Definitely worthwhile, but you might find it helpful to know what each volume is about so you can customize the order in which you read them.
- Volume 1: Home Education is directed toward parents of children under nine years old. It has a large section on habit training and practical techniques for educating younger elementary.
- Volume 2: Parents and Children focuses on the role of parents as inspirers, authority, and teachers. It challenges them to be intentional in their responsibility regardless of whether their children are at home or at a school.
- Volume 3: School Education has a lot of practical techniques and philosophy for teaching. It also compares some educational theories that were prevalent in Charlotte’s day.
- Volume 4: Ourselves (Books 1 and 2) was written to older students to teach them about how their reasoning, wills, and minds work; how to make good choices; the characteristics of a good life; etc.
- Volume 5: Formation of Character contains a lot of little scenarios that illustrate various ideas for dealing with character issues in our children, but written as living stories. It also addresses older children and challenges that are unique with parenting them.
- Volume 6: A Philosophy of Education is pretty much a summary of Charlotte’s methods and the success they were seeing using those methods with a variety of children. It was written on the heels of World War I and contains many comments that refer to current thought in England as a result of that war.
I hope these quick overviews help you set up a reading schedule that will encourage you in the days ahead. Take your time. Read with a blank journal at your side so you can copy quotes. I’ve found two benefits to that practice: 1) It gives me a place to find them again quickly, and 2) The process of writing slows me down mentally so I understand the richness of Charlotte’s ideas better. Enjoy!
