Mathematics Through Art Lines and Patterns
Teaching Math Skills With Art Lessons Using Patterns and Shapes
Jul 17, 2009
Helmer Aslaksen from the National University of Singapore's Department of Mathematics teaches students that "mathematics is not just about formulas and logic, but about patterns, symmetry, structure, shape and beauty" in his course "Mathematics in Art and Architecture."
Indeed, the work of Leonardo Da Vinci illustrates how art, math and science may blend seamlessly together. A challenge for homeschooling families is to reconstruct one's perceptions of art and math in order that they may be seen as interdependent and holistic, rather than individual subjects. It can be argued that without each other, they are useless.
Mathematics is Art
In “A Mathematician's Lament” by Paul Lockhart, published online by the mathematical Association of America, he states “if I had to design a mechanism for the express purpose of destroying a child’s natural curiosity and love of pattern-making, I couldn’t possibly do as good a job as is currently being done – I simply wouldn’t have the imagination to come up with the kind of senseless, soul-crushing ideas that constitute contemporary mathematics education”
Math Skills in Real Life
A popular mathematics article that circulates through the unschooling community is titled “A Few Words About Unschooling Math” and without any further explanation or discussion, Luz Shosie goes on to list almost 400 words that real people use in communication and exploration to illustrate the fact that math exists, alive and well in real life.
Teaching Math Without Curriculum
Parents acknowledging that the “current system” may be unnecessary, and willing to explore alternative means of sharing mathematics with their children, may wonder where to go next. Are there things parents can do to encourage math learning without being guilty of implementing “senseless, soul crushing ideas?”
Real Life Basic Math
One practical idea for learning real life math skills is to recognize the mathematics in everyday life. Instead of sitting down with a workbook, seize the minutes of the day naturally spent counting, weighing and measuring. Cooking, doing laundry, setting the table, gardening, cleaning, shopping and planning all involve mathematics. These are the basics. They encompass addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, without reducing them to meaningless drill work.
Math Art Lessons
Noticing patterns is one way to increase a child's artistic and mathematical abilities. In math, patterns can be illustrated by skip counting and multiplication. In art, however, patterns come alive in quilting, texture, stripes, polka dots and even gradient shadows.
A child who is trying to perfect her ability to draw stripes or polka dots will make a visual assessment of the available space and measure (in her mind) the distance between two points. Correct measurements will reward the child by “looking right” and incorrect measurements will “look wrong.” A child who wishes to create a perfect and precise pattern without risking failure will devise a way to measure, using the tools available to her, whether it's a spacing object or a ruler, compass or protractor.
Discussing Mathematics with Children
Part of Lockhart's "Lament" was that children aren't creating and answering their own mathematical questions. In Dale McGowan's Raising a Freethinking Child, published in 2007 by Amacom Books, parents are advised to not answer a child's every question. The goal is for children to investigate their own answers and come to their own conclusions. Once the child has thought the matter through and gathered evidence for his perspective, it's a parent's position to either sit back and watch those opinions and perspectives grow, or else to offer new information or a differing perspective that allows the child to investigate even further.
"Are We There Yet?"
In real life, a mathematics-based question children often ask is “Are we there yet?” The obvious answer would generally be “no” because a child who had arrived wouldn't be asking that question. Instead of simply answering the question, McGowan advises parents to give the child the map or the online mapping printout, and turn the question around. “I don't know, where are we?”
Teaching children to use the information at hand to figure out the answers to their questions, believe it or not, is actually what Algebra is all about, hence the question “solve for the unknown.”
An unfortunate effect of turning real life into “subjects” is that people may forget exactly why it's important to study. Turning the art of calculating finances, measuring and weighing into simple isolated skills like addition and subtraction may make it more difficult to relate these lessons to real life. Learning to “see” the world of mathematics every day is one way to keep the subject relevant and applicable.
Related Article:
Teaching Mathematics with Video Games
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