Charlotte Mason (1842 -1923) was a noted English educator and philosopher who wrote a pioneering series of books on education, established schools in England, and supported families in the process of home-based education. She saw education as a way of life in which parents shared a rich intellectual and spiritual life with their children—reading Great Books, loving art, music, and nature, as well as enjoying time together in work, play, and service to others.
Here is Charlotte Mason describing the benefits of her way of education:
Let me try to indicate some of the advantages of the theory I am urging. It fits all ages and abilities. It satisfies brilliant children and discovers intelligence in the dull. It secures attention, interest, concentration, without effort on the part of teacher or taught.
Children, I think, all children, so taught express themselves in forcible and fluent English and use a copious vocabulary. Parents become interested in the schoolroom work, and find their children delightful companions.
Children show delight in books and manifest a genuine love of knowledge. Children taught according to this method do exceptionally well at any school.
From A Philosophy of Education, 28