Interesting article on delaying math education

[SundayCrepes]

I found this study really interesting. It really adds to my thoughts on delayed academics. The comments afterwards are really enlightening.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/...ath-in-schools

[briansmama]

Thank you for sharing this! I teeter between natural learning and classical ed, so this is really helpful. Timing couldn't be better too as I was just figuring out our Fall schedule, which included 30 min of math instruction. I just told my dh that we will be crossing that off and getting out one of our fun math games instead

I think he makes a great case for delaying formal math instruction. My son initiates conversations about math all the time, especially after playing few rounds of yahtzee or rummi tiles. The practical uses of math abound in our daily lives and it is really refreshing to hear that we don't need to drill and kill our children in order to give them a solid foundation in math.

[Momma Aimee]

thanks, this is an area i constantly stuggle with.

I can see DS1 is not ready -- but i get excited of worried ....

[SundayCrepes]

Here's another article I just read on how kids' brains are often not ready for early reading/writing and therefore early reading can cause learning disabilities later in life. It's a good article: http://www.lilipoh.com/articles/2007..._children.aspx

[phathui5]

I write games in the "Math" box in our homeschool log pretty often. My older two (9 & 6) like Othello and Checkers lately.

[mommabear]

Originally Posted by SundayCrepes

Here's another article I just read on how kids' brains are often not ready for early reading/writing and therefore early reading can cause learning disabilities later in life. It's a good article: http://www.lilipoh.com/articles/2007..._children.aspx

Fantastic article -- just what I needed to read, just when I needed to read it!

[Gracefulmom]

I love the blog he mentions, too... Math Mama Writes.

The longer we homeschool, the more I trust my kids to learn when they're ready. But until I read this article, I hadn't made the leap with math. Now we're going to put the brakes on and start having fun!

[SundayCrepes]

I'm so glad you guys found these articles helpful. I know I did.

[kathymuggle]

Thank you for the article. I think for people who have children (like my youngest!) who are not interested in academics it is quite reassuring.

In general I am more in favour of child led academics than delayed academics - as in math (or whatever) is taught/explored when the child has a need or want for it. I think many (but not all!) children are not interested in heavy academics at a young age because they are hard-wired to play. that is their natural life stage. I would imagine helping out loving adults would be next, with academics being pretty far down on their list, lol.

Specific to the article (and the comments afterwards, they are blurring together in my mind) I think the article was spot on in several areas. One of reason so many people struggle with math is because their teachers (elementary more so than higher grades) are math phobic or do not have solid number sense themselves. The other thing it has highlighted for me is that children can gain a lot of knowledge in a short time if they are learning it at an appropriate time - like the sixth graders cited in the text.

This is an interesting read on teachers, attitude math and gender:
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/jan...a-little-girl/

[SundayCrepes]

Originally Posted by kathymuggle

This is an interesting read on teachers, attitude math and gender:
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/jan...a-little-girl/

Interesting. I'm glad neither my husband nor I have anxieties about learning subjects. Our kids will definitely benefit.