Math
Elli
Hi all -
I've got a beautiful 12 year old daughter interested in going to college some day to study computer or chemical engineering. She is trying to figure out what she can do now to explore those subjects or prepare for getting into college to study those subjects later.
We'd love some advice.
Thanks,
Elli
I've got a beautiful 12 year old daughter interested in going to college some day to study computer or chemical engineering. She is trying to figure out what she can do now to explore those subjects or prepare for getting into college to study those subjects later.
We'd love some advice.
Thanks,
Elli
Deena Seckinger
--- On Tue, 10/26/10, Elli <elinorsparks@...> wrote:
I've
got a beautiful 12 year old daughter interested in going to college
some day to study computer or chemical engineering. She is trying to
figure out what she can do now to explore those subjects or prepare for
getting into college to study those subjects later.
check out www.khanacademy.org
Deena in McDonough, GA
"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." — Albert Einstein
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Joyce Fetteroll
On Oct 26, 2010, at 4:26 PM, Elli wrote:
and Pokemon and Kirby ;-)
At 14 she took her father's college statistics and algebra classes and
was always among the top scores on tests and homework. She found she
wasn't quick on arithmetic (addition and multiplication), having to
use a calculator for relatively simple stuff, but the theoretical
stuff she had no problems with. (But it didn't take her long to catch
up on the arithmetic.)
Kathryn obviously has a natural bent for it though she's more drawn to
art and writing so she never delved into math puzzles or anything.
Just video games, allowance, tips, measuring, comparison shopping, art
programs, spreadsheets, board and card games, loads of collections.
Nothing other than math she encountered by living. The advantage she
had was genes, and two parents who enjoy math, but she wasn't immersed
in it. The amount of anything resembling formal math was on the order
of minutes rather than 100's of hours that schooled kids get.
The Number Devil is a fun book. It delves into some complex math in a
chatty way.
Puzzle and logic books that are intended for fun (not schoolish
workbooks.)
If you go to:
http://joyfullyrejoycing.com/
and scroll down the left side there are several pages about math that
might help you both see math in a new -- better! -- way. Playing with
the ideas, using them for real will be a *much* better education than
anything resembling textbook math.
Joyce
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> I've got a beautiful 12 year old daughter interested in going toWell, Kathryn prepared by playing video games like Super Smash Bros
> college some day to study computer or chemical engineering. She is
> trying to figure out what she can do now to explore those subjects
> or prepare for getting into college to study those subjects later
and Pokemon and Kirby ;-)
At 14 she took her father's college statistics and algebra classes and
was always among the top scores on tests and homework. She found she
wasn't quick on arithmetic (addition and multiplication), having to
use a calculator for relatively simple stuff, but the theoretical
stuff she had no problems with. (But it didn't take her long to catch
up on the arithmetic.)
Kathryn obviously has a natural bent for it though she's more drawn to
art and writing so she never delved into math puzzles or anything.
Just video games, allowance, tips, measuring, comparison shopping, art
programs, spreadsheets, board and card games, loads of collections.
Nothing other than math she encountered by living. The advantage she
had was genes, and two parents who enjoy math, but she wasn't immersed
in it. The amount of anything resembling formal math was on the order
of minutes rather than 100's of hours that schooled kids get.
The Number Devil is a fun book. It delves into some complex math in a
chatty way.
Puzzle and logic books that are intended for fun (not schoolish
workbooks.)
If you go to:
http://joyfullyrejoycing.com/
and scroll down the left side there are several pages about math that
might help you both see math in a new -- better! -- way. Playing with
the ideas, using them for real will be a *much* better education than
anything resembling textbook math.
Joyce
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Ulrike Haupt
Oh, you can't imagine how much fun I had yesterday delving into Vortex Maths
number 1 to 9 are fascinating
http://www.tedxcharlotte.com/math-is-the-voice-of-god
I really haven't shared it with my children yet, but I find it absolutely juicy.
__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 5555
(20101022) __________
The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
http://www.eset.com
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(20101022) __________
The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
http://www.eset.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
number 1 to 9 are fascinating
http://www.tedxcharlotte.com/math-is-the-voice-of-god
I really haven't shared it with my children yet, but I find it absolutely juicy.
