The Parental Role at a Charlotte Mason School

In a climate in which the parental role in the school environment is being questioned and examined, especially here in Virginia, I want to take a moment to share about how a Charlotte Mason school like ours views the role of the parent at school. 

No doubt you as parents are having these conversations at home around the multitude of pandemic-related and politically-fueled issues that have arisen all around us. Ambleside School’s answer to this question is rooted in one of the foundational philosophies of a Charlotte Mason education: the parent is the child’s chief educator.

“This atmosphere in which the child inspires his unconscious ideas of right living emanates from his parents… Education is an atmosphere – that is, the child breathes the atmosphere emanating from his parents; that of the ideas which rule their own lives.” 

- Charlotte M. Mason 

The values, habits, and character that a child forms throughout his or her life are steered by the home’s central guiding force. Parents act as inspirers, trainers, and teachers of knowledge and character, and it is essential for the sake of the child that parents guide him or her alongside a school that mirrors and supports their value system. 

At a Charlotte Mason school, education is a partnership.

At Ambleside, we partner with parents to steward their child's experience of the world, chiefly, through living ideas and meaningful relationships. Our goal is for each student to leave here firmly committed to desire the good, love the truth, and delight in the beautiful. 

“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...”

- Charlotte M. Mason

To that end, parents are invited to actively engage with our curriculum, which is composed of carefully chosen literary texts and objects of study. Our curriculum does not change with each successive wave of educational philosophy and political ideology. It is proven by history, established in Biblical truth, and accessible to parents. We choose the best books, the greatest works of art, the most beautiful music, and the majesty of creation as the foundation of a life rich in relationship to God, self, others, and creation.

As a Charlotte Mason school, we partner with parents to help form a child’s character while respecting the individuality of each as a unique person created in the image and likeness of God. We respect parental decisions for the well being of each child. From instruction to assessments to discipline, our very thoughtful and deliberate methodology is to engage the mind, form the heart, and guide the will.

If you would like to learn more about our curriculum and philosophy, we invite you to attend an upcoming school tour. You will have the opportunity to observe classrooms, see student work, and connect with an administrator about your specific questions.

We are happy to answer any additional questions you may have.

Ted Watkins

Director of Advancement