Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:15 am
Dear Seeking,
I am not giving suggestions because I see your child having any problems with doing any kind of math. My 9 yr old ds is like a human calculator, doing all this math in his head and reading adult math books about infinity, modern geometry, etc. I'm telling you this only because I can understand what it's like to have a gifted child.
Yet, with all the ways he is advanced for his age, there are still the basic needs of a 9 yr old there, and maybe even some developmental stages that he has gone through and will go through, like everyone else.
So, for instance, this past fall, we tried to do some algebra together. We kind of hit a wall in the understanding department, about why we were solving an equation. He computes answers in his head very quickly, and that works for him. So, I let it go. Why? Because it meant he could choose something else to explore and learn. He's happy and he is learning more than I could ever teach him.
Then, I was reading some of Bob Hazen's bio, on this forum, about algebra, and he said that you have to have your thinking developed enough to be able to handle algebra. That confirmed that my "intuition" was right, to not push and make him learn something he was having trouble doing.
I am giving suggestions because we found these books to be encouraging and we share and play with these things with the rest of the family. I found out that there are all kinds of Fibonacci numbers in nature. My 12 dd went out one day and found leaves and petals for each number in the series, and taped them in her notebook. It was not an assignment. She wanted to do it because she saw us reading about it and talking about it in the Penrose books.
It's amazing what we can learn from our children, when we take the time. I need to challenge myself to do some math games along with my children. I am going to look for the ones that Bob suggested.
Your friend in IL,
Kim B.
I am not giving suggestions because I see your child having any problems with doing any kind of math. My 9 yr old ds is like a human calculator, doing all this math in his head and reading adult math books about infinity, modern geometry, etc. I'm telling you this only because I can understand what it's like to have a gifted child.
Yet, with all the ways he is advanced for his age, there are still the basic needs of a 9 yr old there, and maybe even some developmental stages that he has gone through and will go through, like everyone else.
So, for instance, this past fall, we tried to do some algebra together. We kind of hit a wall in the understanding department, about why we were solving an equation. He computes answers in his head very quickly, and that works for him. So, I let it go. Why? Because it meant he could choose something else to explore and learn. He's happy and he is learning more than I could ever teach him.
Then, I was reading some of Bob Hazen's bio, on this forum, about algebra, and he said that you have to have your thinking developed enough to be able to handle algebra. That confirmed that my "intuition" was right, to not push and make him learn something he was having trouble doing.
I am giving suggestions because we found these books to be encouraging and we share and play with these things with the rest of the family. I found out that there are all kinds of Fibonacci numbers in nature. My 12 dd went out one day and found leaves and petals for each number in the series, and taped them in her notebook. It was not an assignment. She wanted to do it because she saw us reading about it and talking about it in the Penrose books.
It's amazing what we can learn from our children, when we take the time. I need to challenge myself to do some math games along with my children. I am going to look for the ones that Bob suggested.
Your friend in IL,
Kim B.
