WORKSHOPS

Welcome and Introductions with Cassie Detwiler, CMEC Director of Communications

This short introduction to the retreat highlights the work of the CMEC and information about the retreat speakers.

Educating for Freedom: Charlotte Mason and a Liberal Education for All with Amy Snell

Who was Charlotte Mason, and how did her own life give rise to the educational principles that have shaped so many homes and schools? Told through three acts of Mason’s life, this opening talk traces the development of her foundational ideas—from “children are born persons” and “education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life” to her vision of a generous “liberal education for all.” Along the way, we consider not only Mason’s remarkable story, but what it asks of us as teachers today. This session also includes time for narration, a century chart activity, and individual reflection.

Defining Education: Mason’s Generous Ideal with Celeste Cruz

What does a liberal education actually look like? Using Mason’s own mottos, this talk attempts to define the foundational principles and practices of a Mason education. Celeste considers the child’s environment, habit formation, the nature of knowledge, the roles of student and teacher, and the means and ends of education. Together, these ideas reveal an educational vision that is at once generous, practical, and freeing. This session includes opportunities for narration and discussion.

An Education for All: Growing Through the Principles with Celeste Cruz

How do Mason’s ideals work in real homes, with real children and real challenges? Drawing on Mason’s development of a common curriculum for all children and true stories from homes and classrooms, this session moves from principle to practice. Celeste offers a step-by-step approach to troubleshooting difficulties, showing how everyday challenges can become opportunities for growth for both teacher and student, and how Mason’s ideals can inspire rather than overwhelm. The session includes time for reflection and practical application of Mason’s principles to real-life scenarios.

We Shall Go Forward: The Great Recognition Required of Parents with Amy Snell

The story of Charlotte Mason’s movement did not end with her death. This final talk asks what it means to receive her “legacy of thought,” apply it, and pass it on. What is our place in the story of Mason’s movement? How do we balance our vocation in our homes with a call to our communities? And how do we continue in the posture of a student alongside our children? Amy explores the continuing education of the mother-teacher and offers practical ideas for cultivating local Mason communities through reading groups, nature clubs, TBG groups, and gatherings. Concluding with one final story from Mason’s life, the session returns to Mason’s “great recognition” and looks with hope toward the future of the movement.

Bonus Dinner Talk with Austin Detwiler, CMEC Board Member

In this special 10th anniversary address, Austin Detwiler celebrates the CMEC’s first decade and looks ahead to the next ten years, sharing the vision behind the For the Children’s Sake Campaign and our continuing work to make a liberal education available to families, teachers, and schools.

INSIDE THE RETREAT HANDBOOK

                             

More than an accompaniment to the talks, our beautifully designed 124-page Retreat Handbook is a substantial resource for continued study and reflection, created to help you engage more deeply with Mason’s vision of a liberal education and put her principles into practice.

Workshop Notes
Follow along with the talks or return to them later with the quotations, references, and key ideas gathered in one place.

Resources & Immersion Materials
Put the ideas of the retreat into practice with resources for narration and reflection, a guide to the Forms, recommended reading on Mason’s life, tips for narration, a step-by-step troubleshooting guide, resources for building local Mason communities, and more.

The Liberal Education Reader
At the heart of the handbook is an extensive collection of Parents’ Review articles chosen to illuminate Mason’s ideal of a liberal education. Many of these articles are otherwise difficult to access and include practical accounts from Mason’s own colleagues of how these principles were lived out in homes and schools. Together, they offer a rich combination of educational philosophy, practical wisdom, and voices from the original Mason movement.

USE AT HOME or HOST YOUR OWN MINI-RETREAT!

The retreat was designed for learning in community, but you can recreate that experience wherever you are.

Enjoy the retreat at home as part of your own ongoing teacher education, or listen and reflect together with your spouse.

Or gather some local friends, have each purchase a copy, and host your own mini-retreat! Listen to all four talks over a day or weekend, pausing for narration, notebook work, reflection, and discussion. The Retreat Handbook and immersion materials give you everything you need to engage with the ideas together.

Prefer to spread it out? Meet weekly or monthly to listen to one talk at a time, or have everyone listen beforehand and gather for discussion. The talks and the articles in the Liberal Education Reader provide rich material for continued study long after you've finished the recordings.

However you use it, experiencing the retreat with others can give your group a shared language, shared ideas, and a shared vision to carry into your homes and communities in the months ahead.

See our suggestions for hosting a mini-retreat or group study.

The Liberal Education for All Retreat Package is $20 per person. Your purchase supports the work of the CMEC as we continue to research and advance Charlotte Mason's educational philosophy, provide resources for a liberal education, and cultivate a community of parents and teachers learning and growing together.

MORE ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS

Celeste Cruz

Celeste lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and their eleven children. With a graduate degree in English and a background in European humanities and art history, she has taught literature and writing in classroom and small group settings. She discovered Charlotte Mason before her children were born and has enthusiastically studied her philosophy ever since, but her most rewarding experience has been putting that philosophy into practice with her own children at home. Besides organizing a local Mason group, she shares the joys of home education at Joyous Lessons and @celeste_cruz, speaks at retreats and conferences nationwide, and serves as Executive Director at the CMEC.

Amy Snell

With a graduate degree in literature from the University of California-Irvine, Amy taught in a variety of classroom environments. She then discovered Charlotte Mason, whose philosophy quickly convinced her to begin homeschooling. As her family thrived using Mason’s methods and grew to include five children, Amy began to share and learn more about Mason’s philosophy with others, including speaking at national conferences and local retreats, hosting Mason book discussions and workshops for parents, running a Nature Study Club, facilitating Truth, Beauty, Goodness afternoons, and creating the Mason Academy as director, teacher, and parent. Amy now serves as the Board President of the Charlotte Mason Educational Center and Academic Director. You can find Amy on Instagram @learninghowtolivecm.

BRING A LIBERAL EDUCATION HOME

In celebration of the CMEC’s 10th anniversary, the complete retreat package is available for $20 per person. Purchase below for immediate access to the retreat recordings, Handbook, Reader, and accompanying resources.

For any questions, please contact us.