Geez, this guy....

[conuly]

If your three year old is getting upset by getting a math problem wrong then the problem is that you are attempting to teach arithmetic to a three year old. With flashcards. You need to step back and focus on the basics first, and stop insulting every person who is telling you this.

Edit: I realize that somebody, probably elenbarathi, is going to link me to this piece: http://www.inference.org.uk/sanjoy/benezet/three.pdf

Don't bother, I already linked that dude to it, to no avail. He called me "stupid". I feel I deserve a higher class of insult than that.

Comments

[gwydion]

Ex-educator here. I absolutely agree.

Do not start me on the requirement in my state that the Elem's (like my late ex) try to teach probability to kindergartners even though most of them literally can't no matter how concrete and clever the presentation.

It's fundamentally the same problem. Everyone involved ends up frustrated and unhappy because the adult is pushing to hard, too early for most kids developmentally.

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

To think parents once were instructed Not to teach children to read before school.

flash cards don't make sense for children until they can pay sustained attention.

[bibliofile]

Is that study part of the origins of what was later called New Math? Or at least the teaching of numbers reasoning versus rote memorization?

[fox]

My three-year-old is very bright and is starting to ask me why one and one, that is, is two (which he knows from counting songs and similar; he knows he can show us “two” with two fingers of one hand or with one finger on each hand) but 11, that is, two ones, is eleven. But trying to *teach him math*? With flash cards? Not unless I had a special wish for as many people as possible to be crying at the same time.

[calimac]

That's a very intelligent question. I'm trying to imagine explaining that one to a 3-year-old, and it would have to be not only a very bright but very patient 3-year-old.

[fox]

And a cleverer parent than I am. How on earth to explain this to a little kid?! I’ve mainly told him those are very good questions with big-kid answers so if he doesn’t get it right now that’s totally okay.

[conuly]

With unit cubes. The unit cubes stack, and when you get ten of them you exchange them for a ten stick. Then you demonstrate how the 1 represents one unit in the ones place but one ten in the tens place. And you repeat this with other manipulatives and lots of practice.

[fred_mouse]

googling 'place value' might also help for finding some useful videos aimed at the right age level of understanding.

[fox]

that should have said “one and one, that is, two ones, is two” - would have made more sense against “11, that is, two ones, is eleven”

[crystalpyramid]

Dare i ask what's on the flash cards? Like, how bad is it -- are there pictures of objects? (In which case it seems like using manipulatives would have some major advantages.) Or Arabic numerals?

[conuly]

Numerals, I think.

Nevermind that his kid, like most three year olds, still thinks that if you take a line of buttons and streeeeeeetch it out, you now have more buttons than you started with.

[crystalpyramid]

This is my aghast face. Wow.

[sabotabby]

A three-year-old? Fuck. That's just cruel.

[erika]

That IS ridiculously bad as an insult. I'd go with calling your efforts "poorly researched!" or something that actually might hurt, in recognition of the effort you deserve.

[conuly]

Thank you.

[erika]

(also, clearly that was a joke, right? Because you're about as poorly researched as an encyclopedia.)

[conuly]

Depends which encyclopedia, but I did know it was a joke.

[silveradept]

Clearly that person had never heard of developmentally appropriate education. I recommend for them the twenty one-betters scene from Roxanne to get their insult game up to par.

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

I hadn't actually read that piece (which is great; thanks!) but it confirms my own long-held opinion that formal math instruction, with equations and tables and such, should wait till at least sixth grade. Younger children learn math by counting and measuring things in the natural course of learning to cook, build things, do crafts and handle money. Three-year-olds don't need flashcards; they need LEGOs, a tape measure, and a set of measuring cups for the bathtub.

If you want a higher class of insult, you'll have to get in a scrap with a higher class of asshole, because this one sounds pretty stupid himself, and that's probably the best he's got. Pity that people like that have to go and breed; his poor little kid is probably going to grow up stupid too.

[conuly]

We all tried with him, and maybe he'll wake up in a few years and realize the harm he's done before he screws up the second child.