I'm amazed by how our children's minds work.
Xander wants us to quiz him on math problems all the time, and he quizzes Ari too.
Ari thinks one plus one is eleven.
I can see how he gets there: that's what it looks like if you put the numbers next to each other.
He also said that zero plus zero is eight.
I get that too: two zero's on top of each other looks like an 8!
He thinks spatially, which I think is pretty cool. Ari's always been more interested in letters and books anyway.
Xander, on the other hand, is straight-up numbers and science. Yesterday we were talking about how fast time goes by, how a period of time can feel longer or shorter depending on one's emotions.
I said, "Sometimes I can't believe you're 6, I feel like I just gave birth to you!"
He responded saying, "Yeah, and now you're 33 and have three kids! One day I'll be 33 too."
"Yup," I said. "And maybe you'll be marrying the person you love, or you'll have a family of your own too. I had you when I was 27, so how old will I be? 27 plus 33."
"Give me a minute," he said. He was quiet in the backseat.
"Sixty! Almost like Bubby!" came the answer a quick moment later.
"That's right, Xander," I said. "How'd you figure it out?"
"On my fingers."
"But what did you do with your fingers to get the answer?"
"Ten plus ten plus ten is thirty, and then three plus seven is another ten, and then two more ten's."
I was seriously impressed!
OMG! He adds things up like I do! And I even use my fingers sometimes. ;)
ReplyDeleteThen it's definitely generational....I do it that way too!
ReplyDeleteAnd Ari makes sense to me, though after registering the visual, I slide into the mathematical -- so 12 becomes 3
From my dad, I learned how to add two columns of figures together by running my fingers down the page, doing the arithmetic in my head.. Math is so much fun!
It obviously skipped me....
ReplyDelete