We are teaching our little boy how to write numbers. I must admit, I’ve forgotten what it takes because I learnt so long ago. It is absolutely fascinating seeing him learn, to see what it takes right from the beginning.
As adults, we often want to skip ahead and learn as quickly as possible. I guess it is human nature. However, it’s important to get the fundamentals right. He is learning in Kindergarten and we are teaching him at home too. In Kindergarten, I see him tracing the numbers with his fingers on sandpaper, punching out numbers on a card, clipping numbers of pegs to cards, writing them out on a blackboard before writing them on paper with a pen.
At home, we are following a maths book and it gets him to count dots in a line, then scattered dots, then objects in a line followed by scattered objects. He has pages of dotted numbers that he has to trace before trying it out himself. He has to name the symbols intermingled with colours and more.
It made me realise there are so many ways to learn. It’s like we are covering all angles to see which one clicks. Most likely, it is the combination of these that helps him make sense.
It shows that there’s no one way that is right. If you want to learn something, try out many many different ways to find the one that fits you!