
The New Mason Jar with Cindy Rollins
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.
Latest episodes

Feb 13, 2025 • 54min
S8E104: Misrepresentations of a Charlotte Mason Education with Karen Glass
This week we are delighted to bring you another conversation between Cindy Rollins and guest Karen Glass, veteran homeschool mom and member of the AmblesideOnline Advisory Karen and Cindy tackle the subject of Charlotte Mason and classical education, refuting some misrepresentations of a Charlotte Mason education Cindy explains why she has a problem with the current neo-classical education movement Karen explains how this conversation even came about in the first place Karen discusses the value of spending time reading and re-reading Charlotte Mason's work Cindy asks Karen to explain why she believes Charlotte Mason is in the classical paradigm To view the full show notes for this episode, including quotes, book links and more about our hosts and guests, please visit https://thenewmasonjar.com/104.

Jan 30, 2025 • 53min
S8E103: Composition the Charlotte Mason Way with Karen Glass
Today on The New Mason Jar podcast, Dawn moderates a discussion between host Cindy Rollins and guest Karen Glass, veteran homeschool mom and member of the AmblesideOnline Advisory Karen and Cindy talk about narration and composition in the Charlotte Mason paradigm, beginning with a little background on Karen’s new book, The Art of Composition Why Cindy has always said that parents don’t need a writing program and Karen’s response Cindy’s concern for parents to remember to focus on ideas in narration over the form of composition Karen’s thoughts on the building blocks of narration as the foundation of writing and composition How Karen came to see that she had developed a sort of philosophy of writing as a conversation Cindy talks about distinguishing between narration and summaries of a text Karen shares some encouragement for moms with struggling narrators To see the full show notes for this episode, including quotes and book links, please visit https://thenewmasonjar.com/103/.

Jan 16, 2025 • 41min
S8E102: Morning Time for Moms, Part 6, with Megan Graham
Welcome back to The New Mason Jar and another episode in our Morning Time for Moms self-education series Today Cindy and Dawn chat with Megan Graham, homeschooling mother of nine, two of whom she has graduated How Megan came to learn about the philosophy of Charlotte Mason What Megan’s own education was like and what her perception of learning was as a young person How did your idea of education shift, and were there any books that helped you form new ideas about education? How does Megan build in times to read in the midst of the busy seasons of life What Megan is currently reading To view the full show notes, including quotes and link to books mentioned, please visit our website at https://thenewmasonjar.com/102/.

Jan 2, 2025 • 47min
S8E101: Q&A NO. 9 WITH CINDY AND DAWN
This week on The New Mason Jar, we bring you another special Q&A episode with Cindy’s Patreon members What is the approach to reading a book with a high school student in the Charlotte Mason paradigm? How do you deal with “imperfect” narrations, and how can you make stopping for narrations mid-read less distracting? Should we have students narrate poetry regularly? How can we start out narrations with young children, and what are some tips for helping students in the beginning? What can we do about teens who are affected by the fear of missing out on opportunities in public school? To view the complete show notes with quotes and links to books mentioned, please visit our website at https://thenewmasonjar.com/101/.

Dec 19, 2024 • 59min
S7E100: Why Literature Still Matters with Jason Baxter
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 terms of our current culture Why is there a sense of urgency about the message of reconnecting with the old books and ideas How Jason's Substack "Beauty Matters" serves to illuminate his book What type of literature Jason thinks may be making a comeback To view the full show notes for this episode, complete with quotes and links to books, visit our website at https://thenewmasonjar.com/100/.

Dec 5, 2024 • 1h 3min
S7E99: 25 Books of Christmas with Jeannette Tulis
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 own book buying or borrowing during the holiday season on our website at https://thenewmasonjar.com/099/.

Nov 28, 2024 • 42min
S7E98: Advent Art Study and Devotions with Rebecca Zipp
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 develop this Advent Art Devotions resource? What other Advent traditions have Dawn, Rebecca, and Cindy had over the years? Please visit https://thenewmasonjar.com/098/ to get the full show notes with links to resources mentioned and today's quotes.

Nov 21, 2024 • 45min
S7E97: AmblesideOnline with Special Needs Students with Jen Sova
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 at home Why Jen feels AO's curriculum allows children to shine in spite of their challenges How Jen handles the logistics of the school day with each child's individual needs Why Jen is a staunch defender of the Charlotte Mason philosophy Please visit https://thenewmasonjar.com/097/ to view the complete show notes for this episode.

Nov 7, 2024 • 59min
S7E96: Morning Time for Moms Part 5 with Elaine Shutt
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 experience was like How she fit in reading about educational philosophy when her children were young Elaine's story of God's provision and leadership in her current teaching setup Some ways she adds Charlotte Mason elements into her classroom The ways Elaine has made time for self-education in different seasons of life Please visit https://thenewmasonjar.com/096/ to view all the show notes for this episode including links to all the resources mentioned.

Oct 24, 2024 • 49min
S7E95: Karen Glass on “Much May Be Done with Sparrows”
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 it come to be? What is a “chap book”? How the essay titles, quotes from Charlotte Mason’s works, and Karen’s own thoughts interact in this work Please visit https://thenewmasonjar.com/095/ to view all the show notes for this episode including links to all the resources mentioned.