maths equations

[DomanMom]

Well, actually, we're still not "finished" with the math program. We've gone through the first and second steps - which is teaching quantity and teaching equations, but we're still in the third step, which is "problem solving" and all kinds of other things to learn. So far in step three we've done equalities (like 5+5 ≠ 15–4 or 10x5 = 100÷2), greater than and less than (i.e. 36 < 74), played with longer equations 6x2+3÷5, done square roots, and are currently working on fractions. After fractions we'll probably do sequences, (like 2,4,6,8,10... and then more complex ones like [+5, -3] 5,2,7,4,9,6... etc. and tons of others). We'll then do some algebra (like 10 + y = 19) and then move onto teaching numerals, which is the fourth step. Just so you know, it usually doesn't take this long to get through the steps, we've just been inconsistent so it's taken a long time.   

By that point, pretty much the world of mathematics will be our oyster - we'll move onto geometry and algebra and I'll probably teach him all the basic terms and stuff that you learn in pre-algebra, like probability, more on fractions (like 1.25 x 3 = 3.75), negative numbers, etc., etc.

I plan on homeschooling, so our math program is never really over - at least until he's learned all there is to know about math, which I don't think is really possible, as it is a science and we're learning more about it all the time. I hope to be making some sort of "curriculum", or more like sample schedules, so that you could get your baby through probably trigonometry and calculus by the time he's seven. It wouldn't be too hard, since little kids understand math so well - I mean, if a three-month-old can master addition in two weeks, whereas it normally takes at least two years in school (more, if you count pre-K, K, 1, 2, 3 grade - so really like 5 years!) then I don't doubt for a second that a four-year-old could be enjoying high school math, and have calculus mastered by age seven or eight, or perhaps even earlier.

So, I hope to be recording our journey and then making our schedule available to others - because I certainly wish that someone else had done that for me! The main reason why it has taken so long is because it's been somewhat difficult to prepare the schedules - teaching it is a breeze. So anyway, there's our stance on math - no, we don't have to"review" necessarily, we're just going to keep building on our present knowledge so we'll really be "reviewing" all the time. 

[scottdaleharris]

Domanmom,
Thank you for all your posts they are great.  I have also have been reading and just finished your entire blog.  You are a great parent and very motivated.  I appreciate you helping other parents and not looking to gain anything.  I have downloaded your dotcards and began teaching them yesterday and have ordered domans math book.  I'll keep you posted on my daughters progress.  Great blog by the way, keep writing.

[tatianna]

yes it's a wonderful blog i'm a big fan
math is one of the doman programs that so few people are doing
that it's really wonderful to hear about all your success with it
that great that you plan to home school
we are homeschooling too
and first it was hard for me to not go back to my school in ghana
but i know i made the right choice to teach my little one
good luck with your son
tatianna

[sb1201]

I have some questions...

I just finished reading the teach your baby math book. I am wondering if I maybe read an old book or something because the instructions are a bit different then you have given.

In the book it says when teaching equations to start on day 30 and say "one plus one equals two" and show the two dot card. Do this in order up to ten so 1+1, 1+2, 1+3 and so on. Then the next day to do 2+1, 2+2, 2+3 and so on until the 34th day when you finally show him 5+5. But only showing the card representing the answer to the equation. It also says that by the 36th day you can forget about sequence and give any addition in any order as long as the sum does not exceed the highest number of dots that he has been exposed to. After this you move into subtraction.

Is this the old version of doing the math?   

[DomanMom]

sb1201 - Perhaps it is just an older version, because in the version I have they give the exact opposite instructions and say to NOT do patterns at first because it should be exciting and new and keeping the baby wondering "What comes next?" It also says nothing about starting at day 30, all it says is that after you have taught numbers 1-20 you should begin addition (which I calculated is day 16). Also, in the version I have it says to show all three cards at first (like say "one" and show the one card, "plus two" and show the two card, "equals three" and show the three card). After you have initially taught addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division (two weeks of each) then you graduate to only showing the answer like the version you have recommends.

I know the reading book has changed quite a bit, like in the original version they recommended starting at 18 months, showing only five words at a time, and testing each word before moving on. Now they recommend starting at birth, teaching 25 words at a time (in 5 sets of 5 words each), and never testing your baby.

You can choose to teach your baby however you feel best, whatever way you feel will be the most effective and interesting for your baby is the way you should go. If you're both having a good time, and always stop before he wants to stop, there's really no way you can go wrong.

