Charlotte Mason Conference Resources
The lectures and Keynote presentations from our conferences are listed below- click on the appropriate button to access them. The lectures will appear in a pop-up window, so make sure that your browser is not set to block them.
Speaker: Lisa Cadora
Biography Ms. Cadora has studied Mason since providentially hearing of her from Ranald and
Susan Macaulay at a Rochester, MN L'Abri Conference in the summer of 1982, while an
undergraduate education major at Covenant College. She found a few of Mason's volumes in the
college library upon returning to school that fall, and was entirely swept up in what she
recognised as a much needed antidote to the decidedly mechanistic approach to teaching prevalent
in most teacher education programs and even Christian education practice in those days. She was
blessed to find a school some years later that employed Mason's methods and has enjoyed a
career of teching, learning and sharing her ideas and practice in her own school and with others
who endeavor to bring a “sane” education that honors learning in all of its complexity to children
and families in diverse settings.
Topic: Knowing What Knowers Know (2007) Charlotte Mason offers a uniquely biblical view of the human knower, what there is to be known, and the process of coming to know that stands in contrast to the views commonly held in her day and in ours. The challenge for those who wish to embrace and operate out of these views of knowing is to resist the ease of and clamor for traditional pedagogy. In a society that places a great premium on amassing quantification in order to ascertain the validity of an endeavor, courage is required to protect the learner as a person by choosing a different route when it comes to assessment. In this session I will address these questions:
- 1. What do we mean by "knowledge" and "knowing" something?
- 2. How are our definitions of these terms influenced by the society's values and the purposes of the institutions designed to facilitate them?
- 3. What is a biblical view of knowledge?
- 4. What is the human knower like?
- 5. What are conditions that facilitate coming to know?
- 6. What are evidences of knowing?
- 7. Why do we want to assess? What do we do with the data that assessment yields?
- 8. How do we work against years of tradition and mountains of expectation in choosing to assess in a different way?
Speaker: Nicole Hutchinson
BiographyNicolle Hutchinson graduated from a Christian liberal arts college with a degree in Elementary Education. After teaching in public schools for five years, she trained public school teachers and developed curriculum for Teachers' Curriculum Institute's middle and high school program, History Alive! and led the development of their first grade program, Social Studies Alive! My School and Family. In 2000, after a long search for an educational philosophy based on the Christian worldview, that, in Francis Schaeffer's words, “is true to the way things are,” Nicolle found Charlotte Mason's ideas. She studied and applied Mason's works and served as a teacher and leader in three Charlotte Mason schools. She conducted Charlotte Mason workshops, presented the Charlotte Mason session at the Florida Homeschooling Convention in 2004, and is now homeschooling in Pottsville, PA. In July she will begin her masters work at the University of Pennsylvania in the Education Leadership Program for Aspiring Principals. Nicolle is married to Storm, the pastor of First UMC-Pottsville, and the mother of Storm IV, an active nine year old.
Topic: Revealing the Beauty and Power
of the World through Science Instruction (2007) Recommended for: Science teachers, parents, administrators.
Speaker: Jennifer Spencer
BiographyJennifer Spencer lives in Gaffney, South Carolina with her husband of 13 years and her two children, Drew and Marley. She earned her Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood education from Winthrop University in 1996, and has just completed her Master's degree in Elementary Education from Gardner-Webb University. Jennifer taught four years in the public school system before deciding to take a year off to homeschool. While at home, she was turned on to the teachings of Charlotte Mason through an email loop. She is now the Assistant Director at The Village School of Gaffney, a private school based on Mason's philosophy, where she has taught for five years. Her teaching experience has ranged from kindergarten through middle school, but she most enjoys teaching literature and history at the upper elementary level.
Topic: Developmentally Appropriate Use of Narration (2007) Attendees of this session will learn about children's developmental progression in the art of narration. We will explore how to help very young children learn to express their thoughts orally and follow through with the introduction of written retelling. Teachers of older children and teenagers will discover how to get students to organize and "flesh out" their narrations so that they are not scattered or skimpy and so that they reflect understanding of diverse literary elements instead of being mere plot regurgitation. Discussion of educational theory will be combined with model lessons to help participants develop a deep understanding of the topic.
Recommended for: those who are beginning the use of narration or those teaching kindergarten or first grade and need to introduce narration to students
Speaker: Tammy Glaser
BiographyTammy Glaser, a graduate in mathematics from the U. S. Naval Academy and Naval Postgraduate School, left the Navy to homeschool her two children in 1995. She started transitioning to Charlotte Mason methodology in 1999. Her insights on homeschooling and autism are published online and in magazines, books, and newspapers. She and her husband, Steve, live in Manning, South Carolina.
Topic: Assessing Therapies for Special Needs
Learners from a Charlotte Mason Perspective (2007) Therapies recommended for special needs children can cloud one’s vision of education as “an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life”. The speaker will demonstrate how to translate one autism therapy into Charlotte Mason terminology and accept or reject principles that respect a child’s personhood. The participants will do the same for a speech program for language-delayed children. They will leave the class more confident in selecting the therapies most suited to a Charlotte Mason philosophy. They will leave inspired by Miss Mason’s language arts program, which enabled a person with life-long speaking challenges to learn recitation!
Recommended for: teachers and parents of special needs students, and administrators.
Helpful Links:
Therapies Handout
Tweaking Charlotte Mason Video
Relationship Development Intervention Video
The Association Method Video Part I
The Association Method Video Part II
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