[ludicast]

For the past year, I have done a little bit of arithmetic with my son every day. Mostly from the Kumon series of books.

It's been a great activity to both spend time together and give him a handle on something most kids fear. I don't push him too hard but I am absolutely consistent here. We do a few add/sub/mul questions every day, and even though he gets to pick the number of questions, I pick that they are asked and eventually answered.

I don't want to humblebrag about how he's doing, but this was the best choice I could have made as a parent.

[jonahrd]

My dad used to play a game with me where he'd start listing out a long series of operations ("two.....times three.....plus four......" etc) and I'd try to keep up in my head and then shout out the answer. Try that, it's fun!

[ludicast]

I like that! I think keeping things in the head is very important and a good way to build on stuff without increasing the scope of needed knowledge.

How did you guys handle parenthesis/precedence? Or more like a calculator I guess...

[edanm]

As a new father, I'd love to hear any more details that you're willing to share. What age did you start, etc.

[ludicast]

The process was accidental:

1) I started by focusing on counting (obviously). Then counting to larger numbers and backwards.

2) During timeouts (when he had a tantrum etc.) I often made him count backwards or forwards instead of setting a timer. This actually isn't as cruel as it sounds, it refocused him and he calmed down earlier. And then counting by twos seemed to work.

2.5) The "endless" series of iPad apps were amazing (endless reader etc.). Their math one made numbers, counting and addition seem like fun.

3) Kumon books were awesome and put him on a good path.

4) When he got older I got him "prime climb". It's an amazing board game because it makes huge chunks of math come together.

5) As far as what age to start goes, I think the kid tells you that in his/her own way. You find out that you skipped over stuff that seemed obvious. For example, my kid knew primes and multiplication before understanding which of two numbers is greater.

And congrats on being a new father!

[senorjazz]

>I don't want to humblebrag about how he's doing, but this was the best choice I could have made as a parent.

How old is he? Maybe he would just prefer to go round around with you outside? Throw / kick a ball around, just go for a walk

[ludicast]

lol, we do that stuff too, but I see how it could sound. definitely not locked up in a dark room, often I'll just ask him a few questions while we are in the car. the vital thing is making it an everyday thing.

he's actually obsessed with numbers these days, so I am feeding the obsession a bit. very cautious of making it too much of a task though.