As Charlotte Mason recommended a century ago, we desire that our students have relationships of enjoyment and appreciation with as many interests as possible and appropriate to their maturity. Avoiding a slight smattering of scattered subjects and ‘busywork’ disguised as homework, our teachers instead plan for students to attend to worthwhile things. This helps us ensure that each student has many opportunities for “plunging into vital knowledge,” as Mason advocated, “with a great field before him which all his life he will not be able to fully explore.”
Students begin to encounter living ideas, reflect on wise action, and discern truth in our earliest classes in Pre-Kindergarten. Complementing parental formation and feedback, our teachers’ desire within each grade is to introduce our students to a relationship with authors, composers, artists, scientists, mathematicians, and other great men and women whose understandings of reality have changed the world. This emphasis avoids the mere memorization of knowledge outside the context of story. It also embraces the foundations of truth, goodness, and beauty so that a student is able to participate in the ‘Great Conversation’ and is able to find the truth in any subject. Our commitment to this goal has been further deepened through our embrace of Charlotte Mason’s educational philosophy and membership in Ambleside Schools International since 2014.
RMCA encourages both current and prospective families to visit the ASI website. Here, you may view videos, read articles, and reflect on what it means to be a life-long learner as a student, teacher, and parent.
