i gotta brag about my kid--sorry ;)

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 3:09 pm

a pic is worth a thousand words..

he was getting frustrated today because he was having trouble adding some 3 digit numbers in his head, so I taught him long addition...I know his handwriting needs a little work, but we're working on that.

By the way, he's 5 and not in school yet

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 3:43 pm

pretty cool. My kid's 14 and barely has better handwriting.

dfernandez77 · Post by **dfernandez77** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 3:45 pm

emmline wrote:pretty cool. My kid's 14 and barely has better handwriting.

My son is 16, and his handwriting is worse.

There's nothing better than to see a mind grow.

Have fun,

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 4:18 pm

Oh, that is heart-rending. He looks like he's gettting it though. It's easy to forget that being little had its tough times. I like his hair

.

He's supposed to add 3 digit numbers in his head? Who can do that? Is long addition when you carry numbers to the next column using paper and pencil? Sorry to distract from the main point here.

anniemcu · Post by **anniemcu** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 4:30 pm

So you are homeschooling your young'un, eh. Oh, yes, you already are...

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 4:46 pm

Cynth wrote:Oh, that is heart-rending. He looks like he's gettting it though. It's easy to forget that being little had its tough times. I like his hair .

Lol..he's got my cowlicks..he'll hate me for it when puberty strikes.

Cynth wrote:He's supposed to add 3 digit numbers in his head? Who can do that?

Me...

But I couldn't do it at 5. He can do it, if there aren't too many places you 'carry the one', so I showed him how to do it on paper today to make it easier on him. He can add and subtract negative numbers, do basic multiplication, and has a general good grasp of math. We were playing the kid game of "I've got more" and he told me "I have a million points!" and I told him "But I have 2-thousand million points!" And he said "No..that's two BILLION".

I've started working on fractions with him, usually when we order pizza. He just loves numbers.

Is long addition when you carry numbers to the next column using paper and pencil? Sorry to distract from the main point here.

yup

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 7:49 pm

Is long addition when you carry numbers to the next column using paper and pencil? Sorry to distract from the main point here.

yup

Oh, okay, I know how to do that. I think I will skip the in my head part

.

I completely missed the part that said he was 5 and not in school yet! Goodness, I was not doing any arithmetic at all at that age in my head or on paper. That's great that he is really interested in something like that.

Lambchop · Post by **Lambchop** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 8:13 pm

Do you hold your pencil that way, Wanderer? Anybody else? Interesting. It looks like it would be difficult to control that way.

About the addition, Cynth . . . it can be difficult to add in your head if you try to do it the same way you do it on paper, i.e., adding the far-right column, carrying, adding the next column, carrying, etc.

It's a lot easier if you do it from the left, building a total as you go, like this:

649 + 223

600 + 200 = 800

49 + 23 = 50 + 22 = 72

872

Or, 649 + 200 = 849

849 + 1 = 850, then 22 more is 872

I'm math-impaired, so I have a lot of trouble doing this on paper. It's a lot easier this way. I can visualize little squares getting pushed together to form larger blocks. Seeing it that way gives me something to hold onto in my mind.

The other way, I lose track of what I'm doing and have to keep starting over and over, and it all seems utterly without meaning.

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 8:14 pm

Cynth wrote: I completely missed the part that said he was 5 and not in school yet! Goodness, I was not doing any arithmetic at all at that age in my head or on paper. That's great that he is really interested in something like that.

Lol, yeah, I was cracking the other day. I picked him up from daycare the other day, and asked him "Donovan..do you know what negative five minus negative two is?" and his daycare 'teacher' goes "Wow..he's doing fractions?!"

Lambchop · Post by **Lambchop** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 8:16 pm

Wanderer wrote:
Cynth wrote: I completely missed the part that said he was 5 and not in school yet! Goodness, I was not doing any arithmetic at all at that age in my head or on paper. That's great that he is really interested in something like that.
Lol, yeah, I was cracking the other day. I picked him up from daycare the other day, and asked him "Donovan..do you know what negative five minus negative two is?" and his daycare 'teacher' goes "Wow..he's doing fractions?!"

Oh dear!

Perhaps you should homeschool!

