfaction I have had for years about how modern education works and how my subject matter (English) is taught. I think I have always known in my soul somehow that “This is not the way things are supposed to be.” Although I’m not a mom and have no reason at this point to believe I’ll be looking into homeschooling anytime in the near or distant future, I have developed quite a curiosity and eagerness to learn more about both Charlotte Mason and classical education because what I have learned already has me convinced that this is the better way.
Karen Glass’s book Consider This was an enlightening read and has only increased my hunger to learn even more. Although I’d still consider it feeble, I do have a better understanding of what true classical education is. It was also helpful to see Charlotte Mason principles that have come up on the Literary Life Podcast explained with greater depth and to see how those principles fit within the classical tradition. In the handful of podcast episodes in which I’ve listened to Karen Glass, I found her to be an excellent communicator. No surprise, the same is true of her in writing.
(The Literary Life Podcast’s 19 in 2021 Reading Challenge – A book on education, art, or literature)
Suffice it to say, I have learned so much more about what it means to receive a Charlotte Mason education, though I still consider myself very much in the beginning stages of my learning. However, what I have learned spoke directly to a deep-seated dissatisfaction I have had for years about how modern education works and how my subject matter (English) is taught. I think I have always known in my soul somehow that “This is not the way things are supposed to be.” Although I’m not a mom and have no reason at this point to believe I’ll be looking into homeschooling anytime in the near or distant future, I have developed quite a curiosity and eagerness to learn more about both Charlotte Mason and classical education because what I have learned already has me convinced that this is the better way.
Karen Glass’s book Consider This was an enlightening read and has only increased my hunger to learn even more. Although I’d still consider it feeble, I do have a better understanding of what true classical education is. It was also helpful to see Charlotte Mason principles that have come up on the Literary Life Podcast explained with greater depth and to see how those principles fit within the classical tradition. In the handful of podcast episodes in which I’ve listened to Karen Glass, I found her to be an excellent communicator. No surprise, the same is true of her in writing.
(The Literary Life Podcast’s 19 in 2021 Reading Challenge – A book on education, art, or literature)
January 16, 2016
Foundational. A must-read for classical and Charlotte Mason educators. Very well- written and brilliant in its approach. Motivating, mind-boggling, always thought-provoking. Not a practical approach but a philosophy of education. An important reminder of all the reasons it's good to break with current educational tradition.
February 1, 2020
Karen Glass, one of the Ambleside Online Advisory members, has spent years studying both Charlotte Mason's writings and many other authors who wrote on education, both ancient and modern. Having wavered between classical education and Charlotte Mason's methods for years, wondering how to combine them (or if they were compatible), I was eager to read her brand-new book, Consider This: Charlotte Mason and the Classical Tradition. I bought the Kindle book on a Friday, and finished it the following Monday! In this book, she demonstrates that the "why" behind both the ancient tradition of classical education and Charlotte Mason's philosophy are the same - to train students in virtue, humility and a holistic (she uses the term "synthetic") way of looking at the world. These are ideas I have encountered in other articles and books, such as Norms and Nobility, but she shares them in a fresh and very readable way, showing how Charlotte Mason's methods are a practical outworking of the classical tradition. For example, she shows how reading and narration train children in the classical arts of grammar, logic and rhetoric. Her explanation of the importance of a "synthetic" education helped me understand the discomfort I have intuitively felt for the methods of narration and analysis employed by some of the grammar and writing curricula I have tried to use. And she has inspired me to get back to Charlotte Mason's own words and pick up my copy of A Philosophy of Education again. :)
Second time through - the audiobook narrated by Donna-Jean Breckenridge is wonderful. ❤️
Second time through - the audiobook narrated by Donna-Jean Breckenridge is wonderful. ❤️
June 9, 2023
This book is excellent. It completed my Karen Glass canon and I just find each of her books to be so helpful and worth my while. It was also fun to come to this book after having grown so much myself in my own understanding of Charlotte Mason's philosophy where I could easily read her chapters regarding the classical tradition and know exactly which of Charlotte's twenty principles corresponded. Karen knows educational philosophy so well that she can bring such clarity and bearings to both a fledgling and an educational philomath alike. I have always trusted that Charlotte Mason was based in the classical tradition because minds greater than my own told me so, but this book confirmed that belief and acted as a scaffold for me. I am now ready to plum the depths of Norms and Nobility, Poetic Knowledge, Quintilian, etc. I also feel much more confident to be able to give a concise and coherent answer when asked of the similarities and differences between a Charlotte Mason and Neoclassical education which was one of my goals in reading this book.
