Francine Sherwood

I have subbed to this group about a week. Although the topics under
discussion are very interesting, I was wondering if I could get sme help in
actually the education of my high school son.
He has been homeschooling about a year. We have read the right books (How to
Quit School , When the Skylark sings , etc.) I have allowed him to deschool,
etc. He does however want to get into a good college and is interested in
learning science/math. My difficulty is on one hand allowing him to unschool
and on the other trying to document learning according to traditional
subjects especially in the Maths. As a result we actually bought our only
curriculum , he is completing Geometry with MathUSee. He would like to stear
away from the textbook approach however. When it comes to Algebra II, Trig,
and Calculus, does anyone have suggestions for making sure that he has the
knowledge base of these subjects down, but a way that he can learn them that
is more experiential/unschooling?This is a real tug of war that we are going
through trying to unschool but then trying to learn certain things.
Francine

Kerry Kibort

"document learning according to traditional
subjects especially in the Maths."
As far as putting it all on paper, you'll have to keep
track of the concepts he learns as you go. At the end,
you might present it like a resume-- thats really what
it is, anyway. He'll probably need a good SAT score,
too , if college requires, that.
Kerry

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/6/01 5:41:45 AM, tsiporah@... writes:

<< My difficulty is on one hand allowing him to unschool
and on the other trying to document learning according to traditional
subjects especially in the Maths. >>

Plural on maths means you're not in the U.S., so our advice on GED and SAT
and stuff might be worthless.

I would recommend, for the unschooling aspect, reading about math-related
subjects--physics, astronomy, architecture, physics of music and instrument
construction (if he has any knowledge of or interest in music), perspective
and tromp l'oiel (spelling probably all wrong on that) in art, mechanics of
engineering (trains, airports, bridges, road construction), historic clocks
and their maintenance and repair, and pipe organs and their construction and
maintenance and tuning. That would help bring in the usefulness and
applications of math, and he would start to make his own 'scaffolding' of how
math lives in the world.

Next (not first) I'd find him some cool websites or books on the history of
math and history of science.

Also, find whatever back issues of science magazines you can find (Popular
Mechanics, Popular Science, Scientific American or whatever equivalent
available to you) which should be available at thrift stores or from science
minded friends.

Once he's interested and starting to get it on his own, maybe find a course
at a local college for him to take just for fun (not for credit, if possible,
just to be in a college level math situation to see how he takes to it).

http://tqjunior.thinkquest.org/4116/History/history.htm

At google.com I put in "math history physics" and got a REALLY cool site
(well, lots of them) but this one has all kinds of links and pictures and
connections.

Speaking of "connections," the James Burke stuff is online at the Scientific
American site. Searching for James Burke Connections will probably net you
bunches of stuff.

Sandra

Lynda

Is he going to be going into an area that requires the use of the
fundamentals of these subjects? If not, we use Multimedia from ProOne. I
used WordPerfect to set up a chart and then filled in the titles from all
the menus and then filled in the dates he completed each and the "grade" the
computer gave him.

For example, on Algebra, one section was about Graphing Linear Inequalities,
Forms of Linear Equation, Finding the Slope of a Line and Identying
Functions. Each got a line with a date and a grade.

Lynda

----- Original Message -----
From: "Francine Sherwood" <tsiporah@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2001 4:32 AM
Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] unschooling high school


> I have subbed to this group about a week. Although the topics under
> discussion are very interesting, I was wondering if I could get sme help
in
> actually the education of my high school son.
> He has been homeschooling about a year. We have read the right books (How
to
> Quit School , When the Skylark sings , etc.) I have allowed him to
deschool,
> etc. He does however want to get into a good college and is interested in
> learning science/math. My difficulty is on one hand allowing him to
unschool
> and on the other trying to document learning according to traditional
> subjects especially in the Maths. As a result we actually bought our only
> curriculum , he is completing Geometry with MathUSee. He would like to
stear
> away from the textbook approach however. When it comes to Algebra II,
Trig,
> and Calculus, does anyone have suggestions for making sure that he has the
> knowledge base of these subjects down, but a way that he can learn them
that
> is more experiential/unschooling?This is a real tug of war that we are
going
> through trying to unschool but then trying to learn certain things.
> Francine
>
>
>
> Message boards, timely articles, a free newsletter and more!
> Check it all out at: http://www.unschooling.com
>
> Addresses:
> Post message: [email protected]
> Unsubscribe: [email protected]
> List owner: [email protected]
> List settings page: http://www.egroups.com/group/Unschooling-dotcom
>
>

Bonnie Painter

I just recently purchased his book and find it incredibly fascinating.
Great book to have around for unschooling.

