Looking for the "hives" definition~

[selh09]

What is your definition of a "mathy" child?

 

My dd is 4.5 and seems to be bored with math, so I'm trying to figure out if she is what everyone calls a "mathy" child.

[Dinsfamily]

What is your definition of a "mathy" child?

 

My dd is 4.5 and seems to be bored with math, so I'm trying to figure out if she is what everyone calls a "mathy" child.

 

I'm interested in what others say with more experience. I describe my ds as mathy. He understands math concepts intuitively. He 'discovered' several concepts like multiplication on his own before we ever started formal math instruction in K. He even asked for flashcards for his Christmas stocking when he was 4 (not even sure how he knew about them...preschool maybe?) and Flashmaster is a fun game for him. Now that we have started formal math, we haven't really hit his knowledge level yet. We're going quickly to fill in gaps and I anticipate we'll slow down eventually when we get to concepts he hasn't already 'discovered.' I wrote his latest math surprise on my blog last week. We were working on multiplication and he has some interesting methods of solving some multiplication word problems using the distributive property.

 

Miquon has been really great for him. Since he like to come up with things on his own and explore numbers, a discovery-oriented program is perfect. We also really like Singapore PM. It moves quickly and gets to the point. We started the year with Horizons K and he was bored out of his mind. I still use Horizons for the traditional S&S, but it's just a supplement.

[Crimson Wife]

I'm interested in what others say with more experience. I describe my ds as mathy. He understands math concepts intuitively. He 'discovered' several concepts like multiplication on his own before we ever started formal math instruction in K.

 

My 2nd is like this. I've seen him do math-related stuff that I don't know how he figured out on his own. My oldest, while a strong math student, doesn't do this. She learns things quickly but it doesn't come naturally to her like it does to my DS.

[MissKNG]

I also describe my big girl as "mathy". Mainly because she understands math concepts intuitively as well. Many times, we'll get to a concept and it's like she already "knows" it. And other times, it takes only once, maybe twice before she "gets" it then she resists repetition. Actually she resists repetition and any sort of drill. Which bothers the heck out of me because I just like that little extra bit of assurance that she knows what she is doing!

 

She also loves math and would work everyday if she could!

 

 

She also called Horizons K (book 1) "baby math" and asked for "harder math". She recently placed into Horizons 1. So we are using a mix of HM K Book 2 and HM 1st grade Book 1. We are also going to start Singapore 1A shortly. She is very thrilled that she's not doing "baby math" anymore!

[Dinsfamily]

My 2nd is like this. I've seen him do math-related stuff that I don't know how he figured out on his own. My oldest, while a strong math student, doesn't do this. She learns things quickly but it doesn't come naturally to her like it does to my DS.

 

My two are like that with reading. My ds is a really good reader (4th grade level at 6yo), but he learned how to do it. He learned fast and made some big leaps, but I still taught him. My 3yo, however, figured out how to read (phonetically, no less) with no instruction. It helps that he picks up things like phonograms by osmosis, but he just gets the code intuitively. I never put all of that together until you made the distinction.

[selh09]

And other times, it takes only once, maybe twice before she "gets" it

 

This describes my dd. She told me that she was bored with her math and it's been like pulling teeth to get her to do it.

[talexand]

I also mean math intuitive when I say "mathy". My kids enjoy playing around with math, well the older two more than my youngest although she is still mathier than many. I remember my kids loving the concept of infinity at your child's age. They also like skip counting, math games, and learning things that are totally new. I would introduce a new topic now and then to liven things up. Simple multiplication is fun when they are good at addition, even if they aren't even up to multi-digit addition yet. I would also keep the number of problems low on your scheduled topics and make sure you are not beating a topic to death if they understand it. Even if they still need practice, I like to keep it to a few problems when they are young and then do some fun things. Also be real consistent about math time. Math might be boring if he or she see's it as something that is getting in the way of play time. But if she knows its not play time and there is no chance that she will get to do whatever it is that she would rather be doing, then she might give it a better chance.

 

I do think its worth addressing, especially if you think your child is exceptional in math. I think it is important for mathy kids, and others, to be given what they need to stay interested in math. Its so easy to fall into a pattern where it really is boring because of the repetition and because they understood it early and didn't get to move on.

