The New Mason Jar with Cindy Rollins explores the application of Charlotte Mason’s philosophy to the atmosphere, discipline, and life of our homes and schools. We cover Charlotte’s timeless principles as they work themselves out in our real and modern lives. Interviewing seasoned moms who have cherished Charlotte’s works while raising real children in real families, we endeavor to lay a foundation of hope and possibility for our listeners. However imperfectly.
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This week on The New Mason Jar podcast, we bring you a conversation Cindy and Dawn had with Dr. Jason Baxter about his new book Why Literature Still Matters published by Cassiodorus Press How Jason wrote this book and the style of his writing as if to a specific, live audience Why Jason wrote about the importance of beauty, art, and literature in t…
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On The New Mason Jar this week, Cindy Rollins and Jeannette Tulis chat about ways to incorporate books into your Advent and Christmas traditions. This was a special video recording for Cindy's Patreon members, with the audio shared here for all our podcast listeners. You can download the full list of books Jeannette and Cindy talk about for your ow…
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Today on The New Mason Jar, we bring you a special episode just in time for Advent Cindy and Dawn chat with their friend and homeschooling mom of 2, Rebecca Zipp, who writes at ahumbleplace.com How Rebecca first came to learn about Charlotte Mason's philosophy What Rebecca's website A Humble Place is all about What is Advent, and why did Rebecca de…
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Today on The New Mason Jar podcast, Cindy and Dawn sit down with Jen Sova, homeschooling mother of three boys and former English teacher How Jen discovered the Charlotte Mason philosophy How Jen's sons' learning differences affect their approach to schooling Jen's classroom teaching experience and how it affected her choice to use AmblesideOnline a…
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On The New Mason Jar podcast this week, Cindy and Dawn sit down for another conversation in our Morning Time for Moms series, this time with homeschooling mom Elaine Shutt How Elaine first came to learn about Charlotte Mason and her methods How Elaine was educated herself and what her reading life was like What Elaine's college and early teaching e…
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Today on The New Mason Jar podcast, Cindy and Dawn talk with Karen Glass, veteran homeschool mom, member of the AmblesideOnline Advisory, and author of a number of excellent Charlotte Mason education books Why is Karen’s new book, Much May Be Done with Sparrows, different from the other works that she has written? Who is this book for, and how did …
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On The New Mason Jar this week, Cindy sits down for another conversation about nature study with Jeannette Tulis, this time focusing on autumn What can we look for when we go out to do nature study in the fall? Look for seeds and fruits Look for autumn wildflowers Examine leaf scars on trees as leaves drop Find resources that help identify your loc…
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On The New Mason Jar podcast this week, we bring you a conversation Cindy and Dawn had with Denise Gaskins, veteran homeschool mom of five and math coach How Denise first learned about Charlotte Mason What is the foundation of mathematics in Charlotte Mason's educational philosophy? What Denise's mathematics background is and how she taught math wi…
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Today on The New Mason Jar podcast, Cindy and Dawn talk with returning guest, Kay Pelham, veteran homeschool mom, piano teacher, and instructor of “Story, Rhyme, and Song” How Kay started teaching classes for other homeschool children Why it is so important for Kay to pass on the Charlotte Mason principles to other parents What Kay’s classes are li…
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This week we are pleased to bring you another remix episode from Season 1, this time with guest Caitlin Bruce Beauchamp, daughter of Lynn Bruce and an AmblesideOnline graduate How Caitlin came to embrace Charlotte Mason's methods as an adult and foster parent What Caitlin remembers most about her homeschool and growing up experience What subjects w…
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This week we bring you a special re-air of an episode from Season 1 with guest Lynn Bruce, a founding member of AmblesideOnline Advisory. Lynn has now gone to be with the Lord, so we share this episode in honor of her memory and with gratitude for her friendship and wisdom. How Lynn learned about Charlotte Mason and become interested in her philoso…
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Welcome to this special Q&A episode recorded live with Cindy's 2024 Summer Discipleship group In this episode we hear questions from participants and answers from Cindy Rollins, Dawn Duran, and Jeannette Tulis Lisa asks, "What about summers? Should we work hard to give our kids a 'real' summer break?" Tanya asks, "What kinds of books are best for t…
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On this week’s episode of The New Mason Jar, Cindy and Dawn talk with Charlotte Mason homeschooling mom of three boys, Jess Smith How Jess first heard about Charlotte Mason’s philosophy How did Jess and her friends come to start a co-op using Mason’s methods? Why a small co-op of just two families can still be a great fit How Jess kept their focus …
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We kick off this new season of The New Mason Jar with a conversation Cindy and Dawn had with homeschool friends April Weyland and Anna Whiteside How Anna and April first found out about Charlotte Mason How the transition to a Charlotte Mason curriculum worked for Anna Why April decided it was time for them to leave their old coop and start using CM…
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This week on The New Mason Jar, Cindy and Dawn talk with homeschooling mom of 2 about using Morning Time in a local retirement home How Tiffany first came to know the Lord and also how she found out about Charlotte Mason How Tiffany started taking her children with her to do Morning Time at a local nursing home What are some of the fruits Tiffany h…
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Show Summary: In today’s episode of The New Mason Jar, Cindy shares a chat she had with Christina Baehr, a second generation homeschooling mom in Tasmania, Australia A little about Christina’s background and various creative pursuits, including music and writing What is Pilgrim Hill, and why did Christina and her husband start it? How Christina’s o…
