Friday, October 8, 2010

A Budding Mathematician

Most people who know my children would assume that this post would be about Ben, and for good reason. Ben is currently moving through the same first-grade level math book as Hannah, slowly but surely. He understands the concept of addition and has memorized his +0, +1, +2, +8 and +9 facts, though he is still a bit shaky on the 8's and 9's. His fine motor skills and his need to wiggle out of his chair fairly regularly limit him to only a few minutes of math per day, but I am satisfied with his progress, especially for a kindergarten boy!

However, this post is not about Ben, but about Hannah. In the past, Hannah has struggled a little to grasp mathematical concepts such as place value, whereas Ben seemed to understand it almost instinctively. This year, though, everything suddenly clicked for Hannah, and she is just flying through her math book! She has memorized all of her addition facts and has moved on to subtraction. She enjoys it so much, that she often completes an entire unit in a day, including the test - and she rarely writes an incorrect answer! Actually, I have had to console her once or twice when she has missed a question on a test, because she becomes quite distraught when she does not get a perfect score. I am glad that she wants to excel, but I would hate for her to give up when the work becomes more challenging, simply because she cannot handle being less than perfect...

I must say, however, that I feel delighted that she cheers when I give her math worksheets to do in the morning, and I smile gladly when she announces, her face aglow, "I am good at math!" I think I am going to have to order the second grade curriculum soon, though. At the rate she is working, she will have completed the first grade book by the end of October...

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