Well, it’s here again. World Maths Day! I’m sure it should really be March 14th, but it seems to generally be around the first Wednesday in March instead.
For the last two years we participated in the www.worldmathsday.com Mathletics competition where the goal is for students to answer a total of more than.. well last year the goal was 100 million mental maths questions, during the 48 hours that it lasts for. Why 48 hours? Well, because it runs from when it starts being World Maths Day somewhere in the world until when it is no longer World Maths Day anywhere in the world. It was great, kids got very excited and the goal was reached within mere hours.
We’ve been relatively low-key about it this year, although the kids do love it. It is surprising sometimes who gets into it. What I find really difficult to deal with is the kid who is so uninterested that she can’t even be bothered to have a go at answering more than 2 questions.
Anyway…. Seb has been practicing at home. It’s great to see him becoming so motivated, I think he really loves the positive feedback he’s getting from me, the time spent doing something special with his dad, and also because although he does say he doesn’t like mathematics, he does want to be able to do it. And he’s really getting a sense of achievement out of it.
His total is usually 4 or 5 questions answered in 60 seconds. He appears to find subtraction much easier than addition, which I find it. He’s learning strategies for the numbers that require a carry, e.g. 6 + 7 (pick the larger number, count on the smaller one on your fingers so seven, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13). I’m sometimes trying to get him to realise that he’s seen a question before, but generally not fussed. If he has to answer 6+ 2 and two questions later he gets the same question again, he doesn’t recognize it. But I’m guessing that’s quite normal for someone who’s only really starting to do mathematics, as he is.
Anyway, he’s got really, really into the Worldmathsday game, even to the stage that he asks to play it. So, take a look at this. This is a screenshot of the first game he played in the real game, once the Worldmathsday had actually started.
We were both astounded. 14! Amazing, considering that his highest up to that point was about 4 or 5. So of course he wanted to carry on playing, and so he did. And now he was hitting an average of 6 or 7, even getting 8 a couple of time. He was so delighted.
Now, I usually sit with him while he does it, but I needed to go out and took advantage of that to encourage him to try a few rounds on his own, so as I was getting ready I kept popping in and out of the room. Here’s another screenshot where he was playing on his own.
He was so chuffed. It’s definitely having an effect on his interest in maths and his ability to do it, and we’re going to have to find a substitute for when they close this down. It’s only really available in the month up to the day itself, and perhaps a bit afterwards, unless we want to pay. I think I’ll have a look at what’s around before considering that route.
