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quark

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Posts posted by quark

    Guidance and resources For a PhD hopeful.

    in Accelerated Learner Board

    Posted · Edited by quark

    Hi Gil,

    I have not read all the responses yet so this might be repetitive. Here's a book that we explored a while back when kiddo was still considering options:

    How to Study as a Mathematics Major - https://www.amazon.com/How-Study-as-Mathematics-Major/dp/0199661316

    I also really like this section from the Princeton Companion to Mathematics (an oh-so-drool-worthy compendium for aspiring mathematicians):

    Advice to a Young Mathematician - http://assets.press.princeton.edu/chapters/gowers/gowers_VIII_6.pdf

    I also suggest looking for advice on Quora and Math Stack Exchange.

     

    PS: I realize these are not math graduate student resources, but I think first understanding what it is like to create/study math for a living (or living to create/study math, as my kiddo would say) might be a good approach.

    PPS: Kiddo is not yet in grad school but is taking grad math classes and says the following (true at least at Berkeley):

    • Classes are more challenging than undergrad level.
    • Homework seems to be less important.
    • Exams are usually take home. Which is not really helpful as the problem sets are extremely challenging.
    • You may get taught by even cooler profs vs undergrad classes (one of kiddo's profs is a Fields medalist).
    • Some of these grad level profs may not love teaching though (which is the same for undergrad) - their true passion being research.

     

    • Like 2
    • Thanks 1

    Ever desire a more relaxed approach to homeschool?

    in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges

    Posted · Edited by quark
    Typos, ugh!

    I loved scrolling through everyone's responses. Wow, six years ago...I am slowly losing some of my memories of our earlier homeschooling years but I know that six years ago the kiddo (now a sophomore in college) was already into puberty (which started around age 9) and I was quite worried about challenge level but also trying to keep us "well balanced" (whatever that means) between structure and relaxed homeschooling.

    What have I learned now that I'm on the other side?

    1. Our happiest homeschooling memories are from the times when we "ditched school" and learned on the fly, be it from documentaries, spur of the moment experiments, diving into books from the library (often chosen at random but kiddo tends to choose more complex/well written books anyway), meeting experts who loved their chosen subjects/life journeys (so important to have role models), or taking a walk with the dogs and just talking about everything.
    2. Our most meaningful experiences were from doing something hard, failing, crying from perfectionism/frustration, learning from the mistakes, getting mentally stronger to face the next intellectual/physical/emotional curve-ball. I think kiddo actually finds hard math relaxing! My challenge was pulling kiddo away from the computer/books to take a break and do a little more of #1 above.
    3. My most treasured memories...kiddo coming to me and saying how much math means to kiddo...and how grateful kiddo is to have been homeschooled. More than the SAT/AP/CC/UC scores or grades...this. This validates the decision I made all those years ago to grit my teeth and learn how to navigate our non-traditional math path. That linked thread by the way is a misnomer...my kid is not structure-hating. My kid loves structure (and to be a little tongue in cheek, algebraic structures!) but it needed to be structure that was self-created, not imposed (and I was struggling with that because I wanted our homeschool to look more WTM, less free-flying).
    4. Teach them what you love...because you can't fake the love. I love poetry, animals, design, music, writing, books, classic lit. My kid now loves these too (shyly came up to me during our trip to a local used book store the other day, and asked if it was okay to buy a book of annotated Emily Dickinson poems...I love those moments!). I could not get my kid to love writing in the traditional sense that we homeschoolers think of writing. Again, that was because I was imposing a specific type of writing schedule/structure/style on my child. I let it go for 2-3 years. We did not do any structured writing at all in that time (this was just before my kid started CC for high school so trust me I was second guessing this a lot!). Every bit of writing after that was self-led e.g. a puzzle blog, short stories often of a very philosophical nature, community college classes, then college classes...and my kid always did really well in writing and received great feedback from profs. (Disclaimer: kiddo does not have learning disabilities.)
    5. The most important thing that I can think of is to have an inner happiness that comes from feeling safe, well-adjusted. As in truly happy inside. An unshakeable happiness. It doesn't necessarily come from gifts or even spending money. I think it comes from trust and taking leaps of faith whatever that might mean to your family. I'm learning to trust. Sometimes I am good at it. Sometimes I am afraid and make mistakes. But eventually I want my kiddo to know I have their back. My vision was to have a relationship where kiddo would continue to confide in me and so far that's been true and I really hope I don't mess that up ever. Everything else is just a passing thing...curriculum, what books to read, what scores you get in the SATs. But to get here, you have to let go a little. Trust more than a little. Breathe more than a little. It's hard to do that if you are rushing everything or second guessing everything. I second guess a lot so I know how hard it is to let that go a little.
    6. The A's matter but not all that much. My kid is scoring a couple B's now in college, and even risking a few Cs during midterms. I do watch the GPA as far as kiddo will let me and it's still a very strong GPA but every time I learn kiddo was well challenged and had to work even harder to pull an A, I feel really proud. All that earlier crying from frustration stuff (#2 above) has built a good level of resilience...enough resilience to reach #5 above. My job now is to help kiddo stay at #5. My work is not done. Our work as parents is never done is it? That's why I think it's important to let go a little because if you don't you will burn out.

