Johann, Your reply really makes sense to me.
I have to say my initial reaction to a couple videos which focused first on the positions of the 8s in your examples and then plugged the other numbers into the remaining blank positions, was a sort of revulsion. But maybe that is one approach to anchoring the examples and providing a foundation for building abstraction. It's so easy to forget that learning is so unique to each person. Thanks, On Wed, Jan 14, 2015 at 1:27 PM, Johann Hibschman <[email protected]> wrote: > As the parent of a first-grader, I can try to address some of this. > > I see it as a way to practice the skills that underlie algebra. > Commutativity, identities, inverses, etc. > > They don't talk about the "3,5,8" group. They practice moving around > numbers: > > 3 + 5 = 8 > 5 + 3 = 8 > 8 - 3 = 5 > 8 - 5 = 3 > > Any adult can generalize to: > > A + B = C > B + A = C > C - A = B > C - B = A > > but the concrete practice is a useful thing for people just developing > their number sense. Instead of just practicing that "3 + 5 = 8", they > practice the whole set of permutations algebraically implied by that > fact. > > It seems pretty reasonable to me. Practice the facts before you jump > to the abstract rules. > > -Johann > > > -- (B=) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
