Charlotte Mason famously stated that parents and teachers have three instruments available to educate children: atmosphere, discipline, and life.

What did Charlotte mean by "atmosphere?" She explains: “When we say that "education is an atmosphere," we do not mean that a child should be isolated in what may be called a 'child-environment' especially adapted and prepared, but that we should take into account the educational value of his natural home atmosphere, both as regards persons and things, and should let him live freely among his proper conditions. It stultifies a child to bring down his world to the child's level.”

In this episode I discuss why children learn better when in mixed-age classrooms, and what they learn from the natural relationships of their family and community. Finally, I discuss how children form a relationship with God and how we can nurture an atmosphere that invites the Spirit.