Transitioning back to school.
‘6 children won a prize…..
They shared the prize equally…..
“Why did 6 win?”
They each received 8p each…..
“Haha only 8p, that’s rubbish!”
There was 2 pennies left. What was the value of their prize?….
“Why did they enter?” “Why was 2 left?”
“My girl, this is the question: what is (6×8) + 2?”
Does this defeat the point of the question?
Have I given her the easy way out?
I don’t think so.
The basic sum, my girl, can do. (With help, and broken down into manageable chunks.)
Mental Arithmetic has always been her strong point.
She loves numbers.
She can do a sum quicker in her mind than anyone I know….
….unless it is padded out with language.
These word problems are there to help the child connect real life situations to maths.
This causes problems for a number of children, but more so for children on the spectrum.
My girl is a visual learner.
She is a concrete learner.
She spends so much time trying to understand the situation surrounding the question, that she loses sight of the underlining mathematical question.
She also struggles with words like
‘……How much money had he first?
I know it is getting the children to think, to see the bigger picture.
I know alot of tests and assessments are now including more and more word problems.
I know my girl struggles with these.
(I know Mum struggles to do these with her!)
Autism 1 – Homework 0.