The kids are busy working. So far they are excited about the new 5-A-Day binders. But more on that later. Let's talk about how I first got this bee in my bonnet. One afternoon several weeks ago the two littlest were sleeping and the others were playing outside. Except Luke. Luke was sitting at a card table in the school room drawing (specifically he was working on the components for his latest board game invention). He said "Ahh. Leaning over a table with a pencil in my hand. That is where I love to be." Joking, I quipped, "So, I bet you love to do your math, then, huh?" Immediately he responded, "Not really. With math, you are just following the directions and doing what someone else tells you to do. There really isn't a chance to be creative and make your own choices."
Of course, I understand what he's expressing. But my heart sank. In our family growing up, math was (still is!) something you talk about for fun. I can remember driving somewhere on vacation and have a discussion about how much time you would save per distance you had to drive by driving five miles an hour over the speed limit. That's just one example.
So. When math is just following directions ... when your strongest math student dreads math ... what is a mother to do? It got me thinking. Something was boiling under the surface. But that is where it stayed for several months. Until recently.
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