Hi there! My eldest is six and we are in our first full year of CM homeschooling, but I have spent the past year doing a lot of learning about the CM methods. A great book to start with would be “For the Children’s Sake,” as well as Miss Mason’s original writings. Her emphasis before age six was on good habit-training at home, lots of time outdoors, and lots of reading of good books. In her writings, she does mention that children eager to learn before that age certainly shouldn’t be deprived of doing so, but that formal learning shouldn’t be the requirement until then. So with that in mind, if you little one is showing an interest in learning to read or practicing math, then go for it at a speed that feels right. But certainly don’t feel pressure to be doing anything formal in those areas yet.
For us, math and reading came naturally as we worked together at home and read together every day. My daughter entered her first year knowing how to read well and understanding numbers and basic concepts such as sequencing just by our day-to-day activities in the kitchen, grocery store, etc. Charlotte Mason famously declared education to be a way of life more than just something that happens in an isolated classroom. The play that happens in those early years is the best form of learning.
