This is my very first year to officially homeschool. We are currently using SCM’s Charlotte Mason math book 1. I really like it, but my 6-year-old is bored. He learned how to multiply at 4 1/2 simply by asking questions and applying them to his knowledge. Friday, after I could tell he was bored with the questions I was asking, I asked him a simple division question (6 divided by 3 – with no previous discussions on what division is), and he was able to figure it out, as well as several follow-up division questions, up through 25 divided by 5. I know this is not what Charlotte Mason advocated. It seems like she advocated taking it slower. But he is starting to push back when I pull out the math book, and I don’t want to squelch his curiosity or his mathematic abilities. I don’t really want to move to a workbook format, as we had that before we found SCM and he HATED it. He likes the form of manipulatives and oral work, it’s just too basic for him at this point. So do I start teaching higher math concepts, or try to just keep him with addition and subtraction and do larger numbers? Any suggestions (curriculum, other tactics, “just chill out”) would be appreciated! 🙂
I started using Caleb Gattegno materials last week. It is amazing! He uses Cuissenaire Rods and oral teaching. It is set up to introduce relationships between operations thus introducing fractions and algebra early. Arithmophobia no more .com is where I heard about it.
I bought the textbooks on Amazon. Some of his books are free online. I am supplementing with Miquon worksheets which are short, open-ended, and use rods sometimes.
Oh, that is so great to hear how your son has made these discoveries and has a somewhat innate understanding. As Monica said, we go at the child’s pace in mathematics. Just as you would slow down for some you will definitely be speeding up for others. The lessons should be lively, not too simple and challenge his thinking a bit while not so far beyond they create frustration or panic. I’ll try to get back on later to give you some exact page numbers of volumes for that if you like to have it from the source.
A suggestion might be to jump into the First or even Second Book of Strayer-Upton for a large bank of problems. The reprints have 3-4th grade in the red book and 5th-6th in the beige book. Wentworth-Smith books are another option and are free online. Neither texts are taken “as is” but both are easily adaptable to Mason’s methods.
An example of this from Strayer-Upton:
If you are teaching the reduction of improper fractions the stale way, you would go to your textbook and read “To reduce an improper fraction to a whole number or to a mixed number, divide its numerator by its denominator.” (p. 68 S/U Book 2) Have your child memorize the rule and do the problems.
Now, on to a more life-giving method which comes from using a problem on the next page:
If you have 3 quarters in one pocket and 2 quarters in another, how much money have you in all? Your child may be able to tell you this easily without even having money out but, if not, get some quarters out. Orally, this would be 3 quarters + 2 quarters = 5 quarters or 1 dollar and 1 quarter.
Show your child how it is written “3/4 + 2/4 = 5/4” . From previous math lessons and/or life your child knows a) that there are 4 quarters in 1 dollar and b) that line between the numerator and denominator is another way to express division (if not, you may work with exchanging quarters to dollars and back again first). Now, your child may work a few more problems orally and, if he is able, have him write down one after having solved it. At this point he may be able to tell you himself that he is dividing the numerator by its denominator and you have led him into the delectable land as he has discovered the rule for himself.
There is a private facebook group called “Charlotte Mason Math Together” of educators that uses her methods and whose children are at all different levels in math if you are interested.
I’d prefer always to discuss Mason’s living teaching of math and not get into Gattegno and cuisenaire rods since those do not line up with her methods. This article on everyday objects might help begin in that understanding.
Thank you so much, Richele! I so want him to discover these concepts on his own through experiences, but I am just not very experienced at facilitating that! I just requested to join the Facebook group. Thank you for the examples you gave – I will look up the Strayer-Upton books. I definitely need a guide, as I am NOT quite as mathematically inclined as my son, but I do want to do it the Mason way. I can’t wait for Volume 2 of your mathematics series to come out!
I definitely need a guide, as I am NOT quite as mathematically inclined as my son, but I do want to do it the Mason way.
Just keep in your mind that it’s okay if you need to bring in anything which works for you to teach as his mom (who’s not a trained mathematician), which challenges him, and keeps him loving to learn which may require you to veer away from CM methods, if not philosophy.
Don’t feel guilty if you need to do that; being a purist doesn’t work for everyone. Be encouraged that it’s okay to be eclectic. Different methods/philosophies work for different people, and at different times of their lives; for both teacher and student.
Thank you, Rachel! That is great encouragement! This being our first year, I am learning as I go and sometimes I get focused on one thing and forget to look up and see what else is around. I love the Charlotte Mason method, but I’m definitely not a purist at this point. Sometimes I feel bad about that, but it’s good to be reminded that it’s OK!
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