A little math lesson, courtesy of a 5 year old

tmare_IHB

New member
As a math teacher, I sometimes need reminders that our kids are learning things in ways we may not think of. Tonight, when I told my son that it was time for bed and he asked if he could finish watching a TV show, I said, "Ok, 5 more minutes". I immediately walked away and within seconds he said, "No, 6 more minutes". I turned around and he had pushed the "info" button on the remote which said 8:24, meaning to him that there were 6 more minutes until 8:30. It really made me think about the unusual ways our kids are learning math that we may ignore because we never would have had the opportunity to think like this as children. Actually, for a five year old, it is pretty high level thinking to figure out almost instantaneously that the time between the two periods is six minutes. I wonder how many of these types of things we all miss as we go about our busy lives. I guess I'm just saying that we should all look for the teachable moments, both for ourselves and for our kids.
 
That's pretty good... I doubt my daughter could figure that out (she's 6). Now just have him write that in expanded notation and he could teach at her school.



I think I messed up her math skills last night. She had to do something like 33 - 7 = ?. Instead of just making her count backwards from 33 and then keeping track on her hands (like she did with the addition problems), I had her represent 33 by just 3 fingers, telling her that when she gets to no fingers to "reset" and use 10 fingers and continue "taking away". When she has the result, add that to the previous 10 count (20 + 6) and that's her answer.



She understood it actually and went on to do 3 more problems, but thinking about it now, I think it was more difficult, wasn't the correct way and wasn't the way she was being taught at school. I'm a lame teacher.
 
Numbers are abstract and we often use physical matters such as our fingers and toes to demonstrate its concept. When your kid can grasp the concept of numbers in abstract time he is way above his peers.
 
My primary grade kids keep correcting me for using "good" instead of "well" and corrected me yesterday when I got confused and thought "won't" was for "would not" and told me "will not -> won't", "would not" -> "wouldn't". Ha ha ... I'm so out of the loop, glad they've got good schools though. Perhaps if I find myself outclassed by the youngins in twenty years, I'll just have to give up and become a realtor or something ...
 
IHO - you've got to get your daughter a <a href="http://gifts.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?r=1&EAN=9781400637614&cm_mmc=Google Product Search-_-Q000000630-_-Toys games-_-9781400637614&ourl=Toys-games/Leapster-Handheld">Leapster </a>(hand held game thing). My boys LOVE theirs. My 1st grader learned how to multiply last year just by playing Leapster games. He was reading before preschool, I feel primarily because of Leapster. I don't mean to sound like an ad, but, well... it makes learning fun! They have some creative interactive games that they learn a lot from. I see my 3 year old is now starting to sound out words / read and he couldn't even TALK a few months ago.
 
Heh... she has one (it's pink).



The problem is, all of her classmates have Nintendo DSes (plural?) and so she doesn't want to play her Leapster because it's a "baby game". So guess what she wants for Christmas? Man... peer pressure at 6 years old is rough.
 
Mildly off topic: Yesterday, I drove the boys around to look at some potential homes. My big boy (6) asks me why we are looking here. Me: "Because mommy and daddy think it's a nice area and would be a good place for you to grow up in." Him: "Uhhh... yeah. I'm already six. It's too late." <img src="http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/images/smileys/hmm.gif" alt="" /> Sometimes the words from a kid's mouth can knock the wind out of you. Apparently, I think the next 12 years will last longer than he does.
 
[quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1255573318]Heh... she has one (it's pink).



The problem is, all of her classmates have Nintendo DSes (plural?) and so she doesn't want to play her Leapster because it's a "baby game". So guess what she wants for Christmas? Man... peer pressure at 6 years old is rough.</blockquote>


Yeah, my 6 year old is one of those giving the peer pressure...she's got a DS Lite in Pink, courtesy of her uncle --- we would NOT have wasted $130 on that. And its the gift that keeps on giving, with those games running between $20-$30 a pop.



But don't dismiss the 'teachable moments' that a DS can provide --- every time she needs a little punishment the first thing that comes to mind is "No DS for a week!!"
 
[quote author="CK" date=1255578487]

But don't dismiss the 'teachable moments' that a DS can provide --- every time she needs a little punishment the first thing that comes to mind is "No DS for a week!!"</blockquote>
Hehe... yeah... I've noticed lately that the notion of timeouts hasn't been very effective, so lately I've been putting their favorite toys in timeout... it's a new era of understanding now in our household.
 
[quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1255571798]That's pretty good... I doubt my daughter could figure that out (she's 6). Now just have him write that in expanded notation and he could teach at her school.



I think I messed up her math skills last night. She had to do something like 33 - 7 = ?. Instead of just making her count backwards from 33 and then keeping track on her hands (like she did with the addition problems), I had her represent 33 by just 3 fingers, telling her that when she gets to no fingers to "reset" and use 10 fingers and continue "taking away". When she has the result, add that to the previous 10 count (20 + 6) and that's her answer.



She understood it actually and went on to do 3 more problems, but thinking about it now, I think it was more difficult, wasn't the correct way and wasn't the way she was being taught at school. I'm a lame teacher.</blockquote>


I usually have kids look at a 100's chart (I use them all of the time, grades K-7) and count from 8-33 counting how many there are from one number to another when they are in the concrete stage. Then they start to see that they can go down one row to add/subtract 10 and it becomes easier. Regrouping in subtraction (what used to be called "borrowing") really shouldn't hit until at least the end of 1st grade, but most likely not until 2nd grade. Sounds like the math teachers at her school need some training. They're not helping by having kids do things they aren't developmentally ready for. BTW, I don't think you can mess up her math skills, your mere presence and concern for her academics is invaluable.
 
IHO: Has your daughter tried the School Zone workbooks? I buy these for my son just for fun so he can do them during school breaks, weekends, etc. (They make good activities for long car rides too!) They actually sell them at most pharmacies so when he's done with one I usually pick up a new one at Walgreen's.



Here is one of their <a href="http://www.schoolzone.com/content/super-deluxe-first-grade-basics-workbook">1st grade math workbooks</a>. They give the child visual examples of math problems / games and build off of that. Maybe she would like it? Here is their site: <a href="http://www.schoolzone.com/">School Zone.</a>
 
[quote author="Anonymous" date=1255572350]My primary grade kids keep correcting me for using "good" instead of "well" and corrected me yesterday when I got confused and thought "won't" was for "would not" and told me "will not -> won't", "would not" -> "wouldn't". Ha ha ... I'm so out of the loop, glad they've got good schools though. <strong>Perhaps if I find myself outclassed by the youngins in twenty years, I'll just have to give up and become a realtor or something</strong> ...</blockquote>
haha
 
[quote author="SoCal78" date=1255666037]IHO: Has your daughter tried the School Zone workbooks? I buy these for my son just for fun so he can do them during school breaks, weekends, etc. (They make good activities for long car rides too!) They actually sell them at most pharmacies so when he's done with one I usually pick up a new one at Walgreen's.



Here is one of their <a href="http://www.schoolzone.com/content/super-deluxe-first-grade-basics-workbook">1st grade math workbooks</a>. They give the child visual examples of math problems / games and build off of that. Maybe she would like it? Here is their site: <a href="http://www.schoolzone.com/">School Zone.</a></blockquote>


Awww...school zone workbooks...those bring back memories for me. My folks used to get these for us from teacher supply stores, especially over the summer to help develop our skills. I hated them then but now I love them and my parents for caring enough about us and our education to make us do them.
 
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