Charlotte M. (Charlotte Maria) Mason

Born on January 1, 1842, in Wales, she became one of the best-known voices in British education. She worked as a teacher and lecturer and developed a philosophy that treated children as whole persons rather than empty vessels to be filled with facts.

She is especially remembered for promoting a broad, generous curriculum and for encouraging the use of living books, narration, time outdoors, and steady habits. Her ideas reached many families and schools through the Parents' National Educational Union and through a series of books, including Home Education.

She died on January 16, 1923, but her work has remained remarkably durable. Readers interested in the history of education often return to her for her practical, humane view of how children learn.