DD5 counts everything - the rings on a spiral notebook, the actors in a play during the curtain call, etc. One day, we dashed into Target in a super big hurry, and she wanted to know how many lights were in the ceiling. If I had had time, I might have answered her question with multiplication (the store really isn't a rectangle - it could have been a project). Not surprisingly, she loves math and is very analytical.
This week I realized that she thinks everyone else does this. At school, I went into another room to talk to her teacher. She was curious about the meeting and wanted to know which room I was in. I didn't know, so I tried to describe it as a room with tables and chairs. Then she started quizzing me on the tables. She really wanted to know how many had been in there, and she seemed perplexed that I hadn't counted them (which had never occurred to me). I said that I had only looked around for a minute, and then she wanted to know if it was a minute with 60 seconds or the kind of minute that means just a little bit. I'm a mathy person, but I was never like this. What makes a child want to count everything?
I wish I knew. DS is exactly like this. Everything is number to him. Saying it's 60 degrees is not good enough....it's 62 degrees. Or it's not 5pm, it's 5:03pm. He will put a number to things that don't have anything to do with numbers (to most people anyway
) If I ask him if he cleaned his room, he will tell me it is 72% done. LOL! I catch him all the time counting things. I guess that's just how he sees the world.
I was just asking DS4 that very question, Lily! He didn't have an answer for me about what makes it so attractive. I guess it's like asking me why I like purple: I dunno, I just do!
He has been into counting for a while, but lately he's moved on to adding, subtracting and multiplying. I'm finding it pretty amazing, actually. He's adding and subtracting up to 3 digits in his head all of a sudden (provided there are plenty of zeroes), and he's already well on his way to having his times tables memorized, not to mention figuring things like 1000 x 1000 and 9 x 2000. It's coming from him, too, not mom-driven. He invents the problems and talks through them, though he'll happily work problems if I give them to him to keep him busy.
Math, drawing/writing, and Wii are ALL he wants to do all day long. But mostly math!
I have been skeptical about his GTness because I just wasn't seeing it. But his fascination with numbers and arithmetic is making me a believer. He just lights up when doing math, and he often says "I'm a mathy guy!"
He sure is!
So if you figure out what's up, please let me know. I'm very intrigued!
Not sure what compells a child to do this, but I know my DS4 is the same way and always has been. at 2 during car trips he would count mile markers, sometimes mailboxes. The other day he got in a laundry basket and counted the holes in it. He counted the rungs in my daughters crib, counts steps, etc. It does sound a bit obsessive...it's not like he counts all day long or anything but he is a counter definitely. He too is all about Math. He wakes up thinking about Math and numbers, etc. every single morning. Very interesting.
I wish I knew. DS is exactly like this. Everything is number to him. Saying it's 60 degrees is not good enough....it's 62 degrees. Or it's not 5pm, it's 5:03pm. He will put a number to things that don't have anything to do with numbers (to most people anyway
) If I ask him if he cleaned his room, he will tell me it is 72% done. LOL! I catch him all the time counting things. I guess that's just how he sees the world.
Holy cow, this completely describes my DS4. He constantly will do stuff like this. He will remind us of the speed limit and ask how fast we are going, LOL. He wants to know the exact temperature...and forget rounding for the time...he will always correct that one. And he does the percent now too....and quarters. He will say "I'm about a quarter of the way done with this, so I have about 3 quarters left to go."
Mine too. DS6 is very careful with exact time and temp. For those of you with littles, just wait until you get your "mathy kids" to estimating, probability and division with remainders. It makes my son crazy, he refers to it as "messy math" and doesn't understand why he can't just find the right answer!
DD2 told me today that she can't wait for night time to come so that she can count all of the stars! The problem (one of a few!) is that she can only count consistently to about 16 or 17...so she might find a bit of a problem tonight...we'll see! haha
BWBShari: That is cute that your ds calls estimating "messy math". I was the exact same way in school...why bother estimating if you can just find the real answer! The frustrating thing with some math is that estimating is sometimes more work that just working out the original problem!
