We took it easy over the Easter break - and why not, the weather was marvellous! - but have since managed to start work on Number Bonds and some new times tables - 5x and 10x, most notably. This renewed emphasis on times tables have proved difficult for both boys (Indi rarely listens in, as she does with other topics, but usually reads comics or looks bored while we're reciting tables) but after some stressful moments, something of the inherent patterns of mathematics seems to be filtering through. These moments were also interspersed with more fun activities such as stencilling - good for improving pencil skills and coordination in young children - and counting with coins and buttons.
It doesn't help this process that I was excruciatingly bad at maths myself as a child, dreading my maths lessons and barely scraping a basic qualification in the subject. Since then I have realised that my grasp of maths is far more advanced than I ever dreamt could be possible, probably because I have gradually learnt to apply it to everyday life over several decades. But I am nevertheless trying to instill a sense of enthusiasm for mathematical patterns in the kids ... no reason for them to suffer as I did, since I'm sure that consistently poor teaching, especially in a relentless system which takes no notice of those who struggle, must have been responsible for my own horror when it came to maths, as I am now able to cope quite well with daily maths. Indeed, only the other day I managed to add up a whole stream of numbers in my head and make a quick percentage deduction while the young girl behind the counter, whose machine had broken down, struggled to keep up!
So my plan is for the boys to enjoy some of these early maths activities and hopefully never feel the way I did about sums!
To this end, the boys' understanding of Number Bonds is coming along nicely. For those unsure of the terminology - as I was, initially - a Number Bond simply means those basic addition and subtraction sums which help us do mental arithmetic. Like knowing instantly, for example, when making any sort of calculation, that 5+5=10 or 3+4=7 or 2+3=5 etc. These basic sums are like the building blocks of mathematics. Knowing that 3+4=7, for example, automatically implies an understanding on the minus scale that 7-3=4 or 7-4=3. This pattern can then extends to all numbers, large or small, such as the obvious £7000-£4000=£3000 and so on, ad infinitum.
On a more exciting level, 3 chocolate Easter eggs for 3 small children adds up to a great Sunday morning.
As always, following a long-held family tradition, I organised a domestic Easter Egg Hunt. This involves deciding on a series of places round the house and garden for clues to be left, plus a final resting-place for the chocolate eggs themselves, then devising the clues which will lead the children eventually to the eggs. In previous years I have been forced to read the clues out loud to the children as they were found. This year, however, their literacy skills are such that both boys were able to decipher the clues - kept short and very basic, for obvious reasons! - and dash off to find the next clue without much help from the watching adults.
The chocolate eggs themselves had been hidden next to the shed. Which is also where our nesting duck currently resides, who was not best pleased by the sudden, very noisy intrusion of three over-excited small children. But her hissing fit was shortlived, as they quickly grabbed their eggs and departed to eat them in the kitchen ... another successful Easter Egg Hunt had been concluded!
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