October 30, 2023
After hearing people use the term "Classical Charlotte Mason" enough times, I thought there was some forced or piecemeal educational philosophy going on!
However, I remembered I had picked this book up on a whim a while back. And it proved to be incredibly illuminating and succinctly helpful. It lays out how Charlotte Mason is herself a continuation of the classical tradition, and drew from the ancient philosophers and educators when forming her own methods (during a time of new emphasis on the analytical and "scientific"). And these methods help achieve what the classical tradition has always aimed for: a posture of humility... leading to synthetic thinking & learning... resulting in right action & virtue.
This clarified both the essence of Classical education (as opposed to modern Neoclassical approaches) and Charlotte Mason's own reasoning and source for her methods. I'll be digging into both Charlotte Mason and Classical educational philosophy, now appreciating they are not at odds but rather come from the same stream. Highly recommend!
However, I remembered I had picked this book up on a whim a while back. And it proved to be incredibly illuminating and succinctly helpful. It lays out how Charlotte Mason is herself a continuation of the classical tradition, and drew from the ancient philosophers and educators when forming her own methods (during a time of new emphasis on the analytical and "scientific"). And these methods help achieve what the classical tradition has always aimed for: a posture of humility... leading to synthetic thinking & learning... resulting in right action & virtue.
This clarified both the essence of Classical education (as opposed to modern Neoclassical approaches) and Charlotte Mason's own reasoning and source for her methods. I'll be digging into both Charlotte Mason and Classical educational philosophy, now appreciating they are not at odds but rather come from the same stream. Highly recommend!
March 30, 2024
Excellent book! It gave me a better understanding of classical education in general. I enjoyed seeing Charlotte Mason's philosophy of education from this perspective. Highly recommend.
pg. 43 - We have looked at three things that will never appear on a transcript, and yet are vital to the classical tradition of education. First, the primary purpose of education is wisdom and virtue, and every part of the program should serve to teach learners how to think and act rightly. Second, humility is vital to the pursuit of virtue because it keeps us teachable. Third, our approach to knowledge should be relational, synthetic, so that we develop a foundational understanding of the unity of knowledge and our own place in the universe.
pg. 129 - Because all knowledge and truth have their source in God, everything we learn brings us closer to Him, and He is our best and wisest teacher.
pg. 43 - We have looked at three things that will never appear on a transcript, and yet are vital to the classical tradition of education. First, the primary purpose of education is wisdom and virtue, and every part of the program should serve to teach learners how to think and act rightly. Second, humility is vital to the pursuit of virtue because it keeps us teachable. Third, our approach to knowledge should be relational, synthetic, so that we develop a foundational understanding of the unity of knowledge and our own place in the universe.
pg. 129 - Because all knowledge and truth have their source in God, everything we learn brings us closer to Him, and He is our best and wisest teacher.
November 29, 2025
So so good. I knew Charlotte Mason’s philosophy was classical but could not articulate exactly why until reading this book. It really helped me distinguish the difference between a truly classical approach vs neoclassical (what it seems like most people in my circles mean when they say “classical”). Karen Glass is just so eloquent with her words and skilled at organizing her thoughts clearly. This will be a wonderful book to go back and read or reference from time to time.
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June 8, 2017An important read to educators who identify with Charlotte Mason today. After studying Mason for 6 six I had rejected any identification with the classical tradition because of what I had read and the current state of "classic education" today. In my heart of hearts I could see Mason fit within the tradtion but was unclear. Karen Glass cleared the mud for me by explaining what the classic tradition was when it began, what it become, what we have made it and how Mason perhaps offers a closer method by looking at why the Greeks and Romans studied what they did: virtue. Well written. Points clearly made with depth and breadth.
