Celia Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Gack. :blink: My kiddo is just not getting the hang of this game. I mean, he's got the mechanics of the game down fine, but no matter how many times we go over the math facts needed for it, he can't apply them to the game. In fact, he immediately forgets things like 8+7=15; right after figuring them out uising the abacus or balance, it's forgotten by next turn! I'm getting frustrated! He'll look for the simplest of matches, but that's it. He's fine on Go To the Dump. but other than 5+5 or 9+1, he doesn't apply that knowledge to Corners. I'm wondering if he's just finding it too tricky sorting through the options. He's the kind of child who can't find something that's right in front of his nose. Anyways, can I go on and continue without having this game mastered and just continue to play it regularly and see if he improves? Or does this call for stopping and reviewing until it comes more easily? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bayt ul-Hikmah Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 All I can say is this is the one game that just does not click around here either. I'm hoping someone will chime in with some advice. We're in the early lessons of Level C which contain review of B - so we're hitting the corners game for a second time. Boo. I just skip it, but that may or may not be the best idea... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinyhappypeople Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Why not just make him a cheat sheet with the facts he needs written out for him? Eventually he won't need it anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyforlatin Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 We love this game here, but initially, that's what I did - I put down the math facts on paper next to the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anabelneri Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Corners is my favorite of the games so far! When we played it last year, Sweetie would only make the simplest of pairings... we usually played Go To The Dump first, so she would have the 10s pairs in her head. We would talk about how to make 15, and then we would play. She always had an abacus at her side, and a couple times we would write down the different possible equations for her to refer to. Unlike the other games, I wouldn't keep score for myself when we played Corners. We would choose a point goal for Sweetie to reach and play to that. Most of the time she wouldn't make 15s except with 10 and 5, but she saw me making a lot of 15s in the other ways. She could see that I was making a lot of points, but since she wasn't competing against me she wasn't upset about it (she's the type who doesn't respond well to competition, especially when she's getting trumped). This year when we started playing (we took about half a year off) I was pleasantly surprised when Sweetie started making 15s on her own. She also has been working really hard to fill in the corners, instead of only adding onto a side. Games got a lot faster, and we started doing the other variations. After a couple rounds I could see that her scoring was a lot closer to mine, so I've started keeping score for myself again. Hopefully something will help. It's definitely a favorite here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulieD Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Yes, yes, make a cheat sheet! My kids both started with one, and they don't use it anymore. You can definitely keep going, but playing a short Corners game every day, maybe to 50 points until he starts seeing larger sums, will definitely help his math thinking. At the beginning I'd always challenge myself to make my kid win. This can be quite difficult at first, but it makes the game more interesting for me and more rewarding for them. Also, instead of thinking what goes with 7 to make 15, model adding the numbers on his cards to the matching color on the last card. There is a red 7, let's see; I have a red 4, no, that's 11; I have a red 6, no, that's 13; I have a red 3, good that's 10, maybe I can find more, though. Of course, at first they will always be satisfied with the first number they get. (You won't be able to do this every turn if you're trying to get them to win :).) I know part of the point of the game is getting comfortable adding to 5s, but they do start to do that eventually. Remember, it's a game; it's supposed to be fun! It's OK if they aren't experts at first. Julie D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 When they're first learning it, a cheat sheet is totally acceptable. They suggest it in the book! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonia Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 :iagree: Agreeing with others - dd has a cheat sheet that she uses when we play this game. She is getting so fast at adding her score! Love this game! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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