    That's it from me for now! Happy New Year everyone!

    • Like 5
    • Thanks 1

    So how was fall semester for the college kids?

    in The College Board

    Posted · Edited by quark

    Was peeking in to look at the acceptances thread and saw this. So nice to read about all your college kids. Congratulations everyone! Have missed reading about them! I'm sorry to hear of illness and emotional exhaustion. Parenting only gets harder I think...when they are younger, you can still step in to help but when they are older, it's so hard to have to keep back, hold your tongue, let them figure things out. Big hugs!

    My A just wrapped up fall semester of sophomore year. Started grad math classes and loves them -- one was a regular class that A attended twice a week and the other, A challenged by just taking the final exam (pass/fail only) and we just heard that A has passed it. My usually competition-averse kid also took the Putnam this fall and got more questions done than expected. It's been great because A is finally being challenged and has actually received Bs for the first time in academic career. My kid isn't coasting anymore! A also works for the university as a grader, earning enough to cover food and train fare and still has a little left over to save (still lives at home with me for now). Interestingly, my kid has started French classes now (I always thought A would go into more depth in Japanese vs starting a new language) and is top student in the class every semester so far. Even received a cute crown from the prof a few weeks ago. 😄

    I've seen so much maturity in the last 3 semesters with this already mature kid that sometimes I just have to take a deep breath and try not to grieve about how quickly they grow up. A is now pestering *me* to read/advice on REU application essays (instead of me pestering A about deadlines which I no longer have energy or time to do anyway), thirstily looking for challenging opportunities for next spring's classes (is adding 2 more grad math classes), and is ecstatic about grading math papers for a beloved abstract algebra prof in spring. I love that A is reaching out independently to create these experiences and learning a lot from them. Just keeping fingers crossed that things stay sane.

    Happy holidays everyone!

     

    • Like 13

    Need some of advice -- math and science related

    in Accelerated Learner Board

    Posted

    7 hours ago, SeaConquest said:

     

    Thanks for these resources. I am going to talk to Sacha and his professor about learning this over the next year. What has been your son's experience -- does he do all of his work in Latex now? I know that a lot of engineers use Matlab -- how is that different from Latex? 

    Yes, others have answered about the difference but I wanted to say kiddo went from knowing zero LateX to using it almost exclusively now at advanced level. It's a lot like learning any other formatting software.

    • Like 2

    Need some of advice -- math and science related

    in Accelerated Learner Board

    Posted

    1 hour ago, SeaConquest said:

    Sacha thinks that he would like to go to Epsilon Camp next summer, which has an Algebra requirement for his age group. He is enrolled in Pre-Algebra at our local AoPS Academy for next year (for 4th), and I was planning to briefly run through Jacobs Algebra in tandem with Pre-A to get him up to speed on Algebra for camp. The following year (for 5th), I planned to enroll him in Algebra at AoPS. Plans changed when he was awarded a scholarship to take Honors Algebra I through CTY, which he's a month into and is doing fine.

    So, now, I am wondering if I should scrap our plans to put him in Pre-A next year and should just move onto Algebra instead. We could still use the AoPS PA book to challenge him/shore up any weak points. One of the reasons I am thinking about moving on is because Sacha has a strong interest in physics, and what is holding him back from moving beyond conceptual physics is the math. If he moved onto Algebra, he could begin studying physics at a higher level and really probe his interest.

    The downside is that he would move onto Geometry through AoPS in 5th, which scares me from a developmental perspective. I am not sure if he has the hand strength to hand write out proofs (he would be fine if he could type them). If your kiddo did Geometry in 5th, how did it go?

