What Are the Beauty & Truth Math Guides?
SCRIPTED CHARLOTTE MASON MATH LESSONS
The Beauty & Truth Math Guides are written as scripted conversations between teacher and student, informed by Charlotte Mason’s philosophy and method. The guides are designed to be used alongside different textbooks that are rich in mathematical thinking.
The goal is for parents and students to delight in exploring the beauty and absolute truth of mathematics as a reflection of God’s character.
OUR GUIDES + LIVING MATH TEXTBOOKS + MATERIALS
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A COMPLETE CHARLOTTE MASON MATH CURRICULUM
The Streams of Math
Arithmetic
Following Charlotte Mason’s streams of math, students solely focus on laying a solid math foundation in arithmetic through 4th grade. This stream slowly decreases in frequency beginning in 5th grade until it is just a once-a-week lesson through the end of high school.
The arithmetic stream includes arithmetic, consumer math, personal finance, and statistics.
Geometry
Starting in 5th grade, students begin doing once-a-week hands-on geometry exploration lessons that progress to formal high school geometry with formal proofs. The trigonometry taught in these courses merges into Algebra 2 in the upper high school years.
Algebra
In 6th grade, students begin a gentle introduction to the idea of using letters to represent numbers once a week. These lessons transition to high school algebra lessons, completed concurrently with high school geometry lessons.
Upper-Level Math Courses
The geometry and algebra streams merge together into Algebra 2. Upon the completion of Algebra 2, students are ready to study Pre-Calculus and Calculus (continuing the merging of algebra and geometry) or Statistics (the merging of algebra and arithmetic).
Coming Alongside Parents
Our curriculum is a commitment parents must make to walk alongside their students in their math journey. Our guides include special symbols to support time management and pacing.
- Grades 1-3 require the teacher’s full attention because lessons are primarily oral. The good news is that these lessons are also really short!
- In Grades 4-6, teacher-attentiveness begins to decrease as students can complete the “Student Response” assignment at the end of the lesson time independently. In Grade 6, one of the Intro to Algebra guide is written to the student to ease them into a new style of guide.
- In Grades 7+ all the guides are written to the student, and the teacher becomes more of a sideline cheerleader, primarily needed for just the teacher check-ins.
Scope & Sequence
The beauty of a Charlotte Mason math education is that it is not a one-size-fits-all curriculum. Mason’s schools noted in the math assignments that “Children should start work at a suitable place in the books set, and should work straight through them.”
There should be no gaps in the student’s knowledge. Students begin with what they know and advance from there.
Recommended Path
Our guides are scheduled so students can complete a college-level Calculus or Statistics course by senior year. Key prerequisites include
- Intro to Geometry, Year 1: After completing Arithmetic, Year 3 (5th grade or later).
- Intro to Algebra: After completing Arithmetic, Year 4 (6th grade or higher).
- Personal Finance & Consumer Math: After Arithmetic, Year 6.
- Statistics: After Algebra 2.
- Pre-Calculus: After Algebra 2 and Geometry.
Flexible Options
Thanks to Charlotte Mason’s streams of math, many paths exist to meet high school math requirements. Variations depend on when students begin geometry and algebra.
See our Scope & Sequence Options for additional possibilities. (The link will open a PDF document in a new tab.) The option variations are all based on when students begin the geometry and algebra streams of math.
We also have a custom DIY Scope & Sequence option to assist you with forecasting your student’s math courses. (The link will prompt you to create a Google Sheet copy of this file for your personal use in a new tab.)
The Infinitude of Math
The mathematics students learn through our curriculum is just a launching point for their education of life. We want them to care about and love math as a reflection of God’s truth and means to serve others.
Just as the Author of Mathematics, the Perfect Mathematician is infinite, so is math. It is humbling and encouraging that we will never know it all. He is the Creator and we are the creatures, limited and dependent upon Him. We will never come to the end of math!