Math and Science in your house

[Mom-ninja.]

I keep reading on so many posts about how the dads in the family are the ones better at math and/or science. A lot of moms post that they don't like math/science or aren't good at it while their spouse does.

 

It's the exact opposite here. I love science (which would be why I majored in it ;)) and I lean toward liking math. I don't love it but don't hate it. I get excited teaching science. I could do it all day. I also like teaching math and watching the light bulb moments for my kids (and myself....love RS and MM!)

 

I do not like teaching history. I know, I know.....that's blasphemy on a classical forum. :tongue_smilie: I do the bare minimum for history. My dh however, loves history. He is currently in college and takes history classes for his electives. If one can believe that. He hates math with a fiery passion. The last math class he took for college I had to tutor him.

 

 

I can't be the only one here who (as a mom) likes the science and math while the other half hates it.

 

Reading all the posts I feel like I am.

[Slartibartfast]

We are probably both equally good at science depending on the type of science, we both took a LOT of science in school.

 

My husband is exceptionally gifted with math and attended a special math and science school, I was in gifted science programs. I am "good" at math but nowhere near my husband.

 

 

I do like history, I even like reading history books about math. :lol:

Edited August 10, 2012 by Sis

[Whereneverever]

I'm math and science, my husband is humanities.

[Keniki]

I have always been a math lover and have come to love science because of our youngest son. I also love grammar though, so maybe I'm just weird. ;) Dh is the history person at our house, too, but he doesn't do any of the teaching. He likes hearing about what they are learning, but the teaching is my department.

[GoVanGogh]

DH and I both love science, but different aspects of it.

Me: botany and biology

DH: physics, chemistry and astronomy

[FaithManor]

You must have missed mine! This is a VERY math and science oriented house and while dh definitely has a hand in it, I am at the helm.

 

You should ask my rather unexcited 13 year old about how excited I get when teaching the quadratic formula!

 

I am a crazy geek for both subjects. My degrees are in piano performance, music education, and philosophy with French minor, but I filled my electives to the brim and overflowing with science courses. Dh's degree is in mathematics with computer science, business, and physics.

 

If you hang out on the high school board, you find more math and science moms....regentrude, Jane in NC, Jan, etc. we have a tendency to hang out there and discuss math and science topics.

 

Dh and I mentor a competitive rocketry team and lead the only totally STEM focused 4-H club in our state. We've been invited to speak at our big Ag school on motivating kids in math and sciences. I'm really looking forward to my part of the seminar.

 

See....you have some company! :001_smile:

 

Faith

[Paula in PA]

Oh no, you're not! I love science and math! All aspects of it, too, from searching for just the right curriculum to planning it out to teaching it. Actually, I might go a little bit overboard on the science at times.:blush:

 

History, on the other hand, got farmed out to dh from the very beginning. I still do most of the planning (with input from him) but he does ALL the teaching. I do not like history at all, never have. He loves, loves, loves it. So it all works out for the best.:tongue_smilie:

[Farrar]

Both dh and I did humanities degrees. He's MUCH better at mental arithmetic than me and is always dividing the world up into odd proportions and so forth, but I tend to grasp conceptual math quicker than him, though neither of us are "mathy." We both have an enthusiastic lay interest in science. He would be intimidated to teach any of it though, regardless of subject, just because it's teaching.

[Mrs Mungo]

Well, math and science are not my comfort zone. I majored in literature for a reason. :tongue_smilie: BUT, I like teaching them because NOW I can balance an equation! And I am always telling dh things like, "look, it is a waning gibbous moon!" :lol:

[rdj2027]

Both of us do all except Latin and Greek since my husband has never studied either and I never excelled in programming. He has an engineering degree, mine is in science, we both like the humanities.

[regentrude]

I love math and science (I have a PhD in theoretical physics). But I love history and English as well!

If DH helps with homeschooling, it is math and science; not because I'm bad at it, but because that's what he likes best.