    Anyone have any advice on how we should proceed? I planned to talk to Sacha's professor at AoPS about it to get his thoughts as well, but I really appreciate the advice here. ?

     

    If he continues to do well with Algebra I with CTY moving to AoPS Algebra next is a no brainer to me. Plenty of kids have done well with that strategy. Pre-A was not around when we homeschooled and kiddo did fine using Dolciani with some AoPS supplementation afterwards.

    There are other options to moving to Geometry in 5th! He could take another year to work on his writing skills via a milder Geometry while doing Algebra 2 concurrently. Or do a year of problem-solving or number theory/counting and probability.

    If he does really well with CTY Algebra I he could take physics while concurrently pursuing AoPS Algebra.

    Kiddo is a pure math kid at heart and learned how to write proofs with Jurgensen at 9. I did not think kiddo would be ready but kiddo was. Sometimes it happens!

    • Like 2

    UC, A-G, freshmen, and Quark

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    On 7/12/2018 at 4:06 PM, Roadrunner said:

     I am pretty sure if you are with a charter, you don’t get to apply as a homeschooler. The charter will issue the transcript and a diploma and UCs will consider you a PS family. 

    I would like to think that they have enough sophistication now to still understand the differences between homeschool PS and real PS.

    Wouldn't bet on bolded, unfortunately. I don't think different UC campuses talk to each other let alone have admissions take time to tease out nuances between PS, homeschool charter student, and homeschool PSA student but they do seem to be taking note that PSA homeschoolers do things differently and that these PSA students have lots more room to carve their path purposefully.

    On 7/12/2018 at 3:17 PM, SeaConquest said:

    Can you ask if the holistic admissions process applies only to people filing a PSA vs homeschoolers in charters.

    Don't forget, your student also has 4 essays in which to write their story, hopes, goals, pathway, etc.  The personal insight questions carry a lot of weight. Every admission talk I attended at UC stressed them over and over again. At the very least, that section is read holistically even if the rest of the charter school student's academic history section mimics what PS kids do.

    • Like 3

    UC, A-G, freshmen, and Quark

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Sorry just saw this. Calming Tea, I'm glad you called and that they were able to reassure you. I'd like to know who the homeschool specialist is. That sounds like a cover-my-behind reply if there ever was one. ?

    My suggestion is to apply widely to all the UCs but if she is dead set on UC Davis, is there something else she can do in the way of summer programs at the campus, for example? It's no guarantee but it shows them her interest in the campus and they will very likely take note of it at least. I can explain to you many times that homeschoolers have been accepted without dotting every i and crossing every t but I understand the doubts and concerns you have that she might end up being the exception. If she doesn't test well I would recommend lots of essay practice to fine tune her story the best she can. Make it real. Make it heartfelt. And to take DE classes she loves and perform very well in them.

    Given what happened this year, it's really hard to say with UCs. But they do consider PSA homeschoolers and their unique stories. You only have this one chance to homeschool this child of yours. Don't second guess the message in your siggy. ?

    • Like 1

    A-g

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    On 7/4/2018 at 3:22 PM, Calming Tea said:

    Now that said, I believe it is Arcadia? who has had great success just not worrying about whether a course is UC approved.  She has sent her son to Berkeley at like age 11 and runs an online facebook group.  What they have found, is that the new applications allow you to enter the coursework and then in the comments you can list more info about where you took it.  The UC's are more holistic than ever.  An impressive resume with soem dual enrollment, some online, and very high SAT scores will make up for the issue, according to her experience.?

    There's a lot to process in those threads so definitely if you find them set some time aside.  

     

    Berkeley at 14 (with concurrent enrollment at 13). Community college at 11. ?

    • Like 1

    A-g

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Happy CC, are you saying that you are not with a charter school? If you are not and you are filing your own PSA, you do not need to worry about taking A-G approved classes. UC will assess your students' applications primarily by exam while UC Berkeley and UCLA and possibly a couple others will assess them via holistic factors as well.

    • Like 2

    Searching for the AoPS of physics.

    in Accelerated Learner Board

    Posted

    34 minutes ago, chocolate-chip chooky said:

    I looked up the Thinking Physics book, and some reviews on Amazon warn about a weirdly irrelevant political rant in this book.

    How do you feel about this? I haven't seen it, so I have no idea what they're really talking about.

    Unfortunately I don't remember it. We might have missed it as we don't do books cover to cover here. We used it in a small group setting with another parent leading discussions. I'm not a physics geek! But I liked the way it was presented with examples and thoughtful questions.

