Still Wrapping My Brain Around Unschooling
Amanda's Shoebox
Can you talk a little about the following part of this page http://sandradodd.com/timestables?
######################################################
Once a much younger Kirby wanted to walk to the corner store for a Dr Pepper. he asked what he could do to earn money. I whipped up a blank table with 1-9 across and 1-9 down, showed him what the multiplicatory deal was, and said I'd give him a penny a square.
"How much money will that be?"
"Same as the answer in this square," and I indicated the 9x9 square.
Marty was only four or five, but he wanted in on this money-making puzzle, so I made him one too.
######################################################
We're still very new to unschooling... what unschooling actually is changes a little bit in my mind each week.
The situation above seems like a very bad idea for new unschoolers. At what point, and in what situations, are learning prompts like the above a good idea? To be clear, I'm *not* looking for reasons to "prompt learning", I'm just trying to better understand unschooling.
Oh, and I just wanted to share that, 5 months into unschooling, my 10 year old, who has had a strong negative reaction in the past towards anything that has to do with reading and writing, wrote a short story yesterday about a picture she drew and posted on Google Buzz (similar to Facebook). There wasn't a single capitalized letter or punctuation mark in the story, but I couldn't help but feel joy that those negative feelings she has about reading/writing are starting to fade! :) I didn't make a big deal out of it, but did "Like it" (clicked the little "thumbs up" image below the post).
~ Amanda
######################################################
Once a much younger Kirby wanted to walk to the corner store for a Dr Pepper. he asked what he could do to earn money. I whipped up a blank table with 1-9 across and 1-9 down, showed him what the multiplicatory deal was, and said I'd give him a penny a square.
"How much money will that be?"
"Same as the answer in this square," and I indicated the 9x9 square.
Marty was only four or five, but he wanted in on this money-making puzzle, so I made him one too.
######################################################
We're still very new to unschooling... what unschooling actually is changes a little bit in my mind each week.
The situation above seems like a very bad idea for new unschoolers. At what point, and in what situations, are learning prompts like the above a good idea? To be clear, I'm *not* looking for reasons to "prompt learning", I'm just trying to better understand unschooling.
Oh, and I just wanted to share that, 5 months into unschooling, my 10 year old, who has had a strong negative reaction in the past towards anything that has to do with reading and writing, wrote a short story yesterday about a picture she drew and posted on Google Buzz (similar to Facebook). There wasn't a single capitalized letter or punctuation mark in the story, but I couldn't help but feel joy that those negative feelings she has about reading/writing are starting to fade! :) I didn't make a big deal out of it, but did "Like it" (clicked the little "thumbs up" image below the post).
~ Amanda
Sandra Dodd
-=-
The situation above seems like a very bad idea for new unschoolers. At
what point, and in what situations, are learning prompts like the
above a good idea? To be clear, I'm *not* looking for reasons to
"prompt learning", I'm just trying to better understand unschooling.-=
It wasn't "a learning prompt." It was something "to earn money." I
didn't want to pay them to do housework, that was for sure.
My kids hadn't been to school and so had no negative associations with
math, writing or reading.
It was just the goof of a moment, but it turned into a repeated game
and the boys LIKED it. Marty loved that he was quicker at it than
Kirby.
It might be "a very bad idea." I've had thousands of ideas, and some
have to be better than others.
Very good ideas for new unschoolers are here:
http://sandradodd.com/beginning
http://sandradodd.com/help
Should I not be truthful about how my kids learned things? I'm not
whitewashing my life, but I AM experienced with unschooling, and
didn't waver from that path from the very beginning. I've been asked
by many interviewers and other unschoolers what I did before I was
unschooling. Before that was La Leche League and their 1980's version
of attachment parenting (much simpler and more direct than what
attachment parenting has become as a separate "movement" since then).
Just this morning I cringed at a line from an essay I wrote when Holly
was nine. Not at the whole thing, just at one word: "When I’ve
taught people about the history of English..." Taught.
But you know what? Since 2001 when that was written I've kept on
talking to people about the history of English, but I wasn't "their
teacher." Before 2001 there had been quite a few years when I DID
teach--with intention and for money--people about the history of
English. So I had to think back to "the facts" of that situation, in
retrospect.
I don't use the word "taught" anymore unless I'm talking about having
been a professional teacher (or in other rare situations), so it
struck me today. But at the time I wrote it, that's what I meant.
http://www.sandradodd.com/HippieShirt
The situation that was called "a very bad idea" wasn't instructional.
