Maths made esy: Counting billions!

Once your kid knows how not only two plus four makes six, but also that two raisins plus four raisins makes six raisins, it is pretty easy to change the stuff we count. Cows. Balls. Or… billions!

Kids knows tht billions are BIG numbers. But they have no idea that should intimidate them. As soon as we could add two cows to one cow, Hannah could add two billions to one billion. That is how easy it is to make friends with he big numbers.

Two “thousands” are as easily subtracted from four of them, as if they were apples.

So, by adding the to a toddlers counting practices and vocabulary the not clearly defined names for LARGE numbers, they can excel in heir counting skills!

4″hondred thousand” plus two “hundred thousand”? Piece of cace!

We just made sure to check what happens if you have one “cow” and add two “goats”. Hm. Not much, numberwise… And you can’t subtract one horse fron three flies either. 

So, what happens if you add a  ”hundred” to four “thousand”?

Now, thats maths for older kids. One “hundred” and one “thousand” – is that “one thousand one hundred” or “one hundred thousand”?

Let’s skip tht until you helped your kid knowing the series of bigies: ten, hundred, thousand, million, billion, etc….

Maths made easy: Raisins

Some people hate maths. Big numbers and being asked to manipulating them scares them. I, on the other hand, like maths. It’s logical, the same answer is correct every time, regardless of who asks, when, and why. This will appeal to many of the kids who get confused when, in “normal” life, people want you to answer differently in different situations, and you can’t figure out why or when.

If your kid is an Aspie, it might love numbers from the very beginning. Or not. So, liking them, of course we played number games…

Counting starts in the early rhyming games. Lots of kids knows the number series, the “one. two, three, four…” long before they know it’s numbers. But once they start realizing a numbername means there is a certain amount of something, it is time to play!

Most kids think at first that counting means giving names to objects.

If you put four raisins in front of the child, and count them, “one, two, three, four”, and then remove the last one, the kid will be able to tell you there are three left. BUT:

If instead you remove the first one, your kid my tell you there are four! Why? Number four is still there on the table! As long as the raisin called “four” is there, the “correct answer” is four, in their mind.

I tested something else, which also gives you a clue of your kids sense of numbers and magic.

Your kid may know that 2+3 equals 5.

So, lets test it!

Take a cup, cover it with a saucer. Let the kid count two raisins and put them in the cup. Next, tell them we will add three more… Without looking under the lid, let the kid count three more and drop them inside.

Now… How mny raisins are in the cup?

It’s interesting how a child who can add large numbers when you give them a question, can, at the same time, guess so freely at the result in the cup. It may be one. Or twenty! If your kid is fluent at “word math”, then doing the raisin game, both adding and subtracting from the hidden cup, my help them get a hang on the relationship between the wonderfully abstract world of numbers, and the world it represents!

Just dont TELL them they are worng. Just let them see how many were there. And eat them! Math tastes sweet!

 

 

 

Another game: Learning by winning (theory of mind)

People like to succeed. Perhaps especially kids: Being too small, too young, to inexperienced, too weak, and too uninformed for a LOT of stuff, it’s rather nice to be good at stuff.

Hence: The “What? How on earth did you KNOW that? – game”!

Hannah isn’t a native English speaker. But at three, she liked words. Any way a word would have presented itself to her, she would have learned it. However, I still invented this game since english words were not generally available around her, and I didn’t want to “teach” her stuff – that would be boring…

We sat at a table. I asked her stuff, in english:

What colour is this? And pointed at something red.

Then, theatrically, as if we were in on a conspiration together, this invisible playmate-me and her, I whispered really loudly:”red!”

Changing the position and the voice to make it clear that this was not the same figure in the game as the one who had asked the question.

Hannah replied “Red!!!”. Then, I had to make a great show out of being overwhelmed by surprise. What? You know colors in english? How can that be? You are only thre years old! Now I’m gonna give you a question you can NOT answer! What color is this?”

…and each time her little collaborator bent forward to let her know the answers. She was thrilled! Knowing grown up stuff, fooling her mum, winning every time. This was great!

Hannah lerant her colors and heps of other stuff. Of course, she simultaneously learnt about trickery. About what they call theory of mind: the ability to reason about wht other people know and don’t know.

Quite obviously the “questionasker” I played, had no idea she was cheating, and she knew this, and knew I knew it, but it still worked, since it is a game. A fun game. Not all ASD-kids will understand how this game is played, but if they do, it is very rewarding to have the right answers to all questions!

This is also how we teached maths: By making her know the huge numbers long before she should be able to calculate them. But thats will be in a later section!

 

 

 

All that whining: The voice game

Facts:

People with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders, where Asperger belongs) usually have problems recognizing and understanding nonverbal cues: Your tone of voice, your body language. It is, to them, a mystery why and how people say things without SAYING them.

Lots of them also lack the ability to use these cues, both intentionally and unintentionally.

I didn’t know this. All I knew was, the whining put me off.

Situation:

Hannah comes into the kitchen, and wants a glass of milk. So, she calls out, in a rather unpleasant tone:

- Why am I not getting any milk?

At first I tried explaining to her. She could have all the milk she ever wanted. She just had to let me know she wanted it. Preferably by FIRST asking: Can I have some milk, please?

If, after that, she STILL didn’t get any, it might be appropriate to whine about it.

Explaining didn’t seem to do the trick. She still whined. So, I decided to “name it”. To let her understand what it was I didn’t like. And to make sure she really could understand, I made up a game.

This, hence, is the voice game!

Hannah comes in, and calls out her milkrequest. Hm, I say. Can you say that with the happy voice?

And, with a very exaggerated happy voice, intonation, and general holeheartedness, I called out:

- I want a glass of milk!

Or…. With the scared voice? New theatrical improvisation.

Hannah catches on quickly. We try all kinds of voices, all the ones we can think of, the angry one is the funniest. I end it by asking her to ask for the milk with her happy voice.

Next, every time I have the energy, and she whines, I play the voice game with her, and make sure I serve the milk after one of her attempts at sounding sunny. And she is brilliant at it, finding all the stuff that makes you see how ngry or irritted or tired she is. I also make sure to name the “whining” voice for her, so she understands what I mean when I later tell her: You are whining, honey. Please don’t do that.

This is one of her favourite games. And, it taught me, who was scared of not being the always loving image of a mother, that to her, expressions of anger and such, didn’t scare her, just me:

We were at my mother’s house, and dinner was ready. I called her to the table. No response, she was sitting on the sofa watching telly. I called again with just as little response.

After my third call, we could hear her calling back from the living room:

You have to call with the STERN voice, mummy!

 

Introduction

Welcome to the tales, mostly true, of Aspiemum!

This is a selection of little stories I have been told may help other parents, with or without Asperger, of children, with or without Asperger.

Hm. I guess hat was it!