I'm so mad at the people who "taught" me math!
sorcha_aisling
I'm reading a book called "Mathematics Sorcery: Revealing the Secrets
of Numbers." I'm trying to learn some math now; I loved numbers all
through elementary school, and then got a bad teacher in 7th and 8th
grade, and was completely lost from that point on.
I was just reading about the Greeks and the discoveries of the
Pythagoreans, when suddenly it clicked in my head for the first time
ever that a number squared literally meant that you can make an
actual square of, say, three across and three down and get nine. How
dare someone teach me how to "square" and how to find the "square
root" without ever telling me what it means! How dare someone force
me to memorize trigonometric formulas without ever telling me that
trigonometry means the measurement of triangles! How dare they cram
these squiggles and rules into my head without ever telling me what I
was supposed to be doing! I could cry.
Sorcha
of Numbers." I'm trying to learn some math now; I loved numbers all
through elementary school, and then got a bad teacher in 7th and 8th
grade, and was completely lost from that point on.
I was just reading about the Greeks and the discoveries of the
Pythagoreans, when suddenly it clicked in my head for the first time
ever that a number squared literally meant that you can make an
actual square of, say, three across and three down and get nine. How
dare someone teach me how to "square" and how to find the "square
root" without ever telling me what it means! How dare someone force
me to memorize trigonometric formulas without ever telling me that
trigonometry means the measurement of triangles! How dare they cram
these squiggles and rules into my head without ever telling me what I
was supposed to be doing! I could cry.
Sorcha
Tim and Maureen
----- Original Message -----
From: sorcha_aisling
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, April 25, 2003 10:45 AM
Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] I'm so mad at the people who "taught" me math!
How
dare someone teach me how to "square" and how to find the "square
root" without ever telling me what it means! How dare someone force
me to memorize trigonometric formulas without ever telling me that
trigonometry means the measurement of triangles! How dare they cram
these squiggles and rules into my head without ever telling me what I
was supposed to be doing! I could cry.
Sorcha,
I hear you.It is criminal that as you are saying this I am going it is? Huh.
wow. I never knew any of that. Does this book you are reading explain it that clearly.
Maureen
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Heidi
Oooh! Mortenson More Than Math has some excellent manipulatives,
where you can make "square" numbers, and even "cubed" by taking ten
squares of ten and stacking them...10 cubed! and it equals 1,000.
heidi
--- In [email protected], Tim and Maureen
<tmthomas@s...> wrote:
list owner, Helen Hegener (HEM-Editor@h...).
where you can make "square" numbers, and even "cubed" by taking ten
squares of ten and stacking them...10 cubed! and it equals 1,000.
heidi
--- In [email protected], Tim and Maureen
<tmthomas@s...> wrote:
>who "taught" me math!
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: sorcha_aisling
> To: [email protected]
> Sent: Friday, April 25, 2003 10:45 AM
> Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] I'm so mad at the people
>force
>
> How
> dare someone teach me how to "square" and how to find the "square
> root" without ever telling me what it means! How dare someone
> me to memorize trigonometric formulas without ever telling methat
> trigonometry means the measurement of triangles! How dare theycram
> these squiggles and rules into my head without ever telling mewhat I
> was supposed to be doing! I could cry.it is? Huh.
>
> Sorcha,
> I hear you.It is criminal that as you are saying this I am going
>explain it that clearly.
> wow. I never knew any of that. Does this book you are reading
>~~~~
> Maureen
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
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>
>
> ~~~~ Don't forget! If you change topics, change the subject line!
>please email the moderator, Joyce Fetteroll (fetteroll@e...), or the
> If you have questions, concerns or problems with this list,
list owner, Helen Hegener (HEM-Editor@h...).
>address an email to:
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> [email protected]Service.
>
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>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
sorcha_aisling
>>>Does this book you are reading explain it that clearly.<<<The book does a great job of explaining things, going all the way
back to the discovery of math by the Sumerians. Then it moves
forward through the Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks.
