Christie Craigie-Carter

This quarter I'm all set, as we did enough Saxon Math to be able to report
it on the QR. But Math is largely why I've decided to unschool. It clearly
doesn't work for him. Despite quickly getting concepts (I tried to explain
to him that I can tell that he almost has a concept by watching his face as
he thinks about it. I think he thought I was nuts ;-) ), he believes he is
"dumb at math".

So, I've totally left Math alone for the past few weeks. Well, okay, I
screwed up and in a panic as I was preparing my QR last week, asked him to
go over a few things we were supposed to have covered. It went pretty well,
and if he got upset, we stopped. But in thinking about this quarter, I
really don't know how to approach math. I just tried to have a discussion
with him about it this morning, b/c it came up. We went to a Festival
yesterday, and he found this wooden box he wanted that costs $22. This
morning, he had found the box of quarters and other change that we had set
aside for school purposes. So, I suggested that we use the change to figure
out how much change he could expect if he purchased the box. I could tell
that he understood it, but he started getting upset, doing his twitching on
the floor, distraction with the dog, etc.

I asked him a bit later why he thought I hadn't been bringing up math and
"school" the past few weeks. He said he thought it was because I was "busy"
:-( I explained to him that no, I really want him to learn what he wants,
at his own pace, but that honestly I am worried b/c there are expectations
of what I am supposed to cover. I briefly read him some things from the
worldbook standards for math. I'm honestly not too worried about the other
subjects b/c he naturally wants to learn about science, loves books, is
interested in history, etc. So reporting them is merely an issue of being
organized enough to keep track.

I just don't know how to unschool math and still meet district
requirements. I live in NY, btw, which I've heard mention as one of the
most difficult states to unschool in and the Curriculum Director has been on
my case pretty much every step of the way, so she's not one to let anything
slide.

I have a feeling that there is another list that was mentioned as more
appropriate for that aspect, but honestly, I've joined so many lists lately
I can't keep track. I know this list would be appropriate for the basic
question, which is how do I meet requirements but still unschool math and
thus have him feel good about learning? I know that expectations can get
you in trouble, but I guess I do have a desire at least for him to enjoy our
time together and I honestly don't see any issue with that. I also have
externally imposed expectations that I can't control. And I feel personally
stressed about it, which will spill over if I don't nip it in the bud.

Any ideas welcome.

Christie


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Meredith

--- In [email protected], "Christie Craigie-Carter"
<craigiecarter@...> wrote:
>> I can't keep track. I know this list would be appropriate for the
basic
> question, which is how do I meet requirements but still unschool
math and
> thus have him feel good about learning?

A NY list would probably be more helpful for you in terms of meeting
specific requirements. I don't live in NY, but what I do for Ray's
mom is to observe what Ray does and "translate" that into schoolish
language so that she feels good about his "education".

So, for instance, a couple weeks ago I gave her a list of "courses"
(and forgot to keep a copy! I'm still kicking myself). Top of the
list was "shop". We happen to have a woodshop and Ray likes to dabble
now and then. So its a convenient way to talk about how he's learning
all about measurement and fractions and angles, blah blah blah... and
if we really need to (or she decides to grill Ray) we can pull out
samples of projects to show her. If we were reporting this to a state
agency, we'd probably take digital pix and keep a "folder" of them
with notes for some kind of portfolio review.

Okay, you have a 7yo, not a 15yo, so lets see if I can find something
from *my* 7yo's life... This morning she got her train set out! Oh,
that's a cakewalk... what's something harder? The hamser. Okay, so
she has a hamster and one of these balls so he can run around the
floor and not be stepped on or eaten by cats. She likes to play games
where she sets up obstacles for the hamster - so she has to estimate
the size of the ball and the amount of force the little guy can exert
to get over and through different kinds of spaces. So there's
estimation, measurement, geometry. Periodically he knocks things
over - probability, number theory, counting, addition,
multiplication, subtraction.

If I were to report this to anyone I'd take some pix and write short
descriptions. I know the lingo - I used to tutor math - which helps
me alot. It might help you to look through some math books from the
perspective of learning the language you need to *talk* about math.

