A Knack for Numbers

On Thursday, I worked with Hannah on learning to tell time. She and Ben already know how to read the time on a digital clock, but neither could read a traditional clock. In her math lessons, Hannah has mastered counting by fives and writing tally marks, so understanding the minutes on a clock came fairly easily to her. Ben, however, began begging me to do some math with him.

When we began this math book, Hannah knew her numbers and shapes, so we did a few practice pages and then skipped ahead to learning about place value. This proved to be quite difficult for her, though. The curriculum we use explains it very clearly, with hands-on activities, and she eventually understood, though not without a few tears along the way.

Anyway, because she skipped so many lessons, I could use those to work a bit with Ben. Just like Hannah, Ben knew all of the introductory lessons. Unlike her, though, he already knows numbers up to 99. I did not teach these to him. He somehow just picked them up from our daily conversations.

We got to the place value chapter and I hesitated. Did I really want to attempt such a frustrating lesson with Ben yet? "Please, mom!" he begged, so I pulled out the "Decimal Street" poster and the ten, units, and hundreds blocks from the kit. I showed him how the numbers worked and how to identify place value. And, it clicked for him... just like that! In about five to ten minutes, he figured out place value and now can read any number up to 999. Crazy, huh?

I am realizing that Ben just seems to have a knack for numbers. Like his dad, he also enjoys taking things apart and figuring out how things work. We are fortunate that he does not have access to any real tools quite yet. One of his favorite presents was a rocket we launched (and promptly lost) in a park near our house.

The kids are so different and uniquely gifted. While Hannah seems very interested in science, she enjoys life science and nature more than Ben. On the other hand, Ben seems more interested in mechanical and engineering science. I cannot wait to see how their interests blossom as they grow older!

Does Ben have "The Knack"?