well, there's future usefulness and practicality to motivate your homeschoolers. and there's also in-the-moment fun, beauty, and joy of doing it. check out Strogatz's recent New York Times column:<br><p>"I bet I can guess your favorite math subject in high school.</p>
<p>"It was geometry.</p>
<p>"So many people I’ve met over the years have expressed affection for
that subject. Arithmetic and algebra — not many takers there. But
geometry, well, there’s something about it that brings a twinkle to the
eye."</p>see the full article at <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/square-dancing/">http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/square-dancing/</a><br><br>beyond being cool, maybe geometry helps develop spatial imagery and visualization?<br>
<br>--Jeremy<br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 10:40 PM, <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:chris@seberino.org">chris@seberino.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
I'm teaching high school math to homeschoolers and I'm looking for how to make<br>
geometry year meaningful.<br>
<br>
I'm having a "crisis of confidence" because from my viewpoint, algebra was 10x<br>
more useful for future math and science work.<br>
<br>
The only thing I can remember that was useful from geometry was a few volume<br>
and area formulas. That can justify maybe a month but not a whole YEAR of<br>
geometry!?!?<br>
<br>
cs<br>
<br>
P.S. Yes yes I know that geometry is meant to teach logical reasoning. Maybe<br>
one can get that from chess, debate club and other activities as well if<br>
not better? People also say geometry is where you learn proofs. Couldn't<br>
proofs be just as easily emphasized in all the other math classes?<br>
<br>
--<br>
_______________________________________<br>
<br>
Christian Seberino, Ph.D.<br>
Email: <a href="mailto:chris@seberino.org">chris@seberino.org</a><br>
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