Help with "Speaking" Math...Particularly Fraction to Percent Coversion
aplan4life
All those years of schooling have me at a loss, somethings come easy
as far as speaking math but I'm stuck with fractions and percent
conversion. How can I speak 3/4 as a percent in ways that the kids
can understand? Truly other than saying it's the same as .75 cents
or 75% I don't know how to speak this, or is that all that matters?
This morning Brooke and I played "tic-tac-toe" down at the park on
the game board and I was showing her that 5/9ths of the squares
were "O's" (after our game) however, when it came to putting 5/9ths
into a percent I didn't say anything because I don't know how to
speak that without being confusing. "I" only know how to do it on
paper to break it down.
I'm trying so hard to incorporate unschooling into our daily lives
by speaking like I've never done. I AM learning plants and animals
and trees so that when I see those things my children here me say,
for instance, "Wow, look at all that Saw Palmetto" or "That Sand
Pine sure is tall isn't it?" I see the beauty in speaking like that
but when it comes to the math, my brain is stuck on the pencil and
paper trail.
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.
Thanks so much
~Sandy Winn
as far as speaking math but I'm stuck with fractions and percent
conversion. How can I speak 3/4 as a percent in ways that the kids
can understand? Truly other than saying it's the same as .75 cents
or 75% I don't know how to speak this, or is that all that matters?
This morning Brooke and I played "tic-tac-toe" down at the park on
the game board and I was showing her that 5/9ths of the squares
were "O's" (after our game) however, when it came to putting 5/9ths
into a percent I didn't say anything because I don't know how to
speak that without being confusing. "I" only know how to do it on
paper to break it down.
I'm trying so hard to incorporate unschooling into our daily lives
by speaking like I've never done. I AM learning plants and animals
and trees so that when I see those things my children here me say,
for instance, "Wow, look at all that Saw Palmetto" or "That Sand
Pine sure is tall isn't it?" I see the beauty in speaking like that
but when it comes to the math, my brain is stuck on the pencil and
paper trail.
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.
Thanks so much
~Sandy Winn
[email protected]
In a message dated 10/18/05 9:24:18 AM, aplan4life@... writes:
It's 75 cents, not .75 cents, anyway. <g> "Cents" is already in hundredths.
You don't need to tell them. They'll figure it out using money and seeing
video game timers counting them down and playing neopets where they get a
certain number of neopoints per game points (different games are different--my
current favorite gives 20% of the points you earn, so it takes 2500 game points to
get 500 neopoints).
-=-This morning Brooke and I played "tic-tac-toe" down at the park on
the game board and I was showing her that 5/9ths of the squares
were "O's" (after our game) however, when it came to putting 5/9ths
into a percent I didn't say anything because I don't know how to
speak that without being confusing. -=-
That could cause her to avoid tic-tac-toe. Don't turn things into math
lessons.
-=-
I'm trying so hard to incorporate unschooling into our daily lives
by speaking like I've never done. -=-
Speak like you would if there had never been any such thing as school then.
-=- I AM learning plants and animals
and trees so that when I see those things my children here me say,
for instance, "Wow, look at all that Saw Palmetto" or "That Sand
Pine sure is tall isn't it?" I see the beauty in speaking like that-=-
I don't see the beauty in it.
Would you speak to an adult friend that way?
Treat them like people, not like students.
http://www.sandradodd.com/seeingit.html
http://sandradodd.com/typical
The first link is to an article on what unschooling doesn't look like, and
the second is to a page with links to LOTS of typical days (but days worth
writing about). I think that will help you lots.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> How can I speak 3/4 as a percent in ways that the kidsStop talking about it.
> can understand? Truly other than saying it's the same as .75 cents
> or 75% I don't know how to speak this, or is that all that matters?
>
It's 75 cents, not .75 cents, anyway. <g> "Cents" is already in hundredths.
You don't need to tell them. They'll figure it out using money and seeing
video game timers counting them down and playing neopets where they get a
certain number of neopoints per game points (different games are different--my
current favorite gives 20% of the points you earn, so it takes 2500 game points to
get 500 neopoints).
