Month: December 2010

Thanks for 2010-Moving Forward by Carroll Smith

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As we come to the end of 2010, it is fitting to give thanks for what has been accomplished “to recover and promote the educational philosophy and practice of Charlotte Mason.”  Several significant projects were in process for this year: the digitalisation project of the Mason archives that helps all of us interested in learning more about Mason’s work;  the arduous work of developing a curriculum and it’s “pre-pilot;”  the thought provoking and helpful 2010 Charlotte Mason Educational Conference;  and finally, the many insightful and helpful blogs.  I want to say thank you to the many people who have made such projects possible. A huge thanks must be extended to Dr. Deani Van Pelt for all her countless hours of work both in writing the grants that provided the funds and in coordinating the efforts to get the digitalisation of the Charlotte Mason archives project started.  Anyone who has ever written grants, received them and did the subsequent work knows what a large task it is.  The Mason archives were released through an October Charlotte …

Common Tender Talk by Dr. Deani Van Pelt, Redeemer University College

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Early in the first of her six poetic volumes titled The Saviour of the World, Charlotte Mason (1842-1923) retells the story of the visit between two expectant women, Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Elizabeth, the mother of John.  In these passionate moving verses, Mason conveys her deep intuition about the possibility and promise of caring, mutually encouraging relationships between women called to walk a similar journey. Mason describes the anxious courage with which the young virgin traveled a great distance “that she might ease her bosom in her kinswoman’s arms” (Mason, 1908, p. 22).  Through her description Mason touches on the archetypal ache for a loving familial breast upon which our tears may be wept and courage for tomorrow found. The content of the conversations between the expectant women, Mason imagines, ranged from the ordinary—such as the feeding of infants, the illnesses of childhood, and concerns for their child’s adulthood—to the sublime doxological moments in which God is blessed and their souls are laid bare.  “The common tender talk that mothers use was theirs” …