School Time 10/9 - Plus One Again

I told Becca I wanted to work on plus one again, she said yes to school time working on plus one. Huzzah!

We got out the plastic board and did the same approach as last time, "__+1=___" on the bottom, with three options on the top. I first went through 1-4 in order. I'd fill in the first number ("1+1=___") and then ask Becca what came next ("one plus one equals... what?"). I'd read off her three options at the top, mixed up each time. If she didn't answer right away then I would talk about how plus-one is like counting, we try to figure out what number comes next. Then I'd count up to the number and stop right before saying the next number (i.e. "four plus one, that's one, two, three, four...").

For 1+1 she immediately looked at 2 (even before me pointing out the choices) and back at me. I moved 2 to the right spot on the board and we celebrated (I would wobble the plastic board so it made a funny noise and sort of fanned her face, and I'd sing the number to the tune of the Braves' war chant, "twoo-ooooo... twooo-ooooo"). This made Becca smile every time.

For 2+1 after I paused, she didn't pick. I then showed her the choices, and asked again. She started right at 3 for a long time. I said that was right, moved 3 to the answer spot, and we celebrated.

Becca's sister was a little jealous

For 3+1 after I paused she didn't pick. I showed her the choices and asked again. Still no choice. Then I did the counting thing. After that she looked at 4 and back at me.

For 4+1 she immediately picked 5 after I showed her the choices.

Next I said I wanted to review some of them and asked if that was ok. She said yes. We started with 2+1 again. She wouldn't pick, even after me showing her options and counting up to 2. She kept looking away instead of at the numbers. It could have been because her little brother started saying "tree" after my "one, two..." every time. Or it could have been she was annoyed that I'd already asked. Either way, I eventually said it was three and we drew a 3 in the air with her hand. I asked if she could find the 3 and she looked at it and back at me. Celebration song again.

After that I asked Becca if she understood why I was asking some of the same questions again. She wouldn't say yes, so I explained that for math we have to answer the same questions more than once so we can learn to answer it very quickly. After we practice enough then it gets easier to answer questions fast, and then we can use that to answer even harder questions. (Side note: I have no idea how to teach someone with no motor control how to add two-digit numbers. How do you teach something like carrying? Just tell them to keep it all in their head? Something like 4+5 is going to be hard enough..)

She's going to be so bored in school..

Next I did 1+1 again, and she rocked it with a smile on her face, no prompting other than to ask "what is 1+1". Next I said I had a hard one, 4+1. Again she picked the correct answer without needing them to be listed. Celebration again. I told Becca she was really smart and I was impressed she was getting better at her plus ones.