Waldorf vs Charlotte Mason Homeschooling: Differences and How to Combine Them

Waldorf and Charlotte Mason agree on more than most homeschool methods do. Both wait until about six for formal lessons. Both send children outdoors for hours and value fairy tales and handwork. The difference is in how a lesson happens. In Waldorf, the parent tells a story and the child works it into pictures and a main lesson book they make themselves. In Charlotte Mason, the parent reads from a well-written book and the child tells it back, which Mason called narration. Their roots differ too. Waldorf comes from Rudolf Steiner's anthroposophy, and Charlotte Mason wrote as a Christian. Many families combine the two.

Where each one comes from

Charlotte Mason (1842 to 1923) was an English educator. She founded the House of Education in Ambleside in 1891 to train governesses, and her Parents' National Educational Union spread her methods to homes and schools. She wrote a six-volume Home Education series, and the first volume is free to read online at AmblesideOnline. Her ideas became especially influential among Christian homeschoolers.

Rudolf Steiner (1861 to 1925) was an Austrian philosopher. In September 1919, Emil Molt, director of the Waldorf-Astoria cigarette factory, asked him to open a school in Stuttgart for the children of the factory workers. That was the first Waldorf school. Today there are about 1,100 Waldorf schools and over 2,000 kindergartens around the world.

The two never worked together, but they were writing in the same decades, and both wanted children spared dull books and early pressure.

When does formal learning start?

At about six, in both.

Mason wrote that until a child is six, he should narrate only when and what he has a mind to. Her plan for regular lessons, from picture study to narration, begins "as soon as they are six". AmblesideOnline follows this and usually begins Year 1 once a child has turned six.

Steiner described the first seven years as a time of imitation and example. Before the change of teeth, he said, a young child learns by copying the people around them, so the adults' job is to be worth copying. Waldorf grade 1 begins at six or seven, and the years before are for play and story. Our article on when a Waldorf child learns to read covers the Waldorf side in more detail.

The small difference comes after that. Mason expected a seven-year-old to have begun reading for himself, and she taught reading through whole, interesting words like "robin redbreast". Waldorf teachers begin with letters in the first months of grade 1, and AWSNA says children read printed books in the second half of grade 2.

Fairy tales and living books

Both love a good story, and both dislike what Mason called "twaddle", the thin, talked-down writing children are often given.

In a Waldorf kindergarten, the teacher often learns a story by heart and tells the same one, the same way, for a few weeks. In grade 1, fairy tales are the heart of the year. Letters grow out of the stories: an S becomes a snake, a W holds a hidden wave. Steiner wrote that what works through pictures and allegories is right for a child of this age.

Charlotte Mason wanted "delicious fairy tales" too, along with legends and history. But she read them from the book, in the author's own words. Her followers call these "living books": whole books full of real ideas, not textbook summaries. AmblesideOnline's Year 1 list includes Andrew Lang's Blue Fairy Book, with Grimm and Andersen as alternatives.

So the real difference is small and worth noticing: a Waldorf story comes through you, and a Charlotte Mason story comes through the book.

Narration and the main lesson book

This is where the two feel most different on an ordinary morning.

In Charlotte Mason, the child listens to one reading, once, then tells it back. Mason believed children narrate by nature, and that a single careful reading builds attention. She wrote that a narration lesson for a young child should take no more than a quarter of an hour. Written narration comes later, once the child writes with ease.

In Waldorf, the main lesson runs in blocks of three to five weeks on one subject. A new story or idea is given one day and left to rest overnight. The next day the child recalls it, often moves, paints or models it, and only then writes and draws it into a main lesson book. By the end of the block, that book is their own textbook.

Both ask the child to give back what they received in their own words. Mason does it by voice, straight away. Waldorf lets it sleep, then puts it through the hands first.

Nature study

Mason was firm on this. She asked for "four, five, or six hours" outdoors on every fine day from April to October for young children, and a nature diary from about six, painted with a brush. She taught colour mixing as a principle and then left the child to find the tint.

Many Waldorf schools spend a large part of the grade 1 day outside, and AWSNA says all sciences begin with simple nature experiences in the early grades. The Waldorf year also follows the seasons through its festivals, from Michaelmas to St John's. You can see them all on our festivals calendar.

If you love one habit from each, keep both: a Waldorf nature table indoors and a Mason nature diary outdoors.

Handwork and art

Here the two are close. Waldorf children often sand their own knitting needles in grade 1 and learn to knit, cast off and sew. Later come crochet, embroidery, socks and dolls. Painting is wet-on-wet watercolour, and form drawing prepares the hand for letters.

Mason's list of handicrafts for children under nine includes knitting "with big needles and wool", basket-work and easy needlework. She wanted real things made slowly and carefully, never "futilities" like paper mats. Her art lessons add picture study: one artist a term, with about six of their pictures studied quietly over the term.

Is Charlotte Mason religious? Is Waldorf?

Charlotte Mason is openly Christian. Her principles say there should be no separation between a child's intellectual and spiritual life, and that the divine Spirit is the child's continual helper. Bible stories are narrated alongside fairy tales from age six. AmblesideOnline says families of all beliefs use it, often substituting some books.

Waldorf has its foundations in anthroposophy, Steiner's spiritual philosophy. AWSNA describes Waldorf schools as non-sectarian, with no particular religious doctrine but a belief in a spiritual dimension to every person. Anthroposophy is the teacher's background, not a lesson for the children. The festivals have Christian roots, and grade 3 includes Old Testament stories as part of its curriculum. Critics argue that anthroposophy shapes more of the school than this suggests. Our article Is Waldorf religious? looks at both views.

In practice, families of many beliefs use both methods and adjust them to fit.

Which homeschool style is easier for parents?

Charlotte Mason usually asks for less preparation. The books do much of the teaching, lessons are short, mornings are for lessons and afternoons are free for games and play. Much of your job is to read good books aloud and listen.

Waldorf needs more from your own hands. You learn stories to tell, draw on the board or in the book, paint alongside your child and plan each block. Many parents find this is the part they love most, but it takes time, especially in the first year.

Starpath was made for that second kind of work. Its Waldorf-inspired blocks are written by Sophie, a Waldorf class teacher with more than 10 years' experience. Grades 1 to 3 are complete and grade 4 is being added, so you can spend your time telling the story, not writing it.

How families combine them

Most combined homeschools keep one method as the frame and borrow from the other. A common version looks like this:

1. Keep the Waldorf main lesson as the morning's heart: a verse, some movement, the story and the book.
2. Add Mason narration to your read-alouds. After a chapter of a good book, ask for it back in the child's own words. A few minutes is enough.
3. Take a Mason nature walk each week, with a nature diary and a small paint box.
4. Add picture study once a week: one artist for a term, one painting at a time.
5. Keep the Waldorf festivals to shape the year.

A few things need a choice. Fairy tales in Waldorf are usually told, and in Mason they're read. You can do both: tell the main lesson story and read other books aloud in the afternoon. If you use AmblesideOnline, expect its reading to arrive a little earlier than Waldorf does, and adjust the pace to your child.

If you're still weighing Waldorf itself, How do I know if Waldorf is right for my family? walks through the questions. And if Montessori is also on your list, see Waldorf vs Montessori.