Thursday 30 April 2009

My bad!

Apparently, my daughter hates me. This is not your typical teenage angst. My crime? Getting her interested in possibly studying AS Maths at college as well as her other choices. (You know how she is with decision-making).

K is on course to get an A at least at Maths GCSE, and this will be her best grade at this level. To me it seems a little strange to not go on and study something that you have an ability at. Admittedly, she is not as naturally intuitive as her brother.

Yesterday we were sat in a cafe having a toasted cheese and ham ciabatta sandwich each when I told her about such things as number theory, remainder theory, and group theory - and the attendant things like Cayley tables. These things are part of the Open University course MS221 and are a lot of fun. They can also elicit some swearing. Last night I was looking at Bletchley Park, a possible trip during half-term in May. They have some maths resources, looking at how maths is used in making, and breaking, codes - from genetic fingerprinting through encryption to how ISBN numbers are created for books. I showed it K and she is now working through the units (her choice). These units are aimed from KS2 (7 - 11 yrs) all the way to A-Level (18 yrs).

1 comment:

Henry Cate said...

"Getting her interested in possibly studying AS Maths at college as well as her other choices."

That is one of the dangers of homeschooling, they'll get excited about some topic!

Random mutterings on whatever takes my fancy. I used to Home Educate but my little angels are at college now so I'm 'redundant'. I'm just writing about everyday stuff. It's mainly light-hearted but sometimes serious. No offence is ever intended.