August 20, 2023
Favorite homeschooling book this year. I am in love with the idea of a synthetic approach to knowledge. This is also an excellent resource to show where the classical and Charlotte Mason methods overlap and work together. I’ve always been drawn to both but never could fully commit to either (especially since what I thought was Classical was actually neo-Classical and didn’t have the *heart* in it that CM seemed to have). This is an excellent resource for those interested in both methods. It may have won for most Commonplace passages this year!
July 18, 2025
A great exploration of Charlotte Mason’s educational principles and practices in the context of the classical tradition. This book particularly helped me understand and identify the differences in synthetic and analytical learning, and the importance of this distinction. Karen Glass did a fabulous job making the difficult content well organized and easily understandable. I highly recommend to anyone interested in CM or Classical Education as a means of introduction to the other.
June 3, 2025
A very clear, helpful bridge between the heady philosophy of classical education and the practical steps of Charlotte Mason-style education I’ve heard tossed around: narration, living books, synthetic knowledge, will and reason, etc. This book helped connect a lot of the pieces and scraps of info I’ve heard in other places. I appreciated how broad, sweeping “big-picture” explanations were related to practical, down to earth specific advice.
November 30, 2022
After reading this book, I was able to see clearly where my own public school education failed to truly educate me. I left high school with great grades and I couldn't have told you the difference between WWI and WWII.
"We learn to know in order that we may know how to act rightly, not merely to perform well on tests."
Imagine an education where children are respected (yet not the authority), educators care not only about growing in knowledge but also virtue, children are humble because they realize how vast the world of knowledge is, children can see that all knowledge is connected- math to nature to history to geography, children are learning how to control their will and reason just as they are learning multiplication facts, children (and moms, ahem) are reading living books that engage the mind and hearts of their readers. I mean, yes! This book was impactful and empowering to me. I will seek to join those who also walk this path in "a small act of rebellion" to the modern system of education!
The Role of the Teacher
"She devoted her efforts to spreading as wide and generous a feast before children as possible, and giving them every opportunity to assimilate knowledge which would lay a foundation for lifelong interests in every area. This is the teacher's task."
"We learn to know in order that we may know how to act rightly, not merely to perform well on tests."
Imagine an education where children are respected (yet not the authority), educators care not only about growing in knowledge but also virtue, children are humble because they realize how vast the world of knowledge is, children can see that all knowledge is connected- math to nature to history to geography, children are learning how to control their will and reason just as they are learning multiplication facts, children (and moms, ahem) are reading living books that engage the mind and hearts of their readers. I mean, yes! This book was impactful and empowering to me. I will seek to join those who also walk this path in "a small act of rebellion" to the modern system of education!
The Role of the Teacher
"She devoted her efforts to spreading as wide and generous a feast before children as possible, and giving them every opportunity to assimilate knowledge which would lay a foundation for lifelong interests in every area. This is the teacher's task."
July 24, 2018
Karen Glass takes the reader through various principles of classical education, quoting extensively from authors such as Quintilian, and points out ways in which Charlotte Mason applied those classical principles to education in her own era. I am particularly struck by Glass' argument that classical education is about synthetic thinking--about seeing knowledge as a unified whole, about having a personal relationship with what we know, about learning virtue from every subject.
Karen Glass wants students to learn to think synthetically first, and only focus on analytical thinking once they have established a proper overview of (and love of) the broad picture. This kind of thinking is cultivated through stories, living books, and educational methods that ask for whole narratives ("what do you know about cattails?") instead of single facts or snippets of recall. It's fascinating, because the sequence practiced by Dorothy-Sayers-inspired classical ed people is the opposite: those folks would have kids memorize lots of pieces in childhood and put the pieces together when they get to middle or high school. I will probably be rereading this book before too long.
