Three plus two plus…

“Is ten.” he says
“What? No, it is six…wait, what did you say Ryder?” I ask after half listening between packing lunches, making breakfast, hearing a baby cry.
“Three plus three plus two plus two is ten, right?” he responds.
“Um, yes, actually, that is correct.” I reply slowly as I add what he said in my head.

“How did you know that?” I ask him.
“Well, I was thinking and that’s what I thought.” he answers as he picks at the paint on his Thomas trains that are beside him on the kitchen rug.

We then go on to have a mini lesson right there in the kitchen. It’s not even 9am and I am discussing addition in length. Rory tries to assist with her two cents as Ryder throws me another and another chain of numbers. The kitchen white board is utilized. Bagels with cheese are finished toasting. The conversation dwindles away from math and onto more important things like a little brother now awake and sitting in the kitchen for his morning kisses. Warm melted cheese hits his forehead between sticky kisses and soft pats to his cheeks. Cody looks up at me with a bit of “I love this” and “Get them off of me.”

Numbers are a big subject with Ryder lately. We have recently found a few hours a week to collaborate on workbooks. He is writing numbers and recognizing their patterns and connections more and more. It is a challenge he enjoys trying to master.

Shut the Box, an old game of sailors, pub goers, or my uncle Derrick, is a betting game to roll dice and see who can get the tiles down or “shut”.

Various strategies and scoring ways are played, but the gist is this: Roll a pair of dice. If the roll produces a three and five then the player can either shut the “3” and “5” tile or the “8”. Player continues until they do not have an option to shut a tile. They keep track of their score (some say a point per shut tile, some say the amount that remains). Moves on to next player and repeat process. Player with lowest score wins (or highest, again…all in how you learned the game).

Ryder finds this game intriguing. I find it an excellent asset to keep him thinking about addition. Rory thinks shutting and opening the tiles extremely entertaining, especially when it isn’t her turn and Ryder gets flustered (tee hee).

We have also been talking about money and how chores, when previously agreed upon, will produce monetary gain, i.e. allowance. He won’t be getting a guaranteed weekly allowance by any means. Simply because he is just learning about responsibility (put your own underpants on. Wash your hands after you use the bathroom. Put your dishes in the sink after you eat). But the “I want that” bug has hit him hard when we are in stores.

So I have decided not to give in the majority of the time and have him earn the $2 for that hunk of plastic piece o’ junk boat he wanted. .25 cents to put laundry away, etc. We are still finding “jobs” for him to do. But the adventure is helping with his math interest and responsibility – you work a job you can buy stuff. You don’t work, you can’t buy. ‘Cause my momma taught me this as a kid too – darn toot’n I was that kid at the Rose’s lay-a-way with a few zip lock bags full of change that bought me a Power Wheels army Jeep when I was six years old. $150 bucks, you betcha.

Speaking of chores and learning. We have also started a new “put your laundry away because you can walk and your Dad shouldn’t have to do it for you.”…okay, working on the title. But any who. It involves clothes buckets with numbers (for Rory) and words (for Ryder). And no, Rory does not recognize her numbers well yet and Ryder can’t read fully. But that’s the point, it encourages both.

So here’s to numbers. Responsibility. And really deep mathematical equations before 9am. Because 2+2+2+3+4+4+4=21…check my white board, it says so.

This post was brought to you by Oma, who gave me a Shut the Box two Christmases ago and we forgot to open it until last month when Uncle Derrick taught us how to play.

And also a shameless plug to some awesome workshops for teachers/parents who love math (and science) and want to see kids find a passion for it as well. There are also some really exciting science camps this summer for 3rd-8th graders! Check it out – Martinson Center for Mathematics and Science