ESL Homeschool Math

Recall my 5.52 year old homeschooled son formally started algebra several months ago. I paid up for the Life of Fred series whose unconventional approach taught about X and equations through *story*. Feeling the text a bit tedious - a bit tailored for math-haters - I went out and got a much ballyhooed Singapore Math book (pictured above). And my son is just about to finish what's advertised as the first half of *Grade 7* math. Since about November, I've really cooled it on the math curriculum - as we've been reading a whole lot more. Plus, I guess, seeing his meteoric progress, I guess I've become much less worried and frantic about taking the responsibility to educate my own. The idea that my children will EVER fall behind or underperform any of their peers has become provably laughable.

So how was this acclaimed book for the *leading math program in the world*?

Well, it was simply okay, IMO.

The cover says it was *Reviewed and Recommended by Teachers and Parents*.

On that I'm going to call BS. This English translation, sold at Barnes & Noble, was riddled with mistakes and what I'd call "illiteracies" - the kind you'd find at American Chinese restaurants.

Sure I could instantly spot the errors and make do....but it's inexcusable for a simple algebra book to be so poorly written. Heck, I, or anyone else competent in this subject, could have proof-read the thing in only a few hours.

One other beef I had with the text was the queer, forced multiculturalism. Check out the obscure names from some of their word problems:

Ping

Sisay

May

Dawit

Stoya

Rabi

Sachiko

Fala

Vanida

Taye

Sorin

Minya

Basir

Jolin

Amiri

Nari

Jong

Zahara

Zara

Fina

Lurene

Every time my 5.52 year old son came across one of these....I all but had to rename person for the sake of clarity!

On a related note, last week my embattled and aging 96.5 year old grandfather complained to me about the non-traditional names of some of his great-grandchildren. Not only are, most expectantly, his eyesight and hearing on the wane, but his memory as well. His complaints to me last week were adamant; he genuinely considers those weird baby names an act of inconsideration to him!

Getting back to Singapore Math...

I've already purchased the second half of the *Grade 7* material so we'll definitely make our way through that.

As for my general homeschooling plans, on the agenda at the moment are: buying my son his own computer, getting started on Spanish and perhaps computer programming, ramping up his blog output, and buying him a guitar (hopefully his nearby teenage cousin can help on that front).

And by July 1st, I have to register my son as *homeschooled* with the local school board. That should be real fun! How exactly am I not going to *not offend* one of these administrators - as the very essence of what I do is a complete rejection of them and their *system*?

Part of me would very much like to *get into it* with one of these knuckleheads...but it's far wiser to make nice. I just don't know. Perhaps I'll just delicately tell them we have to homeschool on account of my wife's job - that we have to be in Florida in the wintertime???