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Charlotte Mason Math involves a lot of oral work, where you ask your child a certain math problem or question and that child responds orally. And as the child progresses, you can get more and more involved in those oral questions. But what do you do if that child is having a hard time remembering all of the numbers that are involved in that question? We’re going to talk about that today. Joining me today is my friend and coworker, Richele Baburina.
Sonya: Richele, we are going to talk about oral work in the Charlotte Mason Elementary Arithmetic Series and how it’s a great idea, but it also requires a lot of the student.
Richele: It does.
Sonya: Talk a little bit about that, would you?
Richele: All right. So in Book 1 especially, when your children are meeting the numbers 1 through 100 and once we get to the 20s, or maybe it’s 30 through 100, we’re taking 10 numbers at a time. We’re taking 30 through 39, say. And we give a week, 10 days, maybe more; it’s dependent on the child, but we have oral work with these larger numbers. Now, Charlotte Mason loved to use arithmetic as a means of habit training, and some of those habits are attention and concentration. And so we want to nurture our children to be able to pay enough attention to the question at hand that they are eventually able to keep those numbers in their minds. At the same time, they are deciding, what am I going to do with these numbers? Am I going to be adding or subtracting? They have information being given to them that they have to work with.
We want to nurture our children to be able to pay enough attention to the question at hand that they are eventually able to keep those numbers in their minds.
Sonya: And that can be challenging as adults, even. I think the term is working memory. It’s one of those executive skills—keeping in your mind the information that you need for what you’re doing at hand. It can be a challenge, but I love how Charlotte talked about how it’s a growth process.
Richele: It is a process.
Sonya: So that’s what we are trying, as you said, to nurture in our children. So how do we work with children who are struggling, who have not yet developed that habit? Where they’re still trying to keep the numbers in their heads, and sometimes they can’t remember the numbers, but they know the concepts? They know what they’re supposed to do, but it’s “Where’s the number I was supposed to do?” It could get very frustrating.
Richele: It could. We don’t want to lead our children into frustration as they are unraveling the mysteries of 30 through 39. These are new friends that they’re meeting. And so we never want to push them so far out of their comfort zone that they feel defeated.
Sonya: So what are some things that parents can do to encourage them to keep a positive attitude about it and to respect their children as they are putting forth effort, but just not up to the point yet where perhaps we expected?
Richele: So one thing I want to make clear is that when you are publishing a math textbook, there is only so much room you have. So we have given a certain amount of problems with manipulatives and a certain amount of problems without manipulatives. And that does not mean that that is all your children need. Your children might need more questions with manipulatives before moving on. So you can use those questions we’ve provided, if your children still need to be using manipulatives, to grab, say, three 10-bundles, and to undo 10-bundles and take out seven units. They are allowed to do that. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Each child will work individually at his own pace. And there is also nothing wrong with either them or you writing those numbers down on the dry erase board or on a piece of paper until they are able to hold those numbers in their minds. Sometimes it’s only a matter of weeks before they are able to do this and they have that comfort. It’s astounding, their growth at this time, their mental growth. So we never want to leave them in this place of frustration. While also, we’ve talked about this before, we do want them putting out daily mental effort.
Your children might need more questions with manipulatives before moving on. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Sonya: So in the case of working in the 30s, for example, when you get to the 30s, your child should have already found a level of comfort and fluency with 0 through 29. So as you’re working with this new concept in the 30s, perhaps you are writing the numbers on the whiteboard for him as he works with that. But when it comes to the mental math and the review part, he might be able to hold those friends that he has already made acquaintance with in his mind. So it’s not going to be an all-or-nothing thing either.
Richele: Right. Not at all. Many times in our mental math time, we’re working with smaller numbers. That’s partially a review. It also helps them to speed up; it’s nurturing habits of concentration, things like this. So, you could do more while they are working with the new numbers that they’re meeting. There are also number cards, if you have the kit that goes along with Book 1, so they could grab those numbers out while you say them aloud. Or once you’ve said the problem, you can write the numbers down for them to look at. But this is different than offering a crutch, because this is where they are mentally as we continue to help their growth mentally.
Sonya: Charlotte was very much about: Use the manipulatives until you don’t need them anymore. Then we put them aside. And I see this as an extension of that concept. Right? So it is supporting the child, but again, not making it a crutch. When they’re ready, we set it aside.
Richele: And they will usually set those manipulatives aside first. They’re not bound to them, but it’s also never a big deal to get them back out if you need to.
Sonya: And a lot of that has to do with the atmosphere, the attitude that is pervasive in that lesson, isn’t it? How can we encourage our students? What I’m hearing is we can let them use manipulatives. We can write it for them if they need it. And we need to use the curriculum to teach the child, not teach the curriculum only and follow it, verbatim, only do this. We need to use it to help the child. Those are great tips, but also our attitude in the moment is what I think is going to help that child either feel a sense of defeat or a sense of well-being.
Richele: We never want to hurry or worry our children. We want them to know that they have these tools at their disposal, as needed. And if they don’t need those tools anymore, then they can put them away. They aren’t forced to continue to use them either. I want to share a quote by Irene Stevens, who was the teacher of mathematics at Charlotte Mason’s training college. So again, she taught the teachers how to teach. One thing she said is:
“It is impossible to lay down rigid rules about the amount of ground to be covered in a given time because each child must work at this subject individually and at his own pace, provided that he does the work.”
So we never want to push our child beyond their ability, while also letting them exercise their mental growth, their mathematical thinking; exercise their brain, to maybe give something challenging a try.
Sonya: It can be tempting when you see your child struggling with something to give them too much help and to actually do it for them. And I love how Irene knew about that tendency and said, “The child must do the work.” That is a key in these lessons.
Richele: We have spoken before about the teacher, our role as a parent-teacher, as the guide. And this last year, I was co-leading a first-day hike. First-day hike is one where it’s your first hike of the new year. And we had 25 people sign up for this hike. And I was co-leading it with a Marine. And we were going to be going up a mountain. And before we began, he asked this group of people of varying ages, varying skill levels. He said, “Who here thinks that they might have a harder time with this hike than others, or might be slower than others?” And so the person that raised their hand, or I think there might have been a couple, but he picked one. And he said, “All right, you come up to the front.” So that person never felt behind. That person was setting the pace. And so, with our children, they get to set the pace. We ensure that they have daily living math lessons. But this will be at their pace.
Sonya: That’s a wonderful mental picture to keep in our heads that will help us keep a good atmosphere in the lessons as well. All right. Thank you so much.
Richele: You’re welcome.
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