ST Math

I stumbled upon this video a couple of months ago.  

I went over to the website and checked it out.  I tried the demo myself and then let the kids try it out.  I was so impressed with the program and how it teaches.  Not only does it teach concepts well, I love that it also encourages the kids to try.  "Failure" is not something to avoid or fear, it is simply a natural part of learning and growing.  Problem solving is inherent.  And best of all is the joy that comes when they succeed after struggling through a concept.  Learning to work is fabulous.

It is more expensive than I like but.  I found a discount over at homeschool buyer's co-op which made it doable.  With 2 kids that struggle with language, this is a blessing.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Flora

If Not Math, Than What?

I love it when someone smarter than me agrees with me.  Last year I wrote about how I don't think we should be requiring our high schoolers to study higher math.  Link Here.  I recently found this TED Talk by John Bennett making a much better argument than I did.

I love his solution.  I will definitely be incorporating this into our plan.  Bennett has published a book of brain games and has a website containing several game and puzzle resources.  http://www.iwannabigbrain.com/

Let the games begin.

Higher Math?

I had a bit of an epiphany this last year and I have been on a bit of a soapbox about it since.

Why Oh Why are we insisting our kids study higher math?  

The main reason we started teaching higher math is to teach logic.  But higher math is not a good fit for all students; even college bound students.

What did I get out of my study of higher math?  I received the knowledge that I could do higher math - with a fair amount of work.  That's really about it.  I do not use it in my daily (or yearly) life.

However what I would have really benefited from is a personal finance course.  That is the kind of math that affects me on a daily basis.  I have had to learn on my own how taxes, interest and amortization works.  I have struggled to make a working budget and how to effectively make wise financial choices.

I venture to speculate that the lack of emphasizing personal finance in lieu of higher math courses  might actually contribute to a rising generation and nation who have more debt than they can handle.  Many do not understand the true purchase amount of a new car or mortgage.  They do not understand how to budget and save.  They do not know what it actually takes to run a business.  They often do not take personal responsibility for their finances and look to others or even government to take care of them.

When I was in school, personal or consumer math had a stigma to it: it was for the "losers;" the kids who were just barely going to graduate anyway.  I find this is unfortunate.  We encourage higher math for all students to teach logic.  Why not instead teach Logic.  We encourage higher math because we have decided that everyone needs a college degree.  I'm not so sure about that one either - but that is a different soap box.

I am certainly not saying we should not offer Calculus and Statistics.  But I do think it would be better to emphasize personal, consumer, or business math.

So if I had my way, This would be my recommendation:  Encourage math courses for everyone through Algebra and perhaps a little Geometry and then require a personal finance course (or consumer or business math).  Algebra and Geometry often appeal to different of students. (I did better in Algebra; my husband did much better in Geometry.)  By then most students know whether or not they would want to continue with the higher math courses.  Leave higher math for the scientists, mathematicians, engineers and those who just love it.  However have everyone take a personal finance course.  I think we will be better off as a society.

Khan Academy review

A few months ago I was introduced to Khan Academy Khan Academy has two parts. The first is a library of over 2000 instructional videos on topics in math, science, and humanities. The second is my favorite part. It is an online practice and instructional software. Khan Academy is gaining in popularity as word of this resource spreads. Each student is required to have his or her own account in order to track progress. A concept map guides the student beginning with single digit addition through algebra and trigonometry. To show mastery of each concept the student must correctly answer 10 problems in a row, called a streak. If the student is struggling with or new to the topic, links are provided to the appropriate instructional videos. These videos run about 10 minutes long. Sal Khan, the company’s founder explains and illustrates each concept in the videos. A student is free to pause, and repeat the instruction as many times as needed without embarrassment. The program will also provide hints to find the answer, although this option will reset the student’s streak.

