Developing Math Skill in Kids
By: Keith
For the past year and a half I have been using Hooked on Math to teach my boys basic math skills. It’s a fairly good program in terms of providing plenty of example problems in addition and subtraction and explaining how 1′s 10′s and 100′s work. But, it’s somewhat deficient in other areas. While it does teach kids to add and subtract, it doesn’t focus enough on core skills like reading a clock and dealing with money. To supplement for some of those more basic skills I bought the boys their age appropriate DK math levels. I’m happy with the combination of those two programs to teach math basics up to about 2nd grade. But, I made a mistake out of the gate which I will explain. My thesis is this: It’s important for kids to learn how to perform math problems, but it is more important for them to learn how to think. We don’t need programs and books to teach our kids how to think about math. What we need is a list of core skills and to just do it ourselves. I made a mistake by putting my kids directly into book learning their math. I went back and taught my kids these core skills by myself without a book. Now they are learning their book problems again, but with much greater ease.
Clock
There are many valuable math lessons to be taught with a clock. It is an introduction to division, fractions, addition and subtraction. There are about a billion books that help teach kids about reading a clock, and they’re all about the same. Just buy one and get to work. Learning to read a clock is probably the first lesson every kids should learn because it includes so many other basic skills. The other bits of math become much easier if kids can first learn to count by 5′s and 10′s and identify what a fraction is. Make clock learning the first skill.
Shapes
Seems simple? Not really. There are more shapes than just triangles squares and rectangles. Being able to teach a kid that shapes are determined by their number of sides and their dimensions in space is not as easy as it seems. The practical application of this skill is that it gets kids to count and group in logical patterns. How many times have you seen a kid count objects by skipping all over the place and recounting the same object 3 times? Teaching kids about shapes helps them focus on the details and count in order. It also helps, if you’re the adventurous sort, in giving an early introduction to the concept of 2D and 3D. You might read them the great math novella Flatland.
Money
My boys had no appreciation for money. I’ve been slowly teaching them about it. This skill has twofold importance. The first is that kids need to know that money is important and they should be careful with it. The second is that it teaches them mental math and the art of estimation. American coins are somewhat unique in the world in that they don’t have numbers on them. People just have to know what they’re worth. Kids learning how to count money will find that facet challenging at first. I have a big change box that I use to give the boys money lessons. We play pretend with their toys and money. I take some of their toys, give them a bit of money and we practice decision making skills. They have to decide which toys to buy back with the amount of cash they have in hand. Teaching about money really is quite complicated, but with patience it can be done. Easily one of the biggest life lessons there is.
Comparison
Doesn’t seem like a math skill, does it. But it is. Being able to tell that bigger and smaller applies to numbers and objects alike is an important connection to make. And, not just bigger and smaller, but how much bigger and how much smaller. It is the beginning of both subtraction and ratios. Being able to count a quantity of M&M’s is important, but the ability to be able to tell if a sibling has a bigger pile is possibly more important. And, what about being able to remedy an injustice? Neil has 4 more M&M’s than Alan. How does Alan make the piles equal? What if Neil only had 3 more? How does that complicate things?
These are all vital math skills that can be taught without the use of books and outside a traditional school setting. With these skills under their belts kids can start to do book problems with more confidence. I made a mistake when I started to teach my boys math. I jumped into solving addition and subtraction before they had a solid grasp on these more fundamental skills. I should have spent the bulk of my time teaching these. But, I have since fixed that deficiency and the boys are back on track. My next task is to get them involved in Saxon math which I am told is an excellent program for homeschoolers. I will report back when I’ve tried it out and have a review.
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I like this post— and I LOVE math. Why not review all the products, perhaps summarizing them in a grid so that other homeschoolers can benefit?
.-= Dennis Yu´s last blog ..Shawn Collins can SING! Listen to this… =-.
I know you love math. You once agreed to teach my kids. Almost too late for that now pal!
It’s sad how many cashiers can’t calculate change back without the registers help. We were once in a Denny’s and had to wait for the system to come back up before we could pay to leave. I am firmly in the two out of three category but still feel ahead of a lot of folks.
I’m with you. I’m not exactly Mr. Math extraordinaire, but I do think I have a good brain and can deduce things like change and stuff
Sad so many people can’t.
HA! I love the fractions picture!
i used it in my blog in March!
http://www.kodymw.com/2009/03/1-2-12.html
Thanks for visiting Kody! I love how these pictures make the rounds at various blogs. I see you’re doing pretty well in school. Excellent!
In homeschooling my kids, I’ve always tried to make learning as real-world based as possible – that is, help them discover an actual problem from their own personal life so that I can use that as an excuse/opportunity to teach something useful. A simple example – Problem: How do I make sure I don’t miss my favorite t.v. show? Solution: Have Dad help me learn how to tell time. My observation is that when self-discovered need comes first, the motivation to learn is completely different than when kids are simply plopped in front of a text book and told, “Learn this.”
Math, however, has always been a challenge for me as a teacher. Definitely have used money, clocks and cooking as great opportunities for these types of lessons, but let’s face it – not a lot of us use more than basic arithmetic in our everyday lives. I would love to hear if anyone has run across some math materials that align with this type of teaching approach.