Ambleside Preparatory Academy aims to accept the truth and educate under the principle that people are made in the image of God. Our school follows the principles of Charlotte Mason, a revolutionary British Educator who stood against utilitarian education and provided students with a living education. “Charlotte saw children as thinking, feeling, human beings, with spirits to be kindled and not vessels to be filled.”John Thorley, Principle of Charlotte Mason College.  

 

Charlotte trusted God’s guidance and spent 63 years devoted to the education of not only children but also adults. She attended a teacher-training college, became a senior governess, trained teachers, and wrote many geography books. She continued her work opening her House of Education and later the Parents National Educational Union, training many teachers and educating many children. She would leave her legacy behind with her 6 volumes, which explain her theories of education. 

 

"A living education seeks to grow the whole person, celebrating life and, in all ways, acknowledging our creator as the ultimate teacher of knowledge. This wise truth should cause us to wonder: what does it mean for a person to be truly educated? The question is not — how much does the youth know? When he has finished his education, but how much does he care? And about how many orders of things does he care?"

— Charlotte Mason (School Education). 

 

At Ambleside Preparatory Academy, we are presenting them with as many ideas as possible so that they may learn to care about many things. 

 

 “The object of education is to put a child in living touch with as much as may be of the life of Nature and of thought…. a child has natural relations with a vast number of things and thoughts: so we must train him upon physical exercises, nature, handicrafts, science and art, and upon many living books….Add to this one or two keys to self-knowledge, and the educated youth goes forth with some idea of self-management, with some pursuits, and many vital interests.”

-Charlotte Mason

 

At Ambleside Preparatory Academy, we are committed to offering a liberal education.  This is offered through many different subjects such as Bible, Language Arts, History, Nature Study, Clay Modeling, Music, and Woodworking, to name a few. Children are given the opportunity to learn team participation with various sports teams and drama productions. Opportunities for service outside the classroom are of the utmost importance for the good of students and our community.

 

Throughout all subjects, children are allowed to make the information their own by telling what has been read, heard, or demonstrated. This is called narration. This is quite different from answering direct questions on the facts or answering multiple-choice questions. Rather, the students are asked to narrate what they know. The children enjoy this method and are delighted to tell what they know. Later, the child develops into writing their narrations. To continue the feast of ideas in a Charlotte Mason Education, copywork, or the transcribing of a well-written piece of literature, and dictation of passages from their books, is used to study language.  Memorization was used by Charlotte Mason not so much to assimilate facts, but to give children material to meditate or "chew" on, so her students memorized scripture and poetry.

​