Quote:
Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby
It's a matter of brain wiring.
It's hard for them because they were never taught how to COUNT. Simple math, simple addition and subtraction. They have absolutely no idea how to do it. You can thank calculators for that.
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Yes, they were taught to use the calculator as a crutch not as a reference item. My young students could do that too, but there was no pride or fun in doing it. Many games, chess, poker etc are built on math. People enjoy using their skills if you encourage it. And that is what I tried to do.
When it came to money, I asked the parents to give a small allowance to each one of my grade one child, so they could go to the store and buy gum, ice cream whatever. The students learned how much they could afford, to budget and to make change. We practiced with play money in the class.