Creating wonder in our children comes naturally when we consider the world around us. What 2 year-old isn't fascinated by the cooking pots, dog, or snow outside? These seemingly normal occurrences are new, exciting, and mysterious to our young children. Building from this natural God-given wonder at the world seems obvious when it comes to many elementary learning standards.
In science, we show our children the flowers and trees. Weather changes, with thunder, snow, rain, and hurricanes, present a vast mystery to explore.
In language, we read beautiful stories, discuss characters, watch movies, and are entertained.
In history we reenact significant battles, mold dioramas, and listen to historical audio dramas.
This whole homeschool thing seems easy and natural for our young children. Until we sit them down for the dreaded math worksheet...
While every elementary genre seems to have infinite moments of excitement and wonder, math appears to counter every single one of them, turning the table of learning on its head. My friends, this ought not to be.
Historically, Mathematics has been considered second only to philosophy. As a pursuit, mathematics is second place to the very study of God. How then do we, as mere humans, manage to dethrone the glory and wonder of God and his language of mathematics to the mundane? With worksheets, a focus on calculations and on what we see instead of the hidden world beneath.
In our defense as educators, we do attempt to reveal this hidden world of mystery to our children in high school. We share the beauty of number systems, infinity, linear equations, order, and shapes. However, by the time we do this, our children have had years of mundane busy work memorizing math facts. Math is either full of boredom or angst for the student. They no longer have any space for wonder.
We, as parent educators, need to set aside our personal fears and embrace the epiphanies of the great mathematical minds that have come before us. This week, contemplate, discuss, and wrestle with your children about this thought from Nicomachus:
The universe seems to have been created by numbers. It is fitting, therefore, that numbers are harmoniously fitted together. All things are either equal or have some relation to each other.