Sometimes, it is easier to measure how much a child has
learned through scores, a grade or something equally tangible.
But as many of us have discovered, the numbers or grades
don’t tell the whole story. They’re a snapshot of a moment, perhaps, but
they’re certainly not a reflection of the whole child – his or her knowledge,
talents and awareness of others and the world.
Since I’m relatively new to parenting, I sometimes worry
that my 5-year-old isn’t ready for school, that he hasn’t learned how to read
and write like other kids, that he might already be behind everyone else even
before starting kindergarten.
I’m grateful for my son’s preschool teachers, who continue
to teach me that there are other ways of knowing, other indicators that my son
is on a healthy path to becoming a lifelong learner besides the traditional
methods of paper and pencil exercises and keeping score.
One of the teachers recently loaned me this pamphlet, “A
Parent’s Guide to Early Childhood Education,” by Diane Trister Dodge and Joanna
Phinney. (It’s available through a website called www.TeachingStrategies.com.) “Our
goal is to help children become independent, self-confident, inquisitive learners.
We’re teaching them how to learn, not just in preschool and kindergarten, but
all through their lives,” they wrote.
One section also addresses how and when a child should be
learning reading, writing and mathematics:
“We could give your children workbooks. We could make them
memorize the alphabet. We could drill them. We could test them. But if we do,
your children may lose something very important. …
“Children who are rushed into reading and writing too soon
miss important steps in learning and may suffer later on because they lack the
foundation they need for using language. Children who are taught to read before
they are ready may be able to sound out and recognize words, but they may also
have little understanding of what they are reading. If they haven’t been given
time to play, they won’t have explored objects enough to know what words mean. …
“Because math involves more than memorizing facts, because
it involves logical thinking… children need many opportunities to count
objects, sort them into piles and add some to a pile and take some away. It is
by playing games like these that they will learn to truly understand addition,
subtraction, division and multiplication. Without these concrete experiences,
children may give correct answers but probably won’t understand what they are
doing and why.”
What do you think? When and how did your child start learning how to read,
write and do math? How do you teach your children to become lifelong learners?
Spokane7
51°
addyh on January 08 at 10:58 a.m.
my kids went to a Montessori preschool and kindergarten where they encouraged kids to move at their own pace, which seems reasonable to me. They also emphasized multiple ways of learning.
I think the key to getting them eager to read, though, is to discover the individual child’s particular interests. For instance, the books that my daughter loved didn’t interest my son a bit. I thought he just wasn’t interested in reading, until someone gave us a book on large construction machines, which we read and read until it fell apart. His only interest was vehicles.
laurierogers on January 08 at 9:42 p.m.
This kind of learning is probably fine in preschool, Virginia. Games are good. In the reform math curricula such as those we have in Spokane, however, this sort of “play” continues on through the primary grades. Here is an excerpt from “Teaching Strategies” for primary grades:
“Mathematical Thinking: This chapter shows how teachers can create exciting math learning experiences that engage children in problem-solving. Using the areas of mathematics from the nationally acclaimed NCTM Standards, it shows how children explore, calculate, model, role-play, illustrate, and write about their discoveries.”
http://www.teachingstrategies.com/page/PSA_MathThinking.cfm
What can be said about a 9th-grade math class that uses molding clay and pipe cleaners? About 6th graders who still count on their fingers? About 4th graders who can’t tell time or do long division? About 5th graders who have no clue how to multiply in a vertical format? About 2nd graders who have to write paragraphs about their “mathematical thinking”? About educators who say it’s more important to think critically than to get right answers?
Children are concrete thinkers. They appreciate concrete ideas, things that make sense and a logical progression of concepts. Practice is necessary. It does not have to be boring. I taught my daughter to count on a swing. She learned to read in a go-cart. She learned fractions while baking. When I give her algebra problems to practice, I make them funny. It’s a siren call to think it’s always got to be a game, but there’s no reason it has to be boring.
Students are not fooled. They know when they aren’t progressing and when they’re being asked to reinvent the wheel. They know when they’re getting a candy bar instead of a hot meal. At about Grade 4, when the weaknesses in the curricula become much more apparent, the children become much less enthusiastic. Sit there and watch 5th graders struggle to calculate rent for a Monopoly game because they’ve never been taught how to multiply. It should make parents think twice about the curriculum. Sadly, the students won’t think there’s anything wrong with the math curriculum; they’ll just assume they’re bad at mathematics. That’s the death spiral of the lifelong learner.
The first way to make children lifelong learners is to be sure that what they’re learning makes sense. For math curricula that make sense, try Saxon Math and Singapore Math. Singapore Math is my personal preference - I wish we’d done it from the beginning - but Saxon is good for picking up missed concepts and for practicing concepts. They’re good together. For example, Saxon Math 7/6 and Singapore Math 5A/5B work well together.
These curricula make sense, students can practice concepts until they understand them, lessons are relatively short (and parents can easily make them funny), and students don’t have to reinvent anything or try to teach classmates something they don’t understand themselves.
