Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Learning
It's true. I see my 7 year old building up her experiences. Thinking things through. Figuring out how to apply the knowledge she has acquired. And voilà, she has the answer. Needless to say, it's an exciting experience and very emotional as well!
She learnt about number families in first grade. They were not taught how to apply it. She sat with Math books because she likes to add, figured things out and now is able to do double digit addition in her head!! Ask her what is 28 + 28 and a few long seconds later, she announces 56. How did she do it?
"Well...I took the 8's away and was left with two 20's. That makes 40. Add one 8 to get 48. Then it takes 2 to get to 50, which leaves me with 6 from the 8, so that makes 56."
Number families at work. Learning is occurring.
I am so proud. ¶ 9/07/2005 12:19:00 PM
We have some experiences. We think them through. We develop a theory. And then finally we put two and two together. That's how learning works.
Malcolm Gladwell in blink - The Power of thinking without thinking
It's true. I see my 7 year old building up her experiences. Thinking things through. Figuring out how to apply the knowledge she has acquired. And voilà, she has the answer. Needless to say, it's an exciting experience and very emotional as well!
She learnt about number families in first grade. They were not taught how to apply it. She sat with Math books because she likes to add, figured things out and now is able to do double digit addition in her head!! Ask her what is 28 + 28 and a few long seconds later, she announces 56. How did she do it?
"Well...I took the 8's away and was left with two 20's. That makes 40. Add one 8 to get 48. Then it takes 2 to get to 50, which leaves me with 6 from the 8, so that makes 56."
Number families at work. Learning is occurring.
I am so proud. ¶ 9/07/2005 12:19:00 PM
