Monday, November 27, 2017

Nyle adding two digit numbers

(written on 10/21/17 but published to the wrong place)

Nyle has been asking for me to give him math problems, so I decided to teach him to add two digit numbers.  To start I gave him one to work out:  "What is 13 plut 25?," I asked and wrote it down.  He thought for a few moments and then gave the answer, 38.  His answer came faster than I expected if he were counting, so I thought maybe he knows the algorithm already that I was planning to teach him (add each digit separately).  I asked, "How did you get the answer?"  He said, "Well, I knew that 13 was 2 less than 15, and 15 plus 25 is 40, so I went 40...39...38."

Needless to say, I was thrilled to see his comfort and intuition with math.

Emmett Being Himself

I was just changing some batteries and remembered what Emmett used to do a year or so ago.  He would bring me anything that was broken along with some batteries he got out of the battery drawer and say, "Change the batteries."

That got me thinking that I need to write a few words.

The older kids go to wrestling practice together, and Emmett would love to join in.  A couple of times he has stayed at practice on the side line watching.  He jumps and runs around and says he wants to wrestle.  He also goes around bragging to all the coaches and parents, "I can beet my DAD at wrestling."  This all started when one day, as I was teaching Tyler and Nyle a move in the living room, he came and jumped on me and said he wanted to wrestle too.  After a few moments of wrestling with him, he ended up taking me down.  Somehow, in his worlds, he thought I was really wrestling. :)  Keep in mind that I am over four times his size.

Emmett has also learned check from Nyle, who will spend long amounts of time teaching and playing with him.  To my surprise, he knows all the rules and tries to correct other people or offer suggestions.  He really understands the flow of the game and the objective.