He has been into counting for a while, but lately he's moved on to adding, subtracting and multiplying. I'm finding it pretty amazing, actually. He's adding and subtracting up to 3 digits in his head all of a sudden (provided there are plenty of zeroes), and he's already well on his way to having his times tables memorized, not to mention figuring things like 1000 x 1000 and 9 x 2000. It's coming from him, too, not mom-driven. He invents the problems and talks through them, though he'll happily work problems if I give them to him to keep him busy.
Math, drawing/writing, and Wii are ALL he wants to do all day long. But mostly math!
Is that the same child you would consider ND if it wasn't for his OE? Somebody has been having a huge gt denial
LOL. Sorry, I couldn't let it go. A little bit more of this and I will start worrying that perhaps my DS4 isn't gt
DS6 wasn't into counting that much but he for sure won't take 5:00 for 5:03 and so. I was quite happy once he understood that 65 millions years ago is an estimate and it doesn't mean that next year they will say 65,000,001 years ago
BTW science books which convert temperature from C to F literally and end up with numbers like 500,032F drive me nuts.
It just happened all of a sudden LMom, honest!
Really, it's the craziest thing! It's like he found his groove for the first time ever, and suddenly he's off to the races.
You know how happy I am to point out GT denial (LOL!), so I don't think that's what this was. He just REALLY hasn't shown anything that looks GT (besides the PG+ OEs!
)...until just now! He was doing the counting thing in the fall. He started doing the most basic addition by Christmas, and this month he's like some sort of arithmetic nut all of a sudden! DS7 had leaps, but I've never seen anything like this math one! It's like he just woke up one day having skipped 2 or 3 or 4 years of development overnight.
It's freaky, actually!
Now if he's just read so I can stop worrying about 2E...
Another favorite....
I was corrected for using the term "Gazillion"
"Mom, Gazillion is not a correct term. The word you are looking for is Duodecillion, it has 49 zeros and is the biggest number I've learned so far".
Being corrected by a 6 yo is soooo annoying at times!
Well, you can tell him Googol has 100 zeroes and Googolplex has a Googol zeroes
Gee Cathy.... Thanks!
Just what he needs, someone helping him drive me crazy!! LOL
DS4 adores Googol and Googolplex.
DS4, DH and DS7 are all talking about the nature of infinity right now, actually, while they wait for dinner to finish. I are a English major!
There are different kinds of infinities. For example, there are countable infinities (like the set of natural numbers) and uncountable infinities (like the set of real numbers.)
Ask your DS's if they think the rational numbers are countable or uncountable. That should keep them busy!
Oh, Cathy, don't make me have to go to my math encyclopedia! It's Friday night!
LOL. Now that's what I call an interesting discussion. We read a very cool book about this subject. It's called The Cat in Numberland
http://www.amazon.com/Cat-Numberlan...mp;s=books&qid=1234573123&sr=1-1Kriston, it's not difficult as a matter of fact it's really exciting
To those interested in this book, it's supposed to be very hard to find (thus the $50 price tag and single copy listed on Amazon...). But homeschoolers adore it!
I haven't seen it yet. Wanna share your copy, LMom?
We have a math dictionary/encyclopedia from Usborne that my son adores.
Yup. That's the one we have, too.
It's very good, but that doesn't mean I want to refresh my memory by reading about rational numbers right now!
Sorry, we got it from the library but I would love to have a copy of my own.
Yup. That's the one we have, too.
It's very good, but that doesn't mean I want to refresh my memory by reading about rational numbers right now!
Are you feeling a little irrational, maybe?
Well, I'm sure she's a complex person.
Perhaps even transcendental...
We got the cat in numberland from the library too; ds8 has always enjoyed discussions of infinity, probability, estimating and collecting 'stats'; I think maybe more of the 'messy' stuff people have mentioned.
At 6 he came up with a game for the car where we'd count types of cars in different areas of the city and talk about why the numbers were the way they were and other variations on this.
I don't think he's driven to count, but he enjoys it.
Has anyone checked out The Number Devil?? Very awesome.