     

    Searching for the AoPS of physics.

    in Accelerated Learner Board

    Posted

    1 hour ago, SierraNevada said:

    Regentrude- Thanks. I know discovery based isn’t really an option. I’m more thinking problem solving instead of plug and chug into a formula. More deep thinking problems. And maybe as this class advances it will get there, the first two chapters are always deceptively easy. But the pace of his videos is slow. So I’m a bit worried.

     

    We used Derek Owens Honors Physics when kiddo was 9. For kiddo, it was a good program and went at the pace kiddo was comfortable with so that kiddo could spend more time on math. We used lots of living books type resources too and kiddo's dad would help with deep questions and wondering alouds. But I get how Derek Owens might not fit every kid. Does he have an option now to speed up the videos by any chance? And yes, his homework problems can feel like plug and chug (hmm, not always though because I am sure my kiddo would have complained if so). Chapter 2 is hard. It's a very long chapter. I wrote to Derek to ask if kiddo could skip Chapter 2 and move on to Chapter 3 and he was happy to oblige. Kiddo went back and finished Chapter 2 much later. It wasn't an issue for kiddo to understand Chapter 3 without having finished Chapter 2.

     

    • Like 1

    University visit on Monday

    in Accelerated Learner Board

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Tsutsie said:

    My son and I will be attending a group tour of our local university on Monday. This is arranged by our support teacher (DL school) and there will be other kids and a few parents in attendance too. 

    DS13 is technically gr. 7 but has finished 3/4 of the high school courses he needs to graduate, including math, physics, and chemistry. I do, however, think we will now go the "rebel route" and not graduate with the standard diploma but rather look at alternative options to get into our local university at a younger age. There is just to many "fluff" courses that he needs to do to get a standard diploma and the specified content of required courses leaves little space for pursuing his own interests.

    DS is currently taking many courses with WHA and is doing wonderfully, but as an extrovert, he is pretty lonely.

    What questions would you have for the admission officer, keeping in mind that we will likely be back in a few months to apply to their "concurrent studies" or dual enrollment program? As far as I know, they have yet to admit a student so young. I would like to make a good impression and start the conversation intelligently. 

     

    Welcome to the rebel route. ? You made me grin wide reading that.

    1. Have him ask the questions if possible.
    2. Bring a draft transcript if you can just in case they sound incredulous but don't expect to use it or that they will pay attention.
    3. Don't commit any information they don't need to know.
    4. Ask for a business card of a person who deals with concurrent enrollment/special enrollments/special advising so you can send questions that occur to you after the visit.
    5. Ask if there are detailed steps to enroll and if instructor permission is needed, is it something your son can obtain beforehand or only on first day of class.
    6. Look up professors who might be open to him DEing (but don't expect tour folks to know this...you'd have to do this in addition to the tour or info they give you during the tour).
    7. Look up prerequisites to classes he will be interested in (again outside the tour time).
    8. Don't expect the tour folks to know everything if they have not dealt with younger students before. They might not know answers to any of these questions.
    9. Soak in as much info as you can, figure out how he will get to classes, any areas to avoid if they seem unsafe, etc.
    10. Grin and bear it.

     

    • Like 5

    Math With Bad Drawings book

    in Accelerated Learner Board

    Posted

    8 minutes ago, Sarah0000 said:

    This illustrations and some of the topics look perfect for my boy. I wonder what the lowest math level it could be used with...

     

    The only reason I would hold off is if you have a child who has very strong perfectionism and feels like they *must* know all that stuff now and then feel terrible about it when they don't. Otherwise, I'd just strew this and hope they'll pick it up and learn something new or at least be intrigued to find out more. I have a very non-linear learner who learned some fundamentals of much higher math before high school math and did not have an issue self teaching from strewed books. Or at least just browsing the book and making a mental "bulletin board" for other concepts in the future to pin/hook on to.

    • Like 2

    Annual brag thread! No Brag too big or small!!

    in Accelerated Learner Board

    Posted

    6 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

    I just started blogging.  We finally moved into our new house and now that we are settled, I realized just how much less time teaching only 3 takes. 

    Yes, he is Berkeley bound. He still has no clue what he is doing about housing, but hopefully something will work out in the next 2 months! 

     

    Hurray!!! Please ask him to reach out if he needs any assistance (you have my email addy!). And A will be on campus pretty often and can meet him for lunch or show him around if he needs anything too.

