From owner-freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Fri Jun 2 02:25:30 2006 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 945EB16AE99 for ; Fri, 2 Jun 2006 02:25:30 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from anonymous@borg.phpwebhosting.com) Received: from borg.phpwebhosting.com (borg.phpwebhosting.com [69.93.48.194]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with SMTP id 89D9543D76 for ; Fri, 2 Jun 2006 02:25:26 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from anonymous@borg.phpwebhosting.com) Received: (qmail 15902 invoked by uid 99); 1 Jun 2006 22:07:38 -0000 Date: 1 Jun 2006 22:07:38 -0000 Message-ID: <20060601220738.15901.qmail@borg.phpwebhosting.com> To: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org From: Larry Shiller MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.5 Subject: Your June 2006 ShillerMath Tidbit X-BeenThere: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list Reply-To: ShillerMath List-Id: Non technical items related to the community List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 02 Jun 2006 02:25:31 -0000 ShillerMath Tidbits: Common Math Learning Myths [parentzone.gif] Debunking Learning Myths You mean math isn't taught??? Teachers, students, and administrators often have certain basic expectations when evaluating and using math curricula. Most expect that a math curriculum will first teach students a specific concept or skill and will then drill them on it: "Here's what you're going to learn today, and we're going to drill to make sure you know it." However it is unlikely this approach will result in particularly motivated, excited, or interested students. Consider the excitement experienced by the folks who first discovered the basic foundations of mathematics 5,000, 3,000, 1,000 and even 100 years ago. Wouldn't it be wonderful if there was some way to let our children experience the same joy of discovery? Consider the three possible outcomes of a lesson: 1. The student gets it and wants to move on. This usually happens when the learning styles of the student and the lesson don't match. Drilling will only promote boredom and resistance. 2. The student gets it and wants to practice and explore. This usually happens when the learning styles of the student and the lesson are aligned. Moving on before the student has closure creates anxiety. Let students practice and explore until they reach closure, whether that's 5 minutes, an hour, or a week! 3. The student doesn't get it. Drilling will only promote low self-esteem and frustration. Instead put the lesson aside and revisit it every few days until the student is developmentally ready for it. The bottom line? Math is not taught, it's learned! And it's learned at a pace defined by the student. A guided discovery-based approach fosters positive feelings towards math learning and builds a solid math foundation that will last a lifetime. As Maria Montessori said, children have "absorbent minds." Providing children with appropriate environments that allow them to learn through discovery reaps huge improvements in performance that can lead the USA out of the bottom 20% among industrialized nations in math ability. In a future tidbit we'll explore how discovery-based learning can be accomplished in a classroom with students having a variety of skills and knowledge. In the next ShillerMath Tidbit we will share another exclusive SAT tip. [funnybone.gif] Where there's fire... Attending a conference and sharing a hotel room, a physicist, an engineer, and a mathematician were asleep when a fire broke out in one corner of the room. Only the engineer woke up, who saw the fire, grabbed a bucket of water, and threw it on the fire, putting it out. Then the engineer re-filled the bucket, threw more water on the ashes for insurance, and went back to sleep. A little later, another fire broke out in a different corner of the room. This time only the physicist woke up. The physicist saw the fire, measured its intensity, saw what material was burning, and carefully measured exactly 2/3 of a bucket of water, at which point the physicist threw the water on the fire, just putting it out, and went back to sleep. A little later a third fire broke out in a different corner of the room. This time only the mathematician woke up. The mathematician saw the fire, saw that there was a bucket (and observed it not to have a hole), turned on the faucet, and saw that there was water available. The mathematician then thought, "Aha! A solution exists!" and promptly went back to bed. I hope you enjoyed this short math break. Sincerely, [lssig.jpg] Larry Shiller Publisher After months of creative and detailed work by our staff, ShillerMath now has a new web site, with free white papers, downloads, and diagnostic tests for ages 4-12. Please [1]visit and get your freebies today! Did you enjoy this Tidbit? Please tell your friends, family, and fellow parents, teachers, administrators, librarians, and local homeschool groups. Thank you for [2]spreading the word! _________________________________________________________________ What is ShillerMath? ShillerMath publishes research-based math curriculum, music, manipulatives, and worksheets for ages 4-12, with beautifully designed lessons, diagnostic tests with answer keys, catchy math songs, and Montessori-based manipulatives. No Montessori or math knowledge is required and there's zero lesson preparation - just read what's in quotes and you're good to go! Students using this approach consistently outperform their peers. Larry Shiller, ShillerMath founder and President, has a math degree from MIT. The ShillerMath curriculum includes authoritative materials and lessons used by thousands of Montessori schools and is the math curriculum of choice for public, private, and homeschooled students throughout the world. Plase visit the [3]ShillerMath site for all the details on this proven and amazingly effective product. If you no longer wish to receive ShillerMath emails please [4]click here to unsubscribe. 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