Dave Pommier
I am a homeschooling dad with a wife and two boys. I'm not quite sure what I'm doing, so I feel compelled to write it all down. In my spare time, I work as a manager for the local health district, drink too much coffee, and am an overenthusiastic martial artist.
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Categories
Category Archives: Math
Mathseeds
Just before the end of last year, I stumbled onto Mathseeds. I have found this to be a great program for young kids. This year it has formed the backbone of our maths curriculum. I spent most of last year using Miquon maths … Continue reading
Golden eggs
On my way out the door the other day, I was leaving some fairly vague instructions for my wife to run the maths lesson. ‘He hates doing worksheets, and won’t have anything to do with them. Just look at what the … Continue reading
Euclid’s Elements
My teaching style tends to rely quite a bit on the application of concepts first, and then filling in the details as we go. It seems to fit more naturally to the pattern of how people learn. I also try … Continue reading
Posted in Math
Tagged bloke, dragon box, easy complexity, flexibility, geometry, homeschool, math, play
10 Comments
The catapult
After a week of heavy rains, he had cabin fever. The day lurched along in a not very productive fashion, and then stopped. Lessons were clearly over. I acquiesced, and we settled in to play with Lego. Inspired by a … Continue reading
Posted in Math, Science
Tagged bloke, experimentation, homeschool, learning in context, Lego, math, play, science
11 Comments
Their drills were bloodless battles
A couple of years ago, I did something a little bit naughty. I bought myself a gift, and pretended it was a Christmas present to my son. What I bought was an Isle of Lewis chess set. It was my … Continue reading
Posted in Math
Tagged bloke, board game, chess, history, homeschool, imagination, learning in context, life experience, math, philosophy
6 Comments
It’s not part of the syllabus
I found myself having a barely restrained argument earlier in the year. A retired school teacher was standing in my kitchen, and we had just gotten onto the subject of cuisinaire rods. I had just been showing off the new … Continue reading
Posted in Math, Science, Teaching and learning
Tagged bloke, cuisenaire rods, curriculum, homeschool, learning in context, math, play, science
16 Comments
Teaching themselves algebra
In purely practical terms, I have never actually had to know the adjusted speed of a 40 tonne submarine previously travelling at 50 km/hr through a friction-less ocean, having just discharged a 100 kg torpedo with a velocity of 80 … Continue reading
Posted in Math, Teaching and learning
Tagged algebra, bloke, dragon box, easy complexity, flexibility, homeschool, math, play
7 Comments
Easy complexity
Although our maths lessons contain basics like counting, adding, subtracting, and grouping things, I find it much more interesting to explore mathematical concepts. I have seen quite a lot of people discussing moebius noodles, and have just recently managed to … Continue reading
Posted in Experimentation, Math
Tagged bloke, easy complexity, experimentation, homeschool, math, play, radial symmetry
2 Comments