La Texican, I would just skip the conservation stuff and have him learn what he is ready to learn. I don't think that conservation of area, as a concept, could possibly be a precursor to so many other math concepts that it can or should hold your son back.
From what I read before, it's just an indicator or milestone if you buy into the Piaget developmental levels-- and so a strict follower of Piaget would probably say that even a math supergenius is perfectly normal if he doesn't get conservation of area at a young age. Do you think someone with Einstein Syndrome would necessarily be able to answer correctly about conservation of area at your son's age?
FWIW I don't think my five year old would possibly have gotten such things right at three, which I ascribe largely to the fact that I hadn't started teaching him about math yet at all, so he knew only a bit of counting and simple math that he'd picked up in passing. I would bet that if you teach him about area and he does some more work with it, conservation will just dawn on him.
I agree with passthepotatoes about doing a curriculum in lockstep. As long as you hit everything he needs to know in time, and he understands fully what he learns, you're doing a great job if you just keep his learning time full of fun and productive.
Last edited by Iucounu; 10/27/10 03:04 AM.
