No need for formal math instruction in Homeschooling

Lainie over at www.raisingmiro.com asked me to write about why I dont teach the kids formal math.

Math is everywhere. It is something we do everyday in our lives without needing to sit down and learn it from a book. It is in our everyday living experiences of what we do with our lives. It dosen't need to be forced learning. It is natural to need math to get by and they learn what they need as they need it.

These are just some examples of math in our lives. Once I stopped trying to force math on my kids, they learned it in their own way. Each one of my kids is different and they have different learning styles.

Money- We make shopping lists and go together. Everyone gets one special food request for the list. If we can afford it, we get it. We work on budgeting together. I tell the kids what bills need to get paid and when. They all were told when we cut up our credit cards and entered into a credit counseling contract. They see us donate plasma twice a week to earn extra money. We have helped them sell things on Craigs List to earn money for other things they want. They trade in video games for credit at Gamestop towards new ones. My oldest has her own bank account and her own money.

Measurement- There is measuring in cooking and baking (i.e. solid and liquids, spoons for tea and table), how long food needs to bake or simmer or boil; using a measuring tape to figure out length, width, height; measurement of time figuring out how long we have left for a turn or until we have to leave or how long we have to wait for something exciting (like going to a conference), how much time we have to sleep before we have to get up for something important; measurement of timing in music when playing an instrument, capturing a video for youtube, or mixing a video with music.

Playing- There is learning math in board games, card games, video games, counting the dice, how many spaces we have to go, how much money we receive from somebody, dividing up the cards for war, or poker, or whatever card game we are playing that day.

Distance- How much longer it will take to get somewhere, how much gasoline will cost us to get to our destination, how many miles we have to go.

See, the learning opporunities for math are endless. You should just guide them to follow their passions.