About/FAQ

Charlotte Mason (1842-1923) was a British pioneer of education. She developed and taught a method of education that views children as “born persons”, as in WHOLE people capable of taking in living ideas rather than an empty bucket to be filled. She defined her educational principles as a “science of relations” and said that education is “an atmosphere, a discipline, a life”. You can find a complete introduction to Charlotte Mason and her methods on Ambleside Online →

See our blog post written by the one and only Michelle Howard, one of our keynote speakers and a cornerstone of living books education in the US. How Can I Know if a Book is Living?

An immersion is a deep dive (immersing you) into a specific subject using the Charlotte Mason Method of Education. There have been immersions in past conferences that focused on Writing, Geography, Science, and “A Morning of Lessons” (every subject). When choosing an Immersion ticket, you will pick ONE immersion to attend for the day.

NOTE: Awaken South Bend will have Friday Workshops instead of immersions, Click Here for information about Awaken South Bend

The short answer is simply that not everyone can attend both days due to childcare, traveling, cost etc. We want everyone to be able to get exactly what they need and feel this is best accomplished by selling these tickets separately.

A notebook (or your commonplacebook!) and pen to take notes, a water bottle if you so choose, and some of our vendors only accept cash or checks, so if you plan on shopping, either of those. We provide food including snacks, and one of our members, Beckie, is famous for the best stocked bathroom supplies you could imagine, so don’t worry about forgetting something you might need, we’ve got you covered!

Welcome to the broad feast of Charlotte Mason! The exciting thing is that there is so much to learn and a lifetime to learn it in. First of all, don’t get overwhelmed by all the information available. You’re in the right place, this is why Awaken is here! First and foremost, we recommend reading Charlotte Mason’s 6 Volumes. Modern Miss Mason by Leah Boden is a great overview as well as For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay. You’ll find a treasure trove of information through our keynote speakers podcast “A Delectable Education”. And of course, you can find an Awaken Living Books Conference near you to attend!

We highly recommend familiarizing yourself with Charlotte Mason’s 20 principles of education. You can find these listed as a “short synopsis” in Charlotte Mason’s Volume 6: A Philosophy of Education, this volume provides the best overview of her philosophy. You can also find her original principles with helpful side by side paraphrases HERE on Ambleside Online. If you really want to dive into each principle deeper, ADE has broken down the 20 principles into 6 podcasts which you can find linked on their website HERE.

We provide a broad scope of Friday immersions and Saturday’s workshops and include many that would cater to what Charlotte Mason termed as “the younger years” before formal education is to start. If you feel ready to start diving into what a living education might look like for you, you will definitely benefit by coming! Charlotte Mason’s principles can be applied throughout all of life, not just what we think of as “school education”. We provide workshops on things like “The Younger Years”, “Habit formation”, “The Way of the Will” etc that those not yet formally schooling will benefit from. You might also enjoy this podcast from ADE: The Early Years

Charlotte Mason talks about a concept she terms as “masterly inactivity”, this is how she describes it:

“We ought to do so much for our children, and are able to do so much for them, that we begin to think everything rests with us and that we should never intermit for a moment our conscious action on the young minds and hearts about us. Our endeavours become fussy and restless. We are too much with our children, ‘late and soon.’ We try to dominate them too much, even when we fail to govern, and we are unable to perceive that wise and purposeful letting alone is the best part of education” (Vol. 3, p. 27).

ADE dedicates a podcast episode on the topic of masterly inactivity HERE

Yes! Awaken is more than just a conference for those using the CM method or curriculum.

Our primary goal is to bless, encourage, and equip our fellow homeschooling parents in their homeschooling journey. That includes keynotes and workshops geared toward meeting you where you are at - subjects such as “The Way of the Will”, “Habit Training”, History, Living Books, Handwriting, Science, High School, “Finding Joy in Motherhood”, “The Neurodivergent Child”, Drawing and so on can be applied to any homeschooling method.

And yes, Charlotte Mason specific workshops are also available. For example, “Charlotte Mason in the Younger Years”, “Spelling Ms. Mason’s Way”, and “A Short Synopsis of Charlotte Mason’s Philosophy” are just a few of our past workshops.