What are some curriculum trends you’ve noticed over the years?

[Clarita]

11 minutes ago, daijobu said:

If it makes you feel better, I'm terrible at reading.  I'll scan word by word, line by line, page after page, but my brain is somewhere else entirely and I'll have no idea what I've read.  I have no idea how I accomplish this.  

This happens to me often. I would copy out documents/papers I read at work just so I make sure I read it. I don't say things like "Oh, I'm not a reading person, either. Don't worry it's fine." to kids learning to read.

[Not_a_Number]

3 hours ago, Shoes+Ships+SealingWax said:

@stripe Unfortunately, our experience with non-mathy homeschool moms in real life has been largely the same. I am in the largest inclusive HSing group in our metro area - over 150 families. I looked into putting together an elementary math circle / math club. Inquired about kids who enjoy math. Asked at park days, on field trips, via the message boards. Crickets. Not one reply. 

Outside of that, in a FB group covering an even larger area, I managed to find a whopping two people whose kids might be interested. 

Oh, no 😞 . You didn't get anyone??? I remember you trying to put this together... 

[Shoeless]

I could never drum up interest in a Math Club around here, either.  I asked a homeschool co-op math teacher, (who also taught at the community college), if they knew of a Math club/circle anywhere, and got "What's that?!" in response. I explained, and she expressed doubt that kids would want to do something like that.  Like it was this utterly weird thing I was looking for.    😞   

 

 

 

[Not_a_Number]

1 minute ago, MissLemon said:

I could never drum up interest in a Math Club around here, either.  I asked a homeschool co-op math teacher, (who also taught at the community college), if they knew of a Math club/circle anywhere, and got "What's that?!" in response. I explained, and she expressed doubt that kids would want to do something like that.  Like it was this utterly weird thing I was looking for.    😞   

The sad thing is that totally normal kids CAN like math, lol. My math class isn't largely composed of super mathy kids -- there's actually a wide range. But when parents act like this, it really makes math seem joyless. 

[Shoeless]

11 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

The sad thing is that totally normal kids CAN like math, lol. My math class isn't largely composed of super mathy kids -- there's actually a wide range. But when parents act like this, it really makes math seem joyless. 

I really don't understand why it's cool to be ignorant of math.  It's so disappointing. 😞 

 

[Shoes+Ships+SealingWax]

3 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:

Oh, no 😞 . You didn't get anyone??? I remember you trying to put this together... 

Nope. For a couple thousand per class I could enroll him in the local AOPS Academy. He might meet a few mathy kids, & would certainly meet mathematically-inclined adults… but he’d have to drop soccer, tennis, swim, and Scouts to do it. That’s our entire annual extracurricular budget. It’s as much as (if not more than) we spend on an entire year of curricula, books, games, & supplies. 

[Not_a_Number]

6 hours ago, Shoes+Ships+SealingWax said:

Nope. For a couple thousand per class I could enroll him in the local AOPS Academy. He might meet a few mathy kids, & would certainly meet mathematically-inclined adults… but he’d have to drop soccer, tennis, swim, and Scouts to do it. That’s our entire annual extracurricular budget. It’s as much as (if not more than) we spend on an entire year of curricula, books, games, & supplies. 

Oh, geez 😞 

Remind me where you’re located again?

[HomeAgain]

14 hours ago, Shoes+Ships+SealingWax said:

@stripe Unfortunately, our experience with non-mathy homeschool moms in real life has been largely the same. I am in the largest inclusive HSing group in our metro area - over 150 families. I looked into putting together an elementary math circle / math club. Inquired about kids who enjoy math. Asked at park days, on field trips, via the message boards. Crickets. Not one reply. 

Outside of that, in a FB group covering an even larger area, I managed to find a whopping two people whose kids might be interested. 

I wish you lived here. I know at least a few kids where math is their favorite subject.  LOL my own kid would rather do math than art - and his closest friends are the same way.  They are so desperate for a math or chess club that it may end up being something I do myself next year. (And I don't want to)

One of the big things I'm getting to now see on both sides is the lack of math preparation for teachers unless they specifically invest the time to seek it out.  The class I took for teaching elementary mathematics (a requirement for every education major) was woefully underdone.  There was a lot of going through the material, but not really understanding why it works that way.  I see the same thing in homeschool circles.  Some of the moms don't know how to teach it until they bring in an extra element: video like Demme or Nicole The Math Lady, or a private tutor, or a math group....somewhere they can see interaction beyond the page and understand what the cumulative effect is going to be when starting with, say, a small piece of the puzzle.  Of course this affects kids - if they don't have interaction that is looking at larger term goals/understanding it's going to affect the personal instruction they're getting in short bites.