Karen Glass wants students to learn to think synthetically first, and only focus on analytical thinking once they have established a proper overview of (and love of) the broad picture. This kind of thinking is cultivated through stories, living books, and educational methods that ask for whole narratives ("what do you know about cattails?") instead of single facts or snippets of recall. It's fascinating, because the sequence practiced by Dorothy-Sayers-inspired classical ed people is the opposite: those folks would have kids memorize lots of pieces in childhood and put the pieces together when they get to middle or high school. I will probably be rereading this book before too long.
January 22, 2022
Excellent!
Consider This is probably the best book on education I’ve read. It explains Charlotte Mason and classical education in a way that is understandable and compelling. I found the discussion on analytical and synthetic teaching the most fascinating.
Consider This is probably the best book on education I’ve read. It explains Charlotte Mason and classical education in a way that is understandable and compelling. I found the discussion on analytical and synthetic teaching the most fascinating.
April 15, 2016
Loved this book. It taught me so much about classical education and led me to a greater appreciation of Charlotte Mason's methods as a means to classically educating my children.
October 30, 2019
This book was excellent--in fact, I told both of my adult children (who plan to homeschool their children) I want them to read it, and maybe we could even discuss it together! wink and chuckle It's a book I wish I had read earlier in my homeschooling career because I thought it really did a good job defining the educational philosophies of both Charlotte Mason and the Classical method (not the ne0-classical version) while demonstrating how they are related.
The book is about "the pursuit of virtue, humility, and a synthetic approach to knowledge whereby affections become actions." I appreciate the reminder that "education is no more than applied philosophy" and if we just focus on methods of 'how to teach' our children, we are missing the deeper purpose. We need the "why", not just the "how" and this book gives us that!
The book is about "the pursuit of virtue, humility, and a synthetic approach to knowledge whereby affections become actions." I appreciate the reminder that "education is no more than applied philosophy" and if we just focus on methods of 'how to teach' our children, we are missing the deeper purpose. We need the "why", not just the "how" and this book gives us that!
May 24, 2024
This is an excellent, very readable presentation of how Charlotte Mason education is truly classical. The author critiques the modern classical movement and compares it to CM's teachings and shows us how Charlotte Mason Education is truly classical.
I especially appreciated the appendix where she discusses how CM's classical education is also truly Biblical, comparing to 3 key points in classical education. These include the pursuit of virtue, learning grounded in humility, and synthetic thinking (vs. analytical thinking) and its foundation in pursuing wisdom.
This is a great book to share with anyone who is trying to figure out classical education and how CM compares and how to put it all together.
I especially appreciated the appendix where she discusses how CM's classical education is also truly Biblical, comparing to 3 key points in classical education. These include the pursuit of virtue, learning grounded in humility, and synthetic thinking (vs. analytical thinking) and its foundation in pursuing wisdom.
This is a great book to share with anyone who is trying to figure out classical education and how CM compares and how to put it all together.
February 19, 2024
An excellent and compelling introduction to exactly what it claims–Charlotte Mason and the classical tradition–that is all the more impressive for its brevity. I appreciated how much of Mason's own words Karen Glass included in her primer, as well as many other quotations that drove her points home. My copy is peppered with underlining and marginalia. One to refer back to for sure.
March 13, 2025
Great thoughts (as always) from Karen Glass connecting Charlotte Mason's educational philosophy with ideas & principles from within the Classical Tradition. This is one to read and re-read regularly.
July 22, 2019
Having finished this book, I am left with a firmer understanding of classical education, of the Charlotte Mason philosophy and a stronger conviction in my purpose as a home educator.
This is the kind of book that I will revisit again and again.
This is the kind of book that I will revisit again and again.
March 16, 2018
This book caused me to shift my mindset about Classical Education and Charlotte Mason Education. The two are more closely aligned than I had thought. The book also helped me see the importance of understanding WHY we do what we do. I look forward to purchasing the study guide for this book and going through it with a group of homeschool moms.
Definitely put this on your TO READ list if you are a homeschooler!
Definitely put this on your TO READ list if you are a homeschooler!
