S7E93: The Beauty of Math in the Charlotte Mason Paradigm with Denise Gaskins
‘Two and two make four’ and cannot by any possibility that the universe affords be made to make five or three. From this point of view, of immutable law, children should approach Mathematics; they should see how impressive is Euclid’s ‘Which is absurd,’ just as absurd as would be the statements on a man who said that his apples always fell upwards, and for the same reason. The behavior of figures and lines is like the fall of an apple, fixed by immutable laws, and it is a great thing to begin to see these laws even in their lowliest application.
Charlotte Mason, Philosophy of Education, Book 1, p. 152
Show Summary:
- On The New Mason Jar podcast this week, we bring you a conversation Cindy and Dawn had with Denise Gaskins, veteran homeschool mom of five and math coach
- How Denise first learned about Charlotte Mason
- What is the foundation of mathematics in Charlotte Mason’s educational philosophy?
- What Denise’s mathematics background is and how she taught math with her own children
- How do captain ideas apply to the subject of mathematics?
- What can parents do when we feel ill-equipped to teach math in a CM way?
- How can we bring curiosity to our mathematics exercises?
- How to bring the habit of attention to math through playful exploration
- What might it look like to set aside textbooks and play with math in the early years?
- Why it can be helpful to keep a math journal
- A little more about Denise’s favorite math games
Listen Now:
Books Mentioned:
Playful Math Books by Denise Gaskins
Find Cindy and Denise:
Cindy’s Patreon Discipleship Group
Mere Motherhood Facebook Group
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It is a great thing to be brought into the presence of a law, of a whole system of laws, that exist without our concurrence–that two straight lines cannot enclose a space is a fact which we can perceive, state, and act upon but cannot in any wise alter–should give to children the sense of limitation which is wholesome for all of us, and inspire that sursum corda which we should hear in all natural law.
Charlotte Mason, Philosophy of Education, Bk. 1, p. 231