[Goldcrest]

I think an element being left from the conversation of parents being uninterested in specialist math groups for their children is the larger perception of the types in and running math clubs. I do think there is a, not sure the term is “uncool,” but there is a perception perhaps that other types of groups would be better for one’s social life and image.
 

For some parents, sports will always be more prestigious than math, and not because they are too dense to value math, but because they are concerned of a child’s social image in addition to developing the child as a whole.

Point being, it may not be simple fear or ignorance about math. It may be something more along the perception of those in such clubs and preferment that the child be in something with a different image. There is a very stereotypical view of people involved in such activities in many circles, and that may play a larger role than some of you think, because you don’t see “coolness” or whatever the current term for that is in the same way as many adults who aren’t STEM in employment and interest. 

Edited June 9, 2021 by Holmesschooler

[HeartString]

1 hour ago, Holmesschooler said:

I think an element being left from the conversation of parents being uninterested in specialist math groups for their children is the larger perception of the types in and running math clubs. I do think there is a, not sure the term is “uncool,” but there is a perception perhaps that other types of groups would be better for one’s social life and image.
 

For some parents, sports will always be more prestigious than math, and not because they are too dense to value math, but because they are concerned of a child’s social image in addition to developing the child as a whole.

Point being, it may not be simple fear or ignorance about math. It may be something more along the perception of those in such clubs and preferment that the child be in something with a different image. There is a very stereotypical view of people involved in such activities in many circles, and that may play a larger role than some of you think, because you don’t see “coolness” or whatever the current term for that is in the same way as many adults who aren’t STEM in employment and interest. 

I agree.  The number of adults who are still concerned about being “cool” and not liking “nerdy” things makes me wonder why we bother with high school graduation, so many never seem to leave that world. 

[Shoes+Ships+SealingWax]

3 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:

Oh, geez 😞 

Remind me where you’re located again?

We’re in Texas. 

[Not_a_Number]

31 minutes ago, Shoes+Ships+SealingWax said:

We’re in Texas. 

Yeaaaah, honestly we had issues like this in Texas ourselves 😕 . 

[Clemsondana]

This has been interesting to read.  I'm seeing different programs just because my kids are getting older, but I do get to see what younger siblings are doing sometimes so I can compare it to what we did.  I see some CC but I also see Singapore Math and Saxon and common old-school things like Wordly Wise (which I remember doing in public school one year). I hear people discuss whether a specific math program is enough to prepare their high schooler for the next level.  I do sometimes hear about people doing a lot of Easy Peasy and Time4Learning, but it's not the majority of families that I encounter.  A couple of the families at karate are likely religious homeschoolers and I see the moms working with their littles using old books that they probably used with their nearly-graduates.  

I interact with different groups of homeschoolers at co-op, karate, and Science Olympiad although there is overlap.  It's been interesting to me that when I talk to parents of kids who are a few years older than mine and academically oriented, we have often wound up using a lot of the same materials.  I also see parents making different choices based on kid-specific academic goals.  For some kids, just graduating from high school with reasonable skills is the goal, while others are looking for competitive scholarships.  Some kids take most of their middle and high school classes at co-op, while some do a mix of at-home and co-op, and others add in other outsourced things like Thinkwell.  Some of the non-co-op families do everything at home.  We know people who homeschool for religious reasons, for academic reasons, for 'my kid is quirky' reasons, and for 'we want more time together as a family' reasons, but they mostly seem to be doing a reasonable job - they aren't all aiming for APs and calculus, but they aren't neglecting their kids' educations.  That being said, I have also been involved in conversations with people trying to discern whether they are seeing parents doing the best that they can with a struggling student or educational neglect.

