Ann

Hi everyone,

I came up against a situation that caused me to wonder what other 'unschooling moms' would do. My 12 year old daughter started a new software yesterday. It was one of the clue finders adventure games. In order to solve her puzzle, they were asking her to add fractions with unlike denominators and she had no idea how to do that. I'm watching her do the game, she was guessing and getting it wrong. I asked her if she wanted help. She said," no, I'm just going to play another game." I just said OK.

I've since been thinking. Should I show her how to add the fractions? Maybe let her know it is easily done on a scientific calculator? Discuss it within the context of her computer game or just say hey, did you know a calculator can do these kinds of problems? Or just do nothing at all and wait until she asks.

It doesn't come naturally for me to know what to do because I was a teacher in another life:0) and sometimes all that schooled training reverberates inside my head. Stuff like "if you had her in a math curriculum, she would know this" or the worst one in my head "schooled kids her age would be able to do this" I know these are not true statements, they just echo in my head sometimes. Anyone else struggle once in a while?
Ann


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Deb

--- In [email protected], Ann <ann_mv05@y...> wrote:
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> I came up against a situation that caused me to wonder what
>other 'unschooling moms' would do. My 12 year old daughter started
a >new software yesterday. It was one of the clue finders adventure
>games. In order to solve her puzzle, they were asking her to add
>fractions with unlike denominators and she had no idea how to do
>that. I'm watching her do the game, she was guessing and getting
it >wrong. I asked her if she wanted help. She said," no, I'm
just >going to play another game." I just said OK.
>
If she wasn't bothered by it at this time, leaving it be is fine.
Odds are that if she likes this game, she'll eventually want to know
how to manage things like this. There are some ways to work this
into other things - if you happen to be baking (not baking to make a
lesson but it is the holiday season and baking happens), and you
need to manipulate fractions, do it out loud, 'expose' your thought
processes so to speak "okay I'm making extras of the spritz cookies
so I need 1/2 C plus 1/3 C of brown sugar..."

This kind of talking to myself figuring is how DS (7 1/2)
absorbed/learned things like doubling fractions (we make lots of
cookies lol!) He was the measurer/recipe reader this past weekend
and I was the stirrer (cookie dough can get stiff and hard for him
to stir). We were making a double batch of choc chip cookies so we
could try out different varieties of chips (white choc swirl, pb
swirl, raspberry, and plain of course). He'd look at the recipe and
say "We need 1 C of flour because this says 1/2 C and we're doubling
it". When he got to the 3/4 C of sugar, that took a little
assistance so I told him to use the top number x 2 (which he knew
was 6) so it was 6/4. Then he just used the quarter cup scoop six
times as we talked about how 4/4 = 1 cup and that left 2/4 or 1/2 C
so the six 1/4 scoops is the same as one 1 C scoop plus one 1/2 C
scoop. (Personally, I'll often do the six 1/4 C scoops rather than
using two different measuring cups or use three 1/2 C scoops or
whatever - I try to minimize the amount of cleanup). The whole thing
took maybe 2 minutes and we moved on to the next item - which
happened to be 3/4C brown sugar - so he again did six 1/4C scoops
(sans discussion) and off we went.

--Deb

Danielle Conger

Ann wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>
> I came up against a situation that caused me to wonder what other
> 'unschooling moms' would do. My 12 year old daughter started a new
> software yesterday. It was one of the clue finders adventure games.
> In order to solve her puzzle, they were asking her to add fractions
> with unlike denominators and she had no idea how to do that. I'm
> watching her do the game, she was guessing and getting it wrong. I
> asked her if she wanted help. She said," no, I'm just going to play
> another game." I just said OK.

I would have done something similar, but maybe slightly different.

My kids consistently play computer games that are more advanced than
their age/ skill level--my 5 yo's favorite game is Ages of Mythology,
and it's amazing what he can do. The games that are "educational" can be
more tricky (I think) to figure out by trial and error because they're
designed to "teach" a particular skill, which means the goal is to get
kids to "practice" that skill. My kids like the Clue Finders games, but
also get frustrated because of this approach on some of the puzzles.

I would nonchalantly ask, "Would you like me to show you how to do
that?" and follow up with, "Okay, cool. Just let me know if you change
your mind." I'd want to leave the offer open without any pressure. I'd
want my kids to know that there's a resource available if they choose to
use it, basically. If you had thought of it in the moment, I think you
could have put out there, "I can show you how to do that pretty easily
on a calculator if you'd like."

I think the focus needs to be the Trust that kids know whether they are
ready for a particular skill and that they will come back to it when
they're ready for it, though maybe in a different form or from a
different angle. Then, when they do come back to it, they will have the
pathways and the connections available to make the skill/ knowledge
meaningful to them. If that Trust is your focus and the guide for your
actions, then the priorities are right, kwim? Let that Trust be your guide.

--
~~Danielle
Emily (8), Julia (6), Sam (5)
http://www.danielleconger.com/Homeschool/Welcomehome.html

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"With our thoughts, we make the world." ~~Buddha

Ren Allen

"I've since been thinking. Should I show her how to add the
fractions? Maybe
let her know it is easily done on a scientific calculator? Discuss
it within
the context of her computer game or just say hey, did you know a
calculator can
do these kinds of problems?"

Nah, she didn't have enough interest at the moment to want the
information. Letting her know there are easy options, like a
calculator is fine...but I don't think you needed show her how to do
it when she was ready to move on to another game.

Don't worry, she'll come across fractions naturally in life many
times. When it's important enough for her to understand the game,
she'll ask. As long as you're an open door, someone she trusts for
information (not for teaching) she'll know where to go when she's
ready.

Ren

Ren Allen

OR, (I just had another thought), would she have let you sit down and
play it with her?
It never hurts to offer assistance that way...sometimes I type for
Sierra when she's playing Kal Online, because she can't type fast
enough to talk with other players.

Ren