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In a message dated 9/28/2005 8:29:56 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
flyerrod@... writes:

I am not trying to be argumentative. This is just my way of testing
this theory of unschooling. That said... example:

I had to learn multiplication tables.
I never forgot them.
I use them them all the time.
How does this fit in?



************

I used to be a commercial interior designer/draftsman in the days before
computers. It is a job that uses plenty of math. I worked at several different
companies and one of the first things I received at each new job was the
math cheat sheet! It would have all the common formulas we would encounter and
exactly what to do with them. Sometimes the formulas varied from company to
company.

They gave me a cheat sheet because they wanted everyone doing the same
thing....quickly.... and they knew that just because we had 12+ years of math
didn't mean that we could estimate how many rolls of wall paper to order for a
million dollar hotel installation. Nobody at the company cared what my math
skills were (that I *could* figure that out without a cheat sheet), just that I
could do my job quickly and correctly.

Oh, and after using them often enough, I didn't have to use my cheat sheet.
There were several fractions I came across so often that I didn't have to
look them up or calculate them. I was measuring something at home recently and
found that I know longer knew automatically what 7/16ths plus 7/32ths was.
I can figure it out, but it isn't as natural as two plus two anymore. It
just isn't relevant anymore, but if it became relevant I would either learn the
answer or make a new cheat sheet. :)

Leslie in SC


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

Deb

> In a message dated 9/28/2005 8:29:56 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
> flyerrod@d... writes:
>
> I am not trying to be argumentative. This is just my way of testing
> this theory of unschooling. That said... example:
>
> I had to learn multiplication tables.
> I never forgot them.
> I use them them all the time.
> How does this fit in?
>
My DS is 7. He's understood the concept of multiplication for
somewhere around 2 years - because he saw us use it. And, when he was
doing something with multiple 'piles' of something (like stacks of
pennies), he knew to ask "what's 10 times 6?". Sometimes in the car
he'd say "Mommy, what's 6+6+6+6+6+6+6+6+6 equal?" I had to be alert so
I could keep track of how many sizes (or whatever) he said - then I'd
say "that was nine sixes so that's nine times six, that's 54". Within
the last month roughly he's been more interested in the details,
asking lots more of the "what does...equal?" questions. So, I sketched
the basic "multiplication table" (1-10) and an "addition table" (1-10)
on our kitchen chalkboard (it's 4'x8'). Now they're there for him if
he wants to check something (didn't have enough room to go higher than
10, lots of other stuff floating around the chalkboard). He's also
noticing things like 10 PLUS 10 is 20 but 10 TIMES 10 is 100 and that
10 PLUS 10 is the same as 10 TIMES 2. All his own discoveries. Which
do think would stay with him better - something that connects deeply
because he 'owns' the idea or information or something I forced on him
because he was 7 and that's what 7 yr olds are 'supposed' to do? Once
the concept is there, the data can be added easily as needed. And
there's the key - *as needed* with need being defined not solely in
utility terms but also including the aspect of personal satisfaction
(like when you can't remember the name of that actor, you know, that
one who was in... so you go look it up because you "need" to find out
for your own satisfaction). Right now, DS "needs" to explore numbers,
just as he explored letters, sounds, words and grew into reading
organically, as a part of himself.

--Deb