Charlotte Mason, an early 20th century British educator, advocated children reading really good, wholesome books instead of what she calls “twaddle.” Her approach was to teach basic reading, writing, and math skills, then expose them to the best sources of knowledge for a subject. This meant giving children experiences like nature walks, observing and collecting wildlife, visiting art and history museums and real books with “living ideas”—unlike textbooks, which are written for the sole purpose of informing a previously inexperienced student. She stressed narration and dictation of passages from books as well as discussion of good books.
Strengths
Exposes children to the best sources of learning
Focuses on learning encounters with real objects and interesting books
Encourages curiosity, creative thinking, and a love of learning
Eliminates “busy work”
Weaknesses
Tends to be very child-centered
Very little prepared curricula
May neglect higher levels studies because of its emphasis on art, literature, and nature study
Requires an avid reader and a large library if the student is to be successful
Makes it difficult to prepare students for standardized testing/college entrance exams
Resources
For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay
Books Children Love by Edith Wilson
Teaching Children by Diane Lopez
The Whole-Hearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson
The Charlotte Mason Study Guide
The Sonlight curricula