Papy's minicomputer

[Domski]

Every time I look at "alternative" methods to teach kids math it seems to only make me want to slap more people upside the head. If a kid can't learn long division the real way, take away his PSP or iPod for a few weeks until he can. :P

Long division along with most things to do with mathematics is a mystery to me.

Dom

 

[xenou]

Interesting story, on a side note:
The Feeling Of Power - Isaac Asimov

 

[Peter_SSs]

Interesting story, on a side note:
The Feeling Of Power - Isaac Asimov

 

[cornflakegirl]

This seems like a really strange mix of binary and decimal. I can see how the binary is very intuitive. But to then suddenly have (8+2) on one board be the same as 1 on a board to the left doesn't seem intuitive at all. Not really sure what the point of it is.

My son is learning basic arithmetic at school at the moment. They do simple addition and subtraction using number lines - understanding what is physically happening before learning the shorthands of column addition etc. Multiplication and division are repeated addition / subtraction. It takes a couple of minutes to learn the techniques that he's using - but they basically involve writing down the stuff that you normally do in your head and it's clear how they can progress into "normal" calculation methods. Not sure how that happens with Papy's methods?