-=-This morning Brooke and I played "tic-tac-toe" down at the park on
the game board and I was showing her that 5/9ths of the squares
were "O's" (after our game) however, when it came to putting 5/9ths
into a percent I didn't say anything because I don't know how to
speak that without being confusing. -=-
That could cause her to avoid tic-tac-toe. Don't turn things into math
lessons.
-=-
I'm trying so hard to incorporate unschooling into our daily lives
by speaking like I've never done. -=-
Speak like you would if there had never been any such thing as school then.
-=- I AM learning plants and animals
and trees so that when I see those things my children here me say,
for instance, "Wow, look at all that Saw Palmetto" or "That Sand
Pine sure is tall isn't it?" I see the beauty in speaking like that-=-
I don't see the beauty in it.
Would you speak to an adult friend that way?
Treat them like people, not like students.
http://www.sandradodd.com/seeingit.html
http://sandradodd.com/typical
The first link is to an article on what unschooling doesn't look like, and
the second is to a page with links to LOTS of typical days (but days worth
writing about). I think that will help you lots.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Joyce Fetteroll
On Oct 18, 2005, at 10:51 AM, aplan4life wrote:
natural so they can see the patterns. When they're ready, they'll get
it.
It's just like when they were infants and toddlers. You spoke in
complete sentences to them even though you knew they didn't
understand all the words and wouldn't understand for many years.
rather than horse if I see one. But it will help you get unschooling
faster not to equate the memorization of the names of all that's
around them with learning. It looks impressive to relatives but it
isn't the same as understanding.
Richard Feynman, the physicist, said that his grandfather told him
that someone could memorize the names of all the birds and still
known nothing about birds. That is, if they changed all the birds'
names, the memorizer would know nothing! But observing the behavior
of birds -- if that interests someone -- asking questions about why
they do as they do, is real learning.
Kids do that naturally. They're always observing and (sometimes
silently) asking questions, wondering why. Bouncing on a trampoline
and coming to know instinctively that bouncing at an angle will send
you off at an angle is real learning. When a child who has done. or
played pool or bounced balls or played sports, later takes physics
and reads "Angle of incidence equals angle of reflection" they'll
understand that with their whole bodies :-) But the real learning
wasn't in reading the scientific principle but in experiencing how
things work.
Relax. Lead rich lives and do things because they're fun! :-) The
learning will follow.
Joyce
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> Truly other than saying it's the same as .75 centsDon't try so hard! :-) Just make the information available when it's
> or 75% I don't know how to speak this, or is that all that matters?
natural so they can see the patterns. When they're ready, they'll get
it.
It's just like when they were infants and toddlers. You spoke in
complete sentences to them even though you knew they didn't
understand all the words and wouldn't understand for many years.
> I AM learning plants and animalsI know a little about horses and I'll say appaloosa or palomino
> and trees so that when I see those things my children here me say,
> for instance, "Wow, look at all that Saw Palmetto"
rather than horse if I see one. But it will help you get unschooling
faster not to equate the memorization of the names of all that's
around them with learning. It looks impressive to relatives but it
isn't the same as understanding.
Richard Feynman, the physicist, said that his grandfather told him
that someone could memorize the names of all the birds and still
known nothing about birds. That is, if they changed all the birds'
names, the memorizer would know nothing! But observing the behavior
of birds -- if that interests someone -- asking questions about why
they do as they do, is real learning.
Kids do that naturally. They're always observing and (sometimes
silently) asking questions, wondering why. Bouncing on a trampoline
and coming to know instinctively that bouncing at an angle will send
you off at an angle is real learning. When a child who has done. or
played pool or bounced balls or played sports, later takes physics
and reads "Angle of incidence equals angle of reflection" they'll
understand that with their whole bodies :-) But the real learning
wasn't in reading the scientific principle but in experiencing how
things work.
Relax. Lead rich lives and do things because they're fun! :-) The
learning will follow.
Joyce
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]