Math issues
Jill
It seems to me that any discussion about learning math should also ask the
question "why are so many people (who went through the school system) phobic
about math?" My guess is that many people would label themselves as math
phobic/ can't do math/don't get math. It would be difficult to feel like
you could introduce math to your children if you feel that way - you won't
be able to answer their questions etc, etc. From my personal experience it
would be impossible to hide math basics from your children. They will
probably have their own building blocks however. My children talk about
numbers a lot, sometimes they quiz each other. They have their own ways of
figuring things out. Recently my older son wanted to know how many families
he would have if he had 20 children who were twins. We looked at it in a
few different ways and talked about dividing. I am not sure how he does the
calculation or exactly what he got out of it but it is one more bit to add
to his foundation of knowledge.
I think all knowledge is accumulated in this way. I think we remember
better when we can attach new information to something we already know. So
there are building blocks which we attach new information to. The important
thing is that the building blocks are not some set of facts we can all
learn. They are unique and based on our personal experiences. My children
may be exposed to exactly the same things (not true) but they perceive them
in different ways and different aspects are important to each of them so
their basic knowledge is different.
I think this is one of the reasons why unschooling makes sense. Each
child/person can accumulate information in a way that makes sense and is
retrievable for them. When we are forced to learn certain material on
someone else's (the teacher) schedule we totally disrupt this process. No
wonder we can't remember what we learned in school. This is also the reason
why there is not some standard set of information that we need to know at a
certain stage of our life. This is also why testing for specific knowledge
gives misleading information about a person's knowledge.
Another way of thinking about unschooling is to think about how you learn.
Say, I tell you to go and learn how to play the piano or complete a course
in Algebra 1. I am not going to give you any incentive - just do it because
I said to. I know that you will need to know that stuff, I know better than
you. What are you going to learn? On the other hand think about the last
time you wanted to know or learn something. How did you go about it? Was
it fun? Did you have trouble figuring out the interim steps to get to your
goal? We often have to learn some basic technique or acquire a basic tool
before we can achieve our goal. If we are motivated it isn't a stumbling
block. The example of person who posted about wanting to become a nurse but
had to do the Algebra first. Without the goal of becoming a nurse it is
unlikely she would have studied the algebra but she was very successful at
it. Most adult learning is like that. Why do we expect children to learn
in a different way?
Hope this helps.
Jill
question "why are so many people (who went through the school system) phobic
about math?" My guess is that many people would label themselves as math
phobic/ can't do math/don't get math. It would be difficult to feel like
you could introduce math to your children if you feel that way - you won't
be able to answer their questions etc, etc. From my personal experience it
would be impossible to hide math basics from your children. They will
probably have their own building blocks however. My children talk about
numbers a lot, sometimes they quiz each other. They have their own ways of
figuring things out. Recently my older son wanted to know how many families
he would have if he had 20 children who were twins. We looked at it in a
few different ways and talked about dividing. I am not sure how he does the
calculation or exactly what he got out of it but it is one more bit to add
to his foundation of knowledge.
I think all knowledge is accumulated in this way. I think we remember
better when we can attach new information to something we already know. So
there are building blocks which we attach new information to. The important
thing is that the building blocks are not some set of facts we can all
learn. They are unique and based on our personal experiences. My children
may be exposed to exactly the same things (not true) but they perceive them
in different ways and different aspects are important to each of them so
their basic knowledge is different.
I think this is one of the reasons why unschooling makes sense. Each
child/person can accumulate information in a way that makes sense and is
retrievable for them. When we are forced to learn certain material on
someone else's (the teacher) schedule we totally disrupt this process. No
wonder we can't remember what we learned in school. This is also the reason
why there is not some standard set of information that we need to know at a
certain stage of our life. This is also why testing for specific knowledge
gives misleading information about a person's knowledge.
Another way of thinking about unschooling is to think about how you learn.
Say, I tell you to go and learn how to play the piano or complete a course
in Algebra 1. I am not going to give you any incentive - just do it because
I said to. I know that you will need to know that stuff, I know better than
you. What are you going to learn? On the other hand think about the last
time you wanted to know or learn something. How did you go about it? Was
it fun? Did you have trouble figuring out the interim steps to get to your
goal? We often have to learn some basic technique or acquire a basic tool
before we can achieve our goal. If we are motivated it isn't a stumbling
block. The example of person who posted about wanting to become a nurse but
had to do the Algebra first. Without the goal of becoming a nurse it is
unlikely she would have studied the algebra but she was very successful at
it. Most adult learning is like that. Why do we expect children to learn
in a different way?
Hope this helps.
Jill
[email protected]
In a message dated 09/06/1999 11:50:01 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
jillmca@... writes:
<<
It seems to me that any discussion about learning math should also ask the
question "why are so many people (who went through the school system) phobic
about math?" My guess is that many people would label themselves as math
phobic/ can't do math/don't get math >>
when folks talk about math--i think they're usually talking about
calculation--which is a very small part of mathemathics. We are surrounded
by mathematics--we all arrange furniture--that's design and proportion. We
cook. We figure out how much things cost at the store. Some people play
pool, or golf (geometry). We garden (look at the center of flowers, notice
the pattern) An on and on. There is a book, Math Art. Which might be useful
for the calculation phobis among us...
Debra
jillmca@... writes:
<<
It seems to me that any discussion about learning math should also ask the
question "why are so many people (who went through the school system) phobic
about math?" My guess is that many people would label themselves as math
phobic/ can't do math/don't get math >>
when folks talk about math--i think they're usually talking about
calculation--which is a very small part of mathemathics. We are surrounded
by mathematics--we all arrange furniture--that's design and proportion. We
cook. We figure out how much things cost at the store. Some people play
pool, or golf (geometry). We garden (look at the center of flowers, notice
the pattern) An on and on. There is a book, Math Art. Which might be useful
for the calculation phobis among us...
Debra