__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 5555
(20101022) __________
The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
http://www.eset.com
__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 5555
(20101022) __________
The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
http://www.eset.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Joyce Fetteroll
On Oct 26, 2010, at 5:00 PM, Deena Seckinger wrote:
Favorite Teacher. Khan started off explaining some math concepts to
his nieces and nephews who were struggling with math and found he had
a talent for making ideas clear. Now he has over 1800 short videos on
simple to advanced math, science and some humanities.
But unschoolers shouldn't see them as short cuts to math. They may be
good at explaining how to formally notate the concepts but the
concepts should be absorbed by using math in the "wild" -- like from
video games :-)
Unfortunately schools do it the hard way, expecting understanding of
the concepts to come from work with the abstract notation. It's very
easy to test whether kids have memorized how to manipulate the
abstract notation, which is why they do it that way. But it's really
really hard to grasp the concepts and an understanding of what it
means through notation.
Joyce
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> check out www.khanacademy.orgThose are cool. I read an article about him called Steve Jobs's
Favorite Teacher. Khan started off explaining some math concepts to
his nieces and nephews who were struggling with math and found he had
a talent for making ideas clear. Now he has over 1800 short videos on
simple to advanced math, science and some humanities.
But unschoolers shouldn't see them as short cuts to math. They may be
good at explaining how to formally notate the concepts but the
concepts should be absorbed by using math in the "wild" -- like from
video games :-)
Unfortunately schools do it the hard way, expecting understanding of
the concepts to come from work with the abstract notation. It's very
easy to test whether kids have memorized how to manipulate the
abstract notation, which is why they do it that way. But it's really
really hard to grasp the concepts and an understanding of what it
means through notation.
Joyce
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Kelly Lovejoy
Zoombini's. It's a computer game. There are three of them One and three are better than two---but all are great. High level math with no numbers. And even non-readers can play. Duncan was doing alegbra and calculus at five.
VERY cool.
~Kelly
Kelly Lovejoy
"There is no single effort more radical in its potential for saving the world than a transformation of the way we raise our children." Marianne Williamson
-----Original Message-----
From: Elli <elinorsparks@...>
I've got a beautiful 12 year old daughter interested in going to college some
day to study computer or chemical engineering. She is trying to figure out what
she can do now to explore those subjects or prepare for getting into college to
study those subjects later.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
VERY cool.
~Kelly
Kelly Lovejoy
"There is no single effort more radical in its potential for saving the world than a transformation of the way we raise our children." Marianne Williamson
-----Original Message-----
From: Elli <elinorsparks@...>
I've got a beautiful 12 year old daughter interested in going to college some
day to study computer or chemical engineering. She is trying to figure out what
she can do now to explore those subjects or prepare for getting into college to
study those subjects later.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
amberleeb
I don't know what computer things she is interested in studying, but she can learn a lot from library books and various websites. If she is talking about programming
As for college in computers, well...My brother never went to college, he did attempt a class or two and said no way....but he had already been working in the computer field for 7 years when he tried college. He knew more than the instructors! He has created software that is used today in places like Ford, Rite Aid/Walgreens, K-Mart and more. All without a college degree. He learned from a book, studying and from being able to calculate in his head. My husband is also a programmer. He didn't go to college for that either. He has had his job for 10 years now.
I had a friend in college who studied Computer Engineering and was poorly prepared for the workplace. Why? Because they only teach theories and don't get actual experience for 4 years of college. He didn't learn how to change and adapt what was taught to what was actually used/needed.
Hubby says to look here for html and css:
http://articles.sitepoint.com/article/html-css-beginners-guide
Here for programming
http://www.microsoft.com/express/Windows/
look into .net, java (as most corporate websites use that), "You write .NET apps with Visual Basic, C#, or other languages. VB and C# are the most popular. I recommend C# because it is, syntactically, similar to Java, so if she needed to transfer skills from C# to Java, there would be slightly less of a learning curve."
Lynda.com is a place you can subscribe to for tutorials. I am sure there are free places on the web as well. My hubby likes to get e-books from sitepoint.com as well as Pragprog.com and I know he has dabbled in Ruby and ruby on rails.
Hope that helps and have fun!
As for college in computers, well...My brother never went to college, he did attempt a class or two and said no way....but he had already been working in the computer field for 7 years when he tried college. He knew more than the instructors! He has created software that is used today in places like Ford, Rite Aid/Walgreens, K-Mart and more. All without a college degree. He learned from a book, studying and from being able to calculate in his head. My husband is also a programmer. He didn't go to college for that either. He has had his job for 10 years now.
