What is the right balance of stimulation?

Sunday, 17 August 2008 16:32

We were sitting at the table this afternoon, and Sam asked what 8 to the power 5 was? I was a bit surprised.

At first I thought that it was simply too complex for him. I worried that if he didn't understand that he would get frustrated. Sam thought that it must mean 8 x 5, and so guessed the answer was forty. Then he did a few others, like asking what 5 to the power 6 was, and answering that it must be 30.

So I decided to explain powers to him - at first we used a calculator. He was over the moon with excitement! He loved seeing the numbers change. Then we did a few that he could do in his head, like 2 to the power 4, which he could calculate as 16. He had heard about exponents somewhere and he wanted to know all about them. (Since he was asking about powers, I figured the exponent must be the power.)

I'm sometimes not quite sure where the line is between giving him too much vs too little. I worry that the former might ‘put pressure on him;" I worry that the latter will leave him bored and suggest his interests are not important.

I involve him in other activities - like sport, swimming, friends. Then I worry about whether I am I sending him the wrong messages - that I want him to do everything else but not maths.

Perhaps I will look back at all this in hindsight and wonder how on earth I made something simple feel so complicated.

Sometimes Sam awes me. It surprises me that for  "a + b = 10" he would guess the variables could be optionally 8 and 2. Or  for "x + x + x = 30" he will guess that ‘x' is 10.

It may be maths or it may not but I hope for Sam that when he's 13 and when he's 23 his eyes will equally light up with as much excitement........