hmmm...
about manipulatives...though some commercial products were named, and 
the suggestion that "cost" was a reason for why they are not used in 
ABE....
I think the point of manipulatives is to make numeracy-related concepts 
both visual and kinesthetic. So once we have a sense of what a specific 
manipulative might be used for, I think we could be creative about how 
to acquire them....perhaps learners could help make them (to explain 
the why) and they could be left in the classroom for future 
use...colored paper cut in shapes, clean leftover plastic food 
containers of all sizes, children's building blocks, deck of cards, 
various grains and beans of differing shapes and sizes -- heck, even a 
bag of M&Ms or different kinds of cookies could be used -- in this 
regard, I think we're only limited by our imagination!

as this conversation progresses, though, I find myself asking what it 
has to specifically do with women and literacy? Several suggestions 
seem fairly generic - not particularly gender-specific to women.

Andrea offered one suggestion -- women have typically not been 
encouraged to consider financial or money management issues in the way 
that men might be. The overwhelming (or assumed?) sense that math 
anxiety is typical among women (more so than among men) could be 
another connection. Does the suggestion to use manipulatives correspond 
to women's learning theory or does it have more to do with multiple 
intelligences  contexts for learning?

I often wonder -- Are there keys in women's learning theory or specific 
gender-based concerns that can help us to understand women's 
relationship to numeracy/math, especially in ABE?
I wonder if is has to do more with socialization and structures of 
power -- than anything to do directly with math...

why do I say that... well, here's my own theory (for what it's worth). 
Think about what has considered to be "typically" women's work....and 
how math-related they all are...
cooking -- need to understand relationships of amounts, volumes, 
measurements -- how much of what to use, when, to feed how many....etc.
fabric arts -- counting stitches, how much thread, yards, how big is 
ther person being sewn for...etc.
gardening -- how much space will something take in relation to other 
plants, how much water, food, length of growing time
astrology, farming, childcare, transportation, home repair, food 
storage, bargain shopping, bartering (how much is something worth 
really) -- so much of common "women's work" and everyday survival DOES 
depend on a certain familiarity with "figuring."

I think that as math became more associated with money management 
(class / power) and abstract theoretical "higher" problem-solving, the 
more it became removed from women's hands -- "closed" and made 
"mysterious - even frightening for women. And I do believe it has to do 
with power and access -- basically, women's self-sustainability and 
self-sufficiently.

that's my rant for the day

also, I'd venture to guess that math may be a great "equalizer" for 
women ABE learners as well as ABE teachers -- in this subject area, we 
may be most like our students in comfort and expertise, than not!

by the way - check out these websites on women mathematicians...
http://womenshistory.about.com/cs/sciencemath1/tp/aatpmathwomen.htm

http://www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/

http://www.nwhp.org/tlp/links/links.html#math


Mev



WE LEARN
Women Expanding: Literacy Education Action Resource Network
www.litwomen.org/welearn.html

Mev Miller, Ed.D., Director
182 Riverside Ave.
Cranston, RI 02910
401-383-4374
welearn at litwomen.org