Bonnie


>
>Speaking of "connections," the James Burke stuff is online at the
>Scientific
>American site. Searching for James Burke Connections will probably net
>you
>bunches of stuff.
>
>Sandra

_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com

Sandi & Scott Spaeth

Just about anything and everything written by or about a scientist named
Richard P. Feynman is wonderful for sparking in interest in higher math and
science. His autobiographical stuff like "Surely you must be joking, Mr
Feynman" and "What do YOU care what other people think" are wonderful
springboards into the life of this very interesting character.

The best news is that if you even have a half way decent library in your
area you should be able to find most, if not all of the books. After the
intro through the very fascinating autobio stuff, there are books and tapes
on his lectures.

I never had much of an interest in physics, but this guy really is very
interesting. It is a great read for teens as well as their parents (my
husband and I first read them in our early 20s).

Hope that helps someone out there!

Sandi

PS the title of the latest book published about him in 1999 was entitled
"The Pleasure of Finding Things Out", I have not read it, but the title
alone screams out a must read!
--------------------------------------------------------------

Take no heroes,
Only inspiration.

Piston Ported Vespas:
http://www.piston-ported.hompage.com/index.html
words
http://www.geocities.com/vespass/words.html
ST Louis Secular Homeschooler's Co-Op
http://www.stlsecularhomeschool.org

-------------------------------------------------------------

Sandi & Scott Spaeth

Here is a listing of the works at Half.com They might give you a better
idea of what the books are about and how they might
inspire.
http://www.half.com/search/search.jsp?product=books&search_by=keyword&query=Richard+Feynman



At 10:55 AM 2/6/01 -0600, you wrote:
>Just about anything and everything written by or about a scientist named
>Richard P. Feynman is wonderful for sparking in interest in higher math and
>science. His autobiographical stuff like "Surely you must be joking, Mr
>Feynman" and "What do YOU care what other people think" are wonderful
>springboards into the life of this very interesting character.
>
>The best news is that if you even have a half way decent library in your
>area you should be able to find most, if not all of the books. After the
>intro through the very fascinating autobio stuff, there are books and tapes
>on his lectures.
>
>I never had much of an interest in physics, but this guy really is very
>interesting. It is a great read for teens as well as their parents (my
>husband and I first read them in our early 20s).
>
>Hope that helps someone out there!
>
>Sandi
>
>PS the title of the latest book published about him in 1999 was entitled
>"The Pleasure of Finding Things Out", I have not read it, but the title
>alone screams out a must read!
>--------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Take no heroes,
>Only inspiration.
>
>Piston Ported Vespas:
>http://www.piston-ported.hompage.com/index.html
>words
>http://www.geocities.com/vespass/words.html
>ST Louis Secular Homeschooler's Co-Op
>http://www.stlsecularhomeschool.org
>
>-------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
>
>Message boards, timely articles, a free newsletter and more!
>Check it all out at: http://www.unschooling.com
>
>Addresses:
>Post message: [email protected]
>Unsubscribe: [email protected]
>List owner: [email protected]
>List settings page: http://www.egroups.com/group/Unschooling-dotcom

--------------------------------------------------------------

Take no heroes,
Only inspiration.

Piston Ported Vespas:
http://www.piston-ported.hompage.com/index.html
words
http://www.geocities.com/vespass/words.html
ST Louis Secular Homeschooler's Co-Op
http://www.stlsecularhomeschool.org

-------------------------------------------------------------

Unschooling.com

> Just about anything and everything written by or about a scientist named
> Richard P. Feynman is wonderful for sparking in interest in higher math
and
> science. His autobiographical stuff like "Surely you must be joking, Mr
> Feynman" and "What do YOU care what other people think" are wonderful
> springboards into the life of this very interesting character.
>

What timing! I finished What Do You Care What Other People think just
yesterday! It's a great book. :)

Also Bucky Fuller has some works that are not *textbooks* but full of higher
maths. Fuller's Earth is one we've owned and used. Frank Lloyd Wright's
work would also be useful.

