The Charlotte Mason Educational Course

This is a “course” inspired by Charlotte Mason’s “Mother’s Educational Course” that includes reading books in the areas of philosophy, literature, history, science, theology, health, current educational research, and Charlotte Mason’s work. Charlotte Mason believed that when mothers invest in their own education, they are better equipped to educate and care for their children.

Charlotte Mason talks so much about education being the “science of relations,” which is the ability to connect ideas to each other. This is essential for our children’s education and our own. Reading, and reading widely in a variety of subject areas, will help us to be better teachers, better mothers, and better humans.

If you are interested in joining us, keep reading for a brief history of Charlotte Mason’s course, how I have adapted her ideas for today’s mama, and how you can join us!

Charlotte Mason’s Mother’s Educational Course

Charlotte Mason was an educator at the turn of the twentieth century who wrote a six-volume philosophy of education. She also created a Parents National Education Union to support parents educating their children at home, edited a Parents’ Review magazine for “home-training and culture,” and created a Mother’s Educational Course.

The Mother’s Educational Course was designed for mothers to improve their own education by completing readings in four subject areas “chosen as being the all-important subjects to which mothers ought to turn their attention” and believed to be “really indispensable for every mother who wishes to be thoroughly equipped for her work.”

The four subject areas described in a Parents Review article are as follows:

Firstly. Divinity. "To help mothers to give their children such teaching as should confirm them in the Christian religion."

Secondly. Physiology and Health. "To give the knowledge necessary for the care and development of children in sickness and health."

Thirdly. Mental and Moral Science and Education. "To show the principles of education, and methods based on these principles.”

Fourthly. Nature Lore and the Elements of Science. "To enable mothers to awaken their children's interest in Nature, and to give them their first ideas."

Proponents of this course believed that if mothers committed themselves to completing the assigned coursework, “the seed sown can hardly fail to bear some definite fruit, and our reward will be that we shall be better prepared to guide and to join in the life or interests of our boys and girls as they grow older.”

A Mother’s Educational Course for the Modern Mama

The course I have created will include reading in five subject areas: Theology, Health & Nutrition, Philosophy & Education, Science & Nature, and Arts & History.

What Charlotte Mason calls Divinity we will call Theology. While you do not have to be a practicing Christian to join or participate in this group, we are going to read Christian theology, as a Christian understanding of the world, children, and education is foundational to Charlotte Mason’s philosophy. We will likely come from a wide range of religious traditions and practices, but we can all learn from the best authors and thinkers, even if that author’s denomination differs from our own. Each person participating in this course will be encouraged to follow a Bible reading plan of their own choosing and to read the recommended theology book.

Charlotte Mason’s category of Physiology and Health will be called Health and Nutrition in this course. Charlotte Mason believed mothers should have the knowledge necessary to care for the health of her children. Charlotte Mason understood that it was necessary to care for a child’s mind and body, and that a good education would consider the needs of both. To help us do this, the reading in this category will consider how our physical health is connected to the health of our world and our community, and it will include a book that helps us improve our ability to create healthy meals for our families. Those of us taking on the primary responsibility of our children’s education are often the ones also taking on the primary responsibility of nourishing their bodies, so let’s read something together that inspires and equips us to do so.

The subject area of Mental and Moral Science and Education will be called Philosophy and Education in this course. We will be reading Charlotte Mason’s educational philosophy and a book about what a truly Christian education entails. We will also read one of the dialogues of Plato in order to familiarize ourselves with some of the ancient philosophy that so heavily influences Western thought.

Charlotte Mason’s subject area of Nature Lore and the Elements of Science will be called Science and Nature. Charlotte Mason believed that being able to name the elements of nature in your own place was foundational for learning and for living a joyful life. The reading in this area will help us learn more of the names of the animals and plants around us, and to help us teach our children to be able to do the same. We will also read some of the “science of reading” educational research. If you have read Charlotte Mason’s books, you know that she read the brain science and educational research available during her day, and those wanting to educate their children according to her philosophy of education should not be afraid to do the same.

We will be including a fifth category called Arts and History, which will include a work of history, literature, poetry, music, or art.

Who Is It For?

This group is open to anyone interested in learning more about Charlotte Mason’s philosophy and filling in some of the gaps of their own education. While this course will be geared towards mamas homeschooling according to Charlotte Mason’s philosophy, it is not exclusively for homeschooling mamas. Even if you are not a mother, or not homeschooling your children, or not a “Charlotte Mason” homeschool, you are still welcome (and encouraged!) to join. I believe a variety of perspectives and experiences will make the group better. Just know that our reading and discussion is going to occur within a Christian and Charlotte Mason framework.

Please be respectful of the varying viewpoints that may be represented in the discussions and the readings. I think discussion and even disagreement are critical for us to learn and grow. However, anyone engaging in unkind or disrespectful dialogue will be removed from the group.

How It Works

There will be five terms of 1-3 months each. Each term will be dedicated to one of the subject areas listed above. Additionally, we will slowly read our Bibles and the first book in Charlotte Mason’s Home Education series, Home Education, throughout the year. We will soft-launch in January 2026 by starting our chosen Bible reading plans and gathering our other books. We will then officially begin the first term in February.

Each participant in the course will receive a syllabus that includes all of the books we will be reading together this year and a suggested reading plan. You are more than welcome to complete the readings in a way that makes sense for you and your unique life circumstances. However, we will be using the reading plan to guide our discussions.

Discussions will be online, so you can join us no matter where you live! I will start a thread for each week, and we can all share insights, questions, etc. as we read together.

How to Join

Subscribing to this Substack will “enroll” you in the course. You will receive an email with the syllabus and reading plan, and you will have access to the chat box where we will be discussing our readings.

This is NOT something you have to pay for. I just ask that if you choose to join, you do commit to trying to participate and complete as much as possible (but we are going to show each other a whole lot of grace).

However, if you would like to financially support the course, paid subscribers will receive a custom vinyl sticker, printable bookmarks with each book’s reading plans, audio recordings of the weekly Charlotte Mason readings, and additional printables throughout the year. Paid subscriptions will be turned on in January.

In the words of Mrs. Anson from an 1897 Parents’ Review Article, I hope and pray that “a mother's reading in this course will make her much more observant, more able to appreciate and use the experience which life brings to her, and more quick to adapt herself to the varying circumstances of her children's lives.”

I hope you will join us!

About Me

I’m Kristi, a mama of 3 that loves all things books, bread, and Christmas! As a certified speech-language pathologist, I have worked in many clinical and educational settings, including a pediatric outpatient clinic, a therapeutic day school, and a public school autism program. Now I spend my days educating my children at home, creating language and literacy resources on TPT, hosting the Charlotte Mason Mother’s Educational Course, and reading a whole lot of books.