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Helping Your Fourth Grader with Adding and Carrying
An important, and often very difficult idea for young math learners is the idea of "carrying the digits" This article make it easy!
Help your Fourth Grader with Adding and Carrying
By Richard Heller
It isn't that mathematics and arithmetic are difficult for your child, it's often that they just don't understand it. Once understood, it becomes like riding a bicycle, they never forget it.
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My philosophy isn't that some people just have a "math gene" but that not everyone learns the same way. We need to teach math in a way that is compatible with the way the child learns. For example, language is infinitely more complicated than math, but everyone learns to communicate. But some kids learn to speak at 6-8 months, others don't learn until they are past 2 years . . . and like my Mother use to say, then he never stopped!
If your child is having problems with learning math, most likely it's because he or she learns it differently. That's OK. Some of the greatest math geniuses had problems with the subject. They didn't understand what they were being taught. Intuitively, they realized something was missing. So, they dug in and discovered the underlying principles. It wasn't because their teachers were good or bad, it was because they were special and needed to learn the subject their way.
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This short article covers adding numbers and having to carry a digit into the next column. It gives you, the parent, a way to show them how to use this technique. I'm sure it won't work for every child. Some will get it in a snap and will consider it boring. Others won't be there yet. This is one short lesson. If it helps, that's great! Reward your child. And remember, 90% of all learning is attitude! Let me know if you would like other topics covered like this.
About the author:
Richard Heller is a local Deerfield, IL resident who enjoys math and writing articles about it. He has tutored kids and adults, and been a substitute teacher. He also works with a local Boy Scout troop. His background includes working, teaching, and consulting in industries as well as teaching in community colleges. You can contact him at 847-204-9262.