[Starr]

Dh assigned me the job of math and science expert. :svengo: I don't know where that left us. :lol:

[Mama Geek]

I really got math, dh really got science (physics, chemistry) and we both do well with both. I have over the years gained an healthy interest in history, politics and economics, and am now trying to read a bunch classic lit that was never covered in all of my schooling.:glare:

[merylvdm]

I am a humanities girl BUT I also love math and started a math and computer club for the middle schoolers in our homeschool group last year. And, even though I wasn't great at science at school, and did no science in college, I have somehow ended up as head coach of our homeschool group's science olympiad teams which all my kids have been on ... so I spend a lot of time helping not only my own kids, but other people's kids with science. As a results, I have learned to like it a bit more and I am better at it :)

[cjzimmer1]

I majored in computers but I minored in both math and history so what does that say about me?

 

I love math,well up to a point I really don't like anything beyond Pre-calc which is why I'm now outsourcing it but the basic stuff is so much fun. I really love Algebra.

 

However, I have no use for the traditional Sciences. I hated Biology, And chemistry and Physics were okay but not my favorites.

 

My husband also majored in computers/business. However, he can't do a lick of math beyond the most basic of Algebra. He didn't get his bachelors until after we were married and I had to tutor him all the way through his Basic Algebra class, I'm sure glad his school didn't require Calculus because I had happily forgotten most of that.

 

So for me I love teaching Math and history, my husband teaches computers and we muddle through English and foreign languages because no one (kids included) like those. For Science, I just let my kids read through the Apologia books (which they all enjoy doing) but we rarely do any experiments or hands on because so far no one has had any interest in that either.

 

But I use to hate the comments I got from adults when I was in high school because everyone was so surprised that a girl would be interested in computers and math(I planned to major in math until I realized how much I hated abstract math)

[happypamama]

I wish my DH wasn't gone 60 hours a week, because it's really a shame that he doesn't have more time to do more of the homeschooling; the two of us together would be a fantastic pair, very complementary to each other.

 

DH uses math regularly, but very specifically (carpenter math); he's good at it, but I'm better at math and am really comfortable teaching it. We both love history, but we like different aspects of it; I'm more likely to find projects and living books for history, and DH is more likely to get into a philosophical discussion about some historical topic. We both love literature and sharing good books with our children; I'm a decent writer (but an excellent speller), while DH is a terrible speller but a very gifted writer. I detest pretty much anything science-y at all, and I wish I could turn it all over to DH, who enjoys science and tinkering and experimenting and all of that. Otoh, I love languages, so it's fun for me to go over Latin and French with our daughter. I feel like I do a pretty decent job of covering all of the subjects, but I know there are some DH could do better. I could do the math, history, and languages; he could do the science, writing, and music. Maybe someday. . .

 

Interestingly enough, our daughter is very strong, linguistically; she reads easily and loves history and Latin. She doesn't speak math, though, but DS1 and I do very much. DS1 is a slower reader, but he likes tinkering and such. And then there's DS2 -- he's a whole different kettle of fish -- we're not going to be able to keep up with him in a few years. :)

[nono]

We don't ever split down subject lines, but if I look at our personal preferences in science, I definitely edge towards applied v. pure.

 

I think the biggest thing that drives our focus on science and math, though, is that both our children are showing a huge love of both. It saturates everything, including going to art class and attempt a Mondrian version of the solar system... :lol: It's been pretty easy to use this interest to hold their attention in English and history. I just have to tweak the subject matter occasionally to make it more about science or math. I kind of feel like the religious math book editor trying to shoehorn references to religion into every exercise. I am much more sympathetic to that task these days!

[dbmamaz]

My dh has tons of degrees . . . a bs and a ms each in math, actuarial science, and ancient history (esp warfare). for science dh mostly loves physics "because its math"

 

I never graduated but spent some time as an engineering major, math was my favorite subject in school. In fact, my most hated subjects in school were gym and history . . not sure in which order.

 

So . . i totally skipped history our first year. that year the middle schooler would have been doing gov't, so i did some of that, and first grade? eh . . .

 

However . . . when I finally did start teaching history . . i was surprised how much I liked it! i am doing it in chronological order, which makes SO much more sense to me than how I was taught it.