July 28, 2016
This is a short, helpful introduction to the educational philosophy of Charlotte Mason. Mason definitely was not your typical classical Christian educator: she predates most of the well-known heavy hitters by decades, having come on the scene around the turn of the last century, at least half a century before Dorothy Sayers' influential address. At first glance, she seems a lot more romantic than Sayers, even a tad "progressive," but in point of fact she was steeped in classical educational philosophy, as the numerous quotations from Quintilian, Erasmus, Comenius, Milton, and others amply show. She eschews most of the techniques and subject matter that have become part and parcel of classical Christian education: no memorizing by rote, no chanting, no grind of formal logic and Latin grammar (the author refers to such pedagogy as "neo-classical"). She thought teaching "how to learn" a laughable idea, on par with teaching children how to digest food. Her primary pedagogical technique was called narration: reading a text with students until they can retain its content in memory and then retell it in words as near the author's as possible.
But a key point of her philosophy was not to give primacy to method. Methods are inconsequential unless they are subordinated to their proper aims, and the aim of education for Mason was virtue: giving students right thinking that will hopefully result in right action (I think she would have liked C. S. Lewis' Abolition of Man). The key, then, is to feed students with books that present "living ideas" (not the pablum of textbooks, digests, and simplified literature of questionable literary value) so that students can assimilate and be formed by them. Such a process involves, ultimately, all seven liberal arts, but not in any clear-cut "stages" separated by watertight bulkheads.
One gets the impression that Mason's followers give short shrift to the classical languages, though Mason herself did not, because in her times such learning was associated with the grind of grammatical memorization and analysis already prevalent. Mason unfortunately passed away before Orberg wrote Lingua Latina, but I think she would have liked it, too.
This book would have been stronger by giving us a clearer picture of Mason's method in action, perhaps with some examples of it being applied in a homeschooling and private schooling environment (though in fact this is being done in many places), but overall a very helpful introduction.
But a key point of her philosophy was not to give primacy to method. Methods are inconsequential unless they are subordinated to their proper aims, and the aim of education for Mason was virtue: giving students right thinking that will hopefully result in right action (I think she would have liked C. S. Lewis' Abolition of Man). The key, then, is to feed students with books that present "living ideas" (not the pablum of textbooks, digests, and simplified literature of questionable literary value) so that students can assimilate and be formed by them. Such a process involves, ultimately, all seven liberal arts, but not in any clear-cut "stages" separated by watertight bulkheads.
One gets the impression that Mason's followers give short shrift to the classical languages, though Mason herself did not, because in her times such learning was associated with the grind of grammatical memorization and analysis already prevalent. Mason unfortunately passed away before Orberg wrote Lingua Latina, but I think she would have liked it, too.
This book would have been stronger by giving us a clearer picture of Mason's method in action, perhaps with some examples of it being applied in a homeschooling and private schooling environment (though in fact this is being done in many places), but overall a very helpful introduction.
January 27, 2015
I gave it five stars because while her views on learning Latin made my heart sink and feel terrible that I don't have the truly classical reasons for studying Latin in our home, she did give me insight into other CM points that I had not understood before mainly the functions of the will and of reason. And for that I am very grateful and will be thinking about for the rest of my life.
I'm still not sure what falls into analytical thinking as it applies to literature, but I do know that reading good literature together in our home remains at the top in my priorities and taking time to have grand conversations about what we read is a must. I cannot say we have read these books if we have not had some good and real conversations about them that goes beyond narration.
I think that no matter where you are on your educating journey, this book should likely be read. It will help clear up misconceptions about the purpose of education, accomplishing character development in our children (and us), and what other people are promoting as classical education.
Those are my initial thoughts after only reading it once and lightly re-reading a few select parts. I plan to reread most of the book again and likely order another copy to loan out.
I'm still not sure what falls into analytical thinking as it applies to literature, but I do know that reading good literature together in our home remains at the top in my priorities and taking time to have grand conversations about what we read is a must. I cannot say we have read these books if we have not had some good and real conversations about them that goes beyond narration.
I think that no matter where you are on your educating journey, this book should likely be read. It will help clear up misconceptions about the purpose of education, accomplishing character development in our children (and us), and what other people are promoting as classical education.