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On The New Mason Jar this week, Cindy and Dawn sit down to talk with veteran homeschool mom Elissa Kroeger about her own journey of self-education How Elissa first heard about Charlotte Mason Elissa’s own history with reading and self-education through her school years How Elissa’s early homeschooling community grew organically How was a Charlotte …
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On The New Mason Jar today, we bring you a conversation Cindy and Dawn had with the AmblesideOnline Advisory members Anne White, Donna-Jean Breckenridge, Karen Glass and Leslie Laurio. How the friendship of the AO Advisory developed and has been a gift for each member throughout the years Did the Advisory members use the whole AO curriculum as writ…
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Every plant bears fruit, ‘fruit and seed after his kind.’ All this is stale knowledge to older people, but one of the secrets of the educator is to present nothing as stale knowledge, but to put himself in the position of the child, and wonder and admire with him; for every common miracle which the child sees with his own eyes makes of him for the …
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If mankind had not been organized into families, it would never have had the organic power to be organized into commonwealths. Human culture is handed down in the customs of countless households. It is the only way in which human culture can remain human. G. K. Chesterton, Marriage and the Modern Mind Show Summary: For this week’s episode of The Ne…
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They notice for themselves, and the teacher gives a name and other information as it is asked for… In this way they lay up that store of “common information”… and what is more important, they learn to know and delight in natural objects as in the familiar faces of friends. Charlotte Mason, School Education, p. 237 Show Summary: On The New Mason Jar…
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Ourselves, our Souls and Bodies is much used in the P.U.S., as I know of no other attempt to present such a ground plan of human nature as should enable the young student to know where he is in his efforts to ‘be good’ as the children say. The point of view taken in this volume is, that all beautiful and noble possibilities are present in every one…
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The mind is a spiritual octopus, reaching out limbs in every direction to draw in enormous rations of that which under the actions of the mind itself becomes knowledge. Nothing can stale its infinite variety; the heavens and the earth, the past, the present, and future, things great and things minute, nations and men, the universe, all are within t…
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Three Questions for the Mother…She must ask herself Why must the children learn at all? What should they learn? And, How should they learn it? If she takes the trouble to find a definite and thoughtful answer to each of these three queries, she will be in a position to direct her children’s studies; and will, at the same time, be surprised to find …
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No one knoweth the things of a man but the spirit of a man which is in him; therefore, there is no education but self-education… Charlotte Mason, Toward a Philosophy of Education, p. 26 Show Summary: On The New Mason Jar this week, Cindy and Dawn sit down to chat about Cindy’s newest book, Beyond Mere Motherhood How this book came to be What Cindy …
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Like all music, the figured bass should have no other end and aim than the glory of God and the recreation of the soul; where this is not kept in mind there is no true music, but only an infernal clamour and ranting. Johann Sebastian Bach Show Summary: Today on The New Mason Jar, Cindy talks with Hannah Paris and Amy Edwards about the new Lenten co…
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As a matter of fact, we do not realise children, we under-estimate them; in the divine words, we “despise” them, with the best intentions in the world, because we confound the immaturity of their frames, and their absolute ignorance as to the relations of things, with spiritual impotence: whereas the fact probably is, that never is intellectual pow…
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Few things could be more disastrous (as, alas, few are more imminent) than a sudden break with the traditions of the past; wherefore, let us gently knit the bonds that bind us to the generation all too rapidly dying out. It is well that we gather up, with tender reverence, such fragments of their insight and experience as come in our way; for we wo…
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It is not the friends of our election who have exclusive claims upon us; the friends brought to us here and there by the circumstances of life all claim our loyalty, and from these we get…kindness for kindness, service for service, loyalty for loyalty, full measure, heaped together and running over. Charlotte Mason, Ourselves, Book 2, p. 32 Show Su…
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Our flesh the Word became, and dwelt with us, And we beheld His glory, as, of God, The only-begotten Son: we who believed Knew glory when we saw it, by the signs— Not of the pomp and majesty of Kings— But Grace, the touch of God, showed sweet in Him; And Truth, discerning all things, made Him simple, His glory saw we—full of grace and truth. Charlo…
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Education is a life. That life is sustained on ideas. Ideas are of spiritual origin, and God has made us so that we get them chiefly as we convey them to one another, whether by word of mouth, written page, Scripture word, musical symphony; but we must sustain a child’s inner life with ideas as we sustain his body with food. Charlotte Mason, Toward…
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Mentally he must be developed so that as he grows older he may have the capacity to grasp the true meaning of social and political questions of the day. His mind should be so trained that he will be able to detect and reject fallacious statements, and quick to discover the claptrap of which our newspapers are so full. E. A. Smith, “Citizenship: Our…
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We take strong ground when we appeal to the beauty and truth of Mathematics; that, as Ruskin points out, two and two make four and cannot conceivably make five, is an inevitable law. It is a great thing to be brought into the presence of a law, of a whole system of laws, that exist without our concurrence,––that two straight lines cannot enclose a …
