I sometimes worry about Math. At times a little, at others a lot. Lately Keilee has been asking me to print Assessment Tests for her to take. Keilee has never, not once, taken a test given by me. I don’t do tests, ever.
I printed out 2 last week; a 42 page ‘Reading Comprehension’ and a 30 page ‘Grammar’. She missed 1 on the Reading Comprehension and 2 on the Grammar. Out of that many pages! Now keep in mind, we do NOT do Grammar. Not in years. She said to me, “Now I want to try the 8th grade test” [she would be in 7th grade if she was in PS] and I told her, “That was the 8th grade test!” I was happy for her because she was proud of herself.
Sunday she wanted a Math one. So I printed it out and knew even before she looked at it that she would have no clue on some of these questions. I was right although she did know so much more than I thought she would, Thank you Khan Academy!
I thought long and hard about this Math dilemma. I have changed my ‘thinking’ so many times on this Homeschool journey to actually wind up right back where I began. Well since we have over 5 years left I guess ‘wind up’ is not the right word.
I started out loving unschooling. Even before I removed Keilee from public school I was drawn to it. I had folder and folders [This was BP…‘Before Pinterest’ remember when you had to bookmark? :)] of Homeschool resources before I ever started homeschooling Keilee. She went to K and 1st grade and the first week of 2nd grade I picked her up, said, “Would you like to be homeschooled?” She said “YES” and the rest is history…well ‘our’ history.
I am really not quite sure unschooling is even the right word for what she does. She tells me what she wants to do and I find resources or she finds them. She does want a schedule and I provide her with one. Even that changes format from week to week, at times it is a ‘Daily’ chart and some weeks it is just “Weekly”.
All that being said, since this is about Math, here is what “I” believe. She knows the basics, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, etc. As we have gone through various Math curriculums I have ran across many concepts already that I had totally forgotten. Do you know how long it usually takes me to look it up and figure it out? 10 minutes…tops. So then why can’t Keilee do that? Say she gets in College [if that is what she decides to do] and takes a Math class. She is smart enough that if she doesn’t understand she can figure it out with all the resources online.
What she does for Math now is Khan Academy. I 
Khan Academy. She does around 3 or 4 lessons a week. She has finished Pre-Algebra and just started Algebra. She understands it. If she doesn’t, she ask me to find her some worksheets so she can practice.
I have thought about this long and hard and what I think is important is that kids have the resources to “FIND” the answers they need. Not that it is all memorized in their heads. I know schools teach tests to students. So you have 7th graders all over the country being drilled week after week on the exact concepts they will be tested on. So I didn’t feel bad when she didn’t know some of the 8th grade Math problems. When she found one she didn’t know I asked her if she could ‘find out’ how to solve it. She said yes and she did that. To me that is more important than knowing how to do it because you have been drilled on it over and over ad nauseam. Which they promptly forget as soon as they stop drilling.
So I am mostly letting go of my Math freak outs…Breath in…breath out….
I believe with all my heart that the internet and more importantly, the amazing resources on the internet has changed learning forever. I am so excited that Keilee is living in this time frame, that the only place all these awesome resources have to do is get better and better. Can you imagine how learning will look in 10 years or even 5? Makes me wish I had a 2 year old…hmmmm…nah. 😉
Homeschooling Rocks,
Karen
*Disclaimer: I am not saying that Math isn’t important. I am saying that ‘drilling’ Math facts or concepts into a child’s head day after day is unimportant. There are many professions where I know higher Math is essential.
“Arithmetic is where the answer is right and everything is nice and you can look out of the window and see the blue sky – or the answer is wrong and you have to start over and try again and see how it comes out this time.” ~Carl Sandburg
I love this post because I’ve tried to make things very strongly interest led in our house, and I do, except when I have freak outs! As time goes along, the voice in my head that tells me to freak out is being replaced my the realization of how many things my kids are good at though 🙂 I think it’s awesome that Keilee has such a strong sense of who she is and what she wants to do each week. Firecracker’s like that, and I’m waiting for Rose to grow into that 🙂
You guys need to read “Navigating Early” — the title of your post made me think of it. I think you all would love the book.
I so agree with this post! I have not given my kids a single test this year, either, other than the standardized test that two of them were required to take by state law. They have so much at their fingertips, like you said. They do not need to memorize the way we did or even the generations before us. Don’t get me wrong, I think some memorizing is good for your brain, but your daughter already does that a thousand fold, with all of the plays that she is in and my oldest does it with all of the aircraft he studies and my 2nd son with all of his sports facts. But, at least it is with something that they love. I just finished “Delight Directed Learning” and I really want to do this more next year. I think once we move out of my parents house I will feel more comfortable, too, as to them, “school” is sitting and doing your “work” from 9-3. ugh. lol. 🙂 Hope you have a beautiful weekend!
