{"id":2574,"date":"2025-06-27T09:29:58","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T13:29:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/?p=2574"},"modified":"2025-06-27T16:41:22","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T20:41:22","slug":"a-lifelong-student-of-charlotte-mason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/a-lifelong-student-of-charlotte-mason\/","title":{"rendered":"A Lifelong Student of Charlotte Mason"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row_content&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;true&#8221; custom_padding_t=&#8221;30&#8243; custom_padding_b=&#8221;30&#8243; row_hide_sm=&#8221;yes&#8221; row_hide_md=&#8221;yes&#8221; row_hide_xs=&#8221;yes&#8221; css_zindex=&#8221;999&#8243; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1706567709549{background-color: #faf5eb !important;}&#8221;][vc_column]<div class=\"templatera_shortcode\"><div class=\"container-fluid row_section vc_row_cp_lr_15 vc_row_cp_t_0 vc_row_cp_b_0\"><div  class=\"vc_row 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\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-1\/5 vc_column_container_6953aa4e54281589721411\" style=\"z-index:0\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner \"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t<div class=\"wpb_raw_code wpb_content_element wpb_raw_html\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"dropdown\">\n  <a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/homeschooling\/\"><button class=\"dropbtn\"><h5><p style=\"color:white;\">Homeschooling<\/p><\/h5><\/button><\/a>\n  <div class=\"dropdown-content\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/mentor-program\/\">Mentor Program<\/a>\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/homeschooling-costs\/\">Program Costs<\/a>\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/homeschool-curriculum-and-resources\/\">Curriculum & Resources<\/a>\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/homeschool-application\/\">Application<\/a>\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/homeschool-renewal-form\/\/\">Membership Renewal<\/a>\n  <\/div>\n<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-1\/5 vc_column_container_6953aa4e543a9051393288\" style=\"z-index:0\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner \"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t<div class=\"wpb_raw_code wpb_content_element wpb_raw_html\" >\n\t\t<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"dropdown\">\n  <a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/resources\/\"><button class=\"dropbtn\"><h5><p style=\"color:white;\">Resources<\/p><\/h5><\/button><\/a>\n  <div class=\"dropdown-content\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/resources\/\">Library<\/a>\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/charlotte-mason\/\">Charlotte M. Mason<\/a>\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/blog\/\">Articles & Magazine<\/a>\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/the-ambleside-difference\/\">Video Series<\/a>\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.sharepoint.com\/sites\/ASIAllMember\">Member Resources<\/a>\n  <\/div>\n<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row_content&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;true&#8221; custom_padding_t=&#8221;45&#8243; custom_padding_b=&#8221;45&#8243;][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/4&#8243;][vc_single_image source=&#8221;featured_image&#8221; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221; img_size=&#8221;stretch&#8221;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;30&#8243;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"90\" data-end=\"158\">Matt and Frances Wilcox with their daughters, Mary and Virginia.<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"160\" data-end=\"183\"><\/h3>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;30&#8243;][vc_separator width_in_percentages=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;30&#8243;][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]Browse more Ambleside Schools International <strong>Resources<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;30&#8243;][vc_separator width_in_percentages=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;30&#8243;]<div class=\"templatera_shortcode\"><div class=\"container row_section vc_row_cp_lr_15 vc_row_cp_t_0\"><div  class=\"vc_row wpb_row vc_row-fluid vc_column-gap-30 vc_row-6953aa4e547a3002071364\"   style=' text-align:left; z-index:0;'><div class=\"row-container container-fluid\"><div class=\"row-inner\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container vc_col-sm-12 vc_column_container_6953aa4e54893071050863\" style=\"z-index:0\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner \"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><div class=\"vc_custom_heading vc_custom_heading_6953aa4e54a6d630582975\" ><h5 style=\"font-size: 17px;color: #000000;text-align: left\"><span class=\"hilight\"  ><a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/resources\/\">Resource Library<\/a><\/span><\/h5><\/div><div class=\"vc_empty_space  vc_empty_space_2\"   style=\"height: 10px\" ><span class=\"vc_empty_space_inner\"><\/span><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"vc_custom_heading vc_custom_heading_6953aa4e54c1e215075827\" ><h5 style=\"font-size: 17px;color: #000000;text-align: left\"><span class=\"hilight\"  ><a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/charlotte-mason\/\">Charlotte M. Mason<\/a><\/span><\/h5><\/div><div class=\"vc_empty_space  vc_empty_space_3\"   style=\"height: 10px\" ><span class=\"vc_empty_space_inner\"><\/span><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"vc_custom_heading vc_custom_heading_6953aa4e54d39912022067\" ><h5 style=\"font-size: 17px;color: #000000;text-align: left\"><span class=\"hilight\"  ><a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/blog\/\">Articles<\/a><\/span><\/h5><\/div><div class=\"vc_empty_space  vc_empty_space_4\"   style=\"height: 10px\" ><span class=\"vc_empty_space_inner\"><\/span><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"vc_custom_heading vc_custom_heading_6953aa4e54e47072229122\" ><h5 style=\"font-size: 17px;color: #000000;text-align: left\"><span class=\"hilight\"  ><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amblesideschools.com\/main\/educator-support\" target=\"_blank\">Members<\/a><\/span><\/h5><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;3\/4&#8243;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/blog\/\"><span style=\"color: #003865;\">&gt; Return to Articles<\/span><\/a><\/h4>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;30&#8243;][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;A Lifelong Student of Charlotte Mason&#8221; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h1|font_size:30|text_align:left|color:%23020202&#8243;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;30&#8243;][vc_separator width_in_percentages=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;30&#8243;][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]<span data-contrast=\"none\">You might say that Matt Wilcox has been a student of <a href=\"https:\/\/amblesideschools.org\/charlotte-mason\/\">Charlotte Mason<\/a> all his life.