I am going to broach on the subject of teaching my son math. Both myself and my husband are strong mathematicians, and it on a scale of 1-10 in importance, I would say that it is a 9 (very very important) that my son be confident in the area of mathematics in general and a 10 that he is very comfortable with arithmetic.
I have read about a few different methods of teaching babies and toddlers math. One method is the Glenn Doman method using quantity dot cards to introduce number and quantity, teach operations, and the ultimate goal of using this method is instant subitizing and calculations.
I will explain a little bit about subitizing. Apparently, young children can perceive a quantity without any outside reference. If you show them a card with 54 dots, they will know there are 54 dots on the card without counting. The problem is, most babies do not know how to name 54 dots, so Glenn Doman's method introduces a name to go with quantity. Adults can subitize as well, but I think my ability to subitize falls apart around 5. I can recognize bigger quantities without counting, but it is likely that I am breaking the amount into groups and adding. I am only aware of this because I've counted/rolled pennies before. If there is only 9 pennies in a stack, I can see 5 and 4, and not 5 and 5, so I will know there is not enough, but not instantly.
The problem with this method is it feels and seems overwhelming to implement. I have made up quantity dot cards up to about 30, and ventured to introduce the quantities to my baby. Most sessions ended in a bit a frustration on my baby's part and a feeling like we were wasting time we could be doing something fun on my part. Glenn Doman recommends to introduce quantity up to 100, and since this is not happening in our program, I am going to reduce this quantity to the very manageable, very realistic amount of 20. It is very cool to see a child subitize 87, and I don't doubt that it benefits the child in the long run to have that aspect of his brain muscle exercised, but it is better that we learn quantities up to 20 than nothing at all. I have been hesitant to begin to teach counting to my son without introducing the concept of quantity first, so if we get the quantities out of the way more quickly we can move on to the interesting stuff.
I would like to teach TJ the following, the earlier the better:
1) Quantities 1-20
2) Concepts of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division using quantities 1-20
3) Numerals
3) Counting to 20 (and higher)
4) Counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s
5) Even and odd numbers
I feel happy about my decision to sort of zero in on what I want for TJ's math education and to be able to focus on that and not let preconceived ideas about what a complete "program" would be make me lose sight of what I actually want my child to learn and what would lead to the level of confidence and comfort that I think he should have. The goal here is not to create a human calculator, the goal here is the educate TJ according to what I believe will be of use to him. I'm glad the Doman program gave me a start, but really, I personally believe that this sort of modification would make the program more accessible. Three cheers to me, for being willing to experiment! It's a total act of faith to follow some one else's program, but having faith in your own ideas about baby education is ok too! Having a firm grasp of arithmetic up to 20, I think, will make higher level mathematics, number theory, etc. more accessible.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
TJ Learned a New Word After Just One Viewing of Volume One!
Guess what word that would be? "No!" I decided to put Volume 1 on because we are having a sick day, and he was hanging out on the couch, not really doing much. The news was over, so I would have ordinarily turned on Noggin, but there was nothing tolerable on so I decided it might be fun to get a sneak peak of the next Volume. He saw the word "No" once, and the word repeated later during the program. Before the narrator's voice said no, he shouted "No!" and began shaking his head. I gotta get this stuff on video!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
2000 words per hour?
This article states that some "professional" parents speak 2000 or so words per hour to their child on average, and the number of words spoken to a child has an effect on achievement. To me, 2000 words per hour seems like it would be nearly constant chatter, but maybe it is true that many parents speak this much to their children. I have no idea how many words per hour I speak to my son, but I am not constantly talking to him. Maybe I will talk more when he makes more of an initiative to talk to me!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Progress Report #3
We made it through the holiday without getting totally off schedule with our reading program. I'm glad we stuck with it because, among other things, TJ is babbling his way through the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Did you ever realize it is the same tune as the traditional ABC song? Before, I knew for sure he was singing the ABCs but now I am not so sure which song he's singing, so it's harder to jump in and "help" him get through the song!
We had other breakthroughs, and if you've been reading you know I am big on recognizing the small things. He says "meow" now when he sees the word "cat" on the screen, and he's pretty much memorized the order of the video. He seems to know and get ready for a couple of the words that are coming next, and he will run to get in my lap right before Eentsy weensy spider comes on. I think we will definitely continue for the full 4 weeks as recommended.
Now for the other part of the program, the flashcards. We have been doing the flashcards pretty inconsistently, sort of randomly. I've been using them as sort of a last resort distraction. He still bends and chews the cards, and I really am trying to keep them usable for the full 7 months and longer, so we have not been using them as much. I think he would have a much stronger idea for the words if I would implement a 2-3x a day flashcard session. When I do bring them out, I set down two words on the floor and ask him "Which word says '____.'" If you try this process, you have to be careful of the card placement so that you are not subconsciously placing the correct card closer to his grasp, and not give the child clues with gestures or eye movements of which card is the correct one. He generally gets "nose" and "clap" correct. He is pretty confident, and picks the correct card then hands it to me. For all the other words, there is not that spark of recognition, he looks at both cards for a while, then guesses. Sometimes he will "cheat" by picking up each card and sliding the picture out. I don't take this testing process too seriously, if he picks the wrong card, I just tell him "This word says '____'" and keep the flashcard sessions joyful. I will let you know if/when he does something that indicates reading such as Aleka in Dr. Titzer's video. If he shouts out the word, or points to the body part, etc. with only the flashcard word as a prompt then I will start adding words to his reading vocabulary list.
We had other breakthroughs, and if you've been reading you know I am big on recognizing the small things. He says "meow" now when he sees the word "cat" on the screen, and he's pretty much memorized the order of the video. He seems to know and get ready for a couple of the words that are coming next, and he will run to get in my lap right before Eentsy weensy spider comes on. I think we will definitely continue for the full 4 weeks as recommended.
Now for the other part of the program, the flashcards. We have been doing the flashcards pretty inconsistently, sort of randomly. I've been using them as sort of a last resort distraction. He still bends and chews the cards, and I really am trying to keep them usable for the full 7 months and longer, so we have not been using them as much. I think he would have a much stronger idea for the words if I would implement a 2-3x a day flashcard session. When I do bring them out, I set down two words on the floor and ask him "Which word says '____.'" If you try this process, you have to be careful of the card placement so that you are not subconsciously placing the correct card closer to his grasp, and not give the child clues with gestures or eye movements of which card is the correct one. He generally gets "nose" and "clap" correct. He is pretty confident, and picks the correct card then hands it to me. For all the other words, there is not that spark of recognition, he looks at both cards for a while, then guesses. Sometimes he will "cheat" by picking up each card and sliding the picture out. I don't take this testing process too seriously, if he picks the wrong card, I just tell him "This word says '____'" and keep the flashcard sessions joyful. I will let you know if/when he does something that indicates reading such as Aleka in Dr. Titzer's video. If he shouts out the word, or points to the body part, etc. with only the flashcard word as a prompt then I will start adding words to his reading vocabulary list.
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