A Weekend of #TMWYK

Talking Math With Your Kids, or #TMWYK as Christopher Danielson has crafted it on Twitter, is something that is always on my mind as my two boys are playing in the yard, eating, reading books, whatever.  They're young, 3 and 1, but I want their awareness of math to be created from an early age and enjoyable.  The big word, for me, is enjoyable.  I'm a math teacher (or was...), and I'll be the first to admit that I'll feel like a failure if either one of them gets to the "I suck at math" point of a discussion.

Oh, and to plug Danielson again, check out his site, talkingmathwithkids.com. It has tons of content, even tags that break down the conversation by age level.  If you're an awkward parent looking for ways to introduce "the talk" with your youngins, he's got some incredible starters.

So today, I hijacked some lemons from the neighbor's tree that hangs over into our yard. No need to alarm the authorities- he's totally cool with it (I hope). Seriously, the dude has 300 lemons hanging at any point in time- he can part with 7.  Either way, they landed in my yard and I'm not one to spoil a learning moment.  Since my youngest was full of energy and my oldest was napping (yes, napping. I said it. If you know him, this is a total surprise), it was a great opportunity to have some 1-1 time with the rugrat.  

The lofty goal that initially entered was "Hey cool, I can teach him how to count to 7! Yay, SEVEN!!!"  To give a little bit of context, he says "ees" for cheese, ice, please, freeze, and rhinoceros.  Once I put myself and my expectations in check, three became a good number.

Me: OK, hand me a lemon


N: *hands a lemon as if it were a prize made of gold*


Me: ONE!  Alright, keep going. Hand me another


N: Wa (one, I think) *hands another, ecstatic*


Me: TWO! Here we go, one more.....


N: Choo (two, or chew. We'll go with two) *hands another, pauses for reaction*


Me: THREEEEE!


N: DEEEEEE! *Claps, smiles, almost falls out of chair*

We did this probably 7 or 8 times until the 1 year-old attention span limit dissipated, but it was so much fun to be a part of.  Does he really understand what's going on?  Who knows.  Will this translate to him being able to count sooner?  I have no clue.  Was it fun for me AND for him? Absolutely.

After that, we proceeded to put the lemons in every imaginable hiding place in the back yard, smelling them and saying "mmmmmm" each time. This fatherhood thing is fun.  When it was all said and done, he tossed me a smile and made my day.

In my defense, he fell into a pile of dirt, thus the messy face. No apologies- this kid eats dirt and likes it.

Happy Tug-On-Your-Math-Heartstrings Fishing