All Roads Leading Back to Ray's Arithmetic

Since I have decided to use Charlotte Mason Method of Education and recommendations, due to her methods are aligned with my religious traditions as well as my husband's and I received the okay to use a Free Curriculum based on her works and PNEU schools from My Rabbi and Scribe, I decided to go back to using Ray's Arithemtic with my children. After doing much research and trying to find out what has changed in Charlotte Mason Educators circle inreference to math education recourses used. I found Richele's Math . Richele has done alarge amount of research On How Charlotte Mason Taught math in her schools and Home Education Curriculum. I also interested in the fact that Charlotte Mason Math curriculum that we know of today, is a Charlotte Mason math curriculum at all. Infact, there isn't a Charlotte Mason Math curriculum and there is definitely is not a Charlotte Mason math program out there that is True to her Methods, scope and sequence and recommendations. Richele tries her best to give us the closes thing we can get in this day and age.
She has not only read Charlotte Mason Home Education volumes to measure up what curriculum can be use that are available to pick from, which most of us have read. But, Richele has also went a step farther and actually looked through as much as possible the PNEU programs and seeking the books that Charlotte Mason used in her Schools and Home Education Programs. I also was interested in what we know of as "Living Math" or teaching math through math stories isn't a Charlotte Mason method of teaching math. It is actual far removed from her approach to teach math. I have found through more research on the topic Charlotte Mason and Math instruction, like a few Charlotte Mason educators and few Homeschool mom, are using Ray's Arithemtic to fit the bill in teach Math to their children using Charlotte Mason recommendations. And, now with Richele's Math handbook, Ray's Arithemtic has been used to meet Charlotte Mason's Math Scope and Sequence. Ray's Arithemtic is also a math book Richele uses with her own children with Strayer Upton Practical Arithmetic book set. I plan on purchasing the Strayer Upton Practical Arithmetic 3 book set, so that I may look these math books over. Using Ray's Arithmetic aren't new inrefernce meeting Charlotte Mason's Math approach, recommendations and her math scope and sequence. In 2010, Kathy at livington blogpot, took a stab at using Ray's New Primary Arithmetic with her children while aligning her book content with Charlotte Mason recommendation listed in Vol. 1 of her Home Education Series, while Richele was trying to meet Charlotte Mason recommendations while using Charlotte Mason Friendly Math Curriculum such as Math U See and Montessori Math Manipulatives. Kathy still uses Ray's Arithemtic but she also stated on the Ambleside Online forum that her husband had taken over the reins for math instruction and her children uses Khan Academy along with Ray's Arithemtic. She even toughes on how she puts Khan Recommendations for her children to use that are meets Charlotte Recommendations in her Khan coach account, instead of doing what Khan recommends the child to do next. I am also familiar with Khan academy because my two eldest children have used this program as well. But we have stopped using it. Now, on to why I am back to Ray's Arithemtic. When my son was 4 years old and before I heard of Charlotte Mason but just found out about Classical education, I discovered Ray's Arithemtic. I used the Electic Manual of Methods for Math and read over the section for reading and writing but hadn't used those section yet. I had been using my own method for read. This will be another post and from what I found out by reading Charlotte Mason approach to reading instruction, what I was doing by myself with out any help was pretty closes to what she was doing and avocating. The Electic Maunal of Methods is advocated to be used when using Ray's Arithemtic while follow Charlotte Mason recommendations by Kathy Livington instead of Ruth Beechick's Parent-Teach guide. I am not surprised. Yet you can still use it. But most mother using it is not pleased try to match up Ray's Arithemtic content with Charlotte Mason recommendations. I stopped using Ray's Arithemtic when my husband decided to place our son in school. The Principal of this school felt that our son should be learning math in a different way than what I was doing with Ray's Arithemtic. And other school principals talked about his ability to answer open ened questions. This is a requirement and because he was a boy and born in the summer, he wouldn't be able to answer open ended questions. Because my husband still toyed around with placing both my eldest children in school, I changed programs I was using. I started using Miquon Math and Gattegno math. My eldest who was 4 and doing math on a 3rd grade going into 4th grade math was proving He can answser open ended questions. But I was losing site on How I wanted him to be trained up. This is why I am back to square one. With using Ray's Arithmetic, our oldest son was progressing fast through the books and was on Intellectual arithemtic in first grade. Since my eldest is 9 years old now, we don't have the issue of placing him in school or the rest of our children for that matter. My husband sees the benefit of having our children trained up at home. He has stated, "Having the Children at home, makes us as a Family closer. The bond will forever be close.". I am trying to make sure our children are not only educated, but also their spiritaul needs are meet. I have been think of their character and how they will be trained up and sending them to anyone to be with for far more hours than I will not measure up. This is my responsibility. I am seeking well rounded children with high Spiritual and Moral developemnt. Righ now, our 9 year old is using Ray's Elementary Arithemtic and Ray's Practical Arithemtic while also working on Euclid's Geometry. With Euclid's Geometry, I will get a text I ran accross but I can't remeber the title right now, that uses origimi in addition to teaching Euclid's Geometry. Since my eldest hadn't done any paper sloyd. I am getiing him to work these Ray's Arithemtic because I want him to stay on track with the Math skills he has gained. Our seven year old will be using Ray's Intellectula Arithmetic and Ray's Practical Arithmetic, while also doing paper sloyd projects. Our 5 year old will be doing orally arithetic with The Electic Manual of Method and when he turns 6 we will cover most of Ray's Primary Arithemtic through the Electic Manual of Method and Charlotte Mason Recommendations and Scope and Sequence. He will also write in his math quad paper notebook.

More to come.

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