Yes, yes, and YES...to everything you wrote Platypus! My linear brain wants to move in the must follow a path mode, but DD would welcome a mix up of ideas. And my end goal is to get her to love (or as I said at least tolerate) the math process...which isn't rote work but problem solving. She thinks way outside of the box in her daily life and problem solves quite well.
You comments made me think back to when she was 3-5 and loved anything "mathy" (which was really just problem solving at that point). At that time I thought she would soar in mathematics because she "got it". Enter life in public, then private school, and an awful program called "Everyday Mathematics" and it sucked the joy right out of her. And I was stupid enough to believe the teachers that this was the way to deeper understanding and I should stop doing what we were doing at home. Stupid me! Trust your instincts folks......
Thanks again to all of you...now I am off to find some cool, interesting things to bring the spark back!
