Unschool Maths and Uncomfortable Ideas
Some ideas might make us feel uncomfortable. We push them to the back of our minds, not wanting to consider them. This is how I used to feel about unschooling maths.
We used to be unschoolers who unschooled everything except for maths. (Should we really have called ourselves unschoolers?) There were a few reasons I didn’t want to consider the idea of letting go of control of maths. For example, having my kids do some structured maths each day was rather convenient. It looked good in my homeschool records book. When our authorised person came to visit at registration time, she could see my children were learning maths as required. Yes, having formal maths notes made everything easy.
For a long time, I deceived myself. “My children love maths,” I would say whenever I wanted to justify what we were doing. I assumed they loved maths. They didn’t complain. They did what was expected. Everyone was happy.
Then one day my daughter Sophie said, “I hate maths. I’m no good at it.”
The uncomfortable idea of unschooling maths started nagging at me from the back of my mind. In the end, I had to turn around and face it.
In this week’s podcast, episode 98, I talk about our unschool maths story. I share a few blog posts, discussing the ideas in them:
If our kids don’t have formal maths notes to show, what can we put in our homeschool records books?
Is it okay to strew maths like we would science or history?
Is there a problem with some maths games?
Is there a problem with real life maths resources?
Can we call ourselves unschoolers if we don’t unschool maths?
I also revisit last week’s podcast episode, to talk more about:
Those times when life feels overwhelming
How we can help each other when someone isn’t coping
Empathy and misbehaviour
Our weight loss and fitness adventure
Show Notes
Blog Posts
When New Ideas Make Us Feel Uncomfortable
The Problem with Disguising Maths Practice as Fun
Real Life Maths Resources: Some Thoughts and Links
Can We Say We’re Unschoolers if We Require Maths?
Podcasts
Stolen Paintings and Real Life Maths
Podcast Music
Twombly by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)
I’d love to hear your unschool maths thoughts and experiences. And will you listen to this week’s episode and then stop by and answer my big important question? I hope you will!