I don't know any math circle kids, but Science Olympiad, robotics, Scholars Bowl, and Science Bowl are all enthusiastic groups - our grades 6-9 SO team picked up 4 2nd and 3rd place medals at nationals this year (sorry - mom brag - my kid was part of the pairs that won 3 of the medals!).  I think it might be a struggle to start a math group, but mostly it's because a lot of the nerdlings are already occupied with the other teams.  My older kid plays a sport and does 2 of the academic teams and is very protective of their time - they basically refuse to do any other competition, even if it's just a 1-day thing, and I forsee the same for younger.  But, even our academic competition groups are a bit..boisterous...so I could see a niche for a quieter academic group that is more stereotypically academic, although I'd imagine that sort of thing varies over time depending on the kids involved.  

[Xahm]

About math circles: it's the kind of thing I may sign my kids up for, but it's hard for me to imagine what one actually is and does. I could research and probably will (this thread is reminding me that I checked pre-pandemic and a couple local universities run then, but for kids a little older than mine), but I think a lot of moms hear the term and assume it's either some kind of tutoring or else preparation for super-elite math competitions. That's if they even hear the term. I've only seen the local ones advertised/promoted one place (a page for resources for local gifted homeschoolers) and even then there wasn't much information.

[daijobu]

10 hours ago, HomeAgain said:

The class I took for teaching elementary mathematics (a requirement for every education major) was woefully underdone.  There was a lot of going through the material, but not really understanding why it works that way.  

You are luckier than the students graduating from the Stanford Teacher Education Program.  Granted, it's an accelerated program, but if you dig down into their class on Quantitative Reasoning and Mathematics, there isn't much math there.  This is the textbook they use:  

https://www.amazon.com/Moment-Conferring-Elementary-Math-Classroom/dp/0325098697/

Here's the book description.  This is what they spend all year reading:

Conferring in math supports students' learning

How do we support all students' mathematical sense-making and move their thinking forward in the midst of problem solving?

Talking to students about their work, while they work, is a powerful way of supporting learning. We often engage in these conversations with our readers and writers, and these interactions are just as needed in mathematics. What does it look like to talk with students about their mathematical thinking so that their thinking grows?

Practical, research-based guidance for getting started

In the Moment offers research-based guidance for conferring with your students in math. Jen Munson explains how, in just a few minutes, a math conference provides opportunities for supporting productive struggle, helping students grow their ideas, and differentiating instruction.

 

[goldenecho]

23 hours ago, daijobu said:

If it makes you feel better, I'm terrible at reading.  I'll scan word by word, line by line, page after page, but my brain is somewhere else entirely and I'll have no idea what I've read.  I have no idea how I accomplish this.  

I'm trying to read Les Miserables (and failing miserably).  A podcaster just mentioned that in the section I just read  Fantine died.  Wait what?  I actually missed her death scene.  

I forget character's names, I gloss over descriptions of their appearance or some weird architectural detail I've never heard of, or some description of a nature scene.  If there isn't a movie version of a book, then I'm hopelessly lost after the 4th character has been introduced.  ("Wait, is that the same guy?  That's the same guy right?")

I realized one day, while reading fiction, that my brain played a movie in my head when I read.   Someone interrupted me and I could not find my place on the page because I could not remember the words I had just read, only the picture they had created.   Its not very helpful for keeping attention during non-fiction, but it sure helps with detail memory in fiction.   And I have no idea how someone would/could even teach that. 

[HomeAgain]

31 minutes ago, daijobu said:

You are luckier than the students graduating from the Stanford Teacher Education Program.  Granted, it's an accelerated program, but if you dig down into their class on Quantitative Reasoning and Mathematics, there isn't much math there.  This is the textbook they use:  

https://www.amazon.com/Moment-Conferring-Elementary-Math-Classroom/dp/0325098697/

Here's the book description.  This is what they spend all year reading:

Conferring in math supports students' learning

How do we support all students' mathematical sense-making and move their thinking forward in the midst of problem solving?

Talking to students about their work, while they work, is a powerful way of supporting learning. We often engage in these conversations with our readers and writers, and these interactions are just as needed in mathematics. What does it look like to talk with students about their mathematical thinking so that their thinking grows?

Practical, research-based guidance for getting started

In the Moment offers research-based guidance for conferring with your students in math. Jen Munson explains how, in just a few minutes, a math conference provides opportunities for supporting productive struggle, helping students grow their ideas, and differentiating instruction.