And I think studying the history of math, how each invention/discovery
changed the world brings about understanding also. It shows you what trig
was used for, thus making connections.

>
> I never had much of an interest in physics, but this guy really is very
> interesting. It is a great read for teens as well as their parents (my
> husband and I first read them in our early 20s).


The Cartoon Guide to Physics is also a great place to start!

Lisa

Kerry Kibort

"Next (not first) I'd find him some cool websites or books on the
history of
math and history of science."

Sandra,
Is the order in which she finds things really important? You must
have a reason why she shouldnt look on the internet first. Just
curious what that reason is.
Kerry








--- In Unschooling-dotcom@y..., SandraDodd@a... wrote:
>
> In a message dated 2/6/01 5:41:45 AM, tsiporah@i... writes:
>
> << My difficulty is on one hand allowing him to unschool
> and on the other trying to document learning according to
traditional
> subjects especially in the Maths. >>
>
> Plural on maths means you're not in the U.S., so our advice on GED
and SAT
> and stuff might be worthless.
>
> I would recommend, for the unschooling aspect, reading about math-
related
> subjects--physics, astronomy, architecture, physics of music and
instrument
> construction (if he has any knowledge of or interest in music),
perspective
> and tromp l'oiel (spelling probably all wrong on that) in art,
mechanics of
> engineering (trains, airports, bridges, road construction),
historic clocks
> and their maintenance and repair, and pipe organs and their
construction and
> maintenance and tuning. That would help bring in the usefulness
and
> applications of math, and he would start to make his
own 'scaffolding' of how
> math lives in the world.
>
> Next (not first) I'd find him some cool websites or books on the
history of
> math and history of science.
>
> Also, find whatever back issues of science magazines you can find
(Popular
> Mechanics, Popular Science, Scientific American or whatever
equivalent
> available to you) which should be available at thrift stores or
from science
> minded friends.
>
> Once he's interested and starting to get it on his own, maybe find
a course
> at a local college for him to take just for fun (not for credit, if
possible,
> just to be in a college level math situation to see how he takes to
it).
>
> http://tqjunior.thinkquest.org/4116/History/history.htm
>
> At google.com I put in "math history physics" and got a REALLY cool
site
> (well, lots of them) but this one has all kinds of links and
pictures and
> connections.
>
> Speaking of "connections," the James Burke stuff is online at the
Scientific
> American site. Searching for James Burke Connections will
probably net you
> bunches of stuff.
>
> Sandra

Bonnie Painter

I just got that title in the bargain area of Barnes & Noble along with a cd
rom for 7.98!

Bonnie


>
>The Cartoon Guide to Physics is also a great place to start!
>
>Lisa
>

_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com

[email protected]

Dear Francine,
Welcome! I think you might be interested in Key Curriculum Press
products. Their website is:
http://www.keypress.com/
-Amalia, mother of Jenny age 20, Michael age 15 and Ariana age 11-

Elizabeth Hill

>I would recommend, for the unschooling aspect, reading about math-related
>subjects--physics, astronomy, architecture, physics of music and
instrument
>construction (if he has any knowledge of or interest in music),
perspective
>and tromp l'oiel (spelling probably all wrong on that) in art, mechanics
of
>engineering (trains, airports, bridges, road construction), historic
clocks
>and their maintenance and repair, and pipe organs and their construction
and
>maintenance and tuning. That would help bring in the usefulness and
>applications of math, and he would start to make his own 'scaffolding' of
how
>math lives in the world.

There's a poster in one of the math catalogs (sorry to be so vague) that is
just a big chart answering the question "when will I ever use this math
concept?".

I'm not sure if it covers much higher level math, though. But it seems
like an interesting road map or atlas for the kind of exploration Sandra is
proposing. A way to quickly connect a particular math topic to a
scientific application. (But maybe I'm approaching it backwards.)

Betsy