Charlotte Mason vs. Neo-Classical vs. Classical (Part Three)

Welcome to part three of my series on education. Congratulations for sticking with my sometimes-scattered thoughts for so long. Here come my conclusions.

First, Dorothy Sayers may be correct in saying that most children in the elementary grades like the repetition of grammar. I, however, can attest that her “ages and stages” plan does not apply to every child. I have a young boy living in my house (he shall remain nameless) who gets bored, irritable, and antsy when we try to do memory work. He wonders why we’re repeating the same things over and over again. Why aren’t we moving on, Mom? Can we do something else? We already said this once, Mom! If pressed, I would place Samuel in the grammar stage based on his age, but the dialectic stage based on his ability to ask questions. He’s curious about everything, and wants to know the “why” of everything. I have no desire to squash his interest in a subject just so we can get through our memory work. Classical Conversations (CC) certainly doesn’t encourage parents to do that, but I would prefer to use a curriculum that already fits his learning style instead of having to tailor the curriculum to work for him.

Second, I truly believe that Charlotte Mason was a classical educator. In the beginning of Home Education: Volume 1, she proposes a method of education, not a curriculum. She generally utilized similar choices in literature to the classical educators who came before her, but taught her students to interact with the materials in a more thoughtful and thorough way through narration. She relied on the use of language to instruct her students. Her students studied fine arts and science, just as classically educated students did. She probably didn’t place as much emphasis on math as a typical classical educator, but did include math in her weekly line-up of lessons and higher-level math in middle and high school. She believed in teaching her students to use both their will and reason in their studies as well as their daily lives, forming habits that last instead of bits of information that fade away. I believe classical education seeks to do the same, just using different methods than Charlotte Mason did.

Third, you probably noticed the only curriculum I discussed in part two that falls under the “neo-classical” category is CC. This points to my limited experience with neo-classical education. I did read a discussion group in which someone pointed out that we should consider any classical education done recently as neo-classical because we cannot replicate the ancient ways of the original classical education. While I do understand that argument, I still see a distinct difference between something like CC and the classical curricula I researched (Memoria Press comes to mind).

Fourth, you can combine all these different styles of education, including the styles I didn’t even mention in this series. It’s okay to take a little bit here and a little there to piece together a curriculum and educational method that works well for you and your family. I might even venture to add that exploring different curricula and educational methods can be fun! And please don’t despair. You will find something that benefits your whole family. I think we finally did in combining some CC materials (particular favorites include the Music Trivium Table and Classical Acts and Facts Science Cards) with Charlotte Mason, but as you probably know, these things are subject to change just as fast as the seasons. I can say with certainty that Charlotte Mason’s philosophies of education will stay with us for a long time.

In the end, what matters the most is that we raise children who love God, love others, and know how to use their gifts and skills with discipline for the blessing of their family, their community, and the world, all to the glory of God.

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You can find part one of this series here, and part two here. Thank you for learning along with me on this foray into the differences between Charlotte Mason, classical, and neo-classical education!