 

That seems very similar to the math instruction in my own town.  Even my husband was horrified when he got past the Educational-ese and looked up the program they implemented.  It's called YouCubed, courtesy of Stanford, and it encourages never telling a child they're wrong, but listening to their logic and then "offering" a different way.  Mostly, students work in groups and confer among themselves.  This is in conjunction with their other program, Everyday Mathematics, so they write down all their thought processes, too.
Why do so many kids in my town hate math?  This is why.

I am a HUGE proponent of exploration and letting a kid work through.  I'm also a proponent of direct, explicit instruction that gives kids a base from which they can jump from.  They need good tools to apply to more independent work and exploration.

[Not_a_Number]

50 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

That seems very similar to the math instruction in my own town.  Even my husband was horrified when he got past the Educational-ese and looked up the program they implemented.  It's called YouCubed, courtesy of Stanford, and it encourages never telling a child they're wrong, but listening to their logic and then "offering" a different way.  Mostly, students work in groups and confer among themselves.  This is in conjunction with their other program, Everyday Mathematics, so they write down all their thought processes, too.
Why do so many kids in my town hate math?  This is why.

I am a HUGE proponent of exploration and letting a kid work through.  I'm also a proponent of direct, explicit instruction that gives kids a base from which they can jump from.  They need good tools to apply to more independent work and exploration.

Hahahaha, joining my anti-Jo Boaler parade, eh? 

ETA: in case anyone calls me on this, I have NOTHING against her personally but find her educational philosophy deeply misguided and yet lamentably influential. (She's the YouCubed person.) 

Edited June 10, 2021 by Not_a_Number

[Not_a_Number]

2 hours ago, Xahm said:

About math circles: it's the kind of thing I may sign my kids up for, but it's hard for me to imagine what one actually is and does. I could research and probably will (this thread is reminding me that I checked pre-pandemic and a couple local universities run then, but for kids a little older than mine), but I think a lot of moms hear the term and assume it's either some kind of tutoring or else preparation for super-elite math competitions. That's if they even hear the term. I've only seen the local ones advertised/promoted one place (a page for resources for local gifted homeschoolers) and even then there wasn't much information.

Although interestingly enough I had plenty of takers for an actual math CLASS. More than I would for a math club, I think. Because people thought it replaced some amount of math instruction. 

[Clarita]

10 hours ago, Holmesschooler said:

For some parents, sports will always be more prestigious than math, and not because they are too dense to value math, but because they are concerned of a child’s social image in addition to developing the child as a whole.

I can also see a parent choosing sports over math to get into and get scholarships for college. Sports still feels a bit more merit-based, while academics feels like it's also based on who you are (race, gender, social-economic status, ...).  

Not looking forward to the day I have to choose between math and baseball for my eldest. Currently, (he's only 4.5 so who knows) he's actually exceptional at both (mommy brag - he can hit a line drive off of a pitch and can add/knows quantities up to 100). I'll admit if he is interested in both, exceptional at both and I have to choose an extra-curricular due to scheduling, I'll probably choose baseball. It would not be for the coolness factor, but for getting into a top college.

[Not_a_Number]

1 minute ago, Clarita said:

Sports still feels a bit more merit-based, while academics feels like it's also based on who you are (race, gender, social-economic status, ...).  

Really?? I feel like it's much easier for me to deal with the academics. 

[HomeAgain]

19 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

Hahahaha, joining my anti-Jo Boaler parade, eh? 

ETA: in case anyone calls me on this, I have NOTHING against her personally but find her educational philosophy deeply misguided and yet lamentably influential. (She's the YouCubed person.) 

Oh, gosh.  She's the reason why even dh put his foot down about sending the youngest to school before 7th.  When we looked it up, he was appalled.  Then I showed him the Everyday Math textbook.  The combination is a ridiculous approach where kids are accidentally understanding math (and state test scores show it).

Yeah, I'm not a fan of her approach at all, unless something huge is getting lost in translation.

 

 

Edit: our district before we moved here used Saxon for math and phonics.  Not my favorite, but I would feel fine if I needed my kid to go to school.  Going from that to this, in a state that's supposed to be more focused on education, was unexpected.

Edited June 10, 2021 by HomeAgain

[Not_a_Number]

Just now, HomeAgain said:

Oh, gosh.  She's the reason why even dh put his foot down about sending the youngest to school before 7th.  When we looked it up, he was appalled.  Then I showed him the Everyday Math textbook.  The combination is a ridiculous approach where kids are accidentally understanding math (and state test scores show it).