Those are my initial thoughts after only reading it once and lightly re-reading a few select parts. I plan to reread most of the book again and likely order another copy to loan out.
July 21, 2020
Excellent book! I was already familiar with some of Charlotte Mason's works, but had only a nodding acquaintance with modern classical education when I began reading. In this book, Ms. Glass traces many elements of the method that CM taught back to early writers on education such as Erasmus, Quintilian, and Augustine. She also clarifies some terms used in classical education which have changed in meaning over time. (For example, "grammar" was originally a much broader term which meant literature, not just the rules of language.)
Of particular benefit to me was her emphasis on the unity of knowledge, and what she calls "synthetic thinking" and how the current, almost exclusive, emphasis on analytical thinking leaves no chance for a child to first build a relationship with knowledge and make his/her own connections. After all, "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?" - Charlotte Mason in "School Education"
Of particular benefit to me was her emphasis on the unity of knowledge, and what she calls "synthetic thinking" and how the current, almost exclusive, emphasis on analytical thinking leaves no chance for a child to first build a relationship with knowledge and make his/her own connections. After all, "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?" - Charlotte Mason in "School Education"
December 13, 2017
This should be required reading for all of us with an interest in Classical and Charlotte Mason educational philosophies. It demonstrates that they don’t merely overlap but how CM is classical to its core. All the questions I had about how to combine both education philosophies have been answered by Karen Glass in ‘Consider This’ and indeed the path forward is clarified by the vital hub of ‘Virtue, Humility and Synthetic Thinking’.
Anyone who thinks the Charlotte Mason tradition is pretty much about nature studies and unstructured, child-led learning will be surprised to find just how completely classical it really is. Karen Glass shows how Miss Mason was popularising a age-old, synthetic classical education structure long before Dorothy Sayers propagated ‘neoclassical’ ideas in ‘The Lost Tools of Learning’ (1947).
‘Consider This’ is set to become a Classical Education/Charlotte Mason classic. My home education journey with my children has been refined and focused by Karen Glass’s understanding of educational philosophies.
Karen Glass is a veteran homeschooler and one of the founders of Ambleside Online (the free Charlotte Mason inspired curriculum).
Anyone who thinks the Charlotte Mason tradition is pretty much about nature studies and unstructured, child-led learning will be surprised to find just how completely classical it really is. Karen Glass shows how Miss Mason was popularising a age-old, synthetic classical education structure long before Dorothy Sayers propagated ‘neoclassical’ ideas in ‘The Lost Tools of Learning’ (1947).
‘Consider This’ is set to become a Classical Education/Charlotte Mason classic. My home education journey with my children has been refined and focused by Karen Glass’s understanding of educational philosophies.
Karen Glass is a veteran homeschooler and one of the founders of Ambleside Online (the free Charlotte Mason inspired curriculum).
November 10, 2014
There is nothing quaint, nostalgic or old-fashioned about a desire to educate in the classical tradition. It is a radical thing to do. We do nothing less than demand that chaos resolve itself into order simply by saying, “There is truth, and I want to know it.” - Karen Glass
I wish I had this book when I first began homeschooling it not only distilled the origins of classical education, but it illuminates the words and methods of Charlotte Mason the way old biblical manuscripts were illuminated by the monks in the dark ages. It takes what is right and good and raises it to the level of beautiful and majestic. I was already sold on Charlotte Mason and her methods, but now it was like finding there were keys to history's great thinkers all throughout her writing there for the gathering.
Great work and a must read for all who take learning and educating seriously.
Will read again and again.
I wish I had this book when I first began homeschooling it not only distilled the origins of classical education, but it illuminates the words and methods of Charlotte Mason the way old biblical manuscripts were illuminated by the monks in the dark ages. It takes what is right and good and raises it to the level of beautiful and majestic. I was already sold on Charlotte Mason and her methods, but now it was like finding there were keys to history's great thinkers all throughout her writing there for the gathering.
Great work and a must read for all who take learning and educating seriously.
Will read again and again.
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