Photo courtesy of Daniel Oines
I remember the first week of my fifth grade year. I had a math worksheet for homework, and I was completely stumped.
“I don’t remember how to do this stuff, Mom.”
“What do you mean?” she said. “It’s just long division!”
Yep, in three blissful months of summer vacation, I had completely forgotten to long divide. My mother, a teacher herself, was shocked. Brain drain can sneak up on even the pros.
Being ready for school is much more than having a new backpack, plenty of No. 2 pencils and a healthy breakfast. Studies show that during the lazy months of summer, all kids suffer from “brain drain” or the loss of learning. In fact, students lose (on average) 2.6 months of mathematical competency in June, July and August. Wow!
I promise: I will not tell any parents that they should be teaching math over the summer. I’m not big on academically based summer camps (unless kids desperately need remediation or love these kinds of activities). I hate the idea of kids being subjected to flash cards or worksheets when they could be playing at the pool or reading a great book.
But I do believe — whole heartedly — that parents can help slow the loss of mathematic comprehension with some really simple and even fun activities.
And that’s what August is about here at Math for Grownups. We’ll focus on parenting, primarily, but I’m guessing that even non-parents can gain some additional understanding from some of the activities I’ll suggest. (No one should feel left out!) I’ll also hit on a variety of grades and ages — from toddlers to college students. And I hope to bring you some Math at Work Monday interviews that will inspire even the most reluctant math student.
But first, I want to know: What are your questions? What kinds of activities are you looking for? What topics are you having trouble helping your kids with? You ask ‘em, and I’ll answer ‘em — or at least point you in the right direction (perhaps to my posts at MSN.com’s Mom’s Homeroom).
So let’s start easing back into the school mindset — so September is not a shock to anyone’s system!
I want to hear from you! Ask your questions in the comments section or email me.
I just thought of something we do with our kids (6 and 8). Role Playing Games. We play D&D as a family. It is fantastic for quick calculations. For example, character Hoho wants to attack the bandit with his dwarven war axe. Well, he has to roll a D20 to hit – he gets a +7 on his roll due to his strength and experience. The bandit has an armor class of 15 (i.e. you need a 15 or higher to hit). Hoho rolls a 10. Does it hit???
YES! He hit! How much damage? Well, his axe does 1d10+4 damage. He rolls a 8. How much damage is that?
Oh, and it is the bandits turn! He rolls a 19 to hit and your AC is only 18! You take 3 points of damage- so subtract those points from your total hit points (which go up as you gain in levels and get better armor).
If you roll a natural 20, you get a critical hit and that doubles the damage you do. There are other bonuses for flanking, backstabs, spells, etc.
There is a lot of ready reckoning needed as well. Is it better to cast magic missile with guaranteed hits but low damage or try for a different weapon with more damage. And what will other members of your party do too? If a bard sings, that adds points to your rolls. Your cleric can heal you by returning some of your hit points.
Full of simple calculations and lots of blood thirsty fun!!!
Hello there! This post could not be written any better! Reading this post reminds me of my previous room mate! He always kept talking about this. I will forward this post to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thank you for sharing!
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Not all academically based summer camps are the same. MathTree camps make math so much fun in the summer. We do math explorations and set kids up to make discoveries, an approach there’s usually not time for in a packed school curriculum. With three hours of math in a day, we develop tremendous momentum and get deep into math. Our approach is highly conceptual — we teach the “why,” not just how to do math. The camps provide an enriching head start on the big ideas coming in math in the next school year. Groups are small (12 kids with a teacher and an assistant).
At MathTree camps:
• We actively engage with children.
• We tune in to individual children.
• We constantly monitor children’s understanding and work.
• We love numbers but we don’t treat children like one.
• We embrace each individual child’s unique personality.
• We monitor children’s understanding in multiple ways, even in simple conversations.
• We notice if children look confused.
• We can nimbly jump in and unconfuse children.
• We don’t park children in front of computers.
• We play games in small groups.
• We use rich materials to make math real.
In addition,
• We have more quality class time because the assistant handles routine tasks.
• The assistant frees the teacher to be fresh and creative with the class.
• If a child is getting things faster than the campers around her, we can provide her the challenge she needs.
We have been growing children’s love of math since 1999. Our parents tell us so.
This is what one Baltimore parent wrote:
“I also wanted to let you know how much Rhys loved camp! Never in a million years did I think Rhys would love it as much as she did. As soon as she got home she begged me to sign her up for next year! ”
We received this message from a parent of a 7 year old recently:
“I just wanted to let you know that when I picked up my daughter, Natania Markos, yesterday from her first class of Bean Counting 201 (at First Assembly in Alexandria) she came running to me with a big smile on her face and said, ‘Mommy how long does this camp last? I wish it would last for 2 million years!!!”’ Just goes to show you how much she enjoyed it!!
“Thank you so much for making math fun!! This is exactly why I’ve been signing her up for the past two years. I want her to grow up loving math!!
“Many thanks for all your hard work and dedication to make math fun and easy to understand.”
MathTree camps are available in Baltimore and 24 other locations. Importantly, they provide a math bridge across the summer.