Re: Kumon school experience
- From: Ericka Kammerer <eek@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2006 13:18:31 -0500
Ignoramus29446 wrote:
On 21 Mar 2006 11:32:07 -0500, Bruce McGuffin <mcguffin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
My own view is if you want 4 year olds to excel at math later,
encourage them to engage in play that develops their spatial
visualizaton. Good examples are playing in a sandbox, playing with
blocks or leggo, tinkertoys, etc.
I think this is very true. Kids are going to be hammered
with arithmetic for ages anyway. Why start hammering so early?
Both my boys are very advanced at math, and neither has ever
responded well to drilling. When they're ready to learn their
math facts, they will do it quickly and easily if they're motivated
and understand the concepts. In fact, my son who had a teacher
in 2nd grade who pushed flash cards and speed drills is the one
who is slower on the drills, while the one who had the teacher
who kept it fun and focused on problem solving rather than drills
is the one who is a speed demon when it comes to math facts. He
saw the utility in knowing his math facts (so he could solve
problems quicker and easier) and simply decided to learn them.
And limit their television and computer game use.
Eh, I'm ambivalent about this. I think if tv and
computer games are getting in the way of an otherwise balanced,
active life, then it's a problem. If not, I'm not bothered by
either. I don't think there's any particular virtue in being
tv- or computer game-free. (I don't know how strongly you're
recommending that they should be limited.)
He pretty much does not watch TV. The problem is that he does not like
toys much. He likes talking with adults or playing with other
children.
But why is that? Lots of first born kids are that way,
and I think a lot of it is simply that no one plays with toys
with them. They don't have anyone modeling how to play, and
kids naturally do what they perceive their parents as wanting.
Little kids want to please, and if their perception is that
Daddy is pleased with them and proud of them if they do grownup
things rather than playing with toys, then that's what they'll
do and that's what they'll become comfortable with. I'm not
much for playing and never was--likely for similar reasons.
My husband, on the other hand, still has great fun playing
with toys. We made it a priority to encourage and model that
sort of play, and I don't think it's an accident that our
kids turned out to enjoy it. I do agree that playing with
imaginative toys and toys that develop spatial relationships
is very useful--much more so than drilling math facts at an
early age.
Lately he developed some interest in playing chess,
Nothing wrong with learning chess if he's having fun
at it. Both my boys have played (though the older one gave
up chess club when his other activities became too busy for
him to keep it up). But even here, I'm happy that they play
in a fun, not too competitive way that's about exploration.
There are a lot of schools in our area that have very elite
chess clubs (usually with relatively small membership of
very serious players). They bring in experts to work with
the kids and they're really competitive. At our school,
chess club is for fun and for playing. They learn from
playing with each other, and the person who runs it occasionally
gives tips. We have well over 100 kids in our chess club,
and they're all having a great time regardless of how
competitive they are. One of my kids wants some additional
chess instruction, so he'll likely be doing a chess camp
this summer. The other just wants to play for fun on
occasion. Not coincidentally, the guy who runs the chess
club is also the great math teacher who focused on problem
solving rather than drilling in math (not to mention other
subjects as well).
That's the strategy I followed with my own children, and it is working
out pretty well. My daughter is in 10th grade and taking vector
calculus. Next year she will take math at the University. My son is
in 9th grade and taking precalculus. he won't finish the school's math
curiculim until 11th grade.
I am very impressed, this is a huge accomplishment.
It's delightful that his children are doing well, but
I don't really see it as an accomplishment that they're so
advanced in math. I think kids who have the ability naturally
succeed like this if we just remove the impediments. I don't
think any amount of parental drilling or pushing is particularly
helpful. I think the job of parents is to provide support and
remove impediments. There are lots and lots of occasions in
everyday life where mathematical problem solving skills come
up. I never put a math worksheet in front of my kids, and
yet we'd discussed all sorts of mathematical concepts as they
came up in relation to things that were meaningful for them.
Drilling the math facts was nearly trivial by comparison.
Of course they had to do it at some point; otherwise, you're
forever slowed down by having to think about how much six
times five is, but it really doesn't take much time at all
to do that once you understand what multiplication is *and*
have some reason to care about learning them. I never saw
any reason to spend time at home on something that they
were going to get ample time on in school. I'd rather spend
home time on the things they *won't* get in school--and
there are plenty of those!
I guess my reaction here is catching a whiff of it
being a parental accomplishment for the kids to do well
at school. It is to some degree, in that an unsupportive
parent can leave a kid floundering unnecessarily. But
really, doing well in school is, and should be, the child's
accomplishment. This is important because thinking of it
as a parental accomplishment focuses the attention on
whether the parent is doing all the "right" things, like
putting the kids in the right school, or giving enough
additional homework, or providing tutors or supplemental
programs, or providing enough external incentives for
good grades or other academic achievements, or what have
you. In the end, real success comes from the child having
the *internal* motivation and discipline to work to the
limits of his or her abilities, whatever those might be.
To me, at 4 years old, that seems more likely to come
from exploration of concepts through play and everyday
life with the parents providing support and encouragement
than from worksheets and drills and formal tutoring, however
fun the adults try to make it.
I do believe that my kids have had their greatest
successes in areas where they've pushed at their own
initiative, and they've been consistently more likely to
have that initiative when they've had the time to explore
an area in their own way. A trip to the museum sparks much
more interest in topics than a worksheet or even a book.
Role playing a story with the Playmobil leads to a better
creative writing assignment than a discussion of how
stories have protagonists and antagonists and plot and
character development. A trip to the ballet or orchestra
leads to better motivation in dance class or music lessons
than a practice sheet. At some point in the educational
career you have to deal with the boring, practical stuff.
At 4 years old, though, you can revel in the fun stuff
and foster that love of exploration and creativity knowing
that it's all good and all helps their later development
immensely in all sorts of areas.
Best wishes,
Ericka
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