Yeah, I'm not a fan of her approach at all, unless something huge is getting lost in translation.

I've read reviews somewhere of how the classes go in real life. Apparently, as is usual with group work, the strongest kids wind up doing all the work and the weaker kids just wind up terribly, terribly confused. 

And I'm a HUGE proponent of exploration in mathematics. But not like that. 

[HomeAgain]

1 minute ago, Not_a_Number said:

I've read reviews somewhere of how the classes go in real life. Apparently, as is usual with group work, the strongest kids wind up doing all the work and the weaker kids just wind up terribly, terribly confused. 

And I'm a HUGE proponent of exploration in mathematics. But not like that. 

Right?? 

In my small math group every kid at the table (or floor) has access to materials, is interacting with them one on one, and interacting with me, leading them through a concept.  Letting some kids fall into the shadows is just not okay.  That's where the gap starts and it never stops growing.

 

Sorry this got so off topic, lol.  I just hate seeing what it is doing.  It's part of the reason I've been sending in work samples for my end of year report - this kid has a file at the district office, and I'm going to have to work on getting him appropriate placement when he goes to school.  They'll have 4 years' worth of understanding his growth, and know that it's not going to be comparable to their dismal proficiency rate.

[Shoeless]

9 hours ago, Shoes+Ships+SealingWax said:

We’re in Texas. 

Solidarity. ❤️  I desperately want to move out of state. 

[Not_a_Number]

2 minutes ago, MissLemon said:

Solidarity. ❤️  I desperately want to move out of state. 

Come jooooooin us in the Northeast. We're getting a co-op going and everything... 

[Shoeless]

37 minutes ago, Clarita said:

I can also see a parent choosing sports over math to get into and get scholarships for college. Sports still feels a bit more merit-based, while academics feels like it's also based on who you are (race, gender, social-economic status, ...).  

Maybe this varies by area, but around here, sports is highly influenced by "who you are/know".  You also have to make the commitment to a sport very early on, like no later than kindergarten age, otherwise you are kind of locked out of playing. 

[Shoeless]

Just now, Not_a_Number said:

Come jooooooin us in the Northeast. We're getting a co-op going and everything... 

We're looking into it! DH keeps looking at New Jersey. He'd never agree to NYC, (and we really can't afford it anyway). Current possibilities are Ohio, PA, NJ. 

[Not_a_Number]

Just now, MissLemon said:

We're looking into it! DH keeps looking at New Jersey. He'd never agree to NYC, (and we really can't afford it anyway). Current possibilities are Ohio, PA, NJ. 

Hey, NJ is juuust over the river if you choose right, lol. 

[Shoeless]

1 minute ago, Not_a_Number said:

Hey, NJ is juuust over the river if you choose right, lol. 

I won't lie and tell you the thought "Hmm, Not_a_Number is in that area..." didn't cross my mind! 

[Not_a_Number]

1 minute ago, MissLemon said:

I won't lie and tell you the thought "Hmm, Not_a_Number is in that area..." didn't cross my mind! 

My kids are too young to be friends for your DS, though 😞 . 

[kristin0713]

3 minutes ago, MissLemon said:

We're looking into it! DH keeps looking at New Jersey. He'd never agree to NYC, (and we really can't afford it anyway). Current possibilities are Ohio, PA, NJ. 

NJ is great for freedom in homeschooling, but the taxes are outrageous. 

[Not_a_Number]

1 minute ago, kristin0713 said:

NJ is great for freedom in homeschooling, but the taxes are outrageous. 

I have to say, having lived in low-tax Austin, you pay for not having taxes, too, lol. 

[Shoeless]

9 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

My kids are too young to be friends for your DS, though 😞 . 

True, but we could be real-life friends and you probably have more knowledge of what's available than I do.

 

[Shoeless]

9 minutes ago, kristin0713 said:

NJ is great for freedom in homeschooling, but the taxes are outrageous. 

That's the part that makes me choke. DH says he's fine with it and reminds me that proximity to "stuff to do" comes with a price tag attached (my biggest gripe here is the lack of things that I like to do).  

[Not_a_Number]

Just now, MissLemon said:

True, but we could be real-life friends and you probably have more knowledge of what's available than I do.

