News Detail
Charlotte Mason: Sum, Possum, Debeo, Volo
Last week, we learned about the new virtues on the walls of the classrooms. There are the three theological virtues, Faith, Hope, Love, and the four cardinal virtues, Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance. Last Friday, Miss Porter gave an excellent talk on faith and its both personal and communal importance.
Today, I’m writing about a woman who wrote about joy in education and influenced the habit formation we pursue here at JH Classical Academy. She celebrated the truth that every single one of us in this room is created in the image of God. The insight that we are image bearers and image restorers makes such a difference in a school!
Last week, we learned about the new virtues on the walls of the classrooms. There are the three theological virtues, Faith, Hope, Love, and the four cardinal virtues, Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance. Last Friday, Miss Porter gave an excellent talk on faith and its both personal and communal importance.
Today, I’m writing about a woman who wrote about joy in education and influenced the habit formation we pursue here at JH Classical Academy. She celebrated the truth that every single one of us in this room is created in the image of God. The insight that we are image bearers and image restorers makes such a difference in a school!
Charlotte Mason was born in Wales, which was a part of the west of England in 1842. This period of time is called the Victorian era because Queen Victoria was the queen of England. In fact, the only monarch of England who reigned longer than Victoria is the current Queen Elizabeth II, who is Victoria’s great-great-grand-daughter.
Education in the Victorian Era days was class based. That means that poor children would not be able to go to school. Poor children worked in physical labor at a very young age. For instance, the famous novelist Charles Dickens had to work at a factory starting at the age of seven. Only wealthy children could go to school to learn Latin, music, and art.
Schools for those wealthy kids, though, were harsh on their students, similar to how work was for others. Students were often paddled and sometimes even switched for not knowing their Latin conjugations, or for making errors on their math problems. Can you imagine that?
Charlotte Mason spent her whole life in these schools either as a student or teacher. When she was ten, both her parents died leaving her as an orphan. She was sent to girls’ boarding school, as she had received a scholarship. After graduating with honors, she became a teacher for over ten years.
Charlotte Mason was such a good teacher with so many ideas that she began to write books and became a lecturer at a teacher’s college to help train other teachers. Her philosophies were revolutionary for her period, although they were based on classical philosophers and the Bible.
Charlotte wanted children not just to be good students, but flourishing people. Here is a quotation:
“Our aim in education is to give a full life. We owe it to them to initiate an immense number of interests. Life should be all living, and not merely a tedious passing of time; not all doing or all feeling or all thinking - the strain would be too great - but, all living; that is to say, we should be in touch wherever we go, whatever we hear, whatever we see, with some manner of vital interest.”
She believed that the best education trains the whole person—mind, body and spirit—and gives a child the opportunity to really live. For her, being in school was not just about getting good grades, but learning how to be a young man or woman full of life.
There are a few ways in which she proposed this could be done. First, she recommended that students read literature that was beautiful and that sparked the imagination. Next, she emphasized the development of good habits so that doing the right thing becomes second nature to us all. Lastly, she urged that students spend as much time as possible outside. “Never be indoors when you can rightly be without,” she once wrote.
As you might already guess, JHCA tries to incorporate these principles into our policies and procedures. You all get to read an exciting list of great books. The teachers lead nature studies in science and try to bring you outdoors to observe nature. All of us -- students and teachers alike -- try to create good habits so we can live fully.
Charlotte Mason’s philosophy can be summed up by the Latin motto above the main door to the school. It reads: Sum, Possum, Debeo, Volo. I am, I can, I should, I will. This phrase summarizes the Charlotte Mason philosophy and helps us to organize our minds towards the habit of making good choices in our actions. It is simple, yet profound.
We will unpack that statement further, but today I wanted to share about an educator who has influenced methods we use at this school, and the why behind them too.
Have a wonderful week!
Come visit us!
Physical Address:
2500 S. Park Loop Rd.
Jackson, WY 83001
2500 S. Park Loop Rd.
Jackson, WY 83001
Contact Us
Enrollment Inquiries:
Lisa Landis, Admissions
(307) 201-5040
All Other Inquiries:
School Office
(307) 201-5040
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 7466
Jackson, WY 83002
Follow us on Facebook
LANGUAGE
© 2025 Jackson Hole Classical Academy. All Rights Reserved.
Nondiscrimination Policy: Jackson Hole Classical Academy admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. Jackson Hole Classical Academy does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.