On Teaching Math: An Introduction

Welcome to A Mother’s Thinking Love: Living Ideas, Lovingly Shared! As we began homeschooling nearly nine years ago, it was easy for me to understand teaching from a Charlotte Mason philosophy. It was easy in almost every way, except with math. But, by using my background and continuing to read about educational philosophy, I found a way through the early years. As we enter Year 8, I’ve been reflecting on that journey and decided to share a bit about it. Join me for: “On Teaching Math: An Introduction”

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My Own Math Education

Before I get started, I want to preface this by saying: I was NOT a natural math student. I struggled with math from my earliest memories of it all the way through my college days. I did not take delight in math. I could not see beauty in it. I didn’t really even understand what I was doing except memorizing steps and trying to pass tests. Sometimes, when we hear someone excited about math, it’s easy to assume they’ve always enjoyed, or been “good” at, it.

I was, by nature, a reader. I loved books. I loved reading. I always carried an extra book with me. I think this habit started in middle school. If we had free time in class, I was likely the read instead of socialize. Given that background, you may be wondering why I’m writing about teaching math now.

Teaching Math: The Early Days

After high school, I went on to college to pursue a bachelor’s degree in PreK-3rd grade education. My first teaching job was a 3rd grade language arts position. At this school, subjects were departmentalized starting in the 3rd grade. The next year, my second year of teaching, I moved to a new position at the same school: 3rd grade math. I taught three classes of third graders each day. This added up to about 60-70 students each day.

Remember, I struggled with math in elementary school. Of course this was just 3rd grade math, so no big deal – right? I’m sure most homeschool moms here can relate to my anxiety over teaching math, even at the third grade level. BUT, I would have a teacher’s guide, textbooks, and workbooks provided by my district, so it would be fine.

Well, I didn’t actually have any of those things. Other than state standards, I had no books to guide me. Thankfully, it all was fine eventually. Looking back, I can see that this lack of resources was a blessing. It was a blessing to my students, and myself, 12 years ago and it has continued to be a blessing in our homeschool. Although I didn’t have any books, I had something, no, someone, better: a mentor.

I was hired for my original 3rd grade position to take the place of a teacher who had been hired for a brand new job within the district: math coach. My first year teaching math was her second year as a math coach. She needed teachers to coach, and I desperately needed help.

Learning to Teach from Principles

My mentor did not write my lesson plans or give me lists of things to do. There was still no curriculum or pacing guide. She gave me some books, some ideas, a couple of ideas for beginning, and told me to start teaching. She checked-in with me, gave me feedback, and even taught a few demonstration lessons in my class, but she pushed me to learn about the philosophy behind teaching math. She taught me how to teach from principles. She showed me that when you understand the subject and have a philosophy, you don’t need a teacher’s guide, textbooks, and workbooks. This lesson helped me get started, but it also shaped the way I approached homeschooling a few years later. It wasn’t easy, but she knew I could do it. More importantly, she knew how critical my own education was.

Philosophy & Principles

While I won’t mention them by name here, the books she gave me talked about teaching math in a way that was new to me. (I’m not mentioning them by name here because I did not adhere to their methods explicitly and don’t want to misrepresent the authors’ works.) It was nothing like my own math education. Although it was very different, this approach made sense to me. Over time, as I gained experience and kept learning, I found that I absolutely enjoyed teaching math.

Even better, my students enjoyed being in my classroom. They were lovely days. Philosophy and principles were my guides. When I began teaching 4th grade at another school, the philosophy and principles followed me. After four years, two grade levels, and two schools of teaching math, I was finally taking delight in math. I talked about math outside of school. I noticed patterns in the world. Finally I was a happy math student, and it only took twenty years.

Applications to Homeschooling

After all of the talk of classroom teaching, you may be wondering when I am going to begin discussing math in home education. It is coming, I promise! I wanted to share this background to give context to my future writing. When I began learning about Charlotte Mason’s educational philosophy, I found that my approach fit within it. Through the work of Amanda Faus, I was introduced to John Senior. As I read his work, and others in the same vein, I found encouragement to continue “doing things differently” even in middle school and beyond.

I will try to have my next blog post out as quickly as possible, but, in the meantime, I hope you have enjoyed reading: “On Teaching Math: An Introduction”! How is math going in your homeschool? Let me know in the comments below!