Oh, Karen, you aren’t alone on this! It’s been on my mind a lot, especially now since I’m obligated by state law to administer standardized tests. Yep, math is always on my mind then! I actually purchase practice tests so my daughters aren’t surprised by anything they may encounter. I used to freak myself when I saw a question on a test I’d never seen before. I guess I’m trying to cushion a similar blow for my girls. If I compare the math we’ve done to the public school curriculum, we’re not on target. My oldest has always struggled and taken longer to understand concepts. When I read other blogs and hear that girls the same age are already in higher maths, I gulp hard. I feel like I’m failing her. Am I? Then I read posts like yours, breathe again and realize she too has the tools to find answers! Thank you for sharing and for the reassurance! You, my friend rock!
Ah, this is my big dilemma.
Over the last few months we have gotten more and more interest led. My girls will read about history, do science projects and write on their own. We’ve covered grammar and they know it. The one thing they don’t like and won’t do is math. I really am a little paranoid about the college thing. I want them to go to college. Our plan is for them to start taking classes at the community college when they are ready, one the first semester and if they do well, then two and build on from there, get their associate’s degree and transfer to a 4 year school. If they actually choose this path, they won’t have to take the SAT and will just take the placement test for community college. They can take Basic Algebra if need be at that time. I don’t see either of my girls being scientists, although sometimes Allie talks about being a veterinarian. I see them being more creative, but I do want to keep their options open.
We are done for this year with our curriculum and I am really trying to see how 100% interest-led would work for us. So far, they are playing iCivics and watching TV, but Allie got her braces on this week so it was a different kind of week. The one thing on my agenda is to make a decision about math. A lot of people have suggested Khan. I really want a program that, if she gets something wrong in Algebra, will explain to her WHY she got it wrong. I think sometimes, especially in math, knowing which step you did wrong is critical to not making that same mistake again. I don’t know that I can do that for her as we get into higher math. Khan, Aleks, Teaching Textbooks are on my evaluation list. I really, really wish I could just let go of Math, it’s the one “not fun” thing, the one thing that kind of adds this dreariness to our lives…but I just am not at a place where I can say, it will be ok if you don’t learn it. Maybe because, for me, I was always behind in math and I could never figure it out on my own–although back then there was no internet, nevermind Khan. Maybe I will get to the place you are some day.
I agree with you 110% on this Karen!! Great post 🙂
I’m with you, Karen…all the way!
No math drill or grammar drills here either-
just trying to instill a love of learning
while fostering creativity and problem solving skills.
Love this!!
It is interesting that so many of us have a hang up about math. For me I worry constantly about Grace getting into the college of her choice for meteorology. I know the prerequisites are extensive and I don’t want to screw it up. I know that if she stays on this course, she will have to take outside math classes. I am going to explore those options over the summer. I loved math in high school but I don’t want to teach it to her!
I don’t worry so much about Lilah since being a scientist is not her plan….although should she change her mind I want her to be able to do whatever she wants to do. We are staying the course with Life of Fred for her. It works so well for her learning style, whereas it did not for Grace.
This is when I am glad that we have children the same age, to talk these things through and come to our own understandings of what works for our children!
I don’t believe in drilling either. If they want to own the information, they will on their own memorize it. Isn’t that how we do it??
At our house, most of the math exercises are done orally. I don’t make my kids write out their equations or explain how they came to that result. Sometimes, I say: ” How did you get to that answer?” And they will briefly explain it to me.
Today I realized that I don’t consult an answer key either. I have to calculate/ figure out the answers in my head so I can tell if my kid got it right or wrong. It’s a great mental exercise. 🙂
I have had the pleasure of teaching Quentin, my youngest, in the way I would have wanted to learn math…slowly, concretely, with lots of hands-on activities. Math without stress.
LOVE your explanation, and love that you and Keilee know what works for you. I am so proud of her! 🙂 She is also a girl after my own heart – I always wanted to “know if I knew,” if that makes sense. Sarah is not at all like that, and I have learned to let go of that as my need and not hers! 🙂
For me the bottom line is I want my kids to be able to read well, write well and know basic maths (the sort we actually use in everyday life) to love learning and to know how to find out all that other stuff when they need or want to know it. From a very young age it was obvious my Mr 20 was headed into the sciency area at university so it was important that he have advanced math. Mind you he gravitated towards it – I did not push. Miss 18 was not mathy or sciencey. However she is now studying psychology at university and encountering both science and math that she is not familiar with. So she puts in the effort to learn what she needs to learn. And topped her year last year and seems to be at the top again this year.This is not to brag but to reenforce your point. I’m really glad I didn’t push the science/maths too much when she was younger and not interested. She is happy to learn it now because it is tied with something she is passionate about. My not forcing it hasn’t held her back and she certainly hasn’t said ‘I wish you had forced this on me a few years ago when I had no desire to learn it”. I too never cease to be amazed at what my kids know that I have no idea how or where (and sometime even why) they learned it!