Kathy Hendler

I have a 15 year old son who has various medical problems. He loves to
learn, but does not understand math, money, or other related subjects.
One day, he can tell me what 2 + 2 is, but the next day it is gone. He
reads well, can play and work on the computer, PlayStation, etc. Do
any of you have ideas on making math interesting (?) enough to him? He
will be out in the world soon, and I don't want him to be unable to go
shopping or out to eat with friends and not know enough to pay or make
change. Help.

Thanks for your ideas.

Kathy

C Johnson

What about playstation or computer games. Some of the role playing games, like Oblivian, deal with money. Acquiring, spending, paying fines.

BB,
Chrissie

Kathy Hendler <misskathy@...> wrote:
I have a 15 year old son who has various medical problems. He loves to
learn, but does not understand math, money, or other related subjects.
One day, he can tell me what 2 + 2 is, but the next day it is gone. He
reads well, can play and work on the computer, PlayStation, etc. Do
any of you have ideas on making math interesting (?) enough to him? He
will be out in the world soon, and I don't want him to be unable to go
shopping or out to eat with friends and not know enough to pay or make
change. Help.

Thanks for your ideas.

Kathy






"All you have to decide is what to do with the time you have been given." Gandalf

---------------------------------
Don't get soaked. Take a quick peek at the forecast
with theYahoo! Search weather shortcut.

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Angela Shaw

I would think that helping him with the real life skills that he will need
would be your best bet. Does he have money that he is able to save and
spend? Can you get him his own checking account/atm card now and help him
learn to use quicken and balance his check book?



Angela Shaw

<mailto:game-enthusiast@...> game-enthusiast@...



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Robyn L. Coburn

<<<< >I have a 15 year old son who has various medical problems. He loves
to
> learn, but does not understand math, money, or other related subjects.
> One day, he can tell me what 2 + 2 is, but the next day it is gone. He
> reads well, can play and work on the computer, PlayStation, etc. Do
> any of you have ideas on making math interesting (?) enough to him? >>>>

Pam has a bunch of great links to math games:
http://homepage.mac.com/pamsoroosh/iblog/math/index.html .

I personally enjoy the Gnarly Math newsletter which is mostly reading, even
if a lot of the math is beyond me.
http://www.gnarlymath.com/gnarnews.html

<<<< He
> will be out in the world soon, and I don't want him to be unable to go
> shopping or out to eat with friends and not know enough to pay or make
> change. >>>>

This sounds like he is not been out in the world at all, but I'm guessing
that this isn't what you meant. I'm guessing you meant out in the world
without you. I would think going to places with you where money is real and
used would be helpful.

If he can't get his head around math yet, perhaps there are strategies and
tools that he can use to help him function well and enable him to do the
things he enjoys.

I have a friend who in his late thirties finally realised that he just
couldn't take care of his money properly, including managing to balance his
check book. He admitted it to himself and, painful as it was, found someone
to do that for him. He quite literally pays an accountant he trusts to do
all of his day-to-day financial management. He has his pay direct deposited,
his bills forwarded to the accountant's office, and uses credit cards to pay
for his daily expenses like gas for his car. In a way he has given over his
power, but it works for him and he told me he feels much better and more
secure than when he lived in confusion and fear about his money. I think he
has a budget for daily cash expenses. One tool that could help with that is
a refillable gift card that works like cash.

There are wallet cards that you can buy that are tip calculators. Instead of
having to work out what the tip should be in a restaurant, you just check
the card. If he had one of those, his friends would probably ask where he
got it.

You never have to make change at the store if you use a debit card.

One thing can be to choose one's friends wisely - for their tolerance and
kindness. It would sure be nice to be able to say, "Don't make me do the
math, just tell me what my share is" and not worry about getting ripped off.

Robyn L. Coburn

Julie W in AR

>>>>One tool that could help with that is
a refillable gift card that works like cash.

There are wallet cards that you can buy that are tip calculators. Instead of
having to work out what the tip should be in a restaurant, you just check
the card. If he had one of those, his friends would probably ask where he
got it.
<<<<<

Great ideas and a pocket calculator is everyone's friend.
I always have one with me and it has come in handy quite a few times.


Julie Woolfolk

www.damngoodvintage.com

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Gold Standard

>>I have a 15 year old son who has various medical problems. He loves to
>>learn, but does not understand math, money, or other related subjects.<<

I have an 18 yo who can spout off the ages of famous (and some not so
famous) musicians and actors based on knowing their birth years and doing
"the math" in his head quickly with the current date, but he does not
understand money, any written math calculations, or basic written math. He
too has had many medical problems and intrusive interventions.

For him, real life has been his best teacher. He has helped me pump gas and
we worked together to figure out the cost and gallon relationship, we have
paid for things together and then looked closely at the change together to
see if it was correct, we have measured things when needed, etc. Anything on
paper or on the computer don't seem to register. Forget word problems...his
brain just doesn't connect the story with any kind of calculations. If you
really want to know how long it will take the train traveling 70 miles per
hour with five 10 minute stops to get to Chicago, look at your ticket!
(that's what I imagine his answer would be to that question :o)

For us, unschooling has allowed MY mind to be open to what really makes
sense for my son...school can really get in the way of that!

Jacki

Gold Standard

>>I have an 18 yo <<

I felt a need to clarify that my ds's non-connectedness to math has nothing
to do with unschooling and lack of "teaching" math. He doesn't get
formalized math because he doesn't get formalized math. And it doesn't
really matter. It is a very small piece of life...he hasn't needed it at all
to live a full life.

Jacki

Kathy Hendler

Thanks for all of the great ideas for my son. Yes, he goes out with us
but gets so confused about paying for things that he doesn't want to do
it. He will pay and get change, but doesn't know if it is right or
not. I will try some of the ideas you have given. He does know how to
use a calculator, so that may help to have a pocket size for him.
Again, great ideas...

Kathy