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 8:20 pm

Lambchop wrote:Do you hold your pencil that way, Wanderer? Anybody else? Interesting. It looks like it would be difficult to control that way.

It is....he recently (like in the last 2 months) stopped fighting to hold the thing in the "hamfisted" manner, so we're making progress

The way you describe math is pretty much how I do it in my head. I add (or subtract or whatever) "easier" round numbers, and then do a second, smaller and easier, addition subtraction to get where I want. It's a lot faster than doing right to left column math, too...but that's a skill he'll need..in like the fourth grade or something

Tyghress · Post by **Tyghress** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 8:22 pm

Lambchop wrote: It's a lot easier if you do it from the left, building a total as you go, like this:

649 + 223

600 + 200 = 800

49 + 23 = 50 + 22 = 72

872

Or, 649 + 200 = 849

849 + 1 = 850, then 22 more is 872

I'm math-impaired, so I have a lot of trouble doing this on paper. It's a lot easier this way. I can visualize little squares getting pushed together to form larger blocks. Seeing it that way gives me something to hold onto in my mind.

The other way, I lose track of what I'm doing and have to keep starting over and over, and it all seems utterly without meaning.

OMG -- Lambchop! there is someone else who adds like I do! I nearly flunked math for years and years, and didn't 'get it' until I was out of college. As soon as I got away from the drilled formulae we were taught and learned to think of numbers in my own way I became fascinated with math, mathematical recreation, and numbers as very cool things indeed!

Wanderer, your kid is spectacular!

Tyg

dfernandez77 · Post by **dfernandez77** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 8:59 pm

Tyghress wrote:
Lambchop wrote: It's a lot easier if you do it from the left, building a total as you go, like this:

649 + 223

600 + 200 = 800

49 + 23 = 50 + 22 = 72

872

Or, 649 + 200 = 849

849 + 1 = 850, then 22 more is 872

I'm math-impaired, so I have a lot of trouble doing this on paper. It's a lot easier this way. I can visualize little squares getting pushed together to form larger blocks. Seeing it that way gives me something to hold onto in my mind.

The other way, I lose track of what I'm doing and have to keep starting over and over, and it all seems utterly without meaning.
OMG -- Lambchop! there is someone else who adds like I do! I nearly flunked math for years and years, and didn't 'get it' until I was out of college. As soon as I got away from the drilled formulae we were taught and learned to think of numbers in my own way I became fascinated with math, mathematical recreation, and numbers as very cool things indeed!

Wanderer, your kid is spectacular!

Tyg

Oooh! People like me - high working memory vs. high bandwidth.

Congratulations · Post by **Congratulations** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 9:03 pm

Lambchop wrote:Do you hold your pencil that way, Wanderer? Anybody else? Interesting. It looks like it would be difficult to control that way.

About the addition, Cynth . . . it can be difficult to add in your head if you try to do it the same way you do it on paper, i.e., adding the far-right column, carrying, adding the next column, carrying, etc.

It's a lot easier if you do it from the left, building a total as you go, like this:

649 + 223

600 + 200 = 800

49 + 23 = 50 + 22 = 72

872

Or, 649 + 200 = 849

849 + 1 = 850, then 22 more is 872

I'm math-impaired, so I have a lot of trouble doing this on paper. It's a lot easier this way. I can visualize little squares getting pushed together to form larger blocks. Seeing it that way gives me something to hold onto in my mind.

The other way, I lose track of what I'm doing and have to keep starting over and over, and it all seems utterly without meaning.

I've been adding like that since I was... adding?

I'm an odd bird when it comes to math. No math teacher has ever taught me anything. I always have to take the textbook home and stare at it until I figure it out on my own, and that means that sometimes I do things differently. It also means I've struggled with math since forever.

Now I'm an English/anthropology major and plan to avoid math for the rest of my mortal existence.

scottielvr · Post by **scottielvr** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 2:36 am

That's very cool. Not just a cutie-pie, a smart cutie-pie.

P.S. Does that say, "There is no free lunch" at the bottom of his worksheet? Just curious. I didn't run across "TANSTAAFL" until I was, uh, just a bit older.