Multiplication in preschool

[Anonymous]

My DS is in a montessori preschool. He loves math and his teacher has been excellent at moving him through the math curriculum. He has done addition and subtraction with regrouping and nearly has memorized all the multiplication tables. My question is this:
He is starting public K next year. Should was talk to his teacher before had (in August for example), or say nothing and let them figure out what he knows.
DH wants to say nothing, but I envision he will be so bored next year during the math lessons.

[Anonymous]

K are tested the first few weeks of school to see how much/what they know. If it's a great teacher she will pick up on it right away. My child's teacher picked up on my child's ability right off the back.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't worry about discussing it until the first parent teacher conference. Your child is going to be busy enough learning about his new school, new teacher, new peers, etc. He won't be bored for awhile, if at all.

[Anonymous]

I also vote for waiting until the parent teacher conference but if you're in FCPS, you will have to figure something out on your own. Our DC begged to move ahead in math (k-2 math is so basic and slow) and didn't get any opportunity to do so. It has changed a bit in the last 2 years at our base school from what I hear but we and DC heard the inevitable, "but then what would we teach next year?"

[Anonymous]

Wait and let them figure it out on their own. In my experience, if you tell the teacher what your child can do, they are often skeptical and sometimes defensive. However, if they figure it out on their own, they accept it more readily.

[Anonymous]

My younger one knew all her multiplication facts in KG..because she heard her older brother practicing (that and other math) so much. I can't say her KG math was challenging but there were many other topics covered aside from calculations. MCPS uses that spiral so they get a little of a lot right from the start so you will see fractions and geometry even early algebra. There was the "more" and "less" unit that was tough to feel good about but she was ok. By second grade she was taking 4th grade math and had a good amount of challenge. You will find your child is not alone..but enjoy the fact that they won't be stuggling too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also vote for waiting until the parent teacher conference but if you're in FCPS, you will have to figure something out on your own. Our DC begged to move ahead in math (k-2 math is so basic and slow) and didn't get any opportunity to do so. It has changed a bit in the last 2 years at our base school from what I hear but we and DC heard the inevitable, "but then what would we teach next year?"

OMG! I was given this excuse, too, at a Mont. Co. Elem. I have to say that it left me speechless.

[Anonymous]

Troll

[Anonymous]

Knowing some math facts at 3 years old does not predict some bored, "gifted" child. Mathematics is conceptual and there is SO much more than memorizing facts.

[Anonymous]

I agree. Memorizing math facts is not the same as understanding them. If the time comes that DC is bored, then that's the time to say something. You don't want to start out on the wrong foot with the teachers.

[Anonymous]

say nothing

My child was also doing multiplication in preschool and has not been bored in K. There is a ton of new social stuff to get used to. And while they have yet to even do addition that I can tell, they learn things like graphing, measuring, etc. which is new for my child. Its been a fun year nonetheless.

You'll be surprised, there are a lot of advanced kids - your child won't be alone. I think it gets things off to a a bad start with the teacher if you start off the year by telling them how advanced your child is.

Oh and be patient at the beginning of the year. It takes a good month or so for them to test all the kids and figure out where everyone is for reading. Our school does no differentiation for math, only providing first grade "challenge" items for the kids that are more ahead. So be ready for that also.

[Anonymous]

My dad, who is almost 80 now, knew his times tables by 3rd grade so they just pulled him out of 3rd and skipped him to 4th. Of course for socialization, etc., this was a disaster. We always talk about this in our family, and it's funny because my child has a learning disability which hampers some memorization and the times tables have been impossible.

[Anonymous]

Montessori math does not teach memorization. In fact, it really is the opposite. They do introduce addition, multiplication, substraction, and division to 4,5, and 6 year olds but the approach uses manipulatives and more conceptual foundation. The kids will end up knowing that 5 X 6 is 30 but they understand that 5 is being added to itself 6 times as opposed to memorizing the tables. The Montessori math materials also give the kid the ability to see how you got to the answer in several different ways.

I agree with others that you should not try to push him ahead though once he starts K or 1 st grade. Yes, he will already know it but he'll need to get used to showing the work the way the public school teaches math..ie tally or whatever your school does. He may also need to get used to more worksheets though K and 1st grade should still use visual groupings or some manipulatives. If they use memorization and drill, he'll need to practice this and just memorize the tables rather than focus on solving the problem.

My biggest issue with math in the public schools is that they seem to just skim the surface without focusing on the concepts and then have the kid just keep doing repetitive cycles to show that they can do it. Even if you accelerate him, he may not be that much more interested anyway and he is not necessarily learning more. They will accelerate kids but the kids run into problems later because they memorized how to do the worksheets but never understand the concepts behind them that are needed to later math activities.

IMO the best three things to do with kids at home on your own to supplement public school are ..reading, creative writing, and math concepts. Reading is as simple as finding books that they enjoy and will eagerly enjoy reading. For writing you can encourage them to come up with their own stories, write letters to grandma or cousins, or keep a journal. You can combine writing with art and let them illustrate the stories that they write.

For math there are lots of games and science projects that can be fun and give them the conceptual understanding that they may miss in school. My kids love doing fractions with Hershey bars or when we order pizza, measuring things, doing addition/subtraction when buying things with "their" money, shopping, probability games, or dice games for adding and subtracting. If you setting the table, getting party favors, or making goody bags you can have them pracice multiplication in figuring out how much you need etc.

[Anonymous]

Your child will hardly be alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your child will hardly be alone.

Exactly. My son is in 1st grade and, thanks to an older sibling who had trouble with multiplication facts, he happens to know most of his multiplication tables. However -- my son's classmate not only knows all multiplication tables but is already doing long division.

Let the teacher figure it out.