Last night we attended a NUMERO games night in Singapore run by my colleagues and friends at September 21. http://www.september21.com.sg/
At first I was reluctant to play and then realised most people there (like me) did not know a great deal about the game. I was coaxed into the game and Martin had to drag me out to attend another function. I was NUMEROED! Finally I understood the power of this unassuming yet amazing game.
One of the participants who plays the game with older children (P3-P5) commented that she has to encourage the children to slow down and strategise, but after a while the children start to really use their logic and NUMERO has had such a powerful effect on their maths understanding.
Jackeline Carter, one of my licensees, (www.jcartercentre.com), told me she uses it when running EQ4KIDZ to teach kids about maths intelligence. What a GREAT idea!
Such a simple game and SO effective and can be played on so many levels. Finally I really GOT it! Thanks Kenlin and Chew Yeh for the excellent training and opportunity to play NUMERO in a non-threatening context!
In the taxi both Martin and I chatted excitedly about how we will use the game at ICE, what it REALLY does and about maths in general.
The game teaches much more than simply maths operations. It teaches how to stick to simple rules, how to think strategically, how to mentally compute, gives practice for all the maths operations and much, much more!
As we continued our chat in the taxi it started to dawn on me. Have we got it wrong with maths education? Are we putting the cart before the horse? I have realised lately that many children of grade 1,2,3 cannot solve for missing numbers e.g. 15+ ?= 8 or ?x4= 12
And yet my grade ones over 20 years ago could easily do that.
So why can’t they do it now?
I think we try to teach too much, too quickly and the children are not understanding our number system.
Parents and teachers- think about this. Consider spending more time on basic number facts, using material and games to consolidate and definitely equip yourself with Numero!
http://www.numero.org/