Thumbs up

First I'd circle the math problems with ones (1+5, 1+6) in blue pen; when my son finished those, I'd circle the twos in green pen; then the threes in yellow; and so on. Chunking the problems like that kept a sheet of 50 from overwhelming him, and the colors kept it interesting for both of us. After he finished we'd always admire the pattern the different color pens had made.

This year Blake doesn't have that kind of math homework. Sasha does. I offered to draw patterns on her worksheet, too. Ones in blue, twos in green, threes in yellow, fours in orange. Cool, she said. It's pretty!

Now, last year my daughter learned to count on her fingers. 2+2 – two fingers, one two, plus two fingers, three four – 4! This year she has learned to put the bigger number "in her head" and only count the second number on her fingers. 4+5 – five plus four fingers, six seven eight nine – nine!

That day she did her math homework in patterns, when she got to 9+9 she suddenly cried, How will I ever add two big numbers? Even if I put the biggest number in my head, I won't have enough fingers to count out the second number! So I quick flipped her paper over and explained the concept of a ones column and a tens column, showing how she could add two big numbers by splitting the big numbers apart. She grinned this gigantic grin and said, It's like a puzzle! Using her new trick she added the biggest numbers she could think of – 100+25, 300+50 – thrilled beyond words that she could get such a gigantically huge answer all by herself.

So homework does have its perks!