Wasn't there a thread on here recently about how strange it is that we treat math differently than reading? It was a great observation that we will let kids read or hear a wide range of stories without worrying so much that they get more out of one story than another, but with math we say, "you can't look at this until you learn that other thing." Khan academy and Math Mammoth have some great YouTube videos. And there's a video called "turtlehead multiplication".
One thing I learned was that "being ready to learn something" does not mean the same thing as "can do it by themselves already". It doesn't even always mean getting it right the first try. That should be obvious, but I only realized it when somebody said it. Now my kid learns what's called "separate strands" of math. That is, in one strand, he just wrapped up borrowing and carrying (and sometimes still counts on his fingers), another strand he's starting to study algebra, another strand he's doing Beast Academy, which teaches advanced concepts but is really about mastering the multiplication tables, another strand is elementary school problem solving, which is different than learning math and doing what you already know, it's about learning how to deal with problems you haven't been taught. I just really like what they said in that other thread that we limit exposure to math in a way we would never limit reading. We read widely and we can treat math the same way. Some blogs that support that idea are bedtime math, kitchen table math, and buddy math. We have a lot of separate math strands going, but we don't study math all day, just like we read a variety of stuff, but we don't spend all day reading either. Just sharing because it's one way my understanding has grown as a mom. Oh, there's so many things I'm learning about being a mom.
Last edited by La Texican; 04/03/14 01:17 PM.
