Hi
I believe it is never too early to start with home education.
I have three children, I was talking, telling stories, about anything, especially math related but very simple presented, asking them to invent stories, we were playing with colors, with simple origami- like things, paper made and glued, we were dancing, we were singing……
I was explaining, up to my level of knowledge, how our body is functioning, how to build a house, I am an engineer this was going well. Why I am cooking some food longer and some for shorter time.
Up to: why I am ironing a shirt in this particular way, when they will ask.
I was never ever pushing them to read or to learn. It was playtime, always. However, I was working very hard to prepare my stories for the next day, and it was sure that they would ask soon for new episode
The result is quite good. Two are studying in foreign country, even not on English, what is his best foreign language, and are between the best students. Working part time is normal for them.
The middle one is always pushing to prove herself, she was to make IQ test for Mensa and has IQ quote172. We do not believe in such measurements, but I will lie if I will not confess that I like this somewhat. And she is not the smartest one. Again, I do not believe that the intelligence can be measured, everyone has capability for learning which can be upgraded or destroyed, but YES, I believe in work in hard solid and well-planed work.
Spend more time with your child, he/she deserve this. You will enjoy even more.
Find your way, your own story, and your own games
This is an example of my math related stories. I wrote this for an answer to a question of a similar forum. This is for 5-6 year old child quite acceptable. I have tried this to other children and it is working. It is better if you can draw some illustration with this, just a simple things, they like this way better
How was the metric system invented?
This is only a speculation (read speculation = guess) but this is my best guess.
One of the most favored of stories of mine, between all my students and especially between my daughters, is the story about the Natural number system. This will guide us with a small additional story to the invention of the decimalized Metric system.
Once upon a time, when the people on the earth was living without any practical knowledge for the numbers or comparison of quantities, a small group of people was living together in caves or earth made houses near the sea cost. Ion a very careful, about 12 years old, boy and his smaller sister Ean was part of this tribe. The main concern of Ion was how to protect his bellowed Ean. The girl was not under any special danger, she was just the smallest girl in the tribe and the bigger child were used to play with her, in a very unpleasant way for herself, hiding her seashells, steeling her apples…
Ean was about six, and completely helpless, she was very polite, and in fear that she might to hurt some friend, and never sure, no, she was sure that her things are diminishing in every game, every day, but she was not in position to proof this to her senior friends.
And Ion was thinking, and thinking…
The most natural way comes to him. He teaches Ean to compare always before the game the quantity of the toys (seashells, or polished small bounds, or anything what she has) whit her hand fingers. And to compare again before living, so she can be sure that she is taking home all what she brought out.
It is easy and natural and all the children in the world are using the same method until these days, and a big part of the mathematical science is developed from this simple reasoning of Ion.
However, the problem was arisen after some time again, what when Ean has more toys than fingers?
Ion solves this in a genial way.
- When you will have more toys than fingers, you must to think in this way:
Up to 10, you will count finger-toy, after you should to consider that 10 is a rounded quantity. We will name this a set of 10 or a set of two hands, and you can start to compare again for a new set toy-finger. If you will be with a total set of 10, once again, you will say that you have – two sets, not two toys, this is much more. And see Ean now we can be sure. You have in this moment three sets and four more shells. Isn't this easy, and wonderful?
Following the same way the people has extended this logical organization for quantities measuring and developed the theory of Natural numbers.
And it is based on 10. Simply, when you have 10 you cannot use your fingers anymore, so this quantity has be defined as rounded quantity of 10, will get a name, and will be considered for bigger quantities like one unbreakable element; and so on….
Now we have
1. any element is like 1 finger
2. when we have 10 they are connected, like in box, and this box can be treated like one element-1 finger
3. 10 small boxes, the problem are repeated, we will treat them like connected in a bigger box AND this bigger box is again just one element…..
We are packing into units of 10
Of course, we can unpack anytime
Now just imagine how it will be if we do not have fingers, just two accommodative hands, to work with. How our system will look like? For 6 just a simple number of 6 we need two size of boxes. It is simple: any quantity bigger than 2 should be distributed in boxes containing 2 of some kind, and bigger boxes and bigger boxes….
So it is like [(1+1)+(1+1)]+(1+1)
[BIGER BOX] (BOX)
This is the end of the story.
And the next one is just very short.
Imagine the world where there is no length measurement system for example. How we can know where is your house with respect that my home is the referent point?
Far, near? This is not enough!
Where yours garden finishing and the garden of your neighbors is starting?
We will need to invent some system for measuring, to get exact information, and the people has adopted a unit of 1m which was defined like 1⁄10,000,000 the distance between the poles and the Equator, like you can check in Wikipedia.
In addition, same decade based system is developed for organization of the all length units. Any 10 units are making a set, which has his own name and treatment like one new unit, but related to the basic one, meter……
For all other characteristics, which can be measured, in our physical world, the people have developed similar organized system of units.
Best regards
And apologize for my bed English grammar.
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