03 October 2006

RightStart Geometry

The continuing saga of our adventures using RightStart Geometry and RightStart B. I have a 10yo and a 6yo who have average math ability.The 10yo has done Miquon, Singapore, RightStart Transitions, Level D and Level E; RightStart has saved her from a life a math phobia.

On Tuesdays I upload an update of what we did in math for the week.
RightStart Geometry:

Lesson 61 The Square Root Spiral

“This lesson took a long time. But it didn’t take much brain power. It just took awhile to draw all of those triangles. The chart went really fast.”

It would be cool to make some other designs with the spirals, but, as she said, it took forever to make them.

Lesson 62 Circle Basics

Kid1 is pretty clear on radius and diameter from reading the Sir Cumference books. But, if she weren’t, this lesson explains it simply and well. Reviews circumference, diameter, radius, arc, sector; the worksheet is matching definitions to pictures. Very quick.

Lesson 63 Ratio of Circumference to Diameter

Working with circles. Drawing around various mugs and cans (the book suggests going out and drawing around a bicycle tire with chalk -- that sounds cool to me, but Kid1 opts to stay indoors). Then use something such as beans or paper clips to measure circumference and diameter. Kid1 uses unpopped popcorn. I can’t help but think this would be a real mess in a classroom. Heck, this could be a real mess in some households, with popcorn and beans flying around the room. Fortunately, my kids are sedate.

Lesson 64 Inscribed Polygons

I swear Kid1 has done this before, but she doesn’t remember it. Perhaps I just remember seeing it in various Waldorf-based books. It takes quite a while for her to construct all of the polygons. And the chart contains the dreaded word ratio. This marks the first time all week she’s asked me for help with math -- what do they mean when they ask for a ratio? I explain it for the umpteenth time, commenting that she will eventually learn it since it seems to come up at least once a week.

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