Michelle Harper

Well, my son and I just returned yesterday from a fun summer trip from Washington to Utah, we decided to take the bus, so it was quite an adventure.  We saw 5 states, and collected a coin in each one, and wrote the things we saw unique to each state in our trip journal.  It was great for geological study...observing the changes in the land, and the plant, and trees species difffering in each climate, as well as the different bird species.  We saw all kinds of wonderful things, and collected rocks, plants, and little things along the way.  One thing I observed on our trip in abundance, was my son's inclination towards math, and comparisons, which is something that skipped my generation, cause I'm somewhat of a math phobic, and I hope to cultivate this skill in him, without deterring him in any way.  He asked every single person he spoke to along the way their ages....old, and young, and he would compare them deligently with a series of questions, "is that older or younger than my Mom, or older or younger than this number or this age or that age...." I could see him calculating, and figuring in his head.  His eyes would move back and forth in his head, like he was viewing the calculations in some way inside his mind.  He is 4 , almost five, and he would also compare distance, miles, sizes, but especially ages..it was a little neat to see him get the ages of older  folks out of them, they're first answer was almost "oh very old", wondering why he would want to know such a thing, but I would explain to them he was learning math skills from them, and they would tell him.....49, 69, 71, 84......and he's into a million, and zillion , as well.......he would ask if a million was bigger, how much bigger, and figure out, about how much older or younger one was from another.....with him being so ready for Math conceptes right now......he's doing such a great job figuring things out on his own....very direct at obtaining the information he needs to do his figures, if anyone has any suggestions on additional activites, and fun ways to learn Math, let me know.......he sure is ready..Many Blessings.  Michelle