Friday, March 4, 2011

Problem solving


At my sister's suggestion, i decided to let N try simple problem sums. I thought it was a good way to check if N could read and understand the problem. I first wrote the above problem, before i could even write 'how many altogether?', the boy gave the answer '4!'.


Also to check if he would know if the problem requires him to add or subtract, i wrote a subtraction sum for him. No sweat- he could tell me '50-3'. I guess it was the phrase 'take away' that helped (he knows take away means to subtract).


Just for fun, i wrote a slightly complicated sum- see above. At first, he added all of the red & blue cars. But i made him read again and told him to add only the red cars. We practice a couple of times and he understood it thereafter.

6 comments:

  1. Great job mommy, my girl is only problem solving sum and subtraction(study case like what you was doing with Sonshine)... her plus and minus are hopeless!:p

    Have a great weekend!

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  2. thanks! there's still hope for your girl! I was a late bloomer (barely passed maths in primary school) but picked up later in sec school. Better late than never i say! :)

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  3. very smart boy! must say i'm glad to be reading your blog so i can "steal" ideas to do with j. thanks!

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  4. Beautiful teaching by you:)
    My little one is weak in his maths skills. Can you write in detail by which how can I help my boy subtract with ease.
    Keep going.

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  5. Thank you mummies for the compliments!

    byihui- hahaha, well starting a blog is about sharing ideas right? I 'steal' ideas from blogs too! :P

    Seema- you're ever so kind! I appreciate your encouragement! Im no expert in teaching Maths really. But one thing i learn about teaching subtraction is that the child must also be able to count backwards- make sure he can do this first. I started with very simple substraction sum like 10-1, 9-1 just so that the boy gets the idea what subtraction is about i.e count backwards. Once he is comfortable with that, you can go on to teach him to subtract by 2 numbers i.e. count backwards by 2 numbers and on and on. Hope this helps! :)))

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  6. Thanks:) You are doing a great job, hence you deserve all the encouragement. I will try this out with my big A, and let you know.
    Till then, keep going.

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