There will come a time in the life of faith for every child when they will have to decide for themselves, “Do I really believe this?” Doubt is a part of the process of maturing. It is not easy, but it is necessary.

What can we do? Can we short-circuit the process? Do we need to buy a new curriculum?

Parents, Revealers of God to their Children –– It is probable that parents as a class feel more than ever before the responsibility of their prophetic office. It is as revealers of God to their children that parents touch their highest limitations; perhaps it is only as they succeed in this part of their work that they fulfil the Divine intention in giving them children to bring up––in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Charlotte Mason, Parents and Children, p 41

Preparation – But there is much to be done beforehand, though nothing when the time comes.

Charlotte Mason, Parents and Children, p 43

Charlotte Mason’s words of encouragement, however, are not for the faint of heart, and challenge many commonly-held views in modern Western Christianity. Her’s is a refreshing voice in a time when so many are abandoning their faith when times of doubt come. There is hope. There is a better way.

This is a recording of the closing plenary talk given at the 2021 “Living Education Retreat” (LER).

We have all faced doubts.
Our children will all face doubts.
We will yet face doubts.
Doubt often comes unsolicited.

Just two paragraphs into the preface of Mason’s six volumes, the reader is invited to feast upon this simple living idea:

“…the knowledge of God is the principal knowledge, and the chief end of education.”

What did Charlotte Mason mean by this statement? As Mason educators, do we read this statement with the careful consideration it deserves? What does it look like to make educational decisions for our students with this “chief end” always in mind? Does our own knowledge of God (and our ongoing pursuit of it) have a lasting effect on the lives of our children? How does the knowledge of God differ from knowledge about God? As a father, pastor, and educator, these are some of the questions I’ve been asking myself recently. When I read Mason’s statement, I instinctively know there lies within it a call to something deeper than the 15-minute Bible lesson I share with my family at the beginning of each school day.

Together, let’s explore further what Mason is suggesting…

“…because every human soul has capacity for the knowledge of God; not for mathematics, perhaps, nor for science, nor for politics, but for that vast knowledge which floods the soul like a sea to swim in––the knowledge of God.”
Charlotte Mason, vol. 4, p 183

In 2017, I was honored to give the closing plenary at the Charlotte Mason Institute (CMI) Annual Conference. A few weeks later I was able to give the Outfitting talk at a workshop at the 2017 Living Education Retreat (LER). Once again, I am thrilled to be able to release this talk “into the wild” and hope that it might be an encouragement as you outfit your children for the life that is unfolding before them.

Recorded July 2017 (the Living Education Retreat)

wondered,Who is this Charlotte Mason that homeschool teachers are talking about? Have you ever thought: “Where’s my guidebook? hat have I gotten myself into? or Where are we going exactly?” Perhaps you’ve got a spouse or an extended family member asking these questions about homeschooling right now.

This talk is the story of my process of movement from “homeschool skeptic” and “CM illiterate” to owning my role in an education that truly is “an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life”. Homeschooling is messy, beautiful, and worth it.

Recorded July 2017 (Closing Plenary @ the Living Education Retreat)

https://www.unpublishedtrailguide.com/an-unpublished-trail-guide/