Austin's Math

Austin is in 4th grade. In math they are going over their multiplication facts. To make this mundane chore more fun, his teacher is having them "build" a sundae. For each fact family that they have memorized 100% they get that assigned topping. Fun, right?

Well, Austin had another way of thinking about it. He came home and said, "I already know this one, that one and that one. But, I don't need to learn this one or that one, because I don't like those toppings."

My mind flashed forward to when he is 20 something. Austin sitting somewhere and trying to do a math problem and not being able to do it---because he did not like that sundae topping.

I looked at him and said, "You WILL learn all the fact families, whether you like the topping or not. You can just say "no, thank you" when it comes to topping your sundae. But, you will know every single one of those facts."

Oh, to think like a 10 year old boy!