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by Julie Schneider
Spring break was not spent how I intended. I had imagined days spent hiking or skiing in the mountains, or playing at museums. With exactly zero commitments we would be free as birds! Alas, Tigger grew a raging fever on Monday that kept him bed-ridden and Twinkle and I housebound for four days.
Our routine was thrown into a tailspin. And yet, as the free-learners that we are, we managed a micro lesson in mathematics.
Over the course of the week I monitored Tigger's temperature. He would cringe away when I brought it toward his ear. We worked together to place it and hold it in place until the small beep sounded to notify us that the reading was complete. Then I would read the numbers and announce them: "103.5" "Holding steady at 103.5." "101.5." "Holding steady at 101.5." "You're down to 99.1!"
It was when the fever came down to 99.1 degrees that he finally murmured, "I don't quite get the 'point one' part of that. What does it mean?"
And a Micro Lesson was born.
We sat together for breakfast and I said that I would like to explain the 'point one' part of the number on the thermometer to the kids. They were both curious but since Tigger was still not back to his healthy self I knew it would have to be quick.
I took our our blocks and set them on the table between us. There were eleven blocks: one long orange rectangular one and ten small white cubes that, when placed together, was the same size and shape as the orange one. Next to the blocks I had my Boogie Board.
I put one white cube next to the orange block and wrote 1.1 on the Boogie Board. Then I proceeded to add one cube at a time and writing the increments on the Board. 1.2, 1.3, 1.4... all the way until I placed the tenth white cube.
"One point ten?" my six year old daughter asked.
"No..." I waited.
"Oh! It looks like 18, 19,...so 20! 2.0!" she said.
"That's right!" I said. Then I placed a second orange rectangle next to the stack in a way that suggested we could do it again counting up 2.1, 2.2, etc...
My son excused himself to the couch. He was spent and ready to rest again.
On the other hand, my daughter was not sick and had been having fun punching numbers into my old TI-30 calculator. So I took the micro lesson one step further for her. I invited her to type in: one | divided by | ten | equals.
"0.1," she replied.
My son chimed in, "So then two divided by ten is 0.2. I've got it."
That was the end of the lesson. I thanked them for their attention and said, "That's how we homeschool." My son agreed: "Right. We ask questions and you help us understand the answer."
This is the type of opportunity I stay tuned for when I look for emergent curriculum. I pay attention to their curiosities. Then I offer something I know that might connect with that curiosity. As a former university and community college faculty member, I recognize STEM learning all over the place. It is just a matter of restraining myself from jumping in to a 50-minute lesson. ;)
Tomorrow I might have them take a peek at the Kahn Academy's explanation: https://www.khanacademy.org/math/arithmetic/arith-decimals/arith-review-decimals-intro/v/introduction-to-decimals
When she writes, Julie draws from both her formal education (MSE Electrical Engineering, MA Curriculum and Instruction - Science) and her informal education in Early Childhood Education and Special Needs Parenting that arose when she became a mother and shortly thereafter a blogger. Julie’s blog, Preschool Engineering, is where she advocates for children (and adults) as playful, independent Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math learners. Her experience and interests are a natural fit for her work Free-Learning in Colorado. Julie lives in Superior, CO with her husband of 16 years and their two children. In her spare time she reads, hikes, and practices kundalini yoga.
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