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Homeschooled in his earliest years according to Charlotte Mason\u2019s philosophy; educated at an Ambleside school from 2nd through 8th grade; brought up by a mother and father who served as Ambleside Principal and School Chaplain, respectively; and now teaching 9th grade in an Ambleside classroom \u2014 Charlotte Mason is part of Matt\u2019s DNA.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Matt remembers, \u201cMy mom [Ginnie Wilcox] was an avid student of Charlotte Mason, so much so that whenever she was demoralized by the challenges of life raising five children, my dad would say, \u2018Go read Charlotte Mason.\u2019 And this rejuvenated her.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">For Matt, the most enduring fruit of this immersion in Mason\u2019s worldview was the belief in his own innate value as a person. He remembers having this conviction even as a child. Because the discussions in his Ambleside classrooms were always student-driven, Matt internalized the idea \u2014 \u201cThey want to hear my thoughts, therefore my ideas must be valuable, therefore I must be valuable.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u00a0\u201cI had an immense respect for people,\u201d Matt declares. \u201cWhen something impinged on the respect of persons, I noticed and saw it as a significant problem.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">After graduating from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ambleside.org\/\">Ambleside School in McLean<\/a>, Matt entered a traditional Christian high school. In his classes, he perceived that his thoughts and ideas were not valued. This was a very different atmosphere from that in which he had been brought up.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u201cI got the message that what mattered most was what the teacher thought about the literature, history, or ethics being studied,\u201d he said. \u201cLack of interest in student thought made me angry. I perceived the expectation to be, \u2018Listen and regurgitate. Don\u2019t think. Listen and memorize.\u2019 There was little freedom to engage with the ideas that authors presented.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">While Matt recognized that his teachers had only good intentions, even as a ninth grader, he found this treatment demeaning. And he admits he didn\u2019t respond well at first. In due time, he learned to play the game, as was expected of him. He also became more keenly aware of the gift he had been given in an Ambleside education.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Matt\u2019s decision to become a teacher was a \u201cslow burn,\u201d as he named it.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Having inherited his parents\u2019 passion for education, while in college, he pondered all his parents had shared about teaching and leading an Ambleside community. Still, his only plan after graduating from George Mason University was to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, starting in Mexico and ending in Canada. He would figure out the rest of his life from there.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Providentially, mid-hike, Maryellen St. Cyr emailed him about an open teaching role at an Ambleside school. She wrote, \u201cYou can learn how to ski. And I hear there\u2019s some attractive single women on staff.\u201d <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">He decided to try it for a year.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u201cEach year I asked myself, \u2018Should I do this for one more year?\u2019 And then after three or four years, it became clear that teaching is my calling.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Now that Matt is discipling students in his own classroom, he wants to impart to them love for a vast array of relationships with diverse persons and things. Mason says that one of the best indicators of intelligence is the number of things about which one is curious. That\u2019s what he wants for his students.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u201cIn a utilitarian, secular view of education,\u201d Matt explains, \u201cthe implicit assumption is that the purpose of education is essentially to make me of use for my career. Charlotte Mason would disagree with that. And I think Scripture disagrees. The purpose of education is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind and strength\u2026\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u201cAnd that applies to all areas that He has created.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Matt is now in his eighth year of teaching in Ambleside schools. He shares his passion for a living education with his wife, Frances, a former Ambleside teacher whom Matt met during college when she joined the Ambleside McLean teaching staff. She was hired by Matt\u2019s mom.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u201cWhen I started teaching full-time at Ambleside, I would call Frances and pretend I was asking for teaching tips,\u201d Matt admitted, laughing.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">After six years and \u201ca couple of dates that weren&#8217;t dates,\u201d he asked her out on a real date. It went well. They now have two young daughters, Mary and Virginia, and Matt considers this season one of the best of his life.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u201cI think we have a tendency to yearn for the future \u2026 whatever it is, there&#8217;s always something. But I think when I&#8217;m retired, I&#8217;m going to be thinking back longingly on these moments. It&#8217;s a very sweet and special time right now.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4>About Matt Wilcox<\/h4>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Matt Wilcox studied Economics at George Mason University, where he received a Bachelor of Science, and he has since completed Ambleside Schools International\u2019s Master Teacher Training Program. Matt was homeschooled using Charlotte Mason\u2019s methods before entering an Ambleside school in Virginia from 2nd through 8th grade. His childhood memories include nature painting in the woods behind his home and reading and narrating Treasure Island in the living room. Those early years fostered a deep love of the outdoors, so after college, Matt worked as a backpacking guide in New York before hiking the Pacific Crest Trail with a friend. He\u2019s been an Ambleside teacher since 2016 and loves the Ambleside mission that proclaims education is a life.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\"><\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;30&#8243;][vc_separator width_in_percentages=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_raw_html]JTVCeWFycHAlNUQ=[\/vc_raw_html][\/vc_column][vc_column][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You might say that Matt Wilcox is a lifelong student of Charlotte Mason \u2014 living out her ideas at home, at school, and in his work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2575,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[66,157,12],"tags":[77,88,224,76],"class_list":["post-2574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ambleside-magazine","category-inspiration","category-philosophy","tag-alumni","tag-charlotte-mason","tag-lifelong-student","tag-testimony"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - 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