Sunday, July 29, 2007

Guilt or Inspiration?

Via Joanne Jacobs, a story about a father who wrote a series of math textbooks for his sons to help them when they were struggling in math. I'm vacillating between feeling guilty, because as a homeschooling mom I haven't come up with much original material on my own to help my kids learn other than some flash cards for German vocabulary. Part of me thinks that it's pretty neat and that I could come up with something similar for my own daughters, if the need was there and it was a field I had a solid background in. This father was an automotive engineer, so I presume he has a pretty good math background. I'd probably do better with some sort of history or perhaps German text. In any case, I think it's inspirational for the idea that you, as the parent, know your own kids enough to really help them when they have problems.

4 comments:

Consecutive Odds said...

Not sure how old your kids are, you've probably mentioned... but have you tried the "Sir Cumference" books? They teach pretty basic elementary geometry and I think they're hillarious!

skatey katie said...

no guilt for me lol, i used to have all these creative ideas buzzing around, now i tend to use "a leetle bit of zis and a leetle bit of zat" as the muse dictates, and if all else fails, pass the baton to hubby.
oh i love being married to a maths teacher :o)

but i get your point of knowing our kids well and teaching them according to the way they learn. X

Marie N. said...

You don't need to be able to paint a masterpeice to enjoy them, you don't need to compose a sonata to enjoy one, you don't need to cook a meal to enjoy it! I'd enjoy the curricula you are attracted to. If nothing is meeting your needs then you do have the capabiltity to create new materials. And if that is the case, you would natrually feel the need and make the time to do so.

Genuine Lustre said...

Oh.....we were supposed to come up with original material? Oops.

I know that Barb was excited about having you help her copy that favorite dress. Good going!