News — lessons

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.”...

                  In most schools, children are required to spend an hour on average paying attention to a lesson focused on one subject area. At a certain point, most children start getting fidgety or bored, or their attention wanders off simply because the lesson is too long. Charlotte Mason believed that children should only be required to give focused attention to one subject for a short period of time, before taking a break or moving on to a different subject altogether.  For 6-year olds this meant lessons were generally no more than 15 minutes long. As the child got older...