kokotg Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 My 5 year old is finishing up Singapore Earlybird. We just got to the section on money, and we've hit a complete standstill. I don't know what it is, but he seems to have some sort of mental block when it comes to keeping money values straight. I can go over them with him and 2 minutes later he's completely clueless. This is the first real trouble he's had with the books...he flew through the first three books, and the last one has been slower going. He's just mastered counting to 100, and he still has some trouble counting by 5s, so we spent some extra time on those things. But this is the first topic that he's just completely not getting. I printed out some extra worksheets from Teacher Filebox, in hopes that a slightly different approach would help things click for him, but no luck. So...what do I do now? Do I stick with it until he gets it, or do I just skip it and hope he'll get it the next time it comes around (I can't remember, but I'm assuming they review money in Singapore 1)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 He's only 5 and in K. Of course he'll have more exposure to money--it's all thru elementary school. Skip it and move on, formally. Informally, I'd start playing with money more. Have him count the pennies when you get change at the store. Give him a small amt for extra chores (dd earns nickles if she does extra chores for me). Have him search your car or the couch on Tuesdays for change. If he's not counting by 5's and 10's, he's not ready to use money. Waiting even 6 months will help dramatically for most kids. Relax! Once they know about money, they learn how to spend it!:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snickelfritz Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 We've only done pennies and dimes, so that's what we use. Plus, I have dd stack up pennies in groups of ten and trade back and forth with dimes, count in groups of tens, etc... Once we get to nickels and quarters, I'll do the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhudson Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Have you pulled out real money? We like to get real money and play store and cafe and that really helps with memory. I find that the more we use hands on and fun activities the better my children retain information. We actually just did this with my twins who are 7 and in Singapore 2B with money values. We had a great time and they learned a ton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 Keep in mind, time and money really aren't math topics; they are just stuck there because, hey, they involve numbers! I wouldn't worry about it at all, and I wouldn't spend any more time on it. My 8 yr old STILL asks "how much is a quarter again?" about once a week! Her sis did the same, but somewhere between 8 and 10, she cemented it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 We skipped it. I figured I'll go back and do it someday when it makes more sense to him. I did start giving him an allowance recently and that's made money more real than anything else. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 I'd skip it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokotg Posted October 7, 2008 Author Share Posted October 7, 2008 Thanks everyone! I think I kind of needed someone to give me permission to skip it. Now that I have it, I will gladly do exactly that :) Keep in mind, time and money really aren't math topics; they are just stuck there because, hey, they involve numbers! that's an excellent point. It seems obvious now that it's spelled out that way, but I don't think I had made the connection in my mind that money values isn't a concept that anything else builds on, and he won't be mathematically crippled if he doesn't get it yet. We have gotten out play money and messed around it with it, but he really doesn't seem to be anywhere near grasping the whole thing. I think it's just putting too many things together at once--he has to remember to link the name of the coin with the visual and then assign the correct value to it on top of that, and his brain just overloads. We'll keep pulling them out periodically and playing around, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree House Academy Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 Oh, the fun way to learn money is to play store! :) My son LOVES this and thoroughly enjoys counting out his money to me. There is no better way, IMO, to learn that to have the "real life" example. I realize playing store is not real life, but it is as close as we can get without going broke! haha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.