I also looked some basic words up in the dictionary to find their
roots. Arithmetic means "the art of measurement" or "the counting
art". Calculus comes from a Greek word for pebble, because they used
pebbles to "calculate". Geometry means "to measure the earth". And
Mathematics means "to think; to be alert; or to learn". Mathematics
is a "group of sciences including arithmetic, geometry, algebra,
calculus, etc. that deals with quantities, magnitudes, and forms and
their relationships, attributes, etc."
Honestly, for me, a good starting point to math instruction would
have been an introduction to the roots of the words themselves and a
history of how we went from tallying our sheep to the math we use
nowadays. What I was actually taught was a bunch of meaningless and
pointless formulas that didn't fit into my concept of the world.
Sorcha
[email protected]
In a message dated 4/25/03 11:56:22 AM, sorcha-aisling@... writes:
<< suddenly it clicked in my head for the first time
ever that a number squared literally meant that you can make an
actual square of, say, three across and three down and get nine. How
dare someone teach me how to "square" and how to find the "square
root" without ever telling me what it means! >>
ME TOO. I feel the same way.
I discovered it at a workshop on geoboards at a little homeschooling
convention in New Mexico.
But three different years they showed me some long-division-looking way to
"calculate a square root."
<<How dare they cram
these squiggles and rules into my head without ever telling me what I
was supposed to be doing! I could cry.>>
Well yes.
But my kids and your kids will someday be happy to find out there's a way to
do things in writing, and MAYBE it will be easier than the way they've
already figured out to do it in their heads, but maybe not! <g>
I'm the one in my family who has to grab a pencil and paper to "think" when a
math thing comes up. I might end up figuring it out in my head, but until I
have the paper and pencil my brain doesn't even operate.
I'm crippled! But at least I'm a hyperactive crippled unschooling
missionary. LOL!
Sandra
<< suddenly it clicked in my head for the first time
ever that a number squared literally meant that you can make an
actual square of, say, three across and three down and get nine. How
dare someone teach me how to "square" and how to find the "square
root" without ever telling me what it means! >>
ME TOO. I feel the same way.
I discovered it at a workshop on geoboards at a little homeschooling
convention in New Mexico.
But three different years they showed me some long-division-looking way to
"calculate a square root."
<<How dare they cram
these squiggles and rules into my head without ever telling me what I
was supposed to be doing! I could cry.>>
Well yes.
But my kids and your kids will someday be happy to find out there's a way to
do things in writing, and MAYBE it will be easier than the way they've
already figured out to do it in their heads, but maybe not! <g>
I'm the one in my family who has to grab a pencil and paper to "think" when a
math thing comes up. I might end up figuring it out in my head, but until I
have the paper and pencil my brain doesn't even operate.
I'm crippled! But at least I'm a hyperactive crippled unschooling
missionary. LOL!
Sandra
Olga
--- In [email protected], "sorcha_aisling" <sorcha-
aisling@i...> wrote:
Uhh...ummmm....gads...DUH...and why did that never occur to me
before!!! Good grief, it was like a little light went on and
said ..ohhhhh. The sad part is that I am pretty good at math and
aced algebra in college and never knew anything you mentioned. In
fact, I am currently studying for my GRE and reviewing all
this "basic" math that I have forgotten. Your note cracked me up,
here I am working so hard with the facts and missing the true
theories behind them all! It is making me rethink my whole approach!
Olga
aisling@i...> wrote:
>How dare they cramI
> these squiggles and rules into my head without ever telling me what
> was supposed to be doing! I could cry.Sorcha,
>
> Sorcha
Uhh...ummmm....gads...DUH...and why did that never occur to me
before!!! Good grief, it was like a little light went on and
said ..ohhhhh. The sad part is that I am pretty good at math and
aced algebra in college and never knew anything you mentioned. In
fact, I am currently studying for my GRE and reviewing all
this "basic" math that I have forgotten. Your note cracked me up,
here I am working so hard with the facts and missing the true
theories behind them all! It is making me rethink my whole approach!
Olga
[email protected]
In a message dated 4/25/2003 1:56:28 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
sorcha-aisling@... writes:
Thre are TRIANGULAR numbers too! <G> Wow! What a revelation when I found THAT
out! They form a triangle!