DS enjoyed this one as a bedtime story a couple years back; might have to try and find it again (libary).
http://www.amazon.com/Number-Devil-Mathematical-Adventure/dp/0805062998Kriston, that is wonderful, if not entirely unexpected news, about your ds4! Very cool. Do you think the glasses are helping in this arena? If so, good investigating, Mom!
I don't think it's the glasses. He does the math in his head. It just seems to be a sudden explosion of interest and ability. Even his pre-K teacher has noticed it. He lights up when he talks about anything mathy.
(And that's neither imaginary nor irrational! :p )
A couple quick things:
1. I bought The Cat in Numberland from Amazon in Canada (I forgot the web address but it ends in .ca I think). It was only like $18.95 or something.
2. My DS5(ok I'll give him the 6 - DS6, since his bday is next week) who I wholeheartedly believe is a VSL went through such a counting phase (he still *adores* tape measures and the like. been known to break a 25' black and decker). He has a major speech delay, among other things, so I have long assumed he has left-brain weaknesses. dumb questions: is a person adept at counting also good at sequential activities? or not? Isn't counting kinda the definition of sequential? Can a person have auditory deficiencies but not sequential? He is my math boy, but he seems to be as good at calculating as he is at concepts (indeed better than DD7, who is quite the VSL). Maybe he's just a bright kid with a speech delay and not as heavily VSL/weak on left brain stuff as I had thought? I guess I need to re-read upside down brilliance yet again...
Thanks for your very interesting replies. LOVE the math humor! Sorry for my bad "threadiquet" in not replying sooner. (I got distracted by a major school issue yesterday followed by a hot water heater leaking through the ceiling. I guess when it rains, it "pours"!).
DH always says things like he'll be home at approximately 5:03 - I guess I'm living with 2 of them!
Her teacher thinks that she has been slower to take off on reading than her sister because she loves math and English reading often doesn't fit into nice patterns and rules. She doesn't do large addition in her head, but analyzes everything. No middle letter in the alphabet, facts about piano keys, etc. Her favorite Christmas present was a calculator. Her endless curiosity is exhausting. I don't remember that with her sister.
The Cat in Numberland
http://www.cobblestonepub.com/book/KBK62744.html?x=11.8482685089110696166001234659214Including shipping, it's about $15. I may have to order it for my DS4 who is loves to talk about infinity.
EDIT: Hmmm, ok I have no idea what happened, but the link is now saying $19.95. I placed my order and it charged me $14.95 including shipping. It's still cheaper than $50 though!
mamaandmore - I ordered it from there last August or September, and it took a few weeks to find out that they did not have it in stock and didn't know when they'd be getting it. I hope they have it now! It sounds like you got a good deal! I ended up cancelling my order at that place when I found it from amazon.ca. Here's the link for that in case anyone needs it
http://www.amazon.ca/Cat-Numberland...mp;s=books&qid=1234669303&sr=8-1
Thank you for the heads up! I'll call them Monday and see if they can check stock for it. If they don't have it, this will be the 2nd time this week I've tried to order a book from a company only to find out that they don't really have it- maybe it's a sign I should stick with the library, lol.
Thanks again, Snowgirl! I just called them and it is in fact still back ordered. I asked the woman if there was any way to note that on the website and she said there wasn't. Oh well, at least I found out now rather than waiting weeks for it!
I totally cracked up when I read this post, because my DS5 is exactly like this too! If it's about numbers and counting, he's on it! Last year, he decided that he was going to count to one million. He started this counting while we were driving somewhere and would pretty much only do the counting whenever we were driving. After several months of NON-STOP counting, he made it to 81,100, before he decided to "take a break" from the counting. Unbelievable! I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't witnessed it myself.
Also, BWBShari, I had to laugh about you being corrected about "Gazillion". I read this post right before I started dinner, and after dinner, of course, we are discussing math topics. At one point, when talking about large numbers, I said, "And there could be millions or billions or trillions or gazillions" of something (using the "gazillions" intentionally to see if my son would respond). Sure enough, he stopped me in my tracks and said, "No! Gazillion is not a number!"