Random math gripe. Arggh!!

[Not_a_Number]

I was randomly Googling and came across a multiplication website for Prodigy:

https://www.prodigygame.com/main-en/blog/how-to-teach-multiplication/

Here's the annoying quote from it:

Quote

The rule of associative property states that no matter the way you group factors, the product will always be the same. For example,

(1 x 2) x 3 = 1 x (2 x 3)

Your students can understand this concept by relating it to column addition, whereby they group addends to find the sum.Students can also learn to group factors in any way they find most convenient as they look for the answer. You may explain this rule as an extension of the commutative property above.

The associative property is NOT an extension of the commutative property!! Argh. And the commutative property is not an extension of the associative property, either. They are totally logically unrelated properties!! 

Ugh. Yikes. 

Edited May 11, 2021 by Not_a_Number

[VminusEplusFis2]

Oh gosh, Prodigy. My child played it for a while, and I remember absolutely hating how some of their tutorials explained things. They made literally zero sense to me. 

It's a great game for review, though. Really motivating if the child gets into it. DS isn't particularly driven to do math problems in his free time, especially if they require writing, but at some point Prodigy had him voluntarily doing multiple very long calculations in his notebook several nights a week, all in his free time. I was amazed. Come to think of it, I need to talk to him to figure out why he stopped playing. 

[HomeAgain]

My kid has never loved Prodigy's explanations.  They're usually dumbed down and remind us of Life Of Fred - information is there, and it works, but it's not always exactly right and may trip you up later.

We use it for the same reason as Animula. It's fun, it's good review.  It's a welcome break from some more intense math lessons we do and presents topics in a more standard form. 

[kiwik]

I don't think my son ever listened to the explanations.  We were using it to find holes mostly so it didn't matter.

[drjuliadc]

On 5/11/2021 at 6:40 AM, HomeAgain said:

My kid has never loved Prodigy's explanations.  They're usually dumbed down and remind us of Life Of Fred - information is there, and it works, but it's not always exactly right and may trip you up later.

We use it for the same reason as Animula. It's fun, it's good review.  It's a welcome break from some more intense math lessons we do and presents topics in a more standard form. 

What is animula?

[HomeAgain]

2 minutes ago, drjuliadc said:

What is animula?

I am going to hazard a guess, because it's been a few months. LOL  I think it was the user name of the person who posted above me.  Since I didn't use the @ it doesn't show up as a name change.

[Not_a_Number]

32 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

I am going to hazard a guess, because it's been a few months. LOL  I think it was the user name of the person who posted above me.  Since I didn't use the @ it doesn't show up as a name change.

Yes, she deleted that account and now has another one 🙂 

[HomeAgain]

1 minute ago, Not_a_Number said:

Yes, she deleted that account and now has another one 🙂 

Good to know!  It took me a few minutes to come up with the answer I did. 😄  It was the only possibly that came to mind.

[drjuliadc]

1 hour ago, HomeAgain said:

I am going to hazard a guess, because it's been a few months. LOL  I think it was the user name of the person who posted above me.  Since I didn't use the @ it doesn't show up as a name change.

Ok. Thank you. I was reading it like animula was another game like prodigy. I see now it was referencing a poster.