melanoman

I restarted the kids homeschooling today, mostly with diagnostics, except for a chemistry unit with Richard that included new material. I'm trying to focus on problem solving techniques and the "problematic approach" The idea behind this approach is that you start the student with a problem that has an unfamiliar bit in it and let them try to leverage their existing knowledge to fully understand the use and implication of a new method while also strengthening their problem solving abilities. Recepe learning can prop a student up for a test, but without the struggle they don't fully understand the recipes, and most students won't struggle once they have the recipe unless faced with odd problems.

I slipped a line-with-hole problem into Richard's algebra review, since that is a commonly missed topic and I suspected his teacher last year might have missed it. As suspected, he hadn't seen the material, and the lesson worked EXACTLY like my math pedagogy text suggested it would. It was a huge success and he was excited when the mystery was solved. I just hope I haven't set the bar too high for how cool math lessons will be this year ;-)