I noticed that each aerotrain had three carriages. So I pointed it out to him and it caught his interest. “Look, look” he said pointing to an aerotrain going off. “Got three carriages” he continued. Shortly after, another aerotrain came in and he asked “How many carriages?”
“You tell me. How many carriages did it have?” I asked him back.
“Three. Got three also. How many altogether?”
I knew he knew that 3+3=6 cos he’s memorised the song, so I asked him back. He gave the right answer.
Then I thought I practice addition with him, using aerotrain carriages. When the next aerotrain went off, he said that there were 3 carriages. And I asked him what 6+3 was. Now, I was ready to raise 3 fingers and count along with him to work out the answer to 6+3. But he surprised me. After a second or two, he said, “9”. Wow! He could count in his head! (The aerotrain is only visible very briefly before it disappears under a tunnel or under our building. So I think he must have been counting in his head)
Intrigued I thought I continue to see how far he gets. The aerotrain is very frequent, so this exercise could turn out quite interesting.
At the next sum of 9+3, he counted out loud instead “10. 11. 12” He still didn’t need to visually see 3 items to add on.
This went on until 18+3. Here, he was a bit stuck. I suspect he’s not so familiar with the numbers that come after digits that end with 9 (ie. after 19, it’s 20; or after 29, it’s 30). I helped him out by asking him what comes after 19. Then I asked him the sum again. He then got the right answer of 21.
At 21+3, he was ok again. But I sensed that he was losing interest so I stopped.
This is a very subtle way to introduce the concept of multiplication in a very simple manner (learnt from his music teacher! Tq). I’m not intending to teach him multiplication so early on! It’s just an opportunity that arose and I believe in applying maths to daily life in order to make it fun, relevant, interesting and prevent any phobia or mental block towards maths. Hopefully the right foundation is laid and his interest will later on drive him towards learning maths by himself.
I do not know if being able to mentally +3 is a big deal at his age. Is it? There have been times where I underestimate him and this is one of those times. I knew that he could mentally do +1 additions cos I taught him that +1 means “one more” ie. the next number, and in the past, showed him a few times using physical objects.
I didn’t take it further from there to formally teach him more addition cos in the past, he didn’t seem interested. Without realising, the months passed quickly as I was busy with other stuff. I still thought I’d wait till school does addition.
When school surprised me by expecting the kids to do subtraction, I knew I’d have to buck up! It’s a tricky juggling act, getting him up to speed on so many areas!
I’ve since realised that the students aren’t that far ahead with addition. I think I can catch up. But I’m not putting it high on my priority list yet (self-care and physio therapy are more important). I have though, made some addition flashcards on powerpoint, printed and cut them. But I’ve not had the time to paste them on cardboard or test them out on him.
I’ll post a photo of them when they’re ready. I’ll gladly share soft copies of my flashcards with you – just drop me an email.
No comments:
Post a Comment