The Pattern Press Blog

Free Exploration, or How Not to Be a Nag
Free Exploration, or How Not to Be a Nag      by Alysia Krafel  I recall an incident years ago when my six-year- old nephew was learning to set the table.  Dinner was almost ready and there he was popping his fists down onto fork tines to flip them into the air.  The stage was set for an unpleasant confrontation.  I see now that the problem is one of time frames.  We needed him to get the job done; he needed to explore.  When we press a child to use... Read more...
Arithmetic Conventions
It is essential that learners build models of problems, draw pictures to prove their own answers, show understanding, and communicate their ideas to others.  This program adopts the following conventions.  The first number of an equation tells the amount or number of blocks to start with.  The second number is seen as part of the operator, with the sign, and tells what to do next.  The order of the words and the action of the hands correspond.  Each operation–addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division–uses the same convention throughout the entire Patterns... Read more...
Farm School Math Notes
Farm School Math Notes by Prof. Michael Butler Creative Learning in Children - Undergraduate class taught at UC Irvine A.  Some things students and teacher should be doing routinely:  1.  Inventing problems:  For practice and self-teaching.  For other people, including the teacher.  As puzzles; to give and get pleasure.  To show understanding of a principle.  To link math to the world.  To stretch creative power.   To develop mathematical taste.   2.  Finding patterns:  In numbers, shapes, etc.  Find the rule; 'black box.'  Math or formal patterns in worldly stuff--motion, people, plants, cars, stars.  'Getting' a... Read more...
Second Thoughts, and Why Teachers Ought to Be Friends of the Children They Teach
By Michael Butler, Former Director, UCI Farm School The point of schools is to learn what you otherwise wouldn’t. We want our children to learn to do the things that good thinkers do when they are thinking well. Among these things are: having second thoughts. Second thoughts are what first thoughts aren’t. Schools are generally about first thoughts of a special kind. First thoughts are the culturally or subculturally shared first reactions of people like the thinker to whatever is being noticed. The overwhelming majority of my first thoughts are... Read more...
Creation of the UCI Farm School
Michael Butler was Director of the UCI Farm School for thirty years. He is Professor Emeritus of Social Sciences and former UCI Dean of Undergraduate Studies. He has received UCI awards for best teacher and outstanding administration, and in 1995, the Daniel G. Aldrich Distinguished University Service Award. The following note about the creation of the Farm School was written for a University publication after receiving the Aldrich Award. History & Philosophy A Note from one of the cofounders: MICHAEL BUTLER Professor Emeritus of Social Sciences Former Dean of Undergraduate... Read more...
Home Education Moms Love Patterns
"Unlike a lot of educational activities these are as much fun for me as for my daughter." ---Joyce Fetteroll, homeschool parent August 2008 blog by homeschooling parent: Breakfast in the rain, then vegetable math "It was Maggie’s idea that we should “do some math” with the vegetables, first suggesting that we count everything that we brought in. We’ve just started working through the wonderful Patterns in Arithmetic, which emphasizes a lot of activities involving patterns and sorting. So I suggested that we try sorting the vegetables in different ways, which... Read more...
Fraction Workshop by Alysia Krafel
  California Homeschool Conference February 27th - March 1st, 2015 Hyatt Westlake Plaza Hotel , West Lake Village, California Author of Patterns in Arithmetic series, Alysia Krafel, is giving two workshops on fractions  Date and time to be announced  Math for Moms and Dads: Introducing Your Child to FractionsLearn a child friendly way to formally introduce fractions to your child. This session will use manipulatives to develop a sense of the important topics and processes in beginning fractions in our parent/teachers. Learn fractions yourself, and then teach it to your child step... Read more...