This week I’ve got a simple challenge for any of you with kids in about first to fifth grade. Gather three small bowls and ten dry beans (or similar small round objects). And also a piece of paper and pencil.
Many children get the idea that mathematics is all about precision. In order to be right, you have to be exactly right. After after all, there is only one correct answer to 7 X 6. But precision isn’t always what’s
What is six? “Well, it’s a concept that means six things,” you might say, and you wouldn’t be wrong. You could define “six” by gathering six beans and counting them and saying: “There, that’s six.” But six is something else,
Ask an elementary school child “What is math?” and you’re likely to get an answer something like: “it’s problems….addition, subtraction, multiplication, division.” That’s what math feels like in school: rules and procedures that you follow to solve problems. It’s too
