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["Lynda" <lurine AT softcom.net>]

Lisa, math is in everyday life for everyone.  Baking a cake is math and 
chemistry.  Unless someone is a braindead lump sitting around doing 
absolutely nothing, then they are learning all the time.  And those that 
having been programmed by the p.s. system don't generally need to have 
someone standing over them telling them you have to learn this, that or the 
other thing.

As to what you need, I know a ton of unschoolers who don't live on 
homesteads and they have learned what they need, when they needed it and 
without any outside coercion.  Unschoolers and just plain homeschoolers in 
general, are naturally motivated.

Harvard, Stanford and other big universities actively recruit homeschoolers 
of all types because they are more self-motived than p.s. and private school 
students.  If they need the Algebra II, they go out learn it.  They ask for 
the books, the help or go enroll in a CC class (thank you powers that be 
that someone has blocked my e-mail addy and we won't have to hear the rant 
about CCs and math!).

BTW, building that tree house would have been a distinct advantage to 
learning Geometry and may have helped with the Algebra II.  It gives a real 
life basis for the concepts and rules you learn in those subjects.

Lynda
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lisa K.V. Perry" <lisakvperry AT gmail.com>
> The child I'm speaking of occasionally does math work, but is by and large
> unschooled (as is his sister who is into dance). From what he's told us, 
> he
> does math 1-2x per week or when he needs it (his words). He had to study
> before taking an occasional afternoon job at a local coffee shop, so he
> could count and make change and add a bill correctly. Perhaps that's a 
> great
> example of unschooling, learning what you need when you need it. Who 
> knows,
> maybe this boy is headed for a drama scholarship or directly to the stage
> and will never need Algebra II or Geometry.
>
> The way your children are involved on your homestead, it would be easier 
> for
> them to pick up math as they helped cook or often build something. My sons
> have occasionally helped in my husband's music store for the last three
> years. They've learned to help customers (and to truly be helpful), how to
> calculate sales tax, and a number of other things retail store related. My
> oldest son now has a part-time job working for a computer repair store and
> we've been told that he's a great employee.
>
> We told our sons (when they were both homeschooled) that we do 'school at
> home' and every family makes their own choice. My sons are involved with
> cooking and have made birdhouses and helped my husband build a tree house, 
> a
> raft and assorted other projects over the years and I'm sure they picked 
> up
> math from these experiences (particularly fractions). My oldest son is 
> doing
> well in Algebra II, but we don't think it's because he spent a summer with
> my husband building a tree house. You could say that you don't need or use
> much advanced algebra in daily living, but I suppose some people do and it
> would depend on what you do.