More unschooly learning

The other night we were sitting eating dinner, and Meredith pointed out that Kris’ taco looked like a triangle. We agreed it did and didn’t really think much of it, until she held up three fingers and said “That’s because it has three sides and three corners.” Such a seemingly small, obvious fact, but it surprised both of us. We have never talked to her about shapes and what makes each shape unique. It is a connection she has made completely on her own. She has since pointed out similar things about other shapes.

I bake a lot (probably a little too much, I have a terrible sweet tooth), and Meredith loves to help out. I’m already seeing her making connections with fractions too. She knows that two halves make one whole. I don’t know if she really gets what that means yet, but it’s a start. The connections are forming.

My dad commented several times on the fact that she can count as high as she can, add and subtract, multiply and divide, and read and write several different words. I wonder if he was surprised because she’s not in school. So many people just assume learning can’t happen if a child isn’t actively being taught, but I believe learning happens best when it’s not actively being taught.

Another day, she was sitting obviously counting, but it didn’t really sound like she was counting. I listened to her for a minute and realized she was counting in Spanish, all the way to ten. She can count in French too, though not as reliably. She actually knows a few words in both languages, Spanish because she loves Dora the Explorer, and French because I am bilingual and sometimes read to her in French.

And I’ve said this before, but I think it bears repeating, parents go on and on to their kids about how important math is because we use it every single day, so if that is true then why are people surprised that kids can learn math without being in school? How could you not learn math if it’s so important and is really used every day? Why turn math into a charade of problems that don’t have any meaning to the child (who cares how fast the train is going and when it will get to station B, that’s what the schedule is for!), when it is so easy to immerse them in real math without even trying?

If you haven’t read Paul Lockhart’s A Mathematician’s Lament, it is a good read. Long, but so worth it.