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Classical Education

Is Charlotte Mason Classical? A Response to Memoria Press with Kolby Atchison

Feb 27, 2025
01:04:36

About the Guest
Kolby Atchison serves as the head of school at Clapham School, a classical Christian school in Wheaton, Illinois, that implements the educational philosophy of Charlotte Mason. He is a founding director of Educational Renaissance where he speaks, writes, and podcasts on classical Christian education, Charlotte Mason, and modern research. He lives with his wife and three children in Chicagoland.

Show Notes
In this episode, Kolby and Adrienne dive into the philosophy of a person and the role of a teacher according to Charlotte Mason. Recently, several neoclassical programs (Memoria Press and Classical Conversations) released videos answering the popular question, "Is Charlotte Mason Classical?" We decided to dive directly into what we believe is the fundamental difference in the tradition of classical ed (which Mason is closely aligned to) and the the progressive classical movement (otherwise known as neoclassical).

Resources Mentioned

  • Neoclassical Vs. Classical Tradition: a comparison on Beautiful Teaching's website: https://www.beautifulteaching.com/neoclassical-vs-classical
  • Memoria Press Latin Study
  • The Core by Leigh Bortins (founder of Classical Conversations)
  • Charlotte Mason Vol VI & Vol I
  • Aristotle
  • The Bible
  • A Thinking Love: Studies from Charlotte Mason's Home Education by Karen Glass
  • Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis
  • Educational Renaissance

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Beautiful Teaching online courses:

  • BT online webinars, interactive courses, and book studies registration: https://beautifulteaching.coursestorm.com/

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This podcast is produced by Beautiful Teaching, LLC.
Support this podcast: ★ Support this podcast ★ _________________________________________________________

Credits:
Sound Engineer: Andrew Helsel
Logo Art: Anastasiya CF
Music: Vivaldi's Concerto for 2 Violins in B flat major, RV529 : Lana Trotovsek, violin Sreten Krstic, violin with Chamber Orchestra of Slovenian Philharmonic
 
© 2025 Beautiful Teaching LLC. All Rights Reserve


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