Elysian
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Posts posted by Elysian
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I was a bit disappointed at the science-bashing in the first chapter of Norms and Nobility. I may be misinterpreting Hicks (who I find difficult to follow), but it's a commonly expressed view - that science takes all the wonder and beauty out of life.
To me, it's quite the opposite - I think science is about a dedicated search for truth, and about appreciating the wonder and beauty of nature. But how to convey that to the next generation?
How do you go about expressing the ideals of truth, beauty, wonder, virtue etc in your science homeschooling?
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Reflecting... I think my problem with a lot of so-called education is that the model is a teacher with a big jug of 'truth' to pour into the empty vessel of the child. The 'truth' in the teacher's jug is whatever curriculum standards the authorities have most recently decided upon, and which the child will later be examined on.
Some people rebel against that and reject absolute truth altogether, which is hardly an improvement.
The model I strive towards is the teacher and student both seeking the truth together, both humble enough to accept that they might be wrong, both willing to look honestly at the world and consider the evidence. The teacher has more experience and more knowledge, but no authority to demand that the student believe a certain thing. The truth exists in the world, not in the authority of the teacher, or in the whim of the student.
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I think that one must first believe that the formation of the wisdom of man is even possible, and to me that implies objective Truth. If you don't believe in objective Truth, looking outside the shed is pointless at best. Education *is* programming in a world without objective Truth.
Yes, absolutely. It's not about which religion you belong to, or what your view is on a particular political or scientific issue. If one doesn't believe that some things are true and others aren't, it's not even worth looking for the truth; there's no basis for even having a discussion about it. We may have limited wisdom and ability to discern truth, but if you don't believe it exists...
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I have a baby due in October, and we're intending to home educate :-) I won't have much experience to offer you, but I'd like to learn from what other people are doing :-)
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I would REALLY like a preschool sub forum too.
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I sort my books much like a library does: fiction alphabetically by author, and non-fiction by subject. Haven't yet got obsessive enough to use the Dewey Decimal System :tongue_smilie: We used to separate children's fiction from adult, but now it's all mixed together.
If you have a Mac, you could take the tedium out of cataloguing your library by using Delicious Library: http://www.delicious-monster.com/
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I second the recommendations of "The Phoenix and the Carpet" and "The Wee Free Men".
You could always try something by Diana Wynne Jones. Perhaps "Howl's moving castle" or "Archer's Goon". Or "The Ogre Downstairs" is very much like a modern E Nesbit book :-)
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Ok, I think it sounds like he needs practice in two things: setting out work correctly, and checking it over carefully for mistakes.
I suggest you pick one type of problem, either the fractions or decimals one and do the following:
Day 1:
1) You show him an example (or do it in front of him) of EXACTLY how you want him to set his working out.
2) You ask him to do JUST ONE calculation PERFECTLY, setting out the working exactly as you did.
3) If there are any mistakes, ask him to correct them - show him how, if necessary. It's about quality, not quantity. When he has it perfect, cheer, praise him for working hard, and stop with maths for the day.
Day 2:
1) You show him ONE calculation that you have done (the same kind as the previous day) with all the working set out perfectly, BUT you make a deliberate mathematical mistake somewhere.
2) His job is to find where Mom went wrong. This teaches the really important skill of checking work over. It's much easier to practice by trying to find Mom's mistakes than your own :001_smile:
3) When he has rewritten the whole answer correctly, cheer, praise him for working hard and stop maths for the day.
Repeat the above on alternate days until he gets it. Then move on to the second kind of calculation.
This might throw up some underlying problem that is causing him difficulties - like say if he is shaky on his multiplication tables. In that case, you can take some time to practice that skill for a while and come back to decimals/fractions afterwards.
Hope that helps! Good luck.
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Is your student aiming to study science at a college level afterwards? Or are you looking at general-preparation-for-well-informed-adult-life?
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How about Henry V instead of Henry IV?
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:confused: Just trying to understand the problem here.
Cin, are you homeschooling your two daughters? What practical difference does the grade label make? I mean, do your state regulations mean you have to enter them for certain exams? Or does your church divide kids up by grade level rather than age? What social implications do you mean?
Best wishes for whichever option you choose.
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Science classes at the local museum sound great. Speaking as someone with a science background, I think science for younger kids should be mostly about having fun, following up interests and learning cool stuff. There's no need to be systematic until later.
In my experience, the most important requirements for success in science later in life are 1) enthusiasm for the subject and 2) maths. So put the extra time into maths now if you can :-)
For supplementing maths, you could try the (free, online) Khan Academy.
Also fun books of maths or logic puzzles - brain benders, that kind of thing - to stretch their brains a bit in a fun way.
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How about biographies of scientists, inventors or pioneers?
e.g.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Marie-Curie-Biography-Vicki-Cobb/dp/0756638313
Note I haven't actually read any of those, I just found them on amazon.
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Maybe things are just too easy for him? Can you skip to harder stuff within the curriculum you're already using, so he isn't so bored?
A free alternative / supplement might be Khan Academy. It's self-paced, so once he's mastered a concept he can move on quickly.
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Lewelma - here are some possible types of history essay topics. I've given some examples based on my skim reading of the Wikipedia article on Samurai. As I'm unfamiliar with the subject, you can probably think of better topics to fit the generic patterns.
Describe x.
e.g.
"What was the role of the monasteries in 16th century Japan?"
Why did x happen? What were the causes of x?
E.g.
"What were the causes of the rise of the samurai?"
"Why did the imperial side win the Boshin war?"
What were the consequences of x?
e.g.
"What effect did the introduction of the arquebus have on the samurai?"
Compare two things.
e.g.
"Compare the role of the samurai in the Ashikaga and Tokugawa shogunates."
To what extent is x true? / "x" Discuss. Where x is some potentially controversial statement.
e.g.
"'Samurai were loyal and noble warriors' - Discuss.".
How do we know about x and how reliable are those sources?
e.g.
"How do we know about the code of the samurai and how reliable are the sources?"
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http://stateimpact.npr.org/florida/2012/04/20/feedback-loop-fcat-not-blinding-them-with-science/
Some people say there are problems in the maths tests too.
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...and the people who set the tests don't appear to care.
I was pretty shocked by this.
http://thehappyscientist.com/blog/problems-floridas-science-fcat-test
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What is your son most interested in? Or what does he have strong opinions about? Maybe he'd enjoy writing about that.
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Have you considered the Cambridge Latin Course?
http://www.cambridgescp.com/main_entrance.php
I used it as a child myself and enjoyed it a lot :001_smile: Although it's written for schools I think it would work perfectly well at home or for self teaching. The website has lots of free extra materials too.
I'm having a hard time reading "The Lost Tools of Learning."
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
"It will, doubtless, be objected that to encourage young persons at the Pert age to browbeat, correct, and argue with their elders will render them perfectly intolerable. My answer to that children of that age are intolerable anyhow; and that their natural argumentativeness may just as well be canalized to good purpose as allowed to run away into the sands. It may, indeed, be rather less obtrusive at home if it is disciplined in school; and anyhow, elders who have abandoned the wholesome principle that children should be seen and not heard have no one to blame but themselves."
I think she's joking. Like the previous commenters said, it was originally a speech, so her tone of voice would probably have made it clearer at the time. My translation of her words:
"Some people will complain that we shouldn't encourage kids to argue, because it's annoying. I reply that since kids are going to argue anyway, we might as well teach them how to do it properly. Unless you're going to insist that kids shut up altogether, you'll just have to put up with the annoyance."