[Tanikit]

I know the reading book has changed quite a bit, like in the original version they recommended starting at 18 months, showing only five words at a time, and testing each word before moving on. Now they recommend starting at birth, teaching 25 words at a time (in 5 sets of 5 words each), and never testing your baby.

Thanks for putting this is as it has put me at more ease with what I am doing. Although I am not testing my baby, I find it almost impossible to get through even three sets of five words three times a day, so have dropped back to two sets. It seems that you are right - as long as my baby and I are happy, she'll still be learning something. Perhaps as I get into it I can show her a bit more.

Thanks also for all your posts about equations - I am still making the dot cards so it'll be a while before I need this information, but you have explained it very well.

[sb1201]

Well phewy, just when I think I have it all figured out  :tongue2:

Thanks to you Domanmom for explaininng it so well. I think I'll be able to follow it when I start with my son without needing a new book. It makes more sense that it would be more interesting to a baby. I am however following the sequence method with my daughter. She's 5, so I know she's probably to old to "perceive" the quantaties very easily, but for some reason she just loves doing the dot flash cards.    she thinks it's the best thing ever. So we do them about three time a day. I figure even if she doesn't ever perceive the quantaties the sequence practice will be good for her and then eventually practicing the equations. and who knows maybe after awhile she will get it 

But I do like the other method for my 10 month old, actually he'll be about 11 mo when we start the math. I want to give him about a month of reading practice before we start math.

Thanks to all you guys for your help!

[DomanMom]

Thanks for putting this is as it has put me at more ease with what I am doing. Although I am not testing my baby, I find it almost impossible to get through even three sets of five words three times a day, so have dropped back to two sets. It seems that you are right - as long as my baby and I are happy, she'll still be learning something. Perhaps as I get into it I can show her a bit more.

That's great that you're starting slow, that is the best advice I can give to any new parent starting any learning program with their baby.

When I first started, I wanted it ALL, RIGHT NOW, and to say the least overwhelmed myself and was very inconsistent. I thought that I wanted him to be learning 25 words a week instead of just a "measly" 5, but in the end he ended up learning zero because I couldn't keep consistent! Not only that, but because I was overwhelmed I wasn't happy, and he wasn't happy because he wasn't learning anything! And yes, it's always far better that you and your baby are happy and learning something, even if it's just one word a week, than the other way around, where you're more likely to become overwhelmed and be inconsistent, and possibly quit and even worse, your baby becomes disinterested because it's inconsistent and Mommy isn't happy.

So that's great that you're doing exactly as much as you enjoy, and remember, you can always add more once you're comfortable.

[Tanikit]

I wanted to ask a question about maths equations - my child is almost at the 20 dot card and then I plan to start equations, however sometimes when showing my child the dots I can only get through two a session (if I am really fast with them I may manage 4 and occasssionally 5) as she has a very short concentration span.

When I do the equations obviously I need to show at least 3 dot cards per equation to even get through one equation per session. Is there any way of improving my childs ability to focus on more cards per session - I have the same problem with the reading flashcards and occassionally only show her one to make up a session.

[Mum]

Hi Tanikit

I am in the same boat as you with my little boy who is almost the same age as your child. After about 8 days of math he was not interested in any more than one or two dot cards (even though he loves the reading, maybe because I put at least one family member in each reading set and he is excited to see their photos).

I have actually taken a break from dots while I compile a list of tips on how to make math fun. All the tips so far on this site have been great but I know I need many more to start equations. I am not the exciting and funny parent in our home 

I even ordered the "How To Teach Your Baby Math" DVD from the US. It arrived today and I am hoping it will be filled with images that will help me make maths work with my son.

Maybe if everyone who is successfully teaching equations to a 1 year old could share just 1 of their ways of being silly and fun it would help us keep the math going long enough to do at least 1 equation a day while they are at this very short attention span age.

Thank you to everyone who has added a post regarding maths. I have enjoyed reading everything.

[Maddy]

Hi Mum

Elizabeth has kindly shared the ways in which she made math interesting for her DS Hunter. Here's what she wrote:

I had a lion puppet that would gobble up the numbers and talk to Hunter about how much fun math was. Be silly. It will take you very far. Try getting your child while he is in his high chair and do something silly with the numbers while you show him, like hide behind one and play peek-a-boo. Like say, "Here comes TWENTY FOUR!!!!!" with as much enthusiasm as you can muster and then bring it up from under the table and let him see it for a half second, then hide it. "Oh, where did twenty four go?" "Ah! Here is is!!!" and bring it out again and shake it close to his face and tickle him. "Look, what else does Mommy have here? Oh, do you want to see it? Oh, here it comes, here it comes, it's... TWENTY TWO!!!!" Tickle him, laugh with him, and remember he only has to glance at it to absorb the information - tiny kids do not need to stare.

