Re: unschooling math, etc.
Pam Hartley
----------
I was a cost accountant. I learned entirely on the job. It takes very, very
little "math" as is presented in school. You need a good calculator and need
to learn how to use it. You need an obsession with orderliness, and that's
pretty much it.
Schools, colleges, separate things into "subjects". Life does not.
Separating what a person does all day into "subjects" can be a fun
unschooling party trick, but life goes on and doesn't care whether you do
it. Life goes on and we learn whether we do it.
Sandra had a good point with the percentages: I didn't learn how to do
percentages, mathematically on a worksheet, until this year. I glazed over
them in school, and quickly learned the few real life ones needed by using
them (tips). I learned how to plug them into the computer for my job as an
accountant, and later didn't need them so much for my job as a dog trainer,
or my job now as a bookseller.
I don't know why I was thinking about them the other day, but I said to my
husband, "if I do this, then is it that?" and he said, "yes" and I thought,
"oh, so THAT's how you do that".
I'm 35 in a few weeks.
I didn't need to know how to do percentages up till now. I still don't,
really, but for some reason it caught my interest at this time. It is no
more "vital" for me to know than how to fit a collar on my dog. In fact,
less vital. But I doubt anyone here would suggest that I need to sit my
daughters down and teach them "collar fitting" before lunch.
There is nothing that is necessarily more important than anything else.
There is no way to prepare children "in advance" for what they want to do in
20 years, because we don't know what that is. The only ones who have SOME
inkling (and we have to accept their right to change their minds and
directions 400 or 40,000 times) are our kids. THEY know what speaks to them
and sings to them. They know it when they do it, and we don't get to choose
what is right for them. We can choose to force what is wrong for them, but
we don't get to choose what is right.
If a child wants to spend all his time playing basketball, then that's what
he needs to learn. Doesn't mean he'll grow up to play basketball. Might,
might not.
If a child wants to spend all his time taking things apart, then that's what
he needs to learn. Doesn't mean he'll grow up to be a mechanic. Might, might
not.
If a child wants to spend all his time playing computer games, then that's
what he needs to learn. Doesn't mean he'll grow up to be a programmer.
Might, might not.
If a child wants to spend all his time doing math worksheets, then that's
what he needs to learn. Doesn't mean he'll grow up to be a professor of
mathematics. Might, might not.
School has fed us a line about children being prepared. Class time on
percentages was wasted on me. Class time on fine literature was wasted on my
brother in law. Class time on home ec was wasted on my sister.
Unlike schools, we don't have to waste our children's time. We can accept
that time is theirs, not ours, to spend how they choose, and just make sure
there are plenty of choices so they can choose well -- for them, not us.
Pam
>From: [email protected]I'm glad you wrote this, as I was about to post something similar.
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] Digest Number 1360
>Date: Sun, Aug 12, 2001, 9:28 AM
>
> I just don't think anything a person does, whether its an engineer, an
> accountant, or anything else is separated into subjects. An accountant
> doesn't only do math, a massage therapist doesn't only do massages, etc. Hope
> I am making my point clearly. . . NAK
I was a cost accountant. I learned entirely on the job. It takes very, very
little "math" as is presented in school. You need a good calculator and need
to learn how to use it. You need an obsession with orderliness, and that's
pretty much it.
Schools, colleges, separate things into "subjects". Life does not.
Separating what a person does all day into "subjects" can be a fun
unschooling party trick, but life goes on and doesn't care whether you do
it. Life goes on and we learn whether we do it.
Sandra had a good point with the percentages: I didn't learn how to do
percentages, mathematically on a worksheet, until this year. I glazed over
them in school, and quickly learned the few real life ones needed by using
them (tips). I learned how to plug them into the computer for my job as an
accountant, and later didn't need them so much for my job as a dog trainer,
or my job now as a bookseller.
I don't know why I was thinking about them the other day, but I said to my
husband, "if I do this, then is it that?" and he said, "yes" and I thought,
"oh, so THAT's how you do that".
I'm 35 in a few weeks.
I didn't need to know how to do percentages up till now. I still don't,
really, but for some reason it caught my interest at this time. It is no
more "vital" for me to know than how to fit a collar on my dog. In fact,
less vital. But I doubt anyone here would suggest that I need to sit my
daughters down and teach them "collar fitting" before lunch.
There is nothing that is necessarily more important than anything else.
There is no way to prepare children "in advance" for what they want to do in
20 years, because we don't know what that is. The only ones who have SOME
inkling (and we have to accept their right to change their minds and
directions 400 or 40,000 times) are our kids. THEY know what speaks to them
and sings to them. They know it when they do it, and we don't get to choose
what is right for them. We can choose to force what is wrong for them, but
we don't get to choose what is right.
If a child wants to spend all his time playing basketball, then that's what
he needs to learn. Doesn't mean he'll grow up to play basketball. Might,
might not.
If a child wants to spend all his time taking things apart, then that's what
he needs to learn. Doesn't mean he'll grow up to be a mechanic. Might, might
not.
If a child wants to spend all his time playing computer games, then that's
what he needs to learn. Doesn't mean he'll grow up to be a programmer.
Might, might not.
If a child wants to spend all his time doing math worksheets, then that's
what he needs to learn. Doesn't mean he'll grow up to be a professor of
mathematics. Might, might not.
School has fed us a line about children being prepared. Class time on
percentages was wasted on me. Class time on fine literature was wasted on my
brother in law. Class time on home ec was wasted on my sister.
Unlike schools, we don't have to waste our children's time. We can accept
that time is theirs, not ours, to spend how they choose, and just make sure
there are plenty of choices so they can choose well -- for them, not us.
Pam