It wasn't "everyone do this." It was a true account of the first time
my kids ever saw anything faintly resembling school-style
multiplication, and their enthusiasm and ease with it.
Sandra
The situation above seems like a very bad idea for new unschoolers. At
what point, and in what situations, are learning prompts like the
above a good idea? To be clear, I'm *not* looking for reasons to
"prompt learning", I'm just trying to better understand unschooling.-=
It wasn't "a learning prompt." It was something "to earn money." I
didn't want to pay them to do housework, that was for sure.
My kids hadn't been to school and so had no negative associations with
math, writing or reading.
It was just the goof of a moment, but it turned into a repeated game
and the boys LIKED it. Marty loved that he was quicker at it than
Kirby.
It might be "a very bad idea." I've had thousands of ideas, and some
have to be better than others.
Very good ideas for new unschoolers are here:
http://sandradodd.com/beginning
http://sandradodd.com/help
Should I not be truthful about how my kids learned things? I'm not
whitewashing my life, but I AM experienced with unschooling, and
didn't waver from that path from the very beginning. I've been asked
by many interviewers and other unschoolers what I did before I was
unschooling. Before that was La Leche League and their 1980's version
of attachment parenting (much simpler and more direct than what
attachment parenting has become as a separate "movement" since then).
Just this morning I cringed at a line from an essay I wrote when Holly
was nine. Not at the whole thing, just at one word: "When I’ve
taught people about the history of English..." Taught.
But you know what? Since 2001 when that was written I've kept on
talking to people about the history of English, but I wasn't "their
teacher." Before 2001 there had been quite a few years when I DID
teach--with intention and for money--people about the history of
English. So I had to think back to "the facts" of that situation, in
retrospect.
I don't use the word "taught" anymore unless I'm talking about having
been a professional teacher (or in other rare situations), so it
struck me today. But at the time I wrote it, that's what I meant.
http://www.sandradodd.com/HippieShirt
The situation that was called "a very bad idea" wasn't instructional.
It wasn't "everyone do this." It was a true account of the first time
my kids ever saw anything faintly resembling school-style
multiplication, and their enthusiasm and ease with it.
Sandra
Amanda's Shoebox
+=+I didn't want to pay them to do housework, that was for sure.+=+
Why? Is this an unschooling thing or a personal preference? I ask, because, while we have eliminated "chores" at our house, we pay our 14 year old to do our books and our 13 year old to clean our pool.
+=+Should I not be truthful about how my kids learned things? I'm not whitewashing my life, but I AM experienced with unschooling, and
didn't waver from that path from the very beginning.+=+
I appreciate both your truthfulness and your directness. I don't see how not being truthful would be helpful to anyone.
+=+Just this morning I cringed at a line from an essay I wrote when Holly was nine. Not at the whole thing, just at one word: "When I've taught people about the history of English..." Taught.+=+
This is an example of truthfulness that is much appreciated! It takes less pressure off of being "perfect". I do like the fact that you encourage people to think carefully about what they say. This is something I often struggle with... speaking without thinking... I have a tendency to unintentionally offend when I'm trying to understand other people's positions, motives, thought processes, etc.. Reading your posts have really helped me to think about ways to question others in a non-offensive manner. I'm not great at it yet, but at least I'm thinking about it/more aware of it now.
Thanks for the links :)
~ Amanda
Why? Is this an unschooling thing or a personal preference? I ask, because, while we have eliminated "chores" at our house, we pay our 14 year old to do our books and our 13 year old to clean our pool.
+=+Should I not be truthful about how my kids learned things? I'm not whitewashing my life, but I AM experienced with unschooling, and
didn't waver from that path from the very beginning.+=+
I appreciate both your truthfulness and your directness. I don't see how not being truthful would be helpful to anyone.
+=+Just this morning I cringed at a line from an essay I wrote when Holly was nine. Not at the whole thing, just at one word: "When I've taught people about the history of English..." Taught.+=+
This is an example of truthfulness that is much appreciated! It takes less pressure off of being "perfect". I do like the fact that you encourage people to think carefully about what they say. This is something I often struggle with... speaking without thinking... I have a tendency to unintentionally offend when I'm trying to understand other people's positions, motives, thought processes, etc.. Reading your posts have really helped me to think about ways to question others in a non-offensive manner. I'm not great at it yet, but at least I'm thinking about it/more aware of it now.
