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