Cindy_H on January 09 at 9:22 a.m.
Laurie: I’m a big fan of Saxon Math. I had a child who was really struggling in 4th grade. We took him to a private tutor and she used Saxon. He finally got it!
I wished we could have afforded to keep him with her for the rest of elementary school.
eagleproducer on January 09 at 9:56 a.m.
Lifelong learners usually are raised by lifelong learners. I know it sounds like a platitude, but education begins at home.
As an educator, I can easily tell which students come from families who value knowledge. They are more able to handle independent work and create personal meaning from lesson material. These students have been around naturally curious people who encourage intellectual confrontation.
When a child sees an adult they respect continuing to learn throughout their adult life, the child will almost always mimic and then mirror that behavior. Even that child watching you read for twenty minutes a day will see that information/knowledge is a value.
laurierogers on January 10 at 10:35 a.m.
Cindy, I don’t know how old your son is now, but Saxon Math has a long shelf on eBay and Amazon.com. If parents keep the books in good shape, they’re easily sold back to someone else. Buying Saxon new is spendier. (Additionally, Saxon has been bought out by a large publisher, so newer versions might become weaker in content. I hope not, but it’s possible.) Your child can take a free placement test at http://saxonhomeschool.harcourtachieve.com/en-US/saxonhomeschool.htm (see the “placement” link on the left).
Another way to find more traditional material is through secondhand stores, but one must be careful because reform books find their way there, too. When you start seeing lots of paragraphs and very little math, the words “NCTM Standards,” few opportunities for practice, or buzz words like “conceptual understanding,” a negative take on “rote memorization” and a postive take on “constructing their own understanding,” or lots of group and calculator work, games, estimation and alternate methods – those are all warning signs of reform.
Saxon is superb for picking up missed concepts, and it has lots of helpful practice. But Singapore Math engages in algebra much earlier. I like the idea of laying the foundation for algebra in elementary school. It’s easy to do, and the students are capable. Through Saxon Math 7/6, we haven’t seen much algebra. But in Singapore Math 5A (the beginning of 5th grade), we did algebraic problems. Singapore Math begins by presenting problems in a visual way, which is helpful to many children.
(We went ahead and started with equations since that’s where we’re going anyway. I had to refresh my memory on this, but I have the parent’s guide, and the explanations are clear. Plus, I have traditional algebra texts at home. It’s coming back to me.)
Singapore Math books are small, visually pleasing and easy to follow. They’re fairly inexpensive to buy new. I bought mine from http://www.singaporemath.com/ One entire year – two sets of textbooks, two workbooks, two parent guides (plus one answer guide that covers several grades) costs about $80. It’s worth it. Your child can take a free placement test at http://www.singaporemath.com/Placement_Guide_s/85.htm
If I were to choose just one program, I would choose Singapore Math, but I like using Singapore and Saxon together. They complement each other, as long as grade adjustments are made to fit the content together. I like the algebra in one, the practice in the other and the different presentations. Neither program has ever asked my daughter for paragraphs about her mathematical thinking. There is no group work. I don’t allow calculators (yet), and I’m the teacher, not her. The lessons are short, I keep things light, and I skip concepts she already understands. So far, it’s working well for us.
Cindy_H on January 10 at 10:51 a.m.
Thanks, Laurie. My son will be entering high school next year and math is still a struggle for him. I’ll check out Singapore math so he can have something to work with over the summer.
He’ll love that :-)
laurierogers on January 10 at 12:11 p.m.
Cindy, I’m glad to hear you’re thinking of supplementing over the summer. It’s a great idea. It doesn’t have to be onerous. A little bit every day can completely turn things around.
But I hesitate to recommend anything for high school. You might check with a professor of mathematics (as opposed to a professor of math education). Perhaps call over to Gonzaga or Whitworth and ask the chair of the math department which texts he would recommend for high school. Math professors will know what’s required for college, and I’m sure they’re all aware that Spokane’s math curricula have serious weaknesses. If the goal is to get your son to college, or into a trade, or to any postsecondary life that requires math, it would be good to know what that math should look like. “Core-Plus” (Spokane’s high school curriculum) will not do it - especially since it’s preceded by the also-inadequate “Investigations in Number, Data, and Space” and “Connected Mathematics.”
It might also be good to have your son tested - perhaps with the free Singapore Math assessment. Then you’ll know better where to start. It wouldn’t surprise me to hear he has to back up a bit. But we also found that with a proper program, that ground can be made up very quickly.
laurierogers on January 10 at 6:22 p.m.
By the way, Cindy, I believe the free mathematics tutoring at Gonzaga is still going on, soon to start up again this month. Here is a link to information about it.
http://betrayed-whyeducationisfailing.blogspot.com/2008/10/free-math-tutoring-at-gonzaga.html
Andrew Holguin is easy to reach, or you can contact John Dacquisto, Gonzaga University.
Cindy_H on January 10 at 7:26 p.m.
Thanks, again, Laurie.