~Kelly
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
sorcha-aisling@... writes:
> was just reading about the Greeks and the discoveries of theSorcha,
> Pythagoreans, when suddenly it clicked in my head for the first time
> ever that a number squared literally meant that you can make an
> actual square of, say, three across and three down and get nine.
Thre are TRIANGULAR numbers too! <G> Wow! What a revelation when I found THAT
out! They form a triangle!
~Kelly
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
In a message dated 4/25/2003 11:04:38 PM Eastern Standard Time,
kbcdlovejo@... writes:
Laura
Maine
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
kbcdlovejo@... writes:
> Sorcha,LOL!!!!!! what a roit!
>
> Thre are TRIANGULAR numbers too! <G> Wow! What a revelation when I found
> THAT
> out! They form a triangle!
>
> ~Kelly
Laura
Maine
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Kevin Tucker
Just had to chime in her with my own “discovery” about math and its
interrelationships.
Did you know that the trig identities “work” because of the Pythagorean
theorem?
For example, sin2+cos2=1. The way I learned it was that sin=y/h and
cos=x/h. if you substitute those back in, you get
(y/h)2 + (x/h)2=1. Simplifying, you get:
(x2+y2)/(h2)=1. By Pythagorean theorem, x2+y2=h2, so the equation
simplifies to h2/h2=1!
Sorry, just couldn’t resist.
Kevin
-----Original Message-----
From: sorcha_aisling [mailto:sorcha-aisling@...]
Sent: Friday, April 25, 2003 10:46 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] I'm so mad at the people who "taught" me math!
I'm reading a book called "Mathematics Sorcery: Revealing the Secrets
of Numbers." I'm trying to learn some math now; I loved numbers all
through elementary school, and then got a bad teacher in 7th and 8th
grade, and was completely lost from that point on.
I was just reading about the Greeks and the discoveries of the
Pythagoreans, when suddenly it clicked in my head for the first time
ever that a number squared literally meant that you can make an
actual square of, say, three across and three down and get nine. How
dare someone teach me how to "square" and how to find the "square
root" without ever telling me what it means! How dare someone force
me to memorize trigonometric formulas without ever telling me that
trigonometry means the measurement of triangles! How dare they cram
these squiggles and rules into my head without ever telling me what I
was supposed to be doing! I could cry.
Sorcha
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interrelationships.
Did you know that the trig identities “work” because of the Pythagorean
theorem?
For example, sin2+cos2=1. The way I learned it was that sin=y/h and
cos=x/h. if you substitute those back in, you get
(y/h)2 + (x/h)2=1. Simplifying, you get:
(x2+y2)/(h2)=1. By Pythagorean theorem, x2+y2=h2, so the equation
simplifies to h2/h2=1!
Sorry, just couldn’t resist.
Kevin
-----Original Message-----
From: sorcha_aisling [mailto:sorcha-aisling@...]
Sent: Friday, April 25, 2003 10:46 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] I'm so mad at the people who "taught" me math!
I'm reading a book called "Mathematics Sorcery: Revealing the Secrets
of Numbers." I'm trying to learn some math now; I loved numbers all
through elementary school, and then got a bad teacher in 7th and 8th
grade, and was completely lost from that point on.
I was just reading about the Greeks and the discoveries of the
Pythagoreans, when suddenly it clicked in my head for the first time
ever that a number squared literally meant that you can make an
actual square of, say, three across and three down and get nine. How
dare someone teach me how to "square" and how to find the "square
root" without ever telling me what it means! How dare someone force
me to memorize trigonometric formulas without ever telling me that
trigonometry means the measurement of triangles! How dare they cram
these squiggles and rules into my head without ever telling me what I
was supposed to be doing! I could cry.
Sorcha
Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
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72:HM/A=1524963/R=0/*http:/hits.411web.com/cgi-bin/autoredir?camp=556&lineid
=3179269∝=egroupweb&pos=HM>
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l/S=:HM/A=1524963/rand=261611367>
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Helen Hegener (HEM-Editor@...).
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