My DD is about the same age as your baby and Tanikit's, and I'm about to restart the math program (thanks to Elizabeth's fantastic tips and schedule!), having done it at 5-7 months with little success. Surely we can all compare notes!

Good luck!

Maddy

[Maddy]

Here's some more:

The "math lion" is just an old puppet I found, got out and introduced him to Hunter as "Mr. Math Lion" and told him how much Math Lion loves numbers and then brought him along to all of our math sessions. I had the puppet talk about how much he loves numbers and how he eats up all the right answers, etc. Like I said, the main "magic" of math lion was not in the actual puppet but in my change of attitude - that I was overly enthusiastic, silly, joyful, and quick. Math was a time of laughter, giggles, and fun rewards and play. He started begging to "wake him [math lion] up from his nap" so we could play more math.

You don't necessarily need a puppet to get those results - being that happy, enthusiastic, and excited yourself will do the trick.

[Tanikit]

Its great to hear that there are some Moms to year old babies on here and that we seem to have similar problems - I did see the post about kids 12-18 months and it seems activity levels are to blame for their lack of concentration - my daughter has always been very physically active and has recently started running too, so its non-stop all day.

Thanks for reposting Domanmom's ideas. I have tried to come up with a few of my own based on some of hers and am testing them out without the dots for now to see whether they would work.

I have tried peek-a-boo with the cards - worked reasonably

Tried hiding a teddy bear round the house which she must find - basically I just run around the house just ahead of her and drop it in rather obvious places, but so that she must look up or down (there are a lot of corners in our house that makes it easy to hide a bear even if you are only two steps in front of her) I plan on introducing the dot cards when she finds the bear but would have to drop the dots off before hiding the bear (ok typing this out sounds like it is a bit much work, but I'll see)

Have tried jumping up and down very excitedly in front of her before and while showing her the dots - she thinks it is very funny and I feel stupid but it only worked about twice

Possibly can mix the words and dot cards in one session and it may hold her interest longer or else mix up pictures and dots even.

The quicker I do it the better - still practising moving the cards to get it to go faster.

Will try a few more in the next few days too - whatever my daughter finds fun.

[LaiSan]

Retiring Cards
.

Here is how to retire cards: after the first five days of showing numbers one - ten, change your sets from set one having 1-5 and set two having 6-10 to TWO SETS WITH ONE EVEN-NUMBERED SET AND ONE ODD-NUMBERED SET. For example, in set one you will put all of your odd numbers:1,3,5,7, and 9 and in set two you will put all of your even numbers: 2,4,6,8, and 10. You do this so that you will be retiring one old number from each set (1 [odd] and 2 [even]) and adding one new card to each set (11 [odd] and 12[even]). Pretty simple, eh?

Elizabeth

Tanikit, I have been reading your posts and found that you are a very dedicated mother who will do anything to make your daughter happy. You are also very energetic and full of ideas! Thumbs up to you!

As I read this thread from the beginning, I have a question to ask. I notice from DomanMom's (another dedicated mother) reply no. 1, at the advice on how to retire cards, she suggested we arrange the odd numbers in set one and even numbers in the set two.

The question is, shall we continue to use this method for the rest of the set of numbers? Meaning everytime we show odd numbers in set one up to the last 91, 93, 95, 97, 99 and even numbers in set two until 92, 94, 96, 98, 100?

Thanks.

[Tanikit]

I think that is the idea - so you remove numbers 1 and 2 the first day of retiring and replace them with 11 and 12 and have two sets:

3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and
4, 6, 8, 10, 12

Then the next day you'd retire 3 and 4 and replace them with 13 and 14

5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and
6, 8, 10, 12, 14

and so on til you have the final sets which I presume you keep showing til 100 has been shown for 5 days (unless you want to go back to showing earlier cards with them.

92, 94, 96, 98, 100 could become 94, 96, 98, 100 and 2 for example if you get bored showing the same ones again.

I am actually not doing this as I find it hard enough to show one set each day 3 times a day and when I get to the equations it will be even more crazy, so I just show one set and replace one card per day 1-5 becomes 2-6 and so on.

I am having slightly more enthusiasm from my daughter with some of the new ideas, but am still trying to work out how to do equations as with the added enthusiasm she is getting one card at a time not related to each other at all.

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