Tallulah I was just talking with the hubby over breakfast this morning about the discussion in that thread about the conservation of area. �The first Singapore math book has it right near the beginning and we're stuck on that page. �It said to place blocks in different patterns to see if the child recognizes equal amounts in different arrangements. �I threw down 2 sets of 5 blocks a week ago and my boy thought the spread out one had more. �Yesterday I threw down 6 pieces of cereal and he still thinks the scattered one's have more. �I said to the hubby that's why we go so slow, when he gets stuck I just ask him again later until he can answer right. �There's a reason they put that there so we shouldn't just skip it. �We'll go for several pages then get stuck again and it could be two weeks or two months before he answers right. �The hubby said, just tell him to count it because he's kind of right in a way. �The scattered one is more, it's more area. �I told him about the water experiment (it's not in the math book, but along the same lines) I know he wouldn't know it's the same if I poured 1/2 c water in a tall glass and 1/2 c water in a short glass because the tall glass would look bigger. �The hubby works in the oilfield and measures pressures and volumes for a living and knows too much about hot rod motors. �Practical daily math applications only. �He explained that the static pressure is more at the bottom of the smaller glass because the wider glass has room to spread out. �So, the hubby's no kind of math genuis but he makes a good point about math having so many applications the answer your looking for may change depending on what you want to use it for. �But you can't quote dh against Piaget and some math teachers and expect to win.
