You may be surprised to learn it’s never too early to Read more
Guess-and-Check vs. Algebra
I have a 5th and 7th grader. At the dinner table last night, I asked: If Tom takes 2 years from his age and gives it to Mary, Mary’s new age is twice Tom’s new age. If Tom takes 3 years from his age and gives it to Mary, Mary’s new age is three times Tom’s new age. How old are they?
My husband immediately said, ‘classic algebra’. The 5th grader went, ‘I don’t know Algebra, I’m going to use Guess and Check’. My 7th grader has started algebra so he started setting it up with variables T and M.
I just sat there and continued eating my dessert.
Would you know it, the guess-and-checker got the answer first. The algebra solver plodded along, got a negative answer, changed his setup, rechecked the negative and positive signs and eventually arrived at same answer.
Start doing ‘algebra’-type problems with your kids before they learn algebra. Simple problems like: Tom has $10 more than Joe. Together they have $120. How much does Tom have? Problems like that prompt non-algebra students to use their number sense. Ok, $10 is not a lot, so they have close to the same. Half of $120 is $60. Let me try $50 for Joe. Tom has $10 more, that would make it $60. Total’s only $110. So Joe must have a little more to total up to $120. That kind of mental exercise for your child’s ind is like what going to the gym is for your body.
When your child starts algebra, his math muscles will be primed and ready to use unknown variable to help him do what he has been doing, just a lot more efficiently. x will be a very good friend indeed, instead of an intimidating stranger.
Avoid “Summer Slide”
There’s a big push nationally to rethink how children spend their summer vacations. The effort to keep kids learning during summer is based on an effort to avoid the summer slide:
• Most students fall more than two months behind in math over the summer.
• Teachers spend four to six weeks in the fall re-teaching forgotten material.
• Their counterparts, in China, India, Sweden, for sure, are not taking 3 months off from school
“Parents always say summer is the hardest time to make sure their kids have productive things to do,” says Fairchild. “Summer should be fun and memorable, but parents shouldn’t let it be a break from learning. High-quality summer learning opportunities are fun and engaging for kids, while keeping them healthy, safe and on track in school.”
SUMMER LEARNING TIPS:
WHAT PARENTS CAN DO TO KEEP KIDS SHARP OVER THE SUMMER
• Locate a summer program. High-quality summer camps and math programs exist in almost every price range. Camps offered by schools, recreation centers, universities, and community-based organizations often have an educational or enrichment focus.
• Visit the library. Find out what interests your child and select books on that subject. Participate in free library summer programs and make time to read every day.
• Take educational trips. These can be low-cost visits to parks, museums, zoos and nature centers. Plan vacations with educational themes.
• Practice math daily. Measure items around the house or yard. Track daily temperatures. Add and subtract at the grocery store. Learn fractions while cooking.
• Play outside. Limit TV and video game time during summer, just as during the school year. Intense physical activity and exercise contribute to healthy development.
• Do good deeds. Students learn better and “act out” less when they participate in activities that help them develop emotionally, such as community service.
• Keep a schedule. Continue daily routines during the summer with structure and limits. The key is providing a balance and keeping kids engaged.
• Prepare for fall. Find out what your child will be learning during the next school year by talking with teachers at that grade level. Preview concepts and materials over the summer.
Source: Summerlearning.org
Dear 4th Grade Families
Recently a student (newton public school) brought in a letter from his 4th Grade math teacher. It’s a reminder again of how math is so cummulative, how important it is to cover the basics during the Elementary School years.
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Math Web Sites
http://metricconversioncharts.org/ – A handy one-page printable conversion chart for various measures- US vs. metric measures. Also has a comparative Fahrenheit vs. Celsius thermometer.
Read more
(Math) formulas for babies
Babies or toddlers explore the mathematics inherent in the world around them, and parents can help them in this exploration, in easy ways like having them help sort socks or set the table.