[LisaDSB]

I have a very "mathy" kid. He wanted to do algebra for fun at age 7, so we gave him a workbook and he really seemed to grasp it. Now, at age 9, he does Thinkwell's Beginning Algebra course "for fun" (although he generally gets perfect on the course work). I still make him do Singapore to make sure there are no gaps, but he seems to have basically jumped from grade 4 math to algebra without requiring any lessons in between. He just seems to get it all.

 

To keep things from getting dull, we also use the Living Math curriculum every now and then, and read fun books like G is for Googol that get my kids rushing off to learn more about something interesting. There are tons of materials out there (Life by the Numbers DVDs, the Story of One, etc. etc.) that can help show kids the beauty and purpose of mathematics, and how it all fits in to the development of civilizations. The Living Math curriculum follows a chronological approach that ties in (and even references) Story of the World.

 

To answer the OP's question, my DS9 was getting bored with math in grade 2 at Montessori school (before we gave him the fun algebra and ultimately pulled him to homeschool). It certainly is a sign that your child needs something more. I believe that all the "drill and kill" can really turn a child off of math (we used to do Kumon, which is all about drill, and I won't do that again).

 

Make sure she's working at her level (you might find a placement test, like on the Singapore website, to get a sense of her abilities). Just do enough drill to ensure she's got the concept down (and if she's very mathy, that may not be very much -- my DS9 simply tested out of a number of lessons in Singapore, or did a compacted number of exercises (and Singapore has minimal drill to begin with)). Then, supplement with fun stuff. The Living Math website has tons of great book lists.

 

HTH

[Irene Lynn]

I never thought of our dd as mathy. She is gifted and always did very well in math and was flexible in her mathematical thinking, but still not mathy. She did not learn her numbers until she was 2.5yo. She adamantly avoided numbers. Then at 2.5 she learned them. She recognized them, could count one-to-one, and could write them sort of anyway. A few years later she was doing a great job of figuring prices in the store, when they were marked with a certain percentage off. Of course, any time she had trouble with math, I told her to think of it as money. LOL That always worked. She could definitely think in money. She always did well and could easily accellerate through math, but math was not the way she thought.

 

Now at age 16, she does a lot with math in her head, but it is calculating best prices, fastest times, resources needed, etc. Her dad is an organizing type of person, who estimates things all the time and is great at project management, but is not too flexible in his thinking. Dd is much more like him, though she is more flexible, but math is certainly NOT her calling/love. She will be great at handling her finances and understanding macroeconomics and things like that, but she uses numbers to reach another goal, not to find out about numbers and their relationships with each other.

[Shelly in the Country]

What is your definition of a "mathy" child?

 

 

 

I'd say my two oldest kids are "mathy". They both enjoy math and do well in math. They pick up new concepts easily. My dd 10 is essentially self-teaching at this point. I try to explain a few key concepts to her now and then to assure myself she understands them, but she seldom has questions for me and she reads her textbook without my input most days. I still teach my ds 6 directly, but he generally gets new concepts the first time I explain them and just takes off from there.

 

The only time I encounter resistance is if I attempt to do any type of drill with them or if I require dd to copy problems out of her textbook. She does it....but slooooowly. She prefers a workbook setup. Unless we're talking about Life of Fred. I think she'd do LoF even if I didn't tell her to, in spite of having to copy math problems out onto paper :001_smile:.

[Tree House Academy]

When I call my older son, "mathy," I mean that he just kind of naturally "gets" math. I don't have to explain it to him very often. He can do higher level math by just seeing some examples. His tests are hardly ever below a 95% and most of the time, he gets 100%. Math comes easy to him and his his favorite subject.

 

My younger son is the exact opposite of my older. Math is his enemy, at least that is what he tells me! LOL Subtraction makes his head spin, he can see it 300 times and still not know the answer, and on and on.

 

Oddly enough, my younger is also reading at a 4th grade level at 6 y/o while my older struggles to do phonics work and sound out new words (he reads above grade level too, but phonics is a real struggle for him. He learned to read by sight in ps :( ).

