On Monday I introduced my kids to the concept of circle math - and had no idea why. They did just fine; I went into a tailspin trying to determine what possible purpose this serves.
Since then I've been trying to figure out the WHY of circle math and it's been a brainstretcher for me. I'd never heard of it, even. Came thisclose to emailing Crystal, but then decided to snoop around on my own first. Looks like we can thank Herr Gauss for this concept (he whose name is used as a unit of measuring the strength of a magnetic field)
I still don't understand it enough to explain it (therefore, I don't have a good grasp of it yet), but the lights are beginning to come on for me.
So Crystal, you and your bevy of math teacher friends.....did you ever use circle math/modular math in your classes? Either teaching or taking?
I never thought I'd find it in third grade!
I think I need to improve my mind by taking another math class. I feel like I've just been submitted to the Brain Booster machine used by the Krell on Forbidden Planet.
Knock-knock
1 month ago
7 comments:
I read your post, and I checked out your link to the math forum. As a former lit major and after much consideration: I am not at all convinced that we need waste much time on mod math. Or any math at all.
Check back with me when I start homeschooling, though. I'm sure my opinions will change dramatically. Can't I just teach them to read and give them good books every year?
YES, Christy, you can. And the place you want to go for good books is Sonlight.com.
We used Sonlight when the kids were younger. Loved loved loved the books. I, however, was drowning with a lack of schedule, which K12 provided for me. (Sonlight did too, but it wasn't as user-friendly for me.)
I still go through the Sonlight catalogue every year to see what books they've added to their Core curricula.
Actually, I was just using this the other day!! The clock uses mod 12. Or, if you're like me, if you ever see anything in military time, I "mod 12" to figure out the "real" time. I never learned about mod until college. I think it really helps when teaching about other bases. If you want to know what 10 is in base 3, you just mod 3. (its 1)
When teaching about other bases, you really start to understand our own number system (base 10). It also is great for division. Because all you're doing in mod is dividing. So if you're doing mod 10mod3, all you're doing is taking all the 3's out of 10 and seeign what is left. Same thing as division.
Karen, I think its great how you add and subtract. I wish I could be quicker with arithmetic. Although I have 2 degrees in math, I'm not that great with arithmetic. (Yes, there is a difference between math (thinking) and arithmetic (computation)) Singapore Math teaches the very thing that you do in your head! I'm planning to start Micah on the PK-K Singapore math after the holidays. (www.singaporemath.com)
So funny, my good friend who homeschools uses Sonlight and I just received their catalogue in the mail TODAY!!!
I'm sure I'll be asking you for more and more advice.
I DO want my kids to learn math - my friend also uses Singapore math, Crystal - just funny that I'm hearing all these things again.
I love the arithmetic method, K. Anything to help me add and subtract!!!
Singapore math is wonderful for mental math. Sonlight promotes it heavily. It was amazing to realize that, hey, these kids are really doing basic algebra, solving for a variable, etc.
Where I found Singapore lacking was drill in the basic arithmetic facts. There is a point where you just need to know *bang* that 3+8=11. We used Singapore before switching to k12, which uses Sadlier-Oxford.
Ok Crystal, you just *cough* crystallized something for me. Now I can see why Mod math is sometimes called Remainder Math - and I see how it relates to division. So 10mod3 equals 1, which is the same as 10/3= 3 R1 --the mod math focuses on the remainder. Okay. Through a glass, darkly, but okay!
again, brain boost!
This post and the comments on it are making my head swirl. I have NO idea what you all are talking about. LOL
Drill and kill is easy to supplement into a program, but thinking skills are harder to supplement into a program. I like how they explain things. They seem to emphasize the why to the algorithm rather than just teaching the algorithm. There has to be a reason why Singapore has the highest test scores in math!
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