A Math Solution.
Math is a struggle for The Teen Princess. She learned to be afraid of it and then dread it in her state school years, and so I struggle with her too. We've tried all kinds of books and drills and illustrations and she just clenches.up.tighter. The fact that her younger sister just seems to soak everything up doesn't help either (although Preteen Girl never rubs her nose in it).
When we were trying out yet another program, one of the pages used Lego as math manipulatives. I am not kidding when I tell you that Princess completed no less than 28 fraction problems in less than five minutes! That was all the urging I needed; I found a LOAD of LEGO lesson plans for math, science and other subjects online.
I also discovered a lovely website (E.H.O.), full of ideas, articles and links for eclectic homeschoolers and I believe I've found a sensible solution to our opposite views. The girls like the security of using text books; they don't "feel" like they're learning if they don't have seatwork (another lovely lie learned in state school). I hate the rigidity of textbooks and want them to have a more rounded education. So we are going to switch off: on the odd weeks we will do math seatwork; on even weeks we will use alternate resources like these:
- Real life math (sewing, shopping, bills, etc.)
- Recreational math (math games)
- Math adventures (math reading)
- Mental math
- The science of patterns
Posted by Alyx at 6/14/2006
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