Edited April 7, 2010 by Tree House Academy

[joannqn]

My son is also mathy in the way described by others. He understands math things easily and can use that to figure out similar problems without instruction. He begs to do math daily and will do it in his free time. Last summer, for fun, I showed him binary. It only took a few minutes. From there, the other bases, including hexadecimal, was no big deal.

 

He's having no trouble with prealgebra this year. His favorite kinds of problems have no numbers. Such as:

 

Solve of x. Q(X + B) = R(X+C)

[selh09]

Thanks for all the advice!!

[Storm Bay]

All three of mine are mathy, each in her or his own way.

 

My eldest HATED artithmetic with a passion, but was still ready for Algebra at age 11. She had a mind like a steel trap for all things arithmetic and needed no reveiw and does get many things intuitively. Once home, she simply read the text and got it. I had her do Algebra 1 twice so that she could really learn the theory & application, etc, and because she wasn't ready for high school Geometry (that's developmental and not related to IQ). She thinks algebraically, and will make up her own problems based on things she sees in life. Also, she still learns her math by reading the text virtually all of the time. Once in a while she'll have trouble (usually on the Extra for Experts in Dolciani or something that they didn't show visually enough) but not often. She did do Geometry at 14, which isn't unually early, but she's now angry because she thinks she's wasting her time doing English and History when she could be doing more math and science. She's in high school and is doing most of her subjects semester style, which is working better for her than doing all subjects all year.

 

My second one was all about numbers when she started reading. She'd count everything--words on the page, number of lines, number of pages (more, but the memory is getting a bit foggy now.) She gets many math concepts intuitively, but being very strongly visual spatial took longer to get the linguistic aspects of math. She'd also forget certain things. She's not yet 12 and is racing through LoF Beginning Algebra on her own, and simply sailed through the hardest chapter (4, apparently) with no troubles at all. She prefers to do her math in her head, and I have had to work hard with her to get her to start showing some of her work now in Algebra. I don't mind if she can get the answer first in her head, but she's not one of those who can't show how she got the answer and sometimes makes careless mistakes. She was very resistant to regrouping, though, and MUS saved the day (she did that for fun and because she's so VS & SM for her main math.) I am going to make her do an older Dolciani afterward with some Gelfand's (my eldest did some of that, too, and is going to do more with Algebra 2.) Mine do it twice not because they don't get it, but because I'm an avid fan of this method, particularly for dc who do it young (there was a post or so about doing Algebra and Algebra).

 

My ds is very physics oriented and mathy. He could read numbers & music notes before he could read letters--he just remembers them better. He learns many things intuitively, but not all. He's the most verbal learner of my three dc. He's not as accelerated at this point in time as his sisters were, but he's still on track to being in Algebra by 12 at the latest based on how things are going now. He's a later bloomer, but has taken off in the past year or so. That said, he's very stubborn and resistant to memorizing math facts (my dd's learned them by doing math, not by rote) and thinks it's funny to skip count for multiplication. He's learning them in spite of himself, though.

 

Finally, I have really had to work to not get cranky and impatient when my dc don't learn things the very first time I show them. Most of the time, they do. They thrive on rigourous math. My eldest in particular hates math books that are too easy (TT, for eg.)

Edited April 9, 2010 by Karin

[higginszoo]

I've got three children who from an early age would do math things for fun -- pull out the manipulatives and work with them for free play, seek out math puzzles, etc. Their favorite games on the computer would be the Singapore practice CDs. They're who I'd call my mathy children. They find joy in doing math.

 

All four of my children are very good at math, they all pick up on even complex math ideas pretty intuitively. Even my child who doesn't enjoy math picked up the concept of long division in one, 10 minute lesson. But I wouldn't call her math-y, because math just doesn't give her the joy that it gives my other children.

 

Then again, I am having her join the middle school math team next year, because she seems to have a lot of common interests (board games, science), with the girls on the team (who are mostly math-y).

[Storm Bay]

I've got three children who from an early age would do math things for fun -- pull out the manipulatives and work with them for free play, seek out math puzzles, etc. .

 

 

Thanks for reminding me about this. My dc made many messes playing with math manipulatives, and would even play with them when they were supposed to be doign other things.