Sent: Saturday, April 23, 2016 9:34 AM
Subject: [LivingMathForum] Digest Number 4012
Subject: [LivingMathForum] Digest Number 4012
Fri Apr 22, 2016
6:34 pm (PDT) . Posted by:
I teach
math in an independent study "home school" to 4th, 5th and 6th
graders. So I actually do have a magic wand at our school . Here's what I do.
I don't teach "math". For two reasons... one is, the word "math" has strong negative connotations even for students in 5th grade. Studies like http://pss.sagepub.com/content/16/3/175.abstract show that girls are especially prone to this... and removing the word "math" can help. The second reason is that for most people, math is less compelling than problem solving. So we teach "problem solving" and many of those problems require math to solve.
I have a weekly class blog, so, if you're interested, you can read it at https://problemsolvingmath.wordpress.com/. My class is far from perfect, but, my students enjoy it and have learned a lot. And I think the blog provides some usable curriculum if you're motivated.
-Ron
I don't teach "math". For two reasons... one is, the word "math" has strong negative connotations even for students in 5th grade. Studies like http://pss.sagepub.com/content/16/3/175.abstract show that girls are especially prone to this... and removing the word "math" can help. The second reason is that for most people, math is less compelling than problem solving. So we teach "problem solving" and many of those problems require math to solve.
I have a weekly class blog, so, if you're interested, you can read it at https://problemsolvingmath.wordpress.com/. My class is far from perfect, but, my students enjoy it and have learned a lot. And I think the blog provides some usable curriculum if you're motivated.
-Ron