I had a friend in college who studied Computer Engineering and was poorly prepared for the workplace. Why? Because they only teach theories and don't get actual experience for 4 years of college. He didn't learn how to change and adapt what was taught to what was actually used/needed.
Hubby says to look here for html and css:
http://articles.sitepoint.com/article/html-css-beginners-guide
Here for programming
http://www.microsoft.com/express/Windows/
look into .net, java (as most corporate websites use that), "You write .NET apps with Visual Basic, C#, or other languages. VB and C# are the most popular. I recommend C# because it is, syntactically, similar to Java, so if she needed to transfer skills from C# to Java, there would be slightly less of a learning curve."
Lynda.com is a place you can subscribe to for tutorials. I am sure there are free places on the web as well. My hubby likes to get e-books from sitepoint.com as well as Pragprog.com and I know he has dabbled in Ruby and ruby on rails.
Hope that helps and have fun!
--- In [email protected], "Elli" <elinorsparks@...> wrote:
>
> Hi all -
>
> I've got a beautiful 12 year old daughter interested in going to college some day to study computer or chemical engineering. She is trying to figure out what she can do now to explore those subjects or prepare for getting into college to study those subjects later.
>
> We'd love some advice.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Elli
>
Faith Void Taintor
There are meet ups for people with various interests. Dh (a self
taught computer programmer/graphic designer) attends several.
WordPress meet up, PHP meet up, etc. The people that attend will be
local folks who have a similar interest. She may find a person willing
to show her the ropes. Practical experience now is more beneficial to
book work that changes yearly. Computer languages and programming and
engineering is far from static. It is ever evolving.
Faith
Sorry for not trimming.
Sent from my iPhone
taught computer programmer/graphic designer) attends several.
WordPress meet up, PHP meet up, etc. The people that attend will be
local folks who have a similar interest. She may find a person willing
to show her the ropes. Practical experience now is more beneficial to
book work that changes yearly. Computer languages and programming and
engineering is far from static. It is ever evolving.
Faith
Sorry for not trimming.
Sent from my iPhone
On Oct 27, 2010, at 8:27 AM, "amberleeb" <amberlee16@...> wrote:
> I don't know what computer things she is interested in studying, but
> she can learn a lot from library books and various websites. If she
> is talking about programming
>
> As for college in computers, well...My brother never went to
> college, he did attempt a class or two and said no way....but he had
> already been working in the computer field for 7 years when he tried
> college. He knew more than the instructors! He has created software
> that is used today in places like Ford, Rite Aid/Walgreens, K-Mart
> and more. All without a college degree. He learned from a book,
> studying and from being able to calculate in his head. My husband is
> also a programmer. He didn't go to college for that either. He has
> had his job for 10 years now.
>
> I had a friend in college who studied Computer Engineering and was
> poorly prepared for the workplace. Why? Because they only teach
> theories and don't get actual experience for 4 years of college. He
> didn't learn how to change and adapt what was taught to what was
> actually used/needed.
>
> Hubby says to look here for html and css:
> http://articles.sitepoint.com/article/html-css-beginners-guide
>
> Here for programming
> http://www.microsoft.com/express/Windows/
>
> look into .net, java (as most corporate websites use that), "You
> write .NET apps with Visual Basic, C#, or other languages. VB and C#
> are the most popular. I recommend C# because it is, syntactically,
> similar to Java, so if she needed to transfer skills from C# to
> Java, there would be slightly less of a learning curve."
>
> Lynda.com is a place you can subscribe to for tutorials. I am sure
> there are free places on the web as well. My hubby likes to get e-
> books from sitepoint.com as well as Pragprog.com and I know he has
> dabbled in Ruby and ruby on rails.
>
> Hope that helps and have fun!
>
> --- In [email protected], "Elli" <elinorsparks@...>
> wrote:
> >
> > Hi all -
> >
> > I've got a beautiful 12 year old daughter interested in going to
> college some day to study computer or chemical engineering. She is
> trying to figure out what she can do now to explore those subjects
> or prepare for getting into college to study those subjects later.
> >
> > We'd love some advice.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Elli
> >
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]