Constructivist Math

Here is a link to a great video. It explains, in plain language and with examples, the “constructivist” math programs hindering our special education students (and many others).  Investigations Math, taught in our local public school system, was a disaster for both of my children but especially my son. I am now teaching my homeschooled son pre-algebra  in conjunction with mastering long division and fractions, and having great success with traditional methods. My daughter, who is in a private school, is being tutored after school so she can catch up. From the time they were in 4th grade they were bringing home work we could not understand or help them with and we have 3 degrees between us, two in engineering. I argued against these programs for years without success and they are still being used.

There is much disagreement about these programs and I know that some homeschooling parents use Everyday Math and consider it a success.  These programs have been anything but for us.

If you’d like to understand more – just watch the video.

Understanding Evolution (for Teachers)

Although I’m not in the midst of teaching evolution right now I am always on the lookout for great teaching sites. I like this one, Understanding Evolution for Teachers. It provides free lessons and activities by grade level and topic and is easy to navigate.

I am anxiously awaiting Barack Obama’s Dept. of Education appointment. I may be a homeschooler but I care deeply about the state of public education and I cannot wait until the present crew is out the door!

It’s Postively Magnetic

Today began in a fun and exciting way. We received our magnetism kits from Tops Learning Systems. It has everything we need for some simple experiments and a book with activity pages. I’ll let you know how it goes! It looks good so far and stimulated a discussion of why we do not put the magnetism kit anywhere near the computer.

I was also treated to a demonstration of the knots my son learned in Boy Scouts last night. He’s going to need those for Boy Scout camp next summer and to earn another merit badge. Knots are a great thing for building brain power. Here is a basic clove hitch. My grandfather, who grew up in self-sufficient Canadian fishing village, taught me knots when I was about 10 years old. I’ve forgotten most of them but I remember that time spent with my very patient, doting grandfather.

We stopped at the library and took out some material on ancient Greece. We took out a videotape and a book by National Geographic, we got a modern language retelling of The Odyssey on 3 CDs. I’m not too sure how that will go. The Odyssey is a wonderful tale but I know it took me a long time to appreciate it.  Perhaps if I point out the parallels between the Odyssey and Oh Brother, Where Art Thou, one of our favorite films, he’ll be just a little bit interested. One can hope!

Adventures in Electronics

This is my son’s latest project from Quality Kits. They sell small, inexpensive electronics kits for your kids to build!  These kits teach basic circuitry and are a fun diversion. They come bagged with all the necessary parts and instructions. They do require your own soldering iron, solder and batteries. They are so inexpensive kids can purchase them from their allowance or chore money. I’ll be posting photos of other projects like alarms and lighting controls. Who knows what will spring up around my house!

Science is what we love *MOST* of all!

Today we took our first field trip of the year. We went to the MOST aka The Museum of Science and Technology. My son proved to me that he really does understand plate tectonics and our local, interesting, geology. Our area used to be an inland sea and as a result we’ve been left with saline aquifers. The salt industry was big here a few generations ago! You can still smell it in the air in certain areas when atmospheric conditions are just right.

My favorite exhibit was the butterfly film. I learned things about lepidoptera that I did not know before. We watched the gigantic Rube Goldberg machine for awhile. We checked out a film on scuba diving in glacial lakes, the ones actually in living, moving glaciers! There’s also a planetarium and an IMAX theater but we skipped them this trip. I discovered that the museum offers teaching guides to go with the IMAX films. They’re a great resource which I intend to make use of. Check them out!

Trips like this are so much fun. My son spontaneously tells me things I had no idea he knew. We have a change to chat over lunch and it’s a good stress reliever. Get out there and visit your museums!