nature girl Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 So we're currently between curricula after finishing RS B, just doing nightly Bedtime Math as well as some RS card games. Tentatively planning starting 1st edition RS C next month. DD has started using Prodigy sporadically. This morning she came to some word problems that required multiplication...and was able to figure out how to do 2x (since she can double numbers up to 20) but when it got more complicated (How many legs do 4 dogs have?) she initially guessed 12, I think she was picturing dogs and counting in her head, until I helped her work through the problem using the abacus with 4 rows of 4. She then figured it out by adding (4+4) + (4+4). But should I have had her skip-count by 4's instead? And if so, what happens when she comes to larger numbers like 12x3? Also, should I start teaching the commutative property of multiplication? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiara.I Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 Using the abacus with four tires of for is perfect. If she can "see" the answer that way, great. If not, she can also use take and give until she gets to it. Skip counting is also great, but comes later (in RS) than understanding arrays. Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nature girl Posted April 12, 2016 Author Share Posted April 12, 2016 Using the abacus with four tires of for is perfect. If she can "see" the answer that way, great. If not, she can also use take and give until she gets to it. Thanks! (She was able to see the answer, but for bigger numbers I'm sure she'd need to do take and give...And I think I need to understand RS's reasoning behind take and give, it's always kind of bothered me. Are kids really learning concepts by sliding beads? It almost feels like counting on fingers to me.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiara.I Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 Thanks! (She was able to see the answer, but for bigger numbers I'm sure she'd need to do take and give...And I think I need to understand RS's reasoning behind take and give, it's always kind of bothered me. Are kids really learning concepts by sliding beads? It almost feels like counting on fingers to me.) Don't worry, it doesn't stick around long. It's more in the nature of a proof. "Look, see these beads on multiple wires? If we move them around, they really truly do become numbers that you're familiar with. Now that we've shown you that, here are ways to see the patterns in the array and not need to move them...." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nature girl Posted April 12, 2016 Author Share Posted April 12, 2016 Well after a year and a half of just going through the motions, I think I just realized the obvious, thank you. It's basically trying to instill the concept behind mental math...I'm feeling ridiculous for not having seen it before this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendyroo Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 My approach with word problems and real-life problem solving has always been to encourage my kids to find some way, even an inelegant, inefficient one, to find the answer using skills they already possess. In your example, I would have suggested maybe drawing stick figures of the dogs and legs and counting. I figure the important part of word problems is visualizing the problem, comprehending what is being asked and getting to the right answer via a method you feel confident using. In real life, you won't be judged on whether you used the "right" method. Eventually, either A) she will draw and count enough stick figures and start to discover the short cuts on her own or B) you will reach those topics in the normal math sequence and systematically teach her the various conceptualizations of multiplication. Even at that point, she might opt to use simpler methods to figure out Prodigy questions since the main objective is just getting the right answer; I would view that as a valid choice and a sign that she is still building her strong pre-multiplication foundation before she is ready to start using multiplication as a reliable tool. Wendy 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nature girl Posted April 12, 2016 Author Share Posted April 12, 2016 That makes so much sense, Wendy. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiara.I Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 Well after a year and a half of just going through the motions, I think I just realized the obvious, thank you. It's basically trying to instill the concept behind mental math...I'm feeling ridiculous for not having seen it before this... :laugh: No worries. When it's different than the way we were taught, it can be hard to figure out WHY they're doing it. Plus, in my case anyway, I know how to multiply, but I do NOT remember the preliminary steps that it took to get me to that point. Did I learn it with arrays? Did I learn it with counting? Noooo idea. I just multiply...So shouldn't the kids, with no preliminary stuff? LOL Maybe not. And I know RS is different than the way most of us learned math, so it can be a real learning curve for us parents. But yes, RS focuses heavily on conceptual understanding. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reign Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 Did the question require multiplication as in the equation was there or as in it seems simplist to you to use multiplication for that question. For a child that doesn't know multiplication yet I would expect them to use addition to solve the problem. For 12*3 my youngest would solve it by adding 12+12+12 because we haven't worked on multiplication enough for her to know to count by 3s. Once we get to multiplication in her math book counting by 3s until she has it memorized has been our path. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamamoose Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 RS C teaches multiplication in arrays (tiles) and then with the abacus, so that was just how RS teaches it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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