Re: [Unschooling-dotcom] Math from a lurker!
Gerard Westenberg
<,But Keith the husband says math is easy for him because he always saw the
world as patterns, and found patterns in all kinds of things. >.
This is like my oldest son - now 21.He has always liked numbers and patterns and I found that we didn't have to look for opportunities for Maths - he, as a number and pattern minded person, just needed time to think and explore...I remember once, when he was 7, he came to me and said he had been pondering what 7 to the power of 7 meant, for a few weeks - and he had just figured it out and figured out the answer..I think unstructured time is really important for mathematical thinking...BTW, I should introduce myself! :-) I am usually a lurker. I joined the list in January . We have always been relaxed homeschoolers, sometimes complete unschoolers, then moving back into relaxed mode when the panic attacks hit. I finally realised that my oldest three sons, now adults, learned more on their own, in our unschooling modes, than in our relaxed modes. So, we have moved into unschooling the younger ones, without resorting to "relaxed structure"..Have been enjoying the list and the message board...Leonie
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world as patterns, and found patterns in all kinds of things. >.
This is like my oldest son - now 21.He has always liked numbers and patterns and I found that we didn't have to look for opportunities for Maths - he, as a number and pattern minded person, just needed time to think and explore...I remember once, when he was 7, he came to me and said he had been pondering what 7 to the power of 7 meant, for a few weeks - and he had just figured it out and figured out the answer..I think unstructured time is really important for mathematical thinking...BTW, I should introduce myself! :-) I am usually a lurker. I joined the list in January . We have always been relaxed homeschoolers, sometimes complete unschoolers, then moving back into relaxed mode when the panic attacks hit. I finally realised that my oldest three sons, now adults, learned more on their own, in our unschooling modes, than in our relaxed modes. So, we have moved into unschooling the younger ones, without resorting to "relaxed structure"..Have been enjoying the list and the message board...Leonie
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Deb
Ahh, thank you, Leoni. It is reassuring for me to hear of a math-loving
kid. That is awesome thinking! You must be from... where - Canada? or
points east? as you say maths... the British form. ....Another
lamentable shortcoming of US math - there is thought to only one subject
where other places in the world recognize there it has several branches.
Debbie
pattern minded person,
just needed time to think and explore...I remember once, when he was 7,
he came to me and
said he had been pondering what 7 to the power of 7 meant, for a few
weeks - and he had just
figured it out and figured out the answer..I think unstructured time is
really important for
mathematical thinking...
kid. That is awesome thinking! You must be from... where - Canada? or
points east? as you say maths... the British form. ....Another
lamentable shortcoming of US math - there is thought to only one subject
where other places in the world recognize there it has several branches.
Debbie
>>>we didn't have to look for opportunities for Maths - he, as a number and
pattern minded person,
just needed time to think and explore...I remember once, when he was 7,
he came to me and
said he had been pondering what 7 to the power of 7 meant, for a few
weeks - and he had just
figured it out and figured out the answer..I think unstructured time is
really important for
mathematical thinking...
[email protected]
In a message dated 8/12/02 10:27:46 PM, herbtea@... writes:
<< Another
lamentable shortcoming of US math - there is thought to only one subject
where other places in the world recognize there it has several branches. >>
It has to do with how we use collective verbs.
In England the family are going.
U.S., the family (as a singular unit) IS going.
Mathematics might be fun (mathematics are fun) in England,
but mathematics is just one big wad of stuff here.
So if it's an "is" (singular) there's no reason to pluralize the shortened
form.
The team are eating. When that happens it's not an American team. We would
say "the team members are eating" or "the team is eating."
Sandra
<< Another
lamentable shortcoming of US math - there is thought to only one subject
where other places in the world recognize there it has several branches. >>
It has to do with how we use collective verbs.
In England the family are going.
U.S., the family (as a singular unit) IS going.
Mathematics might be fun (mathematics are fun) in England,
but mathematics is just one big wad of stuff here.
So if it's an "is" (singular) there's no reason to pluralize the shortened
form.
The team are eating. When that happens it's not an American team. We would
say "the team members are eating" or "the team is eating."
Sandra