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Episode 36: Unschooling Math – What Does Learning Math/s Naturally Look Like?
What a delight to have Sue Elvis from Stories of an Unschooling Family and April from Modern Homeschoolers join to talk about mathematics and the various and interesting ways that skills and knowledge are developed. We cover a lot – this might be the longest Virtual Kitchen Table episode we’ve had and we are likely going to have a second discussion. If you enjoy these discussions feel free to be in touch for further information about the Virtual Kitchen Table Community.
We Discuss:
What’s in a name? Math versus Maths ☺️
How the timeline for learning math/maths is harder to pin down than it is for reading
Concrete math as the putting down on paper of what we inherently know in some way, whereas abstract math can feel almost like learning a new language
Enjoying higher math as a puzzle
Math as beautiful and wonderful rather than drudgery
Math as exploration
How sometimes people assume they’re not a “math person” but how that can be attached to a negative experience that gets projected onto math
How there are different aspects to math and different people might be good at different parts
The randomness and pointlessness that are sometimes found in workbooks and math assessments
Enjoyment of workbooks as a fun way for some kids to see or present what they often already know
That at times and for many kids, things like workbooks can seem like a waste of time
In a family that when you’re together and talking about different things, many concepts are naturally picked up
Workbooks as having the purpose of getting kids to give the right answer – the child solving someone else’s answer rather than exploring and figuring out for their own purposes
Being shown the idea of creative maths through our children
Mathematics as a common language of the world
Whether a lot of the math we learn ends being something we use or need or even remember in the future
Developing mathematical understanding through conversation and exploring together rather than with pencil and paper
Whether being accustomed to school math can make math presented in different ways initially seem daunting or confusing
That kids can sometimes understand things at a much earlier age if it’s relevant or interesting to them and other times kids might get pulled through the grades and curriculum without really grasping it
Fun math websites and learning for the sake of the reward – sometimes they are a fit but sometimes they are quite random to a child’s life and out of context
The common decision to unschool in everything but maths
Strewing mathematical ideas and information
How ticking off boxes just doesn’t feel as rich as learning in context
Record keeping
How we can be talking about math and “doing math” all the time without calling it math eg. Being introduced to fractions through bike-riding and how easily that can be transferred and deepened
That in conventional teaching, we have the information presented to us (out of context, randomly) so that we will have ahead of time if we need it and when learning math naturally, it’s the opposite – we learn it either as we need it or as it comes up
“Embodied mathematics” – how we have inherent mathematical knowing within us – music, sense of pacing, sports, etc that can be expressed or translated formally on paper but that the formal expression is simply that – an expression of what is already known
Whether or not it’s necessary to write things down and figure them out theoretically
Forgetting knowledge and skills when we don’t use them
Timing – what seems overwhelming in one part of life might come very easily in another
That when we feel pressure, it becomes harder to take information in deeply
That connection and partnership often negates the possibility of resentment of not being “made to learn”
That we can learn things at a variety of times
How a child’s own timing and way of doing things is often the most valuable and lasting
Creative and individualized problem solving as potentially leading to future creative thinkers
Being okay with kids not acing or even doing well on standardized tests
That there’s something very beautiful about not taking away the opportunity for kids to come into things in their own time
Resources:
Stories of an Unschooling Family
Let ‘em Go Barefoot -Episode 39 – Joyful Maths with Ruth Rinaldi
The Mathematician’s Lament – Paul Lockhart
Virtual Kitchen Table – Spot the Learning
Modern Homeschoolers Instagram Math Reel
Kids Learn Math Easily When They Control Their Own Learning – Dr. Peter Gray article
How Children Acquire “Academic” Skills Without Formal Instruction – Dr. Peter Gray