is it possible to "srew up" math?

[midnightwriter]

We are unschoolers, and haven't used any math carricula yet. DD will be 8 in a couple of weeks. She enjoyed some workbooks about a year ago, then her interest in math waned (after I ordered and showed her Miquon orange book ). Now she is sort of interested again. It started with her wanting to be better at telling time, and ended up with us buying a second grade math work book (first grade seemed too easy / simplistic) and doing the first two pages so far. Then I showed her ixl.com and she really liked it, so we signed up for it.

Math is not my strong point--I did really well at it, in a Russian school even, but I never liked it or was very confident in my abilities. I've always felt that humanities were my thing.

I think she grasps math concepts well. Without doing any formal math, aside for a couple of weeks of doing mostly single digit addition and subtraction over a year ago, she figured out skip counting and place value right away. Not that those are very difficult concepts, but she went from no understanding of those, to pretty solid understanding within minutes.

I wonder if there's the right way and the wrong way to start math. I'm a bit worried that if I start just with something like ixl.com, which is basically practice, I might not help her develop the "correct" math thinking. But is it true, or my math insecurities speaking? If we start on the wrong footing, can we backtrack and do it over, so to speak?

I finally looked at some carricula today. It seems that something like Rightstart math, with all the manipulatives, should give a very solid understandig of the "behind the scenes" math. Can we back into it later, if needed? Or starting math differently is somehow detrimental?

[One_Girl]

I took a math methods class in school and they really encouraged math through an inquiry based problem solving approach (Singapore math was one they talked about as good), but they also said the research points both ways and the two main researchers in that area are very adamant about their very opposite ways of teaching being correct. The two programs shown to be most effective where also polar opposites, one very scripted and one very inquiry based. I think that since the research points both ways it might be something that it is hard to tell for sure about. I think it makes sense to be able to problem solve because you rarely encounter math that you just need algorithms for without having to solve a problem in the real world so I choose to teach my dd the algorithms and how to apply them to problems. I don't know that you can go wrong by not teaching in one specific way. There are so many things you can be without really advanced math, even nursing school only requires a remedial class of math and a very easy math for liberal arts majors (depending on your school), and a good tutor can pull help you make a lot of progress if you need more math than you have.

[AAK]

It sounds like you are doing fine, by following her lead with the interest, she is inclined to understand and make progress.

I agree that kids need to understand the basics of "why" in math. But, sometimes, I think it is more effective to teach it a bit later on. So, while I will present the 'why' (or at least a picture or manipulative version of showing 'why'), I don't stress at first that they understand it. After doing the process for awhile, I will see the 'aha' moment and realize that they finally understand it. A biggie with this is the concept of place value. My dd can answer the questions right. She know that in the number 534, that the 5 is hundreds, the 3 is tens, and the 4 is ones. She will right 500 + 30 + 4, if asked to break it down, but I still don't think she truly "gets it". I don't have any doubt that the understanding will come. I am not going to keep reiterating it, just the usual review, and I know it will come.

We use Singapore and it works well for us. Some of the exercises show that my dd doesn't really get all the place value stuff--she gets the problems right, but it takes too long to get the answer. If she really got it, it would be more automatic.

Amy

[Lillian J]

We didn't do much of anything that could be considered formal math or practice - we just purposely played around with math on an inconsistent basis - and my husband insisted, when our son was around 9 or 10, that I take him to be tested. I left him with the owner of a math tutoring center for an hour long evaluation, worrying the whole time that she would jump all over me when I returned about how "behind" he was. When I returned, I found her absolutely thrilled with his understanding and appreciation of "real math," as compared to the notion most of her students had that math was boring or "hard" mastery of algorithms rather than more creative and imaginative thinking. She said she spends most of her time trying to undo the damage done in schools by all the useless and numbing workpages and drills. She could have told me we needed to come back for tutoring, but she told me to just keep doing whatever I was doing, and to start introducing memorizing of multiplication facts by the time he was ready for algebra (to make it go smoother). He was never intimidated by math, and he just went about learning what he needed to know as he needed it. Seems to me that your daughter is doing fine - I wouldn't veer much off the course you've set with her. You'll do well to keep it fun and interesting. Lillian

[WCM]

This may not be the approach you're keen on taking, but I saw the unschooler part so thought I'd chime in.


I think the way to 'screw up' math is to force it, to categorise and label it, and to think there is a right and wrong way. I've only recently clued in to the reality that there is no wrong math, but that we all figure out the answer our own way. That how I do it in my head it not at all how each of my kids do it, each doing it a different way from each other as well, and we all arrive at the correct answer. But to teach my kids THIS is how you add, or whatever, will harm them. When they have a need to add, they get it right away, right? How many plates for the table? How many cookies for each kid?

We do not do workbooks or curriculums, nor websites or anything meant to 'teach' them math. They play with Lego, they track hockey teams, the tell me if I'm speeding, they do the standards of baking and grocery shopping and such that put numbers in a useful, life-based scenario. That's all we've ever done, and they each get math and each figure things out their own way.


I'd not worry, and relax on this. But that may not be your slant, so take it or leave it.

[midnightwriter]

Thank you for all the responses, very reassuring!

Especially thanks to unschoolers who stepped in, to remind me that I might have gotten too excited about a nice little website! (ixl.com). It started with DD wanting to work on understanding hours and minutes / clock recognition, and I thouht, "cool, REPETITION! cute clocks! nice site design!"

It worked great for clock recognition, but I have to remind myself that maybe it is not what we need overall.

[binxsmom]

i am particularly fond of living math. the books in the readers section will surely appeal to the humanities lover in you. our local library has a great selection and i try to keep a few checked out and strewn around.