Confidence in Math Leads to Confidence in School
I feel best about having helped others believe in themselves.
–Bud Sherman
One of the most rewarding aspect of being a Math tutor is giving kids confidence in Math. Suddenly they realize you don’t need to be a genius in Math, they just need to Read more
Wired for Math or not? Part 1
When a parent sees her child struggling, and struggling, the parent may start to wonder, “Maybe my child is just not wired for Math.” As director of a math tutoring center in Newton, MA, I get asked this question a lot: “Are some kids just wired for math and some not?”
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Why Some Kids Hate Math
Does your child hate Math?
I remember an exercise during my training to be a math educator: I was given 3 sticks to make a triangle. Piece of cake. I was then given 2 more sticks to make a 2nd triangle. No problem. Read more
September 2009 Events
FREE MATH TUTORING
Call us and schedule 3 FREE Math tutoring sessions through the month of September. No-risk, no-commitment. These are full-hour, full-instruction regular sessions. The goal is to give your child, and you, a good idea why the way we teach Math makes sense to kids.
You can schedule your sessions anytime during Center Teaching Hours.
To schedule your free sessions, please call Myrtha at (617) 340-3665 today. This offer is good through the end of September, while space allows.
Myrtha Chang, Center Director
(617) 340-3665
Mathnasium Newton Highlands – Where Math Makes Sese to Kids
www.mathnasium.com/newton
Counting with Fingers – Is it Bad?
Is it bad to rely on your fingers to count ? Here’s the short answer: counting on your fingers is helpful for a 4 year old child, but spells trouble for a child beyond first grade ..
Here’s why.
Reason #1: It Drags You Down
By the time you are in Middle School, math teachers expect you to know addition, subtraction backward and forward at a clip. When a teacher is explaining algebra on the board, she expects to teach the concept, not slow down for the addition and subtraction in the process. A student who gets dragged down in the process will start falling behind. That’s why 3rd and 4th graders get speed trials, to prepare for the middle school math blackboard.
Reason #2: It can discourage mental math development
What is 8 + 9 ? Students who see math in their head, may add it this way: 8 + 10 – 1, or this way: 8 double + 1. These students have chucked finger counting for mental math. As they work out their mental math muscles, they get even better and better at it. He has upgraded a child’s tool for a more sophisticated and powerful tool. Here’s a favorite mental math challenge our center gives to a student? What’s 99 + 99 + 99? If you need a piece of paper and pencil, you’re on the wrong track.
Reason #3: How sure is the student of the answer?
Let’s come back to 8 + 9 again. When a student sees it as 8 + 10 = 18, then minus 1 equals 17, he’s 100% sure it’s right. Next time you see a student counting on her fingers, ask her how sure she is that it’s the right answer? Our observation: he’s not very sure. Counting fingers involves concentration, not skipping by accident, remembering where to start and where to end … It takes skill.
Reason #4: It could get embarrassing
We had a 5th grader start at our center who was still counting with her fingers. But you couldn’t tell because she had developed sophisticated ways to disguise her finger counting. She would spread her fingers out on the table and look at them and count in her head. She could visualize her toes on the desk as clearly as if she was looking right at them. Her lips would not move, but her head would be nodding in rhythm to her counting. Why go through all that disguise? She was embarrassed. Happy to say we prescribed the “Cure to Finger Counting” and in just a few weeks she was adding 15 + 16, half of 48, 7 * 99 mentally in her head.
Is finger counting to be avoided at all cost? Like everything else, it’s not the tool itself, it’s how you use it. When you ask a 4 year old, “Sweetie, how old will you be in 3 years?”, and her fingers pop up, she’s getting into math, she’s thinking math is an everyday affair. When a fifth grader is totaling up 6 baskets of 13 pastries and uses 6 fingers as a memory tool to count up by 13, that’s smart. I still use my fingers to figure out the day of the week I need to return my DVD. Just don’t let it be a crutch, at the expense of the student’s math development.