    • Like 3

    DD's essay

    in Accelerated Learner Board

    Posted

    And this is why it's so hard to plan for our kids. And so hard to just sit and watch while others are planning and chatting about curriculum too. Loved it and thank you for sharing. It warmed my heart so I can't imagine how brimming yours must be.

    • Like 3

    Annual brag thread! No Brag too big or small!!

    in Accelerated Learner Board

    Posted

    On 5/10/2018 at 3:16 PM, chocolate-chip chooky said:

    I love reading these updates. Your journeys with your children are really inspiring.

    Just recently I was thinking about some of the people who were regulars here on the AL board when I first stumbled in: Quark, dmmetler, lewelma, Arcadia, End of Ordinary. Those are a few names that immediately come to mind. So much wisdom has been shared. 

     

     

    Aw thank you for the sweet mention chooky friend! ?

    Life could not be more different for us than when I first started posting here. My worries then were all about my very asynchronous but highly academic kiddo whom I could never put my finger on. Kiddo was always so hard to decipher sometimes. Sooooo asynchronous I tell you. So I always fell back on my tried and trusted strategy. Make this kid laugh. Let humor save the day and if humor did not, let ice cream and a darn good vintage film be our solace.

    Now here we are...kiddo's 15 but so much more "evened out" that things that used to be awkward and hard and clumsy aren't anymore or...maybe we've learned to change our mindset about fitting into our world and instead, letting our world fit us. Let's just say that you can never, never predict what your kid will be like when they are 6 or 10 or 13. Growth takes so many, many forms. Sometimes we just have to cry, yell, scream, bury ourselves in our work, (laugh when we can), ask the "silly" questions, and ride along the best we can.

    This past year, we did not worry about academics or grades. When kiddo was applying to colleges last year, every thing felt like high stakes till I just refused to be stressed any more. This year, we both worked on things that meant a lot to us and we grew so much. My brag is that my kiddo is juggling life in a way that I could not be more proud of. This kid is among the bravest kids I know. My heart is so full. There is a lot going on with academics and achievement but it doesn't really occur to me when I think about what to brag...it's the growth, the incredible resilience and grit, the drive and knowledge of knowing what A wants in A's life and being willing to face risks and smile all along...I'm honestly so proud and humbled.

    Please don't ever worry about doing things colleges want to see. Don't let making it into some elite college stop you from giving your homeschooling meaning and purpose. No college can ever predict who your child is meant to be. Let your homeschooling and later, college decisions be a vehicle but let your child do the driving. I used to wonder if I should have homeschooled differently with A. Now I don't wonder any more. There was a reason we had to do it the way we did. So glad I trusted my gut.

    And so grateful for you all. For listening and cheering us on.

    • Like 24

    Annual brag thread! No Brag too big or small!!

    in Accelerated Learner Board

    Posted

    8 hours ago, regentrude said:

    My DD will graduate in June with a BS in physics, having also completed the requirements for an interdisciplinary humanities major (but her university does not issue double degrees; she has to pick one to put on her diploma). She has a great job starting two days after graduation, and will move into a real grown-up apartment the week before.

    My DS has finished his first year of college where he is working towards a double major in physics and athletic training. He is currently in Austin, TX where he will be competing in the National Championship in judo tomorrow.

    Proud of both my young people.

     

     

    She is already graduating. Oh my, how time flies and I missed the news about your DS picking physics as well as his athletic training major. The new board design kept me away for a bit but so glad to check back. Wonderful news. Warmest congratulations. Your DD's story was always a big inspiration for me. Thank you for sharing!

    • Like 2

    Annual brag thread! No Brag too big or small!!

    in Accelerated Learner Board

    Posted

    15 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

    I wrote about ds on my blog: https://treasuredconversations.wordpress.com/2018/05/01/to-infinity-and-beyond/ Super, super proud of ds.

    Dd finished her freshman yr with a 4.0 with a triple major and double minor. 

    My 2nd grader combines the strengths of both of those 2 without either one's weaknesses.  I have no idea what our future is going to look like. ? She started playing the violin in Feb. I know nothing about the violin, but she must be learning quickly bc between Feb and April she caught up with all of the kids in the group who had been playing since Aug.

     

    Wow, I had no idea you were writing a blog! How cool is that. Now I am so curious to know if your DS will be in our vicinity for his PhD. ? Warmest congrats to him (and to you, proud mama!).

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