LEARNING MATH WITH MY FATHER: A MEMOIR

We all build our own houses of wisdom, each of us; we cannot build them for each other. Teachers cannot simply invite students into their “houses of wisdom,” but can often find ways to help learners to enter and explore their own minds. While Constructivism has had a positive impact on the teaching and learning of literacy mathematics instruction continues to rely heavily on rote memorization and drills. As a young child, I learned to love math. My love of math stems from learning math with my father. He did not focus on rote memorization and drills. The primary emphasis was for a real purpose. My self-confidence was enforced when he started me out with problems that were less difficult and had many different solutions. These solutions were valued and respected, which allowed me to trust in my own problem solving abilities. How can we hope to lead children to the thresholds of their own minds when we remain intent on forcing them into our ‘houses of wisdom’? What alternative ways can we devise of interacting with children that respect their confidence and leave intact their levels of understanding, that lead them to the thresholds of their own minds excited about entering?