So who was Charlotte Mason anyway?

You may have heard many homeschooling parents mention the "Charlotte Mason method" or they use a curriculum that is "Charlotte Mason inspired". So who was this lady anyway?

Charlotte Mason was a British educator and reformer who lived in the second half of the 19th century and early part of the 20th century. She trained to be a teacher and taught for many years in the schools of England, which were very class-biased at the time, teaching trades to poorer children and teaching fine arts and literature to the richer classes. During this time, Charlotte started developing a vision of a generous and broad curriculum that could be taught to children of all social classes. 

Charlotte continued to study and learn more about education and starting giving lectures and publishing papers and books to help parents and teachers. In 1891, she moved to Ambleside and started a training school for teachers and governesses, forming the Parent's National Education Union (PNEU). Charlotte continued to publish more papers and books, and many schools starting springing up adopting her philosophy and methods. She also published a PNEU curriculum programme that parents could follow at home or teachers could follow in their classroom. Charlotte spent the rest of her life overseeing this network of schools.