My favorite part of this program is that the students can earn any of 60 badges keeping them motivated to practice. Badges are available for answering quickly, for persisting in a difficult concept or mastering a number of concepts. Earning badges is what got my kids interested and keeps them coming back. I didn't just give it to them to try out, instead I made myself an account and started playing and earning badges. Soon they became interested in what I was doing and asked if they could do it too. Although they are at different levels, they still have a little competitive thing going on with how many badges they can earn. I am not doing "school" this summer, but about once a week they still ask if they can do Khan Academy.

The parent’s resources are also very helpful. Parents, as "coaches," can receive any number of student and class progress reports to view the progression of their students. The progress reports are in depth and easy to use. Coaches can see at a glance where students are and what they are struggling with so they know when to intervene. They can see how long each student has practiced and on what topics.

Khan Academy is FREE. I have paid good money for programs not nearly this good. I am very impressed.

Beware of Being Behind

I recently read this article by Steve Demme, author of the very successful Math-U-See math series. He said beautifully what I often tell parents: It's O. K.

This was in the Math-U-See newsletter volume 25: April 19, 2011.



Beware of Being BehindThe most common myth that I am regularly addressing at fairs, on the phone, and in emails, is that someone’s student is behind.

I often diffuse this by asking what the scripture reference is that determines what age a student must be to take Algebra 1 or Geometry or begin studying fractions. Is it in 1st Hezekiah or 2nd Assumptions? There is often a pause, then a light begins to dawn, and the look of consternation from wrongly surmising their child is behind, is replaced with a look of relief when they realize he is right where he needs to be.
Now if you have an 18 year old that is still counting on his fingers I recommend you consult a learning specialist to determine if there is a problem. But in 20 years will it make a difference whether your student is studying fractions when he is 10 or 12? The primary indicator is a child’s readiness and math background, not his age, or God forbid, his grade level. Perhaps the root problem is not the student, but an insecure parent? While I am at it, most studies do not support putting children in school at 5 years old. Neither is it in the law given at Sinai, that children must leave home at 18 and enter college.

All three of our college graduates were 20 when they entered college, and they did fine. In fact I think they did better with a few more years of maturity than they would have done as an 18 year old.

This is not to say children can’t being formal schooling at 5 or enter college at 17, but please trust your instincts and teach and train your children according to what you know about their abilities and readiness.

Math-U-See does not have grade levels because so many older students have to go back and redo these levels. Most of these older students were moved through successive math classes based on their age and not their achievement. There’s never enough time to do it right the first time, but there is always enough time to go back and do it again.

Please let your children move at their own pace and not some man made standard from one of the worst math nations on the planet, the good old USA.Protect your children, those precious individuals that God has placed in your care, from state imposed guidelines and raise them and train them in the way they should go.

Fun with Math

We have found a fun, new math resource.

I first heard about Times Tables the Fun Way by Judy Liautaud when I visited the Montessori school in Lakeside. Math facts for 3's 4's, 5's, 6's, 7's and 8's have a fun story to help the children remember it. I looked it up and Judy Liautaud has also written a similar book for the addition facts. My budget would only fit in one, so I decided to start with Addition the Fun Way.

My boys are really picking up on these. Each number is a cartoon character for example, 3 is a bee: the 3 bee. 6 is always sick. Some are silly, but others are pretty good. Either way, it seems to work.

Memorizing math facts are important, yet I also do not like the idea of memorizing by rote without understanding the concepts behind it. So we have also pulled out the dominoes. We have a set of double nine dominoes which are perfect for generating addition (or multiplication) problems from 0-9. So we pick out a domino at random, say the problem, maybe write it on the white board and then talk about the story. Then they count the dots to make sure we are right. It is fun to see.

Another fun game we have started playing is Addition War very similar to traditional War. We use a stack on number cards with each player having half of the cards. To play, the players each pull off the top two cards from the deck and lay them on the table. The two cards are added together. The player whose card added up higher get all the cards on the table. Much funner than timed sheets.