Thursday, May 10, 2012

Real Life Math

A certain child was getting all stressed out about upcoming standardized testing. In particular, this child was getting stresseed out about math. Especially dreading the idea of fractions because "they're so hard!" Sigh. It's been an issue before. After years of trial & error with programs and approaches, we've finally found one that is working (and is rigorous enough for the other children!): Singapore Math. (We use the CA standards & plan on switching after level 6 for upper level math.) Yahoo! But I do not think it is just the program. Our approach has altered- we've relaxed. Funny how that helps! ;) I've drawn a lot from the living math approach, though I do not feel equipped enough to do it as a stand-alone approach. Math isn't dreaded anymore.

So, I was a little taken back yesterday. "You're great at math, remember? Remember that there are NO tears over math in this house? Besides, the test isn't a big deal! We're not even opening the results!" (That's a whole other topic!) But my pearls of wisdom seemed to be falling on deaf ears. So, into the kitchen we went! I had this child pull out the recipe for muffins & asked that it be TRIPLED. And ya know what happened? The child started tripling and converting fractions with ease. :) I was even able to ask some more challenging questions! :)

- Heather

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just a cleave way to get over the fear of fractions. Mom

Jeanelle said...

Hope's the same way. Great at practical math and fractions in the kitchen but struggles on paper. Great teaching opportunities. It's great for the older children too to teach the younger children fractions while they are "helping" bake. Kathryn often asks for a "quarter of an apple please."