Date: 1 Jun 2006 22:07:38 -0000 From: Larry Shiller <marketing@shillermath.com> To: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Subject: Your June 2006 ShillerMath Tidbit Message-ID: <20060601220738.15901.qmail@borg.phpwebhosting.com>
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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!
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_________________________________________________________________
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.
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