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Again, we have made a rather strange discovery, that the mind refuses to know anything except what reaches it in more or less literary form. Persons can ‘get up’ the driest of pulverised text-books and enough mathematics for some public examination; but these attainments do not appear to touch the region of mind. Of Natural Science, too, we have to…
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“There can be no great art without great fable. Great art can only exist where great men brood intensely on something upon which all men brood a little. Without a popular body of fable there can be no unselfish art in any country. Shakespeare’s art was selfish till he turned to the great tales in the four most popular books of his time…” James Mase…
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As for Literature–to introduce children to literature is to install them in a very rich and glorious kingdom, to bring a continual holiday to their doors, to lay before them a feast exquisitely served. But they must learn to know literature by being familiar with it from the very first. A child’s intercourse must always be with good books, the best…
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All our teaching of children should be given reverently, with the humble sense that we are invited in this matter to co-operate with the Holy Spirit; but it should be given dutifully and diligently. Charlotte Mason, Vol. 2, Parents and Children Show Summary: Our guests on The New Mason Jar podcast this week are Emily Raible and Tracy Fast How Tracy…
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In teaching music, again, let him once perceive the beautiful laws of harmony, the personality, so to speak, of Music, looking out upon him from among the queer little black notes… Charlotte Mason, Vol. 2, Parents and Children, p. 278-279 Show Summary: On the New Mason Jar today, Cindy is joined by Heather Bunting, homeschooling mother of 4 and for…
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Without knowledge, Reason carries a man into the wilderness and Rebellion joins company. The man is not to be blamed: it is a glorious thing to perceive your mind, your reasoning power, acting of its own accord as it were and producing argument after argument in support of any initial notion; how is a man to be persuaded, when he wakes up to this t…
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In the things of science, in the things of art, in the things of practical everyday life, his God doth instruct him and doth teach him, her God doth instruct her and doth teach her. Let this be the mother’s key to the whole of the education of each boy and each girl; not of her children; the Divine Spirit does not work with nouns of multitude, but …
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Commonplace Tales: Tales of Imagination––Stories, again, of the Christmas holidays, of George and Lucy, of the amusements, foibles, and virtues of children in their own condition of life, leave nothing to the imagination. The children know all about everything so well that it never occurs to them to play at the situations in any one of these tales,…
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The honor due to our country…is not to be confounded with the ignorant and impertinent attitude of the Englishman or the Chinese who believes that to be born an Englishman or a Chinese puts him on a higher level than the people of all other countries; that his own country and his own government are right in all circumstances, and other countries an…
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After all, what is the chief sign of growing old? Is it not the feeling that we know all there is to be known? It is not years which make people old; it is ruts, and a limitation of interests. When we no longer care about anything except our own interests, we are then old, it matters not whether our years be twenty of eighty. Anna Botsford Comstock…
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Of the three sorts of knowledge proper to a child,–the knowledge of God, of man, and of the universe,–the knowledge of God ranks first in importance, is indispensable, and most happy-making. Charlotte Mason, Towards a Philosophy of Education Show Summary: Today’s guest is Bethany Mandel, Orthodox Jewish homeschooling mother of 6, co-author of the n…
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But the educator has to deal with a self-acting, self-developing being, and his business is to guide, and assist in, the production of the latent good in that being, the dissipation of the latent evil, the preparation of the child to take his place in the world at his best… Charlotte Mason, Home Education Show Summary: This week’s guest on The New …
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The parent who sees his way––that is, the exact force of method––to educate his child, will make use of every circumstance of the child’s life almost without intention on his own part, so easy and spontaneous is a method of education based upon Natural Law. Does the child eat or drink, does he come, or go, or play––all the time he is being educated…
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…of all the joyous motives of school life, the love of knowledge is the only abiding one; the only one which determines the scale, so to speak, upon which the person will hereafter live. Charlotte Mason, School Education, Volume 3 Show Summary: Cindy and Dawn tackle another round of listener questions on this episode of The New Mason Jar How can a …
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...to be born a human being is like coming into a very great estate; so much in the way of goodness, greatness, heroism, wisdom, and knowledge, is possible to us all. Charlotte Mason, Ourselves, Book 1 Show Summary: Today’s returning guest is Anne White, veteran homeschool mom, author, and member of the AmblesideOnline Advisory Anne’s history with …
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The question is not,––how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education––but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him? Charlotte Mason, School Education Show Summary: Today’s guest is M…
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…what if the devitalisation we notice in so many of our young people, keen about games but dead to things of the mind, is due to the processes carried on in our schools, to our plausible and pleasant ways of picturing, eliciting, demonstrating, illustrating, summarising, doing all those things for children which they are born with the potency to do…
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