Math Mishaps
Aaron came home yesterday with a math paper that had 6 incorrect answers on it. Considering math is his favorite subject, I was quite surprised. I don't expect him to always get the right answers, but 6 wrong in kindergarten math seemed a bit much.
The directions (which are read aloud by the teacher) for the first 5 said: Write the number in each group. Add. Write the sum. So, for the first one, he would look at the 7 lizards in the first group and the 2 lizards in the second group, and make a number sentence that looked like 7 + 2 = 9. Basically, he is practicing three things: counting the number of objects in a group, writing his numbers, and adding numbers. Good exercise all around.
But Aaron is very much like his father, who is so excited about math, it can get him in trouble. So on the second page, Aaron should have recognized two groups, one with 6 and one with 2, to make the number sentence 6 + 2 = 8. But he Aaron didn't. He decided to write 6 + 8 = 14. True, but not the correct answer. Same thing with the next one. He should have written 7 + 2 = 9. What did he put? 7 + 9 = 16. Again, the sentence is true, but incorrect for the paper.
I figured that perhaps he was just messing around, and felt like writing something else, but most likely, he did the initial math in his head (6 + 2 = 8) and then took the 8 and added to the 6. He tends to think he can do more math than he can. Many times it works, other times, it just doesn't.
Once I got to the bottom of the page, I burst out laughing. The last problem was an algebra readiness problem. Aaron was supposed to look for a pattern, and then Complete the number sentence. It looked like this:
1 + 2 = ?
2 + 2 = ?
3 + 2 = ?
? + 2 = ?
Aaron got the first three right. He correctly supplied 3, 4, and 5. When he got to the last one, he decided to go out with a bang. Instead of 4 and 6, he put 1000 and 1002.
Aaron made his corrections easily and I am asking him to bring the paper back to his teacher. I plan on attaching a note that lets her know that I have no idea where his head was, but that we discussed paying attention a little better. This sort of mishap I certainly don't mind!
The directions (which are read aloud by the teacher) for the first 5 said: Write the number in each group. Add. Write the sum. So, for the first one, he would look at the 7 lizards in the first group and the 2 lizards in the second group, and make a number sentence that looked like 7 + 2 = 9. Basically, he is practicing three things: counting the number of objects in a group, writing his numbers, and adding numbers. Good exercise all around.
But Aaron is very much like his father, who is so excited about math, it can get him in trouble. So on the second page, Aaron should have recognized two groups, one with 6 and one with 2, to make the number sentence 6 + 2 = 8. But he Aaron didn't. He decided to write 6 + 8 = 14. True, but not the correct answer. Same thing with the next one. He should have written 7 + 2 = 9. What did he put? 7 + 9 = 16. Again, the sentence is true, but incorrect for the paper.
I figured that perhaps he was just messing around, and felt like writing something else, but most likely, he did the initial math in his head (6 + 2 = 8) and then took the 8 and added to the 6. He tends to think he can do more math than he can. Many times it works, other times, it just doesn't.
Once I got to the bottom of the page, I burst out laughing. The last problem was an algebra readiness problem. Aaron was supposed to look for a pattern, and then Complete the number sentence. It looked like this:
1 + 2 = ?
2 + 2 = ?
3 + 2 = ?
? + 2 = ?
Aaron got the first three right. He correctly supplied 3, 4, and 5. When he got to the last one, he decided to go out with a bang. Instead of 4 and 6, he put 1000 and 1002.
Aaron made his corrections easily and I am asking him to bring the paper back to his teacher. I plan on attaching a note that lets her know that I have no idea where his head was, but that we discussed paying attention a little better. This sort of mishap I certainly don't mind!
Comments
Must be something about this time of year because Harper has had terrible writing mistakes on her papers - enough for me to contact the teacher about it. She thinks she's just rushing to get to the writing center. :-)