G time. Granted, we’ve used the chart several times as a reference for doing other activities. It’s worthwhile, and it’s living. But it’s not quick, and it’s not neat.
Another example is a fun puzzle from Family Math in which you have to arrange a stack of cards numbered 1-10 so that as you turn them over you get that sequence of 1-10. Sounds easy but as you turn over cards, every other card is put back on the bottom of the deck. I thought that this puzzle was doable by Sprite, and making ten numbered cards sounded awfully easy after all those tiny squares and a maze of fax paper. I assumed she’d get so far and want some help. Then I’d give her some clues, and she’d solve it. Done. Over. Moving on to history.
But it wasn’t like that. This puzzle really and truly captivated Sprite. She got so far, as I’d expected, but adamantly did not want any help. No clues. No diagrams. Absolutely wanted to solve it on her own. I was so proud of her persistence. Proud for the first forty minutes. Then I was feeling irritated. “Just give up!” I thought, “Let me tell you how to solve it!” But she remained firm. Because she was seeing slow steps of progress, she was motivated to keep going. She could get the cards to turn over in order from 1-7. It was those last three digits that she couldn’t solve.
Totally impatient, I insisted that she move on to history. Putting away her cards, I started reading about the Cherokee Indians. I looked over at Sprite, defeat all over her face. She was not mad that she couldn’t solve the math puzzle but mad that I wouldn’t let her keep trying. Realization hit me. Forget history. This is ridiculous. I want her to love learning, and I’m being a slave to my schedule for the day instead of allowing her to go off on this tangent. (A tangent I gave her!)
I gave her back the cards and told her to keep working until she solved it. If it took all day, I would accept that. Wrestling with this problem until it was solved was more important at that moment than the Trail of Tears. In less than six minutes, she had totally solved it! Her feeling of accomplishment was obvious as she danced around shouting, “I did it! I did it!”
Lesson learned –not only is living math slow and messy, it’s also amazingly rewarding!