Hey Mom, What is This?

The Wall Street Journal this morning reports the latest in math education: teach math concepts to preschoolers and kindergarteners rather than simple skills like number recognition. To me, this is another example of trying to overcome the weakness of placing young children in an incredibly sterile environment.

Because children are not in a working home, they miss the opportunity to easily learn from the world around them. Educators have to make up for this by creating pseudo learning experiences rather than the tangible, imitative learning that is most natural to children.

Let me give you an example of the latter. We missed a fair amount of planned lessons with family in town and the Thanksgiving break. But in that time, Samuel began to learn percentages, the difference between the Fahrenheit and Celsius temperature scales and adding fractions.

The percentages came from pursuing a few toys sales. What does this mean, 40 percent off? Well, a few snips with the scissors and I had 10 strips of paper and could visually show him the difference between the whole, 100 percent, and a portion of that, 60 percent.

The temperature scales came from his looking at a thermometer on the fish tank which gives both. Why does it say 27 C? A brief explanation and a few examples of typical winter and summer temperatures and Samuel began to grasp the idea of different measuring systems.

The fractions came from the ubiquitous cookies. (I'm convinced my kids will grow up thinking that "cookie" is a formal mathematical term since we use it in so many examples: you have a pile of 3 cookies here and 5 cookies here; which one would you rather have, which one is greater?) A question about halves --  can you have three halves? -- quickly led to a few paper cookies cut in half and examples of adding up fractional parts to make wholes.

By homeschooling, we can take advantage of a child's natural curiosity whether or not we are working through a set curriculum. Even better, the child doesn't have to wait until he's back in a "learning environment" to explore the concept again. If I find water on the floor, I can be sure the boys have dragged out my cup measures and gallon pitcher to re-enact the measuring exercises we did last year.

Education at its finest.

OK, we've hit Monday morning with a thud. After having grandparents visiting and the Thanksgiving holiday, our schedule has been uneven for weeks. Both events were wonderful for the kids, but difficult for homeschooling. So, now I have to get back to full curriculum after moving ahead in some classes while lagging completely in others.

One thing that has continued: Samuel shows a natural talent for math. He has been asking questions regarding fractions and percentages. I find ways to illustrate the concept (cutting up circles in one case so he could see that three halves equal 1 and 1 half) and find he quickly grasps the concept. I suppose that is the foundation for any schooling at home -- taking the opportunities as they come.

Older Autism

I've been asked about autism in adults. While my interest has been directed toward children, I can share bits and pieces I've learned over the years.

First, autism is generally first recognized in children. It is unlikely that the disorder develops later in life, but hits at a critical age when children are developing language and social skills.

The spectrum of disorders are now far more likely recognized in educational and medical circles. Before about 1980, autism was generally recognized as an acute disorder. So instead of being considered a spectrum kid, Samuel likely would have been labeled a "late bloomer" and a disruptive child. With our expanding knowledge regarding autism, more children are recognized to be on the spectrum at an earlier age.

That said, it is likely that folks older than about 30, may have gone un- (or miss-) diagnosed as children. Sadly, many were considered mentally unstable and even if diagnosed, unable to be handled outside of an institutional setting. (Temple Grandin's story is sadly typical of the 1950s. Without her mother's intevention, great talent would have been lost.)

I think it unlikely, that an adult would be severely autistic without someone having recognized a problem at an earlier age. However, a milder form, or Aspergers, may will have been missed. In trying to "diagnose" after the fact, family memory is likely the best guide. If others remember that a person was slow to start talking, made few friends, or was generally considered "weird," current autistic behaviors may well have been a life-long challenge.

You Shall Teach Them

Yesterday at lunch, our youngest observed that the crackers he ate looked like the bread our church uses for communion. I told the boys about matzoh and its use in the Old Testament during Passover. We talked at length about God passing over and protecting the little ones of Israel. That led to discussions about God's people and about worshiping in the way God prescribes.

This is the very essence of why we home school. This is why our family embraced the challenge of educating an autistic child. Yes, having a Christ-centered curriculum keeps a child's worldview intact, not dividing the "religious" from the "secular." But the real importance comes in these day-to-day interactions when a child's questions lead right into the heart of our faith.

When we contact the local school board regarding our decision to home school, we cite such scriptures as Deuteronomy 11:19: "You shall teach them [God's laws] to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up."

Quite frankly, the responsibility of this scares me. But I am delighted to see God working this out in our home, to see how He is working in my children's hearts to ask the questions and to discuss my responses.