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

The sum is the same, no matter how you got there; so how'd you get there?

Yet another example of adults saying "But there's a better way..." No one would argue that you, adult, can add probably faster than an elementary school student. We are in the process of building UP TO that speed and accuracy. By encouraging your child to imagine the groupings, you are building their imagination (draw whatever you'd like!), their math skills (count up, make 10s), and their mental flexibility ALL IN 1 PROBLEM! Check out my NEW addition video for a little more about how this problem is VERY similar to what many adults already do! Making sense of a problem IRL isn't about having an algorithm to write out your work. Instead it's about applying what you know to a REAL situation. This is what most adults think of when they see an addition problem: But this is what many ...

There's HOW MANY ways to add 2 numbers?

To answer the title question - a LOT! We take for granted that most of us adults can add quickly because we "know our math facts". For many of us that may be true, but I would bet that the vast majority of adults out there do quite a few of the addition strategies your children are taught in elementary school without even knowing it! This video addresses some of the addition strategies that I've seen frustrating parents. Addition Video As always, let me know if there's a topic you'd like to see Demystified!

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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