Mr. Imagination has been struggling to learn his addition and subtraction facts lately. One morning I was praying about this problem and an idea popped into my head, so I decided to try it. I’m still not sure if it’s working, but he likes this better than flashcards. The idea is to learn the pairs of numbers that go together to make each of the numbers from 1-18, and then he should know all the basic addition and subtraction facts. We’ve only used this game four days now, so time will tell. Esther is away for awhile, helping a family who are going through difficult circumstances, and one of her jobs is to teach the 7-year-old in the family math. I tried to describe this over the phone and failed, so thought I’d write up what I’m doing.
I cut index cards in half and put a number on each one. He has only worked with up to 6+9=15 so far, so I’ve only given him the numbers 1-15 so far. Then, on smaller bits of cards, I printed the number pairs that make up each larger number. For example, 2 has two smaller cards, with 0 and 2 on one and 1 and 1 on the other. Five has three cards, with 0 and 5, 1 and 4, and 2 and 3 on them. Ten has 1 and 9, 2 and 8, 3 and 7, 4 and 6, and 5 and 5. He is to match each little card with the correct big one, and I time him to make it a competition.
Does that help, Esther?
Yes, that is helpful! I may try that tomorrow. Thanks! Hoping I won’t have to spend most of the morning in the kitchen making lunch, so I can focus on school a little better. 🙂
good thinking to find a way that works for your lad. 🙂