 

and as much as I loved science, i've been struggling somewhat with teaching it. My teen has been doing textbooks and an outsourced dissection lab (and a total failure at trying to get him to play w a microscope). this summer we've been a bit more science focused.

 

dh rarely helps with anything . . . he did a little math with them when he was out of work, esp with the older one. and he stayed home one day a few mo ago so I could take my daughter to her college orientation, and i gave him a few tasks . . . mostly math. he hates teaching but math is his native language. in fact, surprisingly (as he's so often critical of my teen) he praised my teen like crazy for showing his work, in an attempt to convince our 8 yo to WRITE DOWN HIS MATH!!!

[deerforest]

I am a mix of humanities and science. I have undergrad degrees in Spanish and Psychology but I went to grad school for neuroscience, specializing in neurolinguistics. I now work as an "information architect" which combines understanding how people use information and designing it to optimally meet those needs. So, it's still a mix of science and humanities.

 

I am particularly fond of system-level biology, higher level cognitive function, etc. I'm not into physics or chemistry, but DH is. Us working together is truly the ideal combo.

 

I also love languages and history too. He likes history, but completely different aspects of it than I do. Again, another good place for us to work together.

 

I took lots of advanced math, but my brain isn't inherently "mathy" like his is. He thinks about math in ways I could never imagine. But, DD thinks more like me so I sometimes have to translate his genius for her.

 

ETA: DH and I both work in the computer industry.

Edited August 10, 2012 by deerforest

[jar7709]

DH and I are complimentary science-lovers, but I do most of the "teaching" while he does most of the hands-on applied building of stuff.

 

I have two science degrees (geology and geochemistry) with a minor in history and a love of literature, so I feel pretty well-rounded for this gig. DH has most of two applied science degrees (physical chemistry and forestry) and he's got the edge on me in math and physics, but it'll be a while before that's an issue, if it ever is. DH is also the bilingual one here so foreign language is his department, but we don't do anything formal there yet.

[higginszoo]

I'm an engineer. I love the math and science. Dh is a mathematician, but considered a physics major. So those are our strong points. We like history here, too. Writing is probably our downfall. Both dh and I are pretty good at it, but teaching it is a different story. I still end up doing 95% of the teaching, with dh only helping occasionally. Still, on things like Geometry (with proofs), he's doing better than I would have -- I can do them, but not teach it, had outsourced to a tutor, who got a full-time job and had to leave us (he is a friend, who graduated two years ago with a degree to teach high school math, so we're happy for him that he finally got a job).

[kroe1]

Heavily science oriented family here. Our kiddos have daily science lab from day one of kindergarten. Both my DH and I have 12 plus years each of college and post graduate science education. Nerdy is an understatement around here. We excel in math because it is essential for science.

:001_smile:

[LaxMom]

I love math and science. For our purpose, those are my husband's comfort area, so I teach the liberal arts subjects, which are not. (NB: he does not feel as confident in dissection and microbiology, so I do that, as well)

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

Neither of us like math in our house, but I'm better at it than dh. He was a history major in college, and then went to law school. I was a French major with a history minor, so my poor kids are double whammied in the history department! :lol:

 

I did well in math in school, so I have no trouble teaching it. My big fear is that my lack of enthusiasm for math will rub off on my kids, so I try to tell them frequently how "cool" and useful math is for all kinds of things. Older ds sometimes says he wants to be a scientist or an inventor, and I tell him that he needs to study math, then, because you use math a lot in both of those occupations.

 

I liked science well enough in school, but I don't think I ever had a teacher who really spoke to me, until I got to college and took a physics class. I enjoy teaching science, and the kids really love it. I've done way more science with them than I ever anticipated, because they zoom through the plans I make, and ask for more. I'm out of my league a little already, so I plan to farm some of it out if we are still homeschooling when they are a little older.

[Luckymama]

I am homeschooling dd12 because of math and science :D She wasn't getting enough of either at her previous school. We easily spend more than half our academic day just on those two subjects.

 

My degrees are in chemistry. Dh's undergrad was in English/studio arts but he is a Certified Financial Planner who works with economics and statistics all day. He now says that if he had been encouraged to stretch a bit in high school, he would have studied math in college.

