In Vital Harmony: Charlotte Mason and the Natural Laws of Education

By: Karen Glass

Narrated by: Donna-Jean A. Breckenridge

Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

Charlotte Mason looked at the world and saw that it was governed by universal laws, such as the law of gravity. Then she wondered. What if there were similar laws that governed the way people learn? If we knew what those laws were, we’d be able to pursue education along the most promising lines.

She devoted her life to finding the key principles of education and then developing methods to make the most of them. The result is a comprehensive picture of living and learning that breathes life into education at every level - from babyhood to the adult years. It’s not a rote system, but a flexible set of ideas that keep education in focus.

These principles are for everyone concerned with teaching and learning. They are no more difficult to implement than the principle of gravity which allows you to walk, run, and even - when you know what you are doing - to soar.

©2019 Karen Glass (P)2020 Karen Glass

A thorough yet simple overview of CM philosophies

I've read numerous books about Charlotte Mason's ideas for education and, while many have provided excellent explanations of implementing her philosophies, none have provided such a thorough understanding of the why behind her philosophies. My only regret is that I waited so long to read this book. And now, having listened to the audio, I plan to buy a physical copy to mark up and highlight for future reference. I highly recommend In Vital Harmony to anyone interested in a Charlotte Mason education, no matter how pure or loosely implemented. It is an excellent resource!

Enjoyable and understandable.Loved it!

I am so happy to find Jaren Glass in my walking through CM philosophy.

Charlotte Mason’s Principles Clearly Explained

I grew so much through this book. Karen has truly studied Miss Mason’s works. She clearly lays bare the explanation of Charlotte Mason’s 20 principles and explains them in plain and simple language. She explains their relationship and how to apply them in our lives and homes.

Helpful!

This was so inspiring for me to read and to learn in a modern application from charlotte mason. Thank you so much to the author for bringing her principles and research together in a digestible and understandable way that I am eager to apply now. Your work is very much appreciated by this reader!!

Mason/Glass/Breckenridge succeed again

Karen Glass has done a wonderful thing in arranging Charlotte Mason's 20 Principles as she has. Identifying the 2 main principles and the way that the others connect to them has brought clarity to the philosophy as a whole. Donna-Jean Breckenridge's reading enhances what is already an excellent work, bringing with her superb skill of reading a personal knowledge of what she is reading.

Fabulous Introduction

Great introduction to the educational methods of Charlotte Mason. Karen does a grand job of taking the somewhat complex 18th century verbiage of Charlotte Mason and putting it into todays language. Helping a new or experienced person understand the ways of Charlotte Mason. Highly recommend!

Start here: excellent overview of CM principles

Loved listening and soaking up the CM principles via many, many illustrations and direct quotes.

Eager to dig into the 6-volume set, but this was a great starting point. It is too deep to call it an introduction, but it serves that purpose well, and more besides.

for educators

fantastic! Glass pulls together educational principles and helps show how they work out in the day to day. she is clear and makes deep ideas understandable. Donna-Jean can read me anything she wants.

Wonderfully inspiring

This is such a good read, short of in-depth studies of the original Mason volumes. It is a great philosophy introduction for a new convert or an inspirational reminder for those intimately familiar with these principles (I fall in between). The narrator was nice and flowing, unlike other non fiction books I've tried.

The only thing that was unfortunate was the quote reading, but there's not a great way to resolve that. There were so many fantastic quotes from Miss Mason but it was difficult to tell when they started or even that a quote was being read until it was over and the reference was cited.