Michele Moss

> From: The O'Donnells <praxis@...>
>
>
> Hi all,
>
> I've been gone a couple days (dh is only home on weekends, sigh)
> But, wanted to point out that I am not trying to criticize anyone
> because they can't put math sentences on paper. My thinking is that
> we need to know how to communicate math problems on paper just as we
> do the English language.

but do we "all" need to know how to communicate math on paper? and
if we don't, then what is the point of being forced to learn to do
so. isn't it sort of a waste of time while we could be using our
time to learn other things that we feel we need to know at any given
moment in our lifetimes?

If we work with others that need to know
> how we arrived at our math answers and cannot communicate it in
> writing we could be somewhat hindered could we not?
>
but "if" we worked with others that need to know how we got there
and the method of presentation happened to be required on paper,
wouldn't we have ended up in that position by choice - a career in
engineering perhaps? - and in that respect knew we would need to know
and have a desire to learn to do so and chose to apply our efforts to
learn for that sake?

i had a funny feeling you were going to ask these questions and so
have been giving it some thought. in addition to my above comments,
i can't honestly remember the last time i had to show a math solution
to anyone on paper - i think it was probably in high school for a
teacher! but then my career choices have not included a calling for
much math in this capacity either. wow, you've just made me realize
how much time i wasted learning how to put it down on paper, never
use it, and then forget most of how to do it! if i found myself
working in that capacity, i would have to reinvest lots of time with
a crash refresher course anyhow! so i think the time spent on the
first go-around could have been much more wisely invested on something else
i would be using from day to day or just wanted to learn because it
was interesting!


>
> In His Service,
>
> Laraine
> praxis@...
>
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Michele Moss
Mom of Sterling Tyler age 3 yrs old
Parents of Spirited Kids Resource Web site:
http://www.icstech.net/~michele
Parents of Spirited Kids Discussion Group:
http://www.egroups.com/list/psk

[email protected]

In a message dated 09/08/1999 3:24:45 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
michele@... writes:

<< but "if" we worked with others that need to know how we got there
and the method of presentation happened to be required on paper,
wouldn't we have ended up in that position by choice - a career in
engineering perhaps? - and in that respect knew we would need to know
and have a desire to learn to do so and chose to apply our efforts to
learn for that sake? >>

Michelle,

I agree with this totally. I had an unschooled friend who decided, at about
age 17, that he wanted to go to college - having decided what career to
pursue. He got a list of what he needed to know in order to get into the
school he needed to get into.....took 6 months to learn/review what he needed
to learn/review.....and got in!!! It went much faster at 17 and accomplished
the same thing that years of boring work when he was younger would have.

Sam

Michele Moss

> From: Sam926@...
>
>
> I agree with this totally. I had an unschooled friend who decided,
> at about age 17, that he wanted to go to college - having decided
> what career to pursue. He got a list of what he needed to know in
> order to get into the school he needed to get into.....took 6 months
> to learn/review what he needed to learn/review.....and got in!!! It
> went much faster at 17 and accomplished the same thing that years of
> boring work when he was younger would have.
>
> Sam
>
there's another aspect of this that i just thought of when you say
it went much "faster" at 17 compared to years. in the traditional
ps, it seems as though an awful lot of effort and time is spent "drilling"
certain info into kids in an effort to make the kids "get it". i
can remember having difficulty with various subjects between grade
7-12 and just barely passing the tests in some cases. it wasn't like
i didn't try.... i spent hours doing homework and trying to "get it".
later, i had to take some of the same subjects at a college level
and remember how i dreaded the idea. but what was very interesting
is that right from the start, it all seem to make sense! it all
"clicked"! i loved the subject, had fun with it, spent mimimal time
getting the homework done, and looked forward to attending the
classes because i felt as though i could participate on a higher
level of understanding.

h-m-m-m... i think this may tie in with what we've been
discussing off and on here about kids getting to subjects in their
own due time? i think it certainly is natural for parents to be
concerned if a child doesn't learn certain basics by a certain time
but i think there is definately something to be said about the mind
being ready to accept and process that information easier when it is
ready - and that readiness happens at very different times for
everyone.


Michele Moss
Mom of Sterling Tyler age 3 yrs old
Parents of Spirited Kids Resource Web site:
http://www.icstech.net/~michele
Parents of Spirited Kids Discussion Group:
http://www.egroups.com/list/psk

[email protected]

In a message dated 09/08/1999 7:32:57 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
michele@... writes:

<< h-m-m-m... i think this may tie in with what we've been
discussing off and on here about kids getting to subjects in their
own due time? >>

And it seems like the ps schedule pushes more and more advanced math subject
on younger and younger kids.

Sam