Oh, I know everything. Not really, of course, but I'm pretty attuned to what goes on and I've spent a LOT of time networking. After my first year homeschooling, having surveyed the scene, I realized I'd have to do quite a lot of organizing to make things work -- most homeschoolers even in NYC aren't academic and aren't much like me. 

So yes, I could tell you what the cool stuff in NYC is, if you were within driving distance. And most of my currently planned co-op is actually in NJ, so I'm getting more of a sample of what the NJ offerings look like as well. (Although many NJ folks do commute into NYC -- it's simply denser with stuff.) 

[Kakids]

2 hours ago, daijobu said:

You are luckier than the students graduating from the Stanford Teacher Education Program.  Granted, it's an accelerated program, but if you dig down into their class on Quantitative Reasoning and Mathematics, there isn't much math there.  This is the textbook they use:  

https://www.amazon.com/Moment-Conferring-Elementary-Math-Classroom/dp/0325098697/

Here's the book description.  This is what they spend all year reading:

Conferring in math supports students' learning

How do we support all students' mathematical sense-making and move their thinking forward in the midst of problem solving?

Talking to students about their work, while they work, is a powerful way of supporting learning. We often engage in these conversations with our readers and writers, and these interactions are just as needed in mathematics. What does it look like to talk with students about their mathematical thinking so that their thinking grows?

Practical, research-based guidance for getting started

In the Moment offers research-based guidance for conferring with your students in math. Jen Munson explains how, in just a few minutes, a math conference provides opportunities for supporting productive struggle, helping students grow their ideas, and differentiating instruction.

 

This is why my child's school was telling me it was ok they didn't have any work she had completed herself, because they discussed math??! It does not make me feel any better to see this is what some teachers were taught.

 

1 hour ago, HomeAgain said:

That seems very similar to the math instruction in my own town.  Even my husband was horrified when he got past the Educational-ese and looked up the program they implemented.  It's called YouCubed, courtesy of Stanford, and it encourages never telling a child they're wrong, but listening to their logic and then "offering" a different way.  Mostly, students work in groups and confer among themselves.  This is in conjunction with their other program, Everyday Mathematics, so they write down all their thought processes, too.
Why do so many kids in my town hate math?  This is why.

I am a HUGE proponent of exploration and letting a kid work through.  I'm also a proponent of direct, explicit instruction that gives kids a base from which they can jump from.  They need good tools to apply to more independent work and exploration.

Bolding mine, I can't believe this is a widely used philosophy. I was unhappy with instruction I was seeing, but to have it be an actual teaching "method"...

 

[Not_a_Number]

Just now, MissLemon said:

That's the part that makes me choke. DH says he's fine with it and reminds me that proximity to "stuff to do" comes with a price tag attached (my biggest gripe here is the lack of things that I like to do).  

Yep. You're in fact paying for something. 

I have an awesome representative story about this. We were thinking about buying a condo in Austin at some point, and we were totally SHOCKED at how low the monthly maintenance costs were. They were basically nonexistent... 

... except the building's roof was apparently leaking and there was tons of water damage and all the residents had JUST been assessed for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Everyone was totally shocked, because apparently no one really understood that to run a condo, you need to collect some fees to allow one to FIX things before they get dire. 

[Shoeless]

3 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

Oh, I know everything. Not really, of course, but I'm pretty attuned to what goes on and I've spent a LOT of time networking. After my first year homeschooling, having surveyed the scene, I realized I'd have to do quite a lot of organizing to make things work -- most homeschoolers even in NYC aren't academic and aren't much like me. 

So yes, I could tell you what the cool stuff in NYC is, if you were within driving distance. And most of my currently planned co-op is actually in NJ, so I'm getting more of a sample of what the NJ offerings look like as well. (Although many NJ folks do commute into NYC -- it's simply denser with stuff.) 

I'd be interested in whatever info you find on NJ offerings. It's hard to get a good picture of what the different states are like for homeschoolers when we are far away. Plus Covid has made everything weird.  I'm trying to figure out a plan for here, and it's hard because a lot of stuff shut down and is not coming back. 

[Not_a_Number]

1 minute ago, MissLemon said:

I'd be interested in whatever info you find on NJ offerings. It's hard to get a good picture of what the different states are like for homeschoolers when we are far away. Plus Covid has made everything weird.  I'm trying to figure out a plan for here, and it's hard because a lot of stuff shut down and is not coming back. 

