Our Week in Review - Math

Our second grader is currently learning to add two digit numbers which require regrouping (or "carrying the one") in order to solve. This was a brand new concept for him, but one which our math program, Math U See, has prepared him well for. Still, there were tears and moans of "I can't dooooo this!" at the beginning of last week. And I have to say again, this is reason number 156 why I love homeschooling, because I got to see the lightbulb come on when he finally understood how to do it!! Literally watch the progression happen. SO rewarding and satisfying to see him work hard, struggle, and come through on the other side.

Not only do I love watching my children learn, I also love Math U See. Love, love, love it. All our children love it. It's clear, sequential, provides lots of practice, and is the perfect fit for us right now. I was doing some research earlier this winter into other pre-algebra programs for our daughter, when she caught wind of it and insisted that I NOT change from MUS!

Here is how MUS teaches regrouping. Son C was working on problem #3, 72 + 18.



First he built the problem with blocks. The 7 long blue rods are the 70, of course, and the small orange rod is the 2. The single blue rod is 10 and the brown rod is 8. He added the units together, the orange and brown rods.


And then "regrouped" them by laying a blue 10 rod next to them to see if they added up to more than 10. We have previously learned that only numbers up to 9 can live in the units place, so once the number in that spot gets to 10, it has to go live next door with the other tens.


He removed the brown and orange rods and had just the 10 in their spot that they had added up to. Since it was a 10, it couldn't stay in the units spot and he "carried" it over to the tens column, leaving zero in the units place. Once he added up all the ten rods, he found that the answer was 90!


At first he couldn't do these steps by himself, so I sat with him and we did problems like this over and over (and over and over and over.....). By last Thursday he got to the point where he could do most problems on his own, and by this week he is not even using the blocks anymore but doing all the regrouping in his head! Go C!

Thank you, Lord, for providing our children with just what they need to learn in a way that makes sense to them. Thank you for the freedom to choose our own curriculum, and to switch midstream to something else if it's not working. Thank you for the privilege of guiding my children to new knowledge and of watching them learn. Help me to always guide them to the knowledge of You. Amen.