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Mathematics was always one of my favourite subjects at school. I enjoyed puzzles and subjects with a fixed set of rules that could be learned and applied to practical problems. Unlike essay-based subjects, where marks might be deducted for leaving out one of many points or for not phrasing answers perfectly, maths felt fair and logical. Unfortunately, mathematics as a subject has never had a good reputation. Many parents inadvertently pass on their own loathing for maths to their children, or children hear from peers that “math is difficult,” “boys are better at maths than girls,” or “I can’t do maths.”...

  The McGuffey Eclectic Readers are a series of graded readers, that were widely used as textbooks in American schools from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century and are still used today in some private schools and homeschooling.  While researching available resources, we came across the McGuffey Readers and were pleasantly surprised to see how many supplementary resources were available that align with Charlotte Mason principles, incorporating copywork, dictation and narration. The Readers also cover all years from the first year your child learns to read all the way to your child's last year of schooling, a complete curriculum!  Between the Lines have...

When a child is first born, they already are a person with their own unique talents, abilities and personality. They are not a blank slate that will eventually develop into a person. Children should be cherished and valued for the person that they are and allowed to develop to their full potential. For this reason, we should not underestimate a child or lower our expectations of them. Charlotte Mason explained that although a child is born a person, they don't know much about the world yet, and so need to learn about the world. They also don't yet know how to...

A key part of the Charlotte Mason philosophy is for your child to learn to develop good habits over time. The reason behind this is because the more something becomes a habit, the less you need to think about it. If a child is regularly and consistently taught to behave in a disciplined and obedient way, it eventually becomes second nature to them, something they naturally do without thinking.  This is easier said than done of course! Charlotte Mason proposed a five stage process to help your child to learn good habits: Inspire: Motivate why the child should learn the good...

"We owe it to every child to put him in communication with great minds that he may get at great thoughts." is a well-known quotation from one of Charlotte Mason's volumes.  Charlotte Mason recommended that we expose our children to great artworks, great music, great poetry and great literature from an early age, so that they can use these as inspiration to go on to create great ideas of their own. This is why most Charlotte Mason curricula include subjects such as Composer Study or Musical Appreciation and Picture Study, with a large focus on well-written works of literature.  While being...