Thanks for the links :)
~ Amanda
Sandra Dodd
-=-+=+I didn't want to pay them to do housework, that was for sure.+=+
Why? Is this an unschooling thing or a personal preference? I ask,
because, while we have eliminated "chores" at our house, we pay our 14
year old to do our books and our 13 year old to clean our pool. -=-
You're paying them for things you would have paid others to do.
They're teens. That's different.
Some people give their kids money to pick up their own laundry or to
bring their dishes to the sink or whatever. (And yes, there are some
families who pay people to do that too... I'm talking about average-to-
poor families, though.)
I would worry that if I gave a child a dollar to get in the car, that
I would be training him not to get into the car unless someone was
holding out a dollar. (Whether that's a sensible worry or not, I'm
not in the mood to wonder.)
I wasn't worried that giving Kirby 99¢ or whatever it was that day
that he would never mess with numbers again unless someone paid him.
And if he hadn't been interested in that weird grid with the numbers,
I would've probably just given him money for a soda anyway. It was
done playfully as most things were at our house. (still are)
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Why? Is this an unschooling thing or a personal preference? I ask,
because, while we have eliminated "chores" at our house, we pay our 14
year old to do our books and our 13 year old to clean our pool. -=-
You're paying them for things you would have paid others to do.
They're teens. That's different.
Some people give their kids money to pick up their own laundry or to
bring their dishes to the sink or whatever. (And yes, there are some
families who pay people to do that too... I'm talking about average-to-
poor families, though.)
I would worry that if I gave a child a dollar to get in the car, that
I would be training him not to get into the car unless someone was
holding out a dollar. (Whether that's a sensible worry or not, I'm
not in the mood to wonder.)
I wasn't worried that giving Kirby 99¢ or whatever it was that day
that he would never mess with numbers again unless someone paid him.
And if he hadn't been interested in that weird grid with the numbers,
I would've probably just given him money for a soda anyway. It was
done playfully as most things were at our house. (still are)
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
plaidpanties666
"Amanda's Shoebox" <amandasshoebox@...> wrote:
If you have kids who are deschooling, they'll probably run screaming if you pull out anything like a multiplication table. If You're still deschooling, you'll probably have a hard time seeing playing with multiplication as something honestly fun, rather than a "learning experience".
---Meredith
>> The situation above seems like a very bad idea for new unschoolers.Its a good picture of how some kids who have never been schooled react to things that look a lot like "school math" - its an interesting puzzle, or an intriguing game. My 8yo has never been schooled or homeschooled, but finds "math" fun. That won't be true of *all* always-unschooled kids, Mo also loves things like logic puzzles, crosswords and puns (she gets that from George, I take no responsibility!). That can be problematic for parents who want "unschooling math" to look like children choosing to play with multiplication! Sometimes unschooling math doesn't look anything like school math at all.
If you have kids who are deschooling, they'll probably run screaming if you pull out anything like a multiplication table. If You're still deschooling, you'll probably have a hard time seeing playing with multiplication as something honestly fun, rather than a "learning experience".
---Meredith
plaidpanties666
"plaidpanties666" <plaidpanties666@...> wrote:
My 16yo, who still has a bit of a negative view of "math" from his years of homeschool and school, can do a whole lot of very real math in his head. He's been working part-time for a local cabinet shop, for instance, and at the end of his first full job, including installation, he had this to say: "I was worried about the math, but there wasn't any, it was all just measuring." Something he struggled with in school, adding and subtracting fractions, he learned in one day on the job as an application of something he already knew: how to read a tape measure.
---Meredith (Mo 8, Ray 16)
>SometimesIts probably more accurate to say Most of the time unschooling (math) doesn't look anything like school math, because what unschooling allows kids to learn naturally are the principles of mathematics - how the ideas all fit together.
>unschooling math doesn't look anything like school math at all.
My 16yo, who still has a bit of a negative view of "math" from his years of homeschool and school, can do a whole lot of very real math in his head. He's been working part-time for a local cabinet shop, for instance, and at the end of his first full job, including installation, he had this to say: "I was worried about the math, but there wasn't any, it was all just measuring." Something he struggled with in school, adding and subtracting fractions, he learned in one day on the job as an application of something he already knew: how to read a tape measure.
---Meredith (Mo 8, Ray 16)
Sandra Dodd
-=-Its probably more accurate to say Most of the time unschooling
(math) doesn't look anything like school math, because what
unschooling allows kids to learn naturally are the principles of
mathematics - how the ideas all fit together. -=-
Oh, true!
