Adding numbers

So last night it was time to add up the minutes on Sparkle's reading log. There were seven numbers, one for each day of the week. I decided to have Sparkle add the numbers herself. She had been mentally adding the numbers earlier in the week, so I figured it would be good math practice. Then, I'd check her sum and sign off on the sheet.

Oh, my. It ended up taking much longer than expected. I first thought it would be something she could do quickly and then she could go with Wander to the store. (She likes going out with Daddy, even if it is only to the store.) Wander ended up going to the store by himself and we still weren't done by the time he got back.

It was all silly careless mistakes. She would be going along okay, and then for one number she'd add the tens, but forget to add the ones. Then she would have to start over, and next time she'd accidentally skip one of the numbers. So we went to step two. I had her write out all the numbers on a separate piece of paper so that she could mark off each number as she added it. I also had her use the abacus, to make it easier to keep track of the numbers. Arg. She copied the numbers okay, but then halfway through, she forgot to mark off the numbers and lost track, several times. Then she had too many marks next to the column of numbers, so I had her copy the numbers again. This time she skipped a number, so she had to copy them yet again. Then she started putting numbers on the abacus backwards; she'd put the ten's digit in the one's place and the one's digit in the tens place. Eventually she got it all straightened out, but then I made her check her answer by repeating the process.

Then I signed off on the paper.

It really wasn't a difficult math problem. She had all the tools and know-how to add the numbers. It was those silