Issue #28, Feb 4, 2002

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Seedling

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Nurturing our children in the freedom of Christ
Issue #28, Feb 4, 2002
Sr. Editor & Publisher: Elissa Wahl
Assistant Editor: Teri Brown

IN THIS ISSUE

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1. Welcome from the Editor
2. A Few Words About Unschooling Math by Luz Shosie
3. PECANS = MATH by Carma Paden
4. Christian Waldorf Parenting, Q&A with Teri Brown
5. Math Links
6. Closing letter from the editor
7. Subscription Information
8. Reprint Information

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1. Welcome from the editor

Hi all, hope this newsletter is received in the manner it was
sent ... in love and through God!

First, a head's up: We won't be sending out a Seedling in March. I am
going to be spending some time with my family, and they have no
computer!! I know, dark ages, but it will be a blessing.
While we have probably already touched on the subject of Unschooling
Math, here in Seedling, I feel we can never talk about it enough.
Over and over, when discussing unschooling with folks, their big
concern is "but what about math". Hopefully after this issue you can
understand better that math is IN our lives!


Please read on, and we pray you are blessed!

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2. A Few Words About Unschooling Math
By Luz Shosie

FREEDOM TO CHOOSE: Fingers & toes, pattern blocks, two by two, 4X4,
narrow gauge, ruler, tape measure, scale, model, profit (loss), earn,
spend, save, interest, checkbook, recipe, batting average, Captain
May I? soccer, baseball, basketball, love, fault, birdie, strike,
spare, first and ten, penalty box, map, compass, Pokémon, Candyland,
Monopoly, Go, Chess, Sorry!, dominoes, dice, poker chips, Bridge,
Crazy Eights, Go Fish, graphs, charts, Origami, mileage, knit 1 purl
2, weave, weigh, motor, engine, pulley, ratio, odds, chances,
statistics, average, more or less, even, odd, yards, N scale,
circumference, volume, area, score, speed limit, braking distance,
fourth dimension, sixth sense, Indy 500, build, plan, rate, estimate,
predict, revise, garden, yardage, height, depth, angle, trade,
straight, curve, spiral, high tide, low ball, tempo, quarter note,
half pound, temperature, weather forecast, bargain, budget, price,
half off, plus tax, sequence, seven percent solution, hundred percent
markup, latitude, longitude, light years, escape velocity, precession
of the equinoxes (oh Best Beloved), range, set, stitch, sort, size,
tally, calculator, plot, dozen, gain, lose, exactly, approximately,
income, borrow, allowance, loan, design, diagram, knots, beads, gear
ratio, minutes, degrees, timer, computer, fathoms, grid, meters,
Anno, The Number Devil, half pipe, quarter turn, double time, full
bore, safe speed, turning radius, blocks, stacking, nesting, measure
up, scale down, abacus, credit, debit, limit, infinity, first class,
third rate, equal share, short shrift, waxing, waning, phase, rhythm,
balance, cycle, magnitude, perspective, value, graph, apogee,
perigee, frequency, rotation, revolution, dollars, cents, pennies,
wooden nickels, full deck, full house, double helix, time zone,
millennium, program, binary, generation, epoch, era, nano second,
code, puzzle, calendar, fiscal year, progression, midpoint, watts,
lumens, horsepower, ohms, Great Circle Route, 52 Pickup, '55 Chevy,
Hundredth Monkey, altitude, make change, Lego, shopping, Tangrams,
Battleships, Fibonacci series, checkers, speed, height, width,
length, volume, latitude, sphere, output, displacement, schedule,
time limit, collection, add up, count down, age, four score, last
full measure, census, Are we there yet? dance, a bushel and a peck,
postage, efficient operation, elegant solution, gigabytes, google,
Powers of Ten, increase, decrease, supply & demand, links, contour
lines, Great Divide, Bingo! group, air pressure, count down, stock
market, daily log, rent, bills, discretionary income, arc, geometric
proportions, geologic time, navigation, Dewey Decimal System #510,
stone circle, dosage, grams/ounces, meters/feet, 16 mm, 22 caliber,
shutter speed, f stop, 20 pound test, dot-to-dot, orienteering,
yeild, squared, low bid, etc. etc. etc.


Luz is co-leader of Unschoolers Unlimited in CT
http://borntoexplore.org/unschool/index.html

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3. PECANS = MATH
By Carma Paden

"Look, Mom, I broke my pecan in half."

"Mmm-hmmm. Does it taste better that way?"

"Now I broke both halves in half. Now I eat them!"

"Wow! Do you know that when you break a half in half, it's called a
fourth?"

"A fourth?"

"Yeah, look. I'll break this pecan in half, and then both halves in
half. How many pieces do I have?"

"One, two, three, four."

"Right, four. So each piece is one-FOURth. Get it?"

Without responding, she eats the pecan. Okay, maybe it's a little over
her head; she only just turned five. We eat a few more pecans, then .

"Look, Mom! This pecan is in thirds!"

Sure enough, there in her hand is one pecan in three pieces.

So does my daughter, at five years and three months of age, understand
fractions? No. But is she gaining a good basic understanding of real
world math? Yes.

Will she remember this tomorrow? Unlikely. But has she gained a
concrete experience of fractions that she can build on when fractions
show up again in her young life? Absolutely.

Did I set out to teach her fractions? No. Did I use a concrete
opportunity to help her put a name to something she is beginning to
understand intuitively? Yes.

Will I run out and find some fraction worksheets to help her build on
her knowledge? Not on your life. Will I keep an eye out for more
concrete, real-world experiences that I can use to help her expand her
own world? You bet.

Not bad for a Christmas Eve morning, sitting in your mom's lap eating
pecans, and wearing your dad's sweatpants as a shawl.

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Carma Paden has been unschooling for six years. Her children are 6, 4,
and 3 months. More essays and homeschooling information on her website
at http://www.users.qwest.net/~carmapaden/ .

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4. Christian Waldorf Parenting, Q&A with Teri Brown

I chanced upon a wonderful website one day and wanted to share what I
found with our readers. Natalie.Elpert has a website and email list
for Christian homeschoolers who use the Waldorf method. No matter
what you may have heard about this method of homeschooling, the
application of it in Christian homes is beautiful.
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Q: Tell us a little bit about the Waldorf Philosophy.

A: The Waldorf philosophy is one of beauty and art as well as
starting the academics at a later age to give children a full and
rich childhood. This education includes lots of singing, handwork and
creating textbooks with beautiful drawings so each subject is more
meaningful.


Q: Like Unschooling, there are many Christians who believe that you
can't be a Christian and Practice Waldorf, how do you answer this?

A: Many Christians are afraid of Waldorf, thinking it is inherently
evil because of its founder, Rudolf Steiner, who delved into New Age
ideas. However, I always tell everyone that it is very easy to take
ANY curriculum and add Waldorf touches to make it more beautiful and
enjoyable for the child. I make my homeschool Christian Waldorf by
little things like putting a statue of Jesus & Mary on my nature
table, along with pinecones and silk fairies. I don't sing songs to
thank the trees & earth for food - I go directly to the source and
thank God Himself. I talk about God wih my children constantly and
we enjoy using our beeswax crayons to draw pictures of Jesus with
little children and other Christian subjects.


Q: What are the differences between waldorf and unschooling?

A: Christian unschooling doesn't have any method in mind when
studying a topic whereas ChristianWaldorf will usually try to
implement the method with the studies. For example, I may be
teaching my girls religion and to do so I will implement Waldorf ways
by making a main lesson book with beautiful colored pencils, perhaps
making a biblical scene with beeswax figures and not testing my girls
(Waldorf schools don't test and they don't have report cards - only
year end reports written in poetry form and illustrated with
beautiful colors). I will be doing a great deal of unschooling in
the future but whatever we study we will record it in a main lesson
book and illustrate it as beautifully as we are able.



Q: Where can our readers go to learn more about Christian Waldorf?

A: Your readers are encouraged to view my website or join my mailing
list to find out more about Christian Waldorf parenting & educating.
I started this list 2 years ago because the typical Waldorfian seemed
to be hostile to me as a Christian. As far as I know, my site & list
are the only places on the web that discuss Christian Waldorf - we
are a small sect but growing as more Christians realize it is
possible to use some of Waldorf to make their own curriculums more
creative.

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Natalie Elpert has 2 daughters, ages 7 1/2 and 5 ½. In her spare
time, Natalie is a confirmed bookworm and can always be found either
reading or writing in her journal. She tries to make her home life as
similar to "Little House on the Prairie" as possible with many old-
fashioned ideas and her most pressing goal is to keep her children as
wholesome as possible.

Christian Waldorf

CHRISTIAN WALORF SWAP BOARD

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4. Unschooling Math Links

Developing an Unschooling Non-Curriculum – Math


Unschooling Math…collection of responses to the question of "how to
unschool math"


You Can Unschool Math


Natural math


Some Cool Math Sites


Math Forum: Internet Math Hunt


MathStories.com
Word Problems

Ricks Math
Worksheets and problems from K-high school

Roller Coaster Lesson Plan


Mudd Math Fun Facts


Math Baseball

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6. Closing Letter

Well, we pray that this issue has touched you...please feel free to
forward this ezine to any who might be interested.

While visiting my family, we will all be going to Williamsburg, VA.
In April's issue, I'll tantalize you with facts about Williamsburg,
and colonial times. Lets work on unschooling history for next issue.
If you feel led to submit an article, a link, a book review, anything
at all, please email Unschoolr@aol.com Any cool relaxed fun project
you have done to help learn history, a neat book, anything!


Until next time,
Be blessed you all!

Elissa Wahl
Teri Brown

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7. Subscription Information

Subscribe at : http://yahoogroups.com/community/Seedling or email
Unschoolr@aol.com

Unsubscribe at: http://yahoogroups.com/community/Seedling or email
Unschoolr@aol.com

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8. Reprint Information

Individual authors herein retain their own copyrights. You may
freely copy this entire newsletter or material from this newsletter
in other nonprofit publications (unless otherwise marked in the
article), but you MUST include the author's name and this entire
notice:

"Reprinted with permission of Elissa Wahl from Seedling, a
Christian Unschooling E-Zine. For a free subscription, send
any e-mail message to Seedling-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or visit
URL: http://www.ChristianUnschooling.org"