And I didn't say to Kirby that day (or to Marty, who practically took
the page away from him to do it himself) "this is what kids are
talking about when they say 'times tables.'" I just presented it as a
mysterious patterns game.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
(math) doesn't look anything like school math, because what
unschooling allows kids to learn naturally are the principles of
mathematics - how the ideas all fit together. -=-
Oh, true!
And I didn't say to Kirby that day (or to Marty, who practically took
the page away from him to do it himself) "this is what kids are
talking about when they say 'times tables.'" I just presented it as a
mysterious patterns game.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Jenny Cyphers
***The situation above seems like a very bad idea for new unschoolers. At what
point, and in what situations, are learning prompts like the above a good idea?
To be clear, I'm *not* looking for reasons to "prompt learning", I'm just trying
to better understand unschooling.***
When a kid grows up in the absence of school, they won't see something like that
as schoolish, they'll see it as a puzzle. If they've been forced to do all
kinds of math puzzles and worksheets and irrelevant to them, numbers and problem
solving, they'll likely see something like that as just another one. This is
why the deschooling process is so important.
It's often the parent who needs more of it than the kids. Kids are, by nature,
curious about the world and find things fascinating. They tend to regain their
curiosity much quicker than an adult who's been to school for 12+ yrs and lived
in schoolish thought for longer than that. Right now, to you, that puzzle still
feels like school. It might not at all feel schoolish to one of your kids who
finds puzzles and numbers interesting to play with.
Math is a tool, a way of thinking, a way to categorize the world and define it's
parameters. If the subject of math never came into being a school subject,
people would STILL use it because it's everywhere all around us.
A puzzle is not and should not be a learning prompt. That notion is a school
one. If learning happens all the time, there's no need for prompting it. In
school, that sort of vocabulary is used because kids, while learning all the
time, don't necessarily want to sit at a desk and do meaningless, to them,
puzzles, and must be prompted to do so, given incentives to "learn" it. And by
"learn" it, they mean complete the worksheet with as little mistakes as
possible, not actually learning it, even though it is equated to actually
learning it.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
point, and in what situations, are learning prompts like the above a good idea?
To be clear, I'm *not* looking for reasons to "prompt learning", I'm just trying
to better understand unschooling.***
When a kid grows up in the absence of school, they won't see something like that
as schoolish, they'll see it as a puzzle. If they've been forced to do all
kinds of math puzzles and worksheets and irrelevant to them, numbers and problem
solving, they'll likely see something like that as just another one. This is
why the deschooling process is so important.
It's often the parent who needs more of it than the kids. Kids are, by nature,
curious about the world and find things fascinating. They tend to regain their
curiosity much quicker than an adult who's been to school for 12+ yrs and lived
in schoolish thought for longer than that. Right now, to you, that puzzle still
feels like school. It might not at all feel schoolish to one of your kids who
finds puzzles and numbers interesting to play with.
Math is a tool, a way of thinking, a way to categorize the world and define it's
parameters. If the subject of math never came into being a school subject,
people would STILL use it because it's everywhere all around us.
A puzzle is not and should not be a learning prompt. That notion is a school
one. If learning happens all the time, there's no need for prompting it. In
school, that sort of vocabulary is used because kids, while learning all the
time, don't necessarily want to sit at a desk and do meaningless, to them,
puzzles, and must be prompted to do so, given incentives to "learn" it. And by
"learn" it, they mean complete the worksheet with as little mistakes as
possible, not actually learning it, even though it is equated to actually
learning it.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Jenny Cyphers
+=+I didn't want to pay them to do housework, that was for sure.+=+
***Why? Is this an unschooling thing or a personal preference? I ask, because,
while we have eliminated "chores" at our house, we pay our 14 year old to do our
books and our 13 year old to clean our pool. ***
I've avoided doing that because I want living together to be about living
together and maintaining our living area because we live here. The kids that I
know, who are forced to do chores whether or not they get paid for it, do the
bare minimum they can get away with and take as little time as possible to get
it over with. That's not the kind of relationship that I want to foster for my
kids and household maintenance. Doing dishes and laundry and picking up and
sweeping and vacuuming and all that stuff, I do as a gift of service for my
family. I do it when I want to, I do it when I feel happy about doing it.
