The Power of a Wide Curriculum in a Charlotte Mason Education 

One of the most common misconceptions of the Charlotte Mason method is that it’s all about reading books, plenty of books! 

While it’s true that we do devour a huge number of pages in a CM homeschool, it’s a myth that it’s all about books. In fact, Miss Mason is adamant about making sure that we offer as wide a curriculum as possible: 

They require a great variety of knowledge,––about religion, the humanities, science, art; therefore, they should have a wide curriculum, with a definite amount of reading set for each short period of study. (Vol 1, page 19) 

Why does the Charlotte Mason recommend a wide curriculum? 

But why is it important for our children to learn a large variety of stuff? 

The mind feeds on ideas. 

First, let’s start with the basic principle that “The mind feeds on ideas and therefore children should have a generous curriculum. (Vol 1 page 112.)” 

Because our children’s minds thrive best on ideas, we offer them these ideas in as many forms as possible. This can include hymns, poetry, literature, nature study, and many more.

2. We all have such excellent potential. 

Then, let’s take a look at the possibilities for the human soul: 

…to be born a human being is like coming into a very great estate; so much in the way of goodness, greatness, heroism, wisdom, and knowledge, is possible to us all. Therefore I have said that no one has discovered the boundaries of the Kingdom of Mansoul; for nobody knows how much is possible to any one person. Many persons go through life without recognising this. They have no notion of how much they can do and feel, know and be; and so their lives turn out poor, narrow, and disappointing. (CM Vol 4 Ourselves Page 9) 

In her Home Education Series, Volume 4, Ourselves, Miss Mason espouses the power of being able to access the full potential of our humanity. She believes that we have so much that we can have an express, and it’s a shame that many of us go through life without experiencing this. 

3. Specialization limits; wide variety gives wider enjoyment 

Specialisation, the fetish of the end of the last century, is to be deprecated because it is at our peril that we remain too long in any one field of thought. We may not, for example, allow the affairs and interests of daily life to deprive the mind of its proper range of interests and occupations. It is even possible for a person to go into any one of the great fields of thought and to work therein with delight until he become incapable of finding his way into any other such field. We know how Darwin lost himself in science until he could not read poetry, find pleasure in pictures, think upon things divine; he was unable to turn his mind out of the course in which it had run for most of his life. In the great (and ungoverned) age of the Renaissance, the time when great things were done, great pictures painted, great buildings raised, great discoveries made, the same man was a painter, an architect, a goldsmith and a master of much knowledge besides; and all that he did he did well, all that he knew was part of his daily thought and enjoyment. (Volume 6, pages 54-55) 

Miss Mason firmly believes that specialization tends to limit our field of thought, and draws on the Renaissance as a time period where the greatest minds were able to dabble with a wide range of ideas. She describes all this knowledge as “part of [that person’s] daily thought and enjoyment.” 

4. Learning about a wide range of subjects allows us to relate better to people. 

Miss Mason also encourages learning much about much, so that we can converse freely and intelligently with people from all walks of life: 

When our late beloved Queen was a young girl, many interesting people were introduced to her that she might talk with them––great travellers, men of science, inventors, soldiers, sailors. She had already read and thought about the subject each was interested in, so she was able to converse with them with pleasure and profit both to herself and to them. If you know something of botany, a botanist will care to talk to you about his subject; something of history, a historian will do the same. If you know nothing of his subject, you may be in company with the greatest poet or adventurer or painter, and be able to talk only about the weather. This is well understood among royal and other great people, who, it is said, get most of their knowledge at first hand. They learn about recent discoveries in astronomy from the astronomer who is engaged upon them, about evolution from such an one as Darwin, and so on. We are sometimes inclined to envy the great their opportunities for first-hand information; but let us remember that to profit by the talk of even the most able persons implies a twofold preparation which princes and their like acquire at a cost of diligent labour that would surprise most young people. They bring two things as their share of the talk––cultivated and intelligent minds, and a pretty thorough knowledge of a great range of subjects. With the same equipment we, too, should make the most of our opportunities of talk, and it seems to me that people always get what they are really ready for. (CM Vol 4 Ourselves Page 74) 

Here we can see the power with knowing a lot about a variety of things: it opens up doors for us to relate even to the best minds in our time.  

A Wide Curriculum Opens Doors 

From these points, we see that giving our children a wide curriculum has serious advantages, not just in terms of academic learning but even in the way they relate to other people, now and even in adulthood. As such, it’s crucial that we pay close attention to the variety of subjects we offer as a feast in their weekly lessons. 

If you would like to see a sample of how we practically apply a wide curriculum, take a look at our Charlotte Mason International Curriculum Guide, with a free download at the bottom of the Product Description Page. The guide includes space for implementing the “riches” such as folk songs, hymn study, picture study, composer study, and others.