Thad Martin

hi,

these sites are not about 'arithmetic' but they may open up a whole new
world of math as more of a science. this is a forward. i had sent it
originally right before christmas. i would love start a discussion on
this perspective of math if anyone is interested.

-susan



> hi,
>
> this year i've been focusing on aquiring a more conceptual
> understanding of mathematic. i know math is a perennial topic and has
> been covered at great length in many many homeschool groups, but i
> want to understand math beyond the popularly accepted notion of number
> crunching. so this email is for anyone interested in math as
> something like a 'science of patterns', where numbers are just one on
> the many 'mathematical objects' used.
>
> i have a long way to go before i have any real grasp on this, but i
> thought i should pass on what i've found to date.
>
> first there are some very good software programs which i found (among
> the miriade out there) that break away from the traditional approach
> to math.
> Like science, mathematics is taught more as an array of facts and
> algorithms to memorize than as a habit of inquiry that includes
> discussion, argument, and exploration.
> programs we have and like are:
> by lucas learning - pit droids & yoda's challenge
> by broderbund - logical journey of the zoombini
> i'm sure there are more but so far this is what we have found.
>
> in the back of the pit droids 'owner's manual' there are some very
> interesting web sites and i think that they are all well worth a look
> (also free stuff available).
> http://www.terc.edu/
> http://www.aimsedu.org/
> http://www.cs.uidaho.edu/~casey931/mega-math/
> http://www.scottkim.com/ -puzzle master
>
>
> Perhaps one of the best-kept secrets about mathematics is that it is
> easy to get a feel for the kinds of questions that are at the
> wide-open frontiers of knowledge. We already know that students enjoy
> speculating about what happened to the dinosaurs, pondering the shape
> of the universe or imagining the Big Bang. We think that they can get
> as much intriguing puzzlement from wondering about the size of
> infinity and finding out that there are some very simple-sounding
> problems that would take huge computers longer than the estimated age
> of the universe to solve. We are concerned that so much of the ``good
> stuff'' doesn't make it's way into the math classrooms until graduate
> school. -mike fellows; mega- math
>
> -susan
> austin,tx
>

Debra Bures

<<these sites are not about 'arithmetic' but they may open up a whole new world of math as more of a science. this is a forward. i had sent it originally right before christmas. i would love start a discussion on this perspective of math if anyone is interested>>
Hi susan
we have also tried to emphasize thinking and problem solving over drill and kill. my dd loved the zoombinis, solved Myst with her Dad and is currently working on Riven with him.She loves tesselations--was doing 30 piece puzzles at 2 yrs of age. We've done projects from Math Art (a scholastic book). She want to do arithmetic--says she doesn't like being "behind" her friends. She was working with the Key To.. series, got stuck, and realized she never really learned the beginning stuff. But doesn't like to do it. so we surround ourselves with mathematical thinking--and try again
I hope this makes sense--I'm real tired!
Debra
----- Original Message -----
From: Thad Martin
To: [email protected]
Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2000 3:18 AM
Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] 11 yr old/[Fwd: mathematical thinking- more than just number crunching]


From: Thad Martin <tmartin@...>

hi,
these sites are not about 'arithmetic' but they may open up a whole new world of math as more of a science. this is a forward. i had sent it originally right before christmas. i would love start a discussion on this perspective of math if anyone is interested.

-susan



hi,
this year i've been focusing on aquiring a more conceptual understanding of mathematic. i know math is a perennial topic and has been covered at great length in many many homeschool groups, but i want to understand math beyond the popularly accepted notion of number crunching. so this email is for anyone interested in math as something like a 'science of patterns', where numbers are just one on the many 'mathematical objects' used.

i have a long way to go before i have any real grasp on this, but i thought i should pass on what i've found to date.

first there are some very good software programs which i found (among the miriade out there) that break away from the traditional approach to math.
Like science, mathematics is taught more as an array of facts and algorithms to memorize than as a habit of inquiry that includes discussion, argument, and exploration.
programs we have and like are:
by lucas learning - pit droids & yoda's challenge
by broderbund - logical journey of the zoombini
i'm sure there are more but so far this is what we have found.

in the back of the pit droids 'owner's manual' there are some very interesting web sites and i think that they are all well worth a look (also free stuff available).
http://www.terc.edu/
http://www.aimsedu.org/
http://www.cs.uidaho.edu/~casey931/mega-math/
http://www.scottkim.com/ -puzzle master


Perhaps one of the best-kept secrets about mathematics is that it is easy to get a feel for the kinds of questions that are at the wide-open frontiers of knowledge. We already know that students enjoy speculating about what happened to the dinosaurs, pondering the shape of the universe or imagining the Big Bang. We think that they can get as much intriguing puzzlement from wondering about the size of infinity and finding out that there are some very simple-sounding problems that would take huge computers longer than the estimated age of the universe to solve. We are concerned that so much of the ``good stuff'' doesn't make it's way into the math classrooms until graduate school. -mike fellows; mega- math

-susan
austin,tx



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