Math is more than formulas and equations...

My fellow math nerds and I may be the only people who REALLY enjoyed this show, but the opening always resonated with me.

"We all use math every day: to predict weather, to tell time, to handle money. Math is more than formulas and equations. It's logic. It's rationality. It's using your mind to solve the biggest mysteries we know."

"...more than formulas and equations..." that couldn't be more true for our youngest learners. While they are building the skills to add, subtract, multiply, and divide their teachers are also encouraging them to be pattern recognizers. Pattern recognition leads to deeper mathematical understanding.

Recognizing repeated addition or subtraction is the first step in recognizing linear relationships.

Recognizing repeated multiplication or division is the introduction to geometric sequences and exponential growth and decay.

Ask the kids in your life about what patterns they see. Ask them to predict what comes next in a list of numbers. BUT - and this is the most important part - ask them WHY they made their prediction. Don't let them off the hook with a shrug and "I don't know". Press them to explain their thinking. You might be surprised at what math they see and use every day.

Comments

Division - the subject that brings us all together

Ah...division. The 4th and final fundamental operation of elementary math. But I bet when I said that more than a few people were sent back to the days of long division being brutal. I think just about everyone can agree, long division was a HIGH hurdle of elementary school. While division is the partner to multiplication (more on that later), for whatever reason it's also Cinderella's ugly stepsister that nobody wants to acknowledge is really there. Division is incredibly applicable though - need to give each of your kids an equal number of cookies from what's left in the package so nobody fights? Or do you need to figure out how many more glasses of wine you can get from what's left in the bottle... Either way, division is real life. Luckily, instead of pushing students to just memorize more number facts (which is useful - to a point) we teach multiple ways for students to arrive at their answers, giving them some number dexterity. Your student probably has a...

Trust the Process: Fractions - the Real F Word

I know it's not exactly the most comforting advice to adults who have been through a lot of change, but 1 thing I know for sure is that no school, no teacher, no administrator, no aide wants any child to be poorly educated. Instead those teachers, administrators, aides, and school officials all know that there is a building process from Kindergarten (or 4K) through senior year of high school. There is a progression that they've spent (countless) hours working to align so that every topic is covered, every concept is given time to develop, and every student has access to the material when they're ready. The long and short of it is that there is a well thought out process - please trust it. While it may be frustrating for you at times, remember that you have all the "keys to the castle" as an adult who's be...

It's about the learning not the grade.

I hope you (and the children/students in your life) had the chance to watch the Perseverance land on Mars recently. Or see the Dragon launch last year. Every single one of the astronauts, engineers, and technicians had years of schooling to prepare for THAT MOMENT. Every doctor or nurse has been trained through lectures, tests, and field experiences. Something that strikes me every year around this time, as our seniors are making college decisions and our juniors are taking the ACT and beginning the application process, is that not one person in any interview I've ever had has asked me about my grades or GPA. We have tied up so much time and energy into thinking that only the best survive, but we KNOW that can't be true. All that does is overstress our teens and lead them to believe that successful people never struggle. That is a damaging belief - especially when internalized by students who are struggling. Here's my take on grades:

Demystifying Elementary Math (from a Secondary Perspective)

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