Doing books and cleaning a pool are extra things. If you would normally hire
someone else to do those things, I don't see why that would be different than
hiring your kids. Although, that same argument could be used if a family pays
for a house cleaner. What we've always done is to give our kids money when we
have it, no strings attached. They don't have to do anything but exist as our
kids to get it. Sometimes our form of giving them money comes about by paying
for something that they really want or want to do and sometimes it's just cash.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
***Why? Is this an unschooling thing or a personal preference? I ask, because,
while we have eliminated "chores" at our house, we pay our 14 year old to do our
books and our 13 year old to clean our pool. ***
I've avoided doing that because I want living together to be about living
together and maintaining our living area because we live here. The kids that I
know, who are forced to do chores whether or not they get paid for it, do the
bare minimum they can get away with and take as little time as possible to get
it over with. That's not the kind of relationship that I want to foster for my
kids and household maintenance. Doing dishes and laundry and picking up and
sweeping and vacuuming and all that stuff, I do as a gift of service for my
family. I do it when I want to, I do it when I feel happy about doing it.
Doing books and cleaning a pool are extra things. If you would normally hire
someone else to do those things, I don't see why that would be different than
hiring your kids. Although, that same argument could be used if a family pays
for a house cleaner. What we've always done is to give our kids money when we
have it, no strings attached. They don't have to do anything but exist as our
kids to get it. Sometimes our form of giving them money comes about by paying
for something that they really want or want to do and sometimes it's just cash.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Jay Ford
This is a recent account of what happened a few weeks ago at the water park.
I went online to see about the park hours and what not, and what the fee was.
My son, 11, always unschooled, asked me how much. I said, $35 each. Oh, he
said. That's expensive. And wandered off.
When we got to the water park, on the way to the gate, same son said, so, with 3
people that's $105. That's a lot of money! My daughter said, what is? (she's
lost in thought a lot of the time or has iPod earbuds in her ears). So my son
told her, it's $35 per person to get in, so it's $105.
Later, as we left the park my son was remarking on the cost again. Then my
daughter asked how long we had been there, so I said we got here at 1, and now
it's 6. So 5 hours, my son said. So then I asked, so how many dollars per hour
did we spend? (keeping with the train of thought my son was having. So he
thought a minute then said, $20. And thought a minute more and said $21.
That wasn't meant to be a quiz when I asked my son the question, just tossing
out another variable. He could have said, I don't know, how many? And I would
have answered.
This is one way math looks at our house.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I went online to see about the park hours and what not, and what the fee was.
My son, 11, always unschooled, asked me how much. I said, $35 each. Oh, he
said. That's expensive. And wandered off.
When we got to the water park, on the way to the gate, same son said, so, with 3
people that's $105. That's a lot of money! My daughter said, what is? (she's
lost in thought a lot of the time or has iPod earbuds in her ears). So my son
told her, it's $35 per person to get in, so it's $105.
Later, as we left the park my son was remarking on the cost again. Then my
daughter asked how long we had been there, so I said we got here at 1, and now
it's 6. So 5 hours, my son said. So then I asked, so how many dollars per hour
did we spend? (keeping with the train of thought my son was having. So he
thought a minute then said, $20. And thought a minute more and said $21.
That wasn't meant to be a quiz when I asked my son the question, just tossing
out another variable. He could have said, I don't know, how many? And I would
have answered.
This is one way math looks at our house.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Kelly Halldorson
+++So then I asked, so how many dollars per hour
did we spend? (keeping with the train of thought my son was having. So he
thought a minute then said, $20. And thought a minute more and said $21
That wasn't meant to be a quiz when I asked my son the question, just tossing
out another variable. He could have said, I don't know, how many? And I would
have answered.+++
I love this. All five of us do it. Jeff (hubby) will ask me, I'll ask him and/or the kids or the kids will ask us or each other. Sometimes it's just an effort by the questioner to get the answer more quickly.
If I'm asking the question I'm likely figuring out the answer as I'm asking the question. Often times one of the kids (or Jeff) will have it figured out before me. Then I and/or Jeff do the calculations in our heads to and compare answers.
It reminds me of how I used to do my math homework as a kid. I had a best friend (that didn't like math, I LOVED it). We would sit on the phone for an hour/s doing our homework. We do a problem and then say, "what did you get?" if the answers didn't agree we'd try and figure out why and/or explain how we got to the answer we got.
When I stopped being friends with this girl. I stopped doing my homework.
