We have in our house a thing called the "Multiplication Machine". It is a flash-cardy sort of thing. The multiplication facts are written on top of a 9x9 array of spring-loaded buttons. You press one and the button pops up, revealing the product. You can buy such a...
I do not recall the beginning of this conversation, but I do recall that we were eating pizza at the dinner table when Tabitha anticipated my turn in the dicussion. Tabitha (6 years old): I know what you're going to say, Daddy. "Counting never ends." Me: I suppose...
While doing the dishes, a 6 year old counts by 5 to 170 and contemplates ten-hundred, one thousand, and what comes next.
File this under Talking about talking math with with your kids. Waiting for the school bus this morning, the two adults and three children discussed last night's Halloween events. The neighbor girl, W (9 years old), announced that her brother, E (six years...
Out of the blue on our recent camping trip, Tabitha had an announcement for me. Tabitha (6 years old): I am 12 in doll years and Griffy is 16 in doll years. Her brother Griffin is 9. T: So how old are you in doll years, Daddy?Me: Well, how do doll years work? T:...
Sometimes we just have very short conversations that are worth sharing here, but not worth their own full posts. Here are three such conversations... In the middle The main television in our house is in the parents' bedroom. As a result, 99% of the kids' TV...
The conversations we have with our children affect their thinking. Of course they have their own interests, but the conversations we initiate have an impact. The New York Times' Motherlode blog (subtitle, Adventures in Parenting—we'll talk about the equating...