I think I would have enjoyed math more if I had been exposed to more everyday concepts with it as a young child.

This, definitely. I still get traumatized by the thought of having to do math in my head. I think I was in elementary school around the time they started teaching the "New Math" and while I've never known what the heck that meant, based on how it worked out for me, I don't think it was a good idea.

I think I would have enjoyed math more if I had been exposed to more everyday concepts with it as a young child.

Yeah. His argument is that even the word problems in books that are supposed to be more real-world still miss the mark. ("If you have four cupcakes, and are dividing them among three people, what fraction of a cupcake should each person get?" Who the hell cuts cupcakes, especially into slivers that exact? Give the kids a pack of M&Ms, have them figure out what fraction are of each color, you get the same lesson but using stuff the kids can actually relate to. Plus, candy.)

I remember in elementary school we would always make fun of the way that our math textbook would try to make problems seem "interesting" to us. Also, the way that they'd so carefully use names of various ethnicities, to the point where I think we even noticed that one had five different ethnicities they were using, and would just cycle through them in naming word problem kids. Great lesson in pattern recognition, though probably not the one they were going for.

Instead of getting my classwork done for the class that is kicking my ass this weekened when I was supposed to, I had a family dinner, looked at apartments, and watched Drive. Now I have about two hours left to finish up a ton of work. Probably not wise on my part.

Ack! I came to Bitches to get away from schooly thought for tonight. Othe fuck well; good thing I do love it.

I've read some stuff on unschooling, and like others have said upthread, it can be a good thing or a bad thing. Like every educational system, it depends on how it's done, by whom, and by the child involved. I love the practice of involving kids in all of the day-to-day tasks of everyday life, and having them follow their interests, but the kids who just didn't feel like learning to read?

No. You know, some days I don't FEEL like doing a lot of shit, like feeding the cats or making money or brushing my teeth, but if I don't do it, bad shit happens,like death and moldering felines, and eviction and, you know, TOOTHLESSNESS.

Some shit ya gotta learn.

And the noble savage? BWAH! Kids can be evil, stupid little fuckers. They can also be little shining gems of altruism. Usually in the same hour.

See, the concept of "follow the child" is one that I absolutely subscribe to, as well as practical application of academic concepts. As people have implied, if not said, the Devil really is in the details.

I've surprised a lot of parents at the library by asking hat their child is interseted in when they ask for " a good bookk for an X grader" - the basic concept of unschooling seems like a good/natural place to start. One of the things I think I learned at school was how to deal with things I didn't like to do. ( not nessicarily well, but I sort of figured out what the consequences were- and if I wanted to pay them)

See, the concept of "follow the child" is one that I absolutely subscribe to, as well as practical application of academic concepts.

Oh yeah, this I get. It's natural, I think -- if your kid loves dinosaurs, then you get her books about dinosaurs and go to the museum and all that. For a while Jake was fascinated with Stonehenge, so we checked the History Channel for stuff about it, and got out library books.

What I've always found funny is how naturally some kids fall into gender stereotypes. Without any prompting from us, Sara loved dresses dressing up from the minute she could walk and talk. Totally girly, although she wields a mean play sword and loves to play "bad guys" with her brother, too.

One of the things I think I learned at school was how to deal with things I didn't like to do. ( not nessicarily well, but I sort of figured out what the consequences were- and if I wanted to pay them)

Yeah, I don't think I ever actually got that. The first time I ever got a B or higher in every course in a single semester was in college, when I got to pick my own courses. (And I'd taken enough AP exams to place out of most of the requirements -- pretty much the only things I still needed to do were one science, one "Foundations of Western Culture," (I took something like "Women in Victorian Literature,") and one "Non-Western and Latin American Civilizations" (I took "Modern Middle East."))

(I remember getting annoyed that courses in ancient middle eastern history that focused on Jewish history did not count as "non-western," but courses on the same place and same time period that focused on any other group did count as "non-western.")

I have skimmed. I have no meara cause I have no brain.

This afternnon started out with a haircut and ended with a rush trip to my mom's doctor's office. Her nurse rocks for staying late and saving us from a trip to ER and possible hospitalization. Seems mom has peritonitis - a fairly common thing I now learn for dialysis patients on PD. She was in a ton of pain, which they were able to treat and get her started on anti-biotics.

We are now home. I'm exhausted. She is exhausted and still not entirely out of pain. And I leave town tomorrow night for 2 days. Blarg.

Health~ma for mom would be quite appreciated.

All my health~ma are belong to you.