Is there an "umbrella school" option in your area? If so, if you can
find one that's more compatible with unschooling it will make your
life sooooo much easier. We're umbrella'd through The Farm - the old
hippie place in Summertown TN. I don't think its a valid umbrella
school outside TN, more's the pity, but they're very supportive of
unschooling. Some of the more intensely Christian umbrella schools
are also compatible with unschooling in the sense that they don't ask
too many questions about specifics - worth looking into if this is an
option for you.

>I'm honestly not too worried about the other
> subjects b/c he naturally wants to learn about science, loves
books, is
> interested in history, etc.

You might want to do some research on your own - there's quite a bit
of math in science and history, too. Even literature, although you'd
have to be more creative to figure out how to report that. Check some
curriculum resources that include biographies of mathematicians and
scientists... that sort of thing. Not so much for him as for you.
Montessori sources might also have useful information for you - some
of those curricula have options for teaching math *via* other
subjects. Again, I'm not suggesting it for him, but to give you some
ideas of how to report the very real math he *is* learning - part of
the challenge is that you have to learn to *see* it and "translate"
into terms the state will recognize.

---Meredith (Mo 7, Ray 15)

BRIAN POLIKOWSKY

Unschooling math:

http://sandradodd.com/math/


 http://joyfullyrejoycing.com/

left side scroll down for math

sorry can't help about NY laws

Alex Polikowsky
http://polykow.blogspot.com/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/unschoolingmn/
 




________________________________
From: Christie Craigie-Carter <craigiecarter@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Sunday, November 16, 2008 9:19:22 AM
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] 7 yr old and questions about QRs


This quarter I'm all set, as we did enough Saxon Math to be able to report
it on the QR. But Math is largely why I've decided to unschool. It clearly
doesn't work for him. Despite quickly getting concepts (I tried to explain
to him that I can tell that he almost has a concept by watching his face as
he thinks about it. I think he thought I was nuts ;-) ), he believes he is
"dumb at math".

So, I've totally left Math alone for the past few weeks. Well, okay, I
screwed up and in a panic as I was preparing my QR last week, asked him to
go over a few things we were supposed to have covered. It went pretty well,
and if he got upset, we stopped. But in thinking about this quarter, I
really don't know how to approach math. I just tried to have a discussion
with him about it this morning, b/c it came up. We went to a Festival
yesterday, and he found this wooden box he wanted that costs $22. This
morning, he had found the box of quarters and other change that we had set
aside for school purposes. So, I suggested that we use the change to figure
out how much change he could expect if he purchased the box. I could tell
that he understood it, but he started getting upset, doing his twitching on
the floor, distraction with the dog, etc.

I asked him a bit later why he thought I hadn't been bringing up math and
"school" the past few weeks. He said he thought it was because I was "busy"
:-( I explained to him that no, I really want him to learn what he wants,
at his own pace, but that honestly I am worried b/c there are expectations
of what I am supposed to cover. I briefly read him some things from the
worldbook standards for math. I'm honestly not too worried about the other
subjects b/c he naturally wants to learn about science, loves books, is
interested in history, etc. So reporting them is merely an issue of being
organized enough to keep track.

I just don't know how to unschool math and still meet district
requirements. I live in NY, btw, which I've heard mention as one of the
most difficult states to unschool in and the Curriculum Director has been on
my case pretty much every step of the way, so she's not one to let anything
slide.

I have a feeling that there is another list that was mentioned as more
appropriate for that aspect, but honestly, I've joined so many lists lately
I can't keep track. I know this list would be appropriate for the basic
question, which is how do I meet requirements but still unschool math and
thus have him feel good about learning? I know that expectations can get
you in trouble, but I guess I do have a desire at least for him to enjoy our
time together and I honestly don't see any issue with that. I also have
externally imposed expectations that I can't control. And I feel personally
stressed about it, which will spill over if I don't nip it in the bud.

Any ideas welcome.

Christie

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]