How & Why (Understanding Math)

In our search for a Charlotte Mason math education, we must take into consideration Mason’s approach to all learning, not just the things she said about math. We must be guided by the core principles of her philosophy, even in math

For instance, we must offer our students living ideas (not mere facts) in math, just as we do in literature and history.

Masons “20 Principles” outline the essentials of her educational philosophy. If we truly apply these principles to math, it can radically transform how we teach the subject.

Let’s examine a few of her principles in more detail…

Continue reading Charlotte Mason Math: Practice Your Principles

“The Principality of Mathematics is a mountainous land, but the air is very fine and health-giving. People who seek their work or play in this principality find themselves braced by effort and satisfied with truth.”

— Charlotte Mason, Ourselves

Charlotte Mason (1842-1923) was a British school reformer at the turn of the twentieth century, a contemporary of William James and John Dewey. She advocated strongly for poor children, arguing they were equally capable of learning a wide and liberal curriculum as were the children of privilege.

Mason believed that all children from the time they are born share a natural curiosity and hunger for learning, and the adult’s role is to spread a “wide and generous feast” of inspiring ideas.

She was also a homeschooling pioneer, and the homeschooling revival of the late twentieth century rediscovered and popularized her books. Many found her principles a refreshing balance to the dominant educational paradigm of pragmatism.

Continue reading Introduction to Charlotte Mason Math