Blogs » Learning in Freedom » What do Frito pie, 80s music, and math workbooks have in common?

Subscribe


 
What do Frito pie, 80s music, and math workbooks have in common?
By Rebecca in Learning in Freedom
October 8, 2007

Image Image Image Image Image Image

They are all bad for you?  Yeah, and they are also three things in my homeschool classroom (dining room) right now!  I have a 15 year old playing 80s music ("Beat It" now) while the rest of the children are eating Frito pie and doing their math.  Can you picture it?  Bowls of chili dangerously close to open math workbooks and mom singing Duran Duran.   You just couldn't get away with that in a public school classroom.  We (you) have standards!

Only in a home school would you find a "teacher" serving Frito pie while teaching math and singing 80’s music.  We are multi-tasking.  Or are we just totally unorganized?  You are right, we are unorganized. 

I guess if I were really creative I could actually use our lunch to help the children learn some basic math facts.  You know, like to turn the Fritos into manipulatives and add and subtract them.  We've done that with our chicken nuggets, cookies, and our M&Ms back when I detested work books and was determined to teach using real life experiences and hands-on projects instead of silly boring work books.  Who needs cuisenaire rods and fancy math manipulatives when you have something like food which can be the perfect manipulative for teaching something like subtraction. 

Gives a whole new meaning to "playing with your food."  We can "learn with our food."  You can demand that your children subtract ALL of their food or "I will subtract it for you!"

So, there's a snapshot of OUR home school during Lunch today.  What is going on in your house RIGHT NOW?

Thoughts:  Will soccer practice be canceled because of the rain?  Gotta get a 15 year old to driver's ed class.  How can I distract hubby during the game tonight? 

I don't really teach.  Kind of a scary thought!  Rarely do I have to help or explain anything.  The math workbooks are pretty self explanatory!  Workbooks can actually be a wonderful break for the over zealous teacher/mom.  I remember in "teacher college" a professor told a group of us "future teachers" that "given a good curriculum even a monkey could teach."  I was insulted at the time, but now I understand!  ::swings from vine::