Peace,
Kelly
Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest . Unsubscribe . Terms of Use.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
did we spend? (keeping with the train of thought my son was having. So he
thought a minute then said, $20. And thought a minute more and said $21
That wasn't meant to be a quiz when I asked my son the question, just tossing
out another variable. He could have said, I don't know, how many? And I would
have answered.+++
I love this. All five of us do it. Jeff (hubby) will ask me, I'll ask him and/or the kids or the kids will ask us or each other. Sometimes it's just an effort by the questioner to get the answer more quickly.
If I'm asking the question I'm likely figuring out the answer as I'm asking the question. Often times one of the kids (or Jeff) will have it figured out before me. Then I and/or Jeff do the calculations in our heads to and compare answers.
It reminds me of how I used to do my math homework as a kid. I had a best friend (that didn't like math, I LOVED it). We would sit on the phone for an hour/s doing our homework. We do a problem and then say, "what did you get?" if the answers didn't agree we'd try and figure out why and/or explain how we got to the answer we got.
When I stopped being friends with this girl. I stopped doing my homework.
Peace,
Kelly
Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest . Unsubscribe . Terms of Use.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Ed Wendell
We were at a restaurant the other day and Zac (16) mentioned he'd need to learn math better before he could eat out without us so he could figure tips. I mentioned that 10% is really very easy and started with things like 10 % of 100, 10% of 10, etc. Then we started throwing out numbers to each other and saying the amount the tip would be. We've done this in the past when he has asked how to figure a tip but he did not remember.
When I mentioned that 15% was easy too because it is just another half of 10 % added to 10% his eyes started to glaze over so I dropped it. ;)
I remember when Ed and I got married (26 years ago) he asked me how I could figure percentages so easily in my head - I gave him a simple explanation of how if you can do 10% in your head you can pretty much do any amount based on 10%. If it is an odd percentage vs. an even one you can at least get close very quickly. Things like this were explained to me as a child by my dad - just a farmer living life ;) - not school. BUT then again I love math and love to play with numbers! Even though I'm the "work out of the home person" in this family: I pay the bills, make budgets, balance the check book, keep track of finances, do the taxes, etc.
Lisa W.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
When I mentioned that 15% was easy too because it is just another half of 10 % added to 10% his eyes started to glaze over so I dropped it. ;)
I remember when Ed and I got married (26 years ago) he asked me how I could figure percentages so easily in my head - I gave him a simple explanation of how if you can do 10% in your head you can pretty much do any amount based on 10%. If it is an odd percentage vs. an even one you can at least get close very quickly. Things like this were explained to me as a child by my dad - just a farmer living life ;) - not school. BUT then again I love math and love to play with numbers! Even though I'm the "work out of the home person" in this family: I pay the bills, make budgets, balance the check book, keep track of finances, do the taxes, etc.
Lisa W.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
plaidpanties666
Lisa <ewendell@...> wrote:
They make little cards with a table of dollar amounts and 15% of each - I think office supply stores carry them. A girlfriend of mine is a CPA and does almost no math in her head. She uses a table, or calculator, even counts on her fingers. Now and then someone will comment and she says "I'd rather be right than proud."
My dad, who's an engineer, just reminded me that engineers use a different tape measure than carpenters - they use one that breaks inches down into tenths instead of sixteenths, so they can punch the numbers into a calculator. Its interesting to me that the guys with the most math education on a construction site don't do math in their heads. My dad says the same as my girlfriend: "I'd rather be right."
Probably one of the worst things school does is tell kids that its bad to use tools in order to get the "right" answer - its backwards from real life.
---Meredith
>***********
> We were at a restaurant the other day and Zac (16) mentioned he'd need to learn math better before he could eat out without us so he could figure tips.
They make little cards with a table of dollar amounts and 15% of each - I think office supply stores carry them. A girlfriend of mine is a CPA and does almost no math in her head. She uses a table, or calculator, even counts on her fingers. Now and then someone will comment and she says "I'd rather be right than proud."
My dad, who's an engineer, just reminded me that engineers use a different tape measure than carpenters - they use one that breaks inches down into tenths instead of sixteenths, so they can punch the numbers into a calculator. Its interesting to me that the guys with the most math education on a construction site don't do math in their heads. My dad says the same as my girlfriend: "I'd rather be right."
Probably one of the worst things school does is tell kids that its bad to use tools in order to get the "right" answer - its backwards from real life.
---Meredith