Charlotte Mason was born in 1842 and after being orphaned at age 16 became a teacher. She was passionate about education but very much wanted to see England have a liberal education for all students. Children in this time period were typically educated according to their social status and this troubled Mason as she thought everyone deserved an equal chance at learning.
Mason believed that children should receive a three pronged education. The first prong of education is atmosphere. She believed that the home life of children was very important to their academic growth and development. The second prong of education is discipline which she also defined as good habits and most specifically character training. The third prong of education is life which she defined to also include academic study. Mason liked for children to experience things and a Mason education will include lots of outdoor play, observing of nature, arts and crafts and other hands on activities. She wanted children to experience living books and not just dry textbooks. She defined a living book as a book that was written by someone passionate about the subject so that it had more life than just a series of facts in a textbook. She felt that children could learn more from people who had a genuine love of the topic, and even searched to find science and math books that were more than just what she considered to be dry textbooks. Spelling is often taught through use of dictation and instead of lists children study books and the words come from their readings. Children also do oral and written narratives to share material that they have studied and facts they have learned. Oral narratives are expected of younger children while older students do a mix of both.
Mason went on to write many books about education and learning theories and always championed a liberal education for all children. Her methods are very popular among Christian families that home school their children.

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