It is wise to search out Charlotte Mason's principles instead of trying to follow every single idea she put forth. In this episode, we chatted with Karen Glass and learned what she's doing to help homeschool moms focus on the principles in Charlotte Mason's first volume.
Since this episode originally aired, Karen has published her book, A Thinking Love. Find it in online retailers.
"...the fact is, that a few broad essential principles cover the whole field, and these once fully laid hold of, it is as easy and natural to act upon them as it is to act upon our knowledge of such facts as that fire burns and water flows."
Charlotte Mason, Home Education
![WisdomPrinciples](https://thinkinglove.education/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/WisdomPrinciples.png)
1:08- Welcome Karen!
1:37- Can you tell us a little about your homeschooling journey?
2:15- KG- We assumed that we'd move over seas for mission work, and assumed we'd homeschool our children using a big box curriculum. But I had the opportunity to go to a curriculum fair...
4:00- KG- Reading Charlotte Mason's volumes for the first time
6:15- KG- Growth within the Charlotte Mason community
8:05- KG- Charlotte Mason podcasts- reaching younger homeschooling moms
9:20- KG- My vision is to hope that Charlotte Mason's ideas and methods trickle down into public schools. I'd like to see her methods become a little more mainstream.
9:46- On a recent podcast, you talked about some of your upcoming projects. You mentioned an abridgement of Charlotte Mason's first volume. I'd love to hear a little more about your purpose and your aim.
12:08- KG- It's harder to abridge a book than to write a book well, so I had no intention of doing another one. But more and more moms are coming in with mostly young children and they do hear that they should read volume 1. It's not easy reading. Even Charlotte Mason's contemporaries thought she was a bit wordy.
13:57- KG- The book Home Education started as a series of lectures.
15:57- KG- Writing In Vital Harmony- living and breathing principles.
17:06- KG- Wouldn't it be great if you could read Home Education and get just as deep an understanding of the principles as if you were reading In Vital Harmony? I wanted to create a study edition- I would include readings and questions that would draw attention to the principles. So now I have 68 curated readings.
19:00- KG- I left out references that assume a mother has full-time help and a live-in nanny.
19:54- KG- One thing I see quoted a lot is that children should have the best of their mothers- they get it all. Those moms were only spending a few hours a day with their children.
23:40- KG- That's the project, and it's going through beta testing with some homeschool moms.
26:00- Be sure to watch for the release of our next episode where we finish up our chat with Karen.
![Wisdom in Principles](https://thinkinglove.education/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Wisdom-in-Principles.png)
Can you tell me which book Karen is referring to when she says she cut out the unnecessary parts of Vol 2 and Vol 6? What is the title of her book(s)?
Hi Katie, For Vol. 6, she’s referring to Mind to Mind. For Vol. 1, she hasn’t announced the title yet, but I believe she’s hoping to have it out in the next few months 🙂
Amy