I think it depends where you are, though, I'm sure. I think @Wheres Toto is in NJ, but not near NYC, and she's know more about that. Where I am, a lot of the activities are pretty NYC-centered -- it definitely attracts people. 

[kristin0713]

10 minutes ago, MissLemon said:

That's the part that makes me choke. DH says he's fine with it and reminds me that proximity to "stuff to do" comes with a price tag attached (my biggest gripe here is the lack of things that I like to do).  

It’s a great place to live, just expensive especially in the nicer areas. There is more available for homeschoolers in PA. However, it’s illegal to pump your own gas, and I will miss that when we move 😂 

[Shoeless]

Just now, kristin0713 said:

It’s a great place to live, just expensive especially in the nicer areas. There is more available for homeschoolers in PA. However, it’s illegal to pump your own gas, and I will miss that when we move 😂 

I always forget about the gas-pumping thing! I think that would make DH crazy, lol!  The idea of hearing DH gripe for years about not being allowed to pump your own gas may be enough to put me off of NJ! 🤣 

[kristin0713]

Just now, MissLemon said:

I always forget about the gas-pumping thing! I think that would make DH crazy, lol!  The idea of hearing DH gripe for years about not being allowed to pump your own gas may be enough to put me off of NJ! 🤣 

It’s so funny because I’m seriously DREADING having to pump my own gas when we move to PA. I think I’ve only done it once in my life! 😳😂 I’m even trying to convince DH to get me an electric car. 

[daijobu]

2 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:

Although interestingly enough I had plenty of takers for an actual math CLASS. More than I would for a math club, I think. Because people thought it replaced some amount of math instruction. 

This is true.  Most parents want check off prealgebra or algebra or geometry, not prepare for math contests.  

[Shoeless]

1 hour ago, kristin0713 said:

It’s so funny because I’m seriously DREADING having to pump my own gas when we move to PA. I think I’ve only done it once in my life! 😳😂 I’m even trying to convince DH to get me an electric car. 

I promise it isn't hard to do! 

It's been so long since I have been to a full service gas station that I would be baffled by the process of someone else pumping my gas!  I have completely forgotten the protocol!

[Not_a_Number]

6 minutes ago, daijobu said:

This is true.  Most parents want check off prealgebra or algebra or geometry, not prepare for math contests.  

I was doing elementary math. Same deal, though. 

To be fair, I really don't care about preparing kids for math contests. If they are ready conceptually, then I think of it as low-hanging fruit and will work on contest prep (so I do it with DD8 and will continue to.) But I'm much more interested on working on their sense-making. 

[daijobu]

3 hours ago, HomeAgain said:

It's called YouCubed, courtesy of Stanford, and it encourages never telling a child they're wrong, but listening to their logic and then "offering" a different way. 

You know, I do this a lot.  If a student makes an error, I try to be positive as much as possible.  I will tell them how far into the problem they were correct.  And sometimes I will tell them their error is a common one, or it's a common newbie error, or I'll admit to making the same sort of error myself.  I'll offer a way to avoid that error in the future (not skipping steps, documenting more carefully, etc.)  

 

3 hours ago, HomeAgain said:

Mostly, students work in groups and confer among themselves. 

I was actually explicitly taught in high school that the best learning comes in isolation, when you are studying at home by yourself.  My math teacher called it the "closet aha."  You learned better on your own than you did in a classroom full of students.  

[daijobu]

1 hour ago, Not_a_Number said:

 

So yes, I could tell you what the cool stuff in NYC is, if you were within driving distance. And most of my currently planned co-op is actually in NJ, so I'm getting more of a sample of what the NJ offerings look like as well. (Although many NJ folks do commute into NYC -- it's simply denser with stuff.) 

What do you think of the Math Museum?  

[Not_a_Number]

Just now, daijobu said:

What do you think of the Math Museum?  

It's... fine? We've been a few times. It's cute. I wouldn't spend a ton of time there. 

[daijobu]

11 hours ago, Shoes+Ships+SealingWax said:

We’re in Texas. 

Don't knock Texas.  Luke Robataille is there.  He is homeschooled and he won MathCounts TWICE (like the whole thing at Nationals), AND he's won 2 IMO gold medals so far.  

I just received an email from a local homeschooling mom who spent the pandemic in Texas and her student was taking MathCounts and AMC classes down there.