[Wheres Toto]

I have a biology degree, dh has a chemistry degree. We are both good at science and math but he is better than I am. He can handle very high level math, physics, differential equations...

 

I'm better at grammar, spelling, vocabulary but neither of us are big on history, foreign languages or arts.

[Mom-ninja.]

Glad to see I'm not the only science/math mom. :D

 

When I say that my dh loves history I didn't mean that he teaches it to the kids. He does none of the home schooling. He's told me he would rather work three outside the home jobs then to home school. :lol:

 

I just think it's funny how a lot of people (irl) assume that I don't know math or science because I'm the mom. How many times have I been asked, "But how will you manage to teach high school level math and science?"

 

If I can't teach those subjects than I'd say I have a pretty crappy college education.

 

My bil is a math education major. He's told me he's like to "get my hands on your ds" before he is "ruined" Once I caught him teaching my ds how to count on fingers. :glare: I told him we don't use fingers in our math.

[Mom-ninja.]

I thought math was going to be the thing I hated most. It's actually turning out to be writing. I hate teaching writing. It's so vague.

 

 

 

Same here. Add to that that my oldest is dyslexic.

[Greenmama2]

We are both interested in maths and science. On paper I'm the more educated in the area. DH is actually much better at arithmetic and remembering formulae, I'm better at conceptual stuff and pointing out his errors :p

[SailorMom]

I'm the science person in our house, but I do think DH enjoys physics more than I do. For math - it isn't a subject I love, but I feel pretty confident in teaching it. Next year DS will be in algebra II. I got all A's but don't remember it at all! So - we'll see how that goes. I think I'll be ok. After that, DS is going to dual-enroll for math :)

I do ask DH to help out with some math - but only if the way I'm explaining it doesn't seem to be clicking and I can't think of another way to come around to it.

Good thing I don't depend on DH for those subjects - he's been gone between 6 and 8 months a year the last few years :(.

[Mom-ninja.]

I do ask DH to help out with some math - but only if the way I'm explaining it doesn't seem to be clicking and I can't think of another way to come around to it.

 

Khan Academy!

 

 

 

 

 

Good thing I don't depend on DH for those subjects - he's been gone between 6 and 8 months a year the last few years :(.

 

 

:grouphug: That must be really hard

[Momof3littles]

I have a strong science background, but more in biology, anatomy and physiology, neuroanatomy and neurophysiology, etc. I've taken college level physics, chemistry, etc. I don't really get enthused about the physical sciences, but feel fairly capable. DH is a chemist, so I have the feeling those subjects will fall to his hands. He has a greater depth of understanding and more enthusiasm for the topic matter.

 

I like math. I only took calc I and analytic geometry, whereas DH had 4 semesters of calc and some additional mathematics courses. I had some pretty poor math teachers in high school, so I muddled through some higher level classes that would have been easier with good instruction. My HS calc teacher took all of his accumulated sick and personal days my senior year, and we routinely had history, English, etc. substitute teachers who basically assigned us to teach ourselves. THat happened 1-3 days a week most weeks. When I finally took calc in college, I was like...oh, this isn't that hard at all ;) I can self-teach lots of things, but struggled to self-teach without someone to bounce questions off of.

 

So I guess in our house we both like math and science. Our science interests diverge, however. I suppose that falls somewhat along gender lines too. My major was rooted in biological sciences (physical therapy), whereas he's a chemist and therefore took more physical science courses.

 

eta: DH enjoys history, but neither of us feel we got a solid education in history in public school. I am enjoying learning *with* my kids. I didn't have to take history in college. DH doesn't really enjoy language arts or non-science writing.

Edited August 10, 2012 by Momof3littles

[jennynd]

I loves math and science, and I am engineer.

Hubby is more incline to literature and history when he was younger and decided to go Engineer also. In our house, I am the math teacher (I beat my hubby in math in graduate school). My husband does reading and history. Science is joint. Hubby does more Physics while I do biology (he hates) and chemistry (he hates)