Wednesday, December 12, 2007

If Only There Were Corks to Keep Knowledge Inside One's Brain

Math took three and three-quarters hours this morning, but Travis Finally "got" equivalent fractions and how to give his fractions common denominators so he could put them in order from smallest to largest and so on. I think the biggest problem was that my darling boy is very resistant to thinking (about math, anyway), and had mentally set his feet, like a stubborn little mule, and decided that finding common denominators was something he just wasn't going to do. Fortunately, his devotion to food finally saved the day. At 1:30, I told him that I was going to make lunch for Katie and myself, but that he was not going to eat until his problem were completed correctly, and suddenly the math we had struggled with so long began to make sense to him. He finished the rest of the problems up in fifteen minutes, and we were both very pleased and proud. He told me the ham sandwich he had for lunch was "the best ham sandwich ever!" The only problem is that now I am afraid that if I give the poor kid a day off, the understanding that we struggled so hard to cram into his brain will disappear. Oh dear.

3 comments:

Emily said...

I swear some days my children forget their ABC's!! It is so frustrating. Withholding food...hmmm...I may try that one tomorrow :)

andie said...

Ah, yes. Math. Boys. Sometimes I wonder if my jaw will be stuck that way forever after a morning of teeth clenching and tongue-biting, but it's always been normal by evening.

So far.

Boys. Math. Mmm-hmmm.

Melora said...

Emily,
Maybe I should have added that he didn't finish eating his large breakfast until 10:00, so he wasn't really at risk of dying of starvation!

Andie,
If girls don't do that "deer in the headlights," "I can't remember what comes after 4" thing, I will be very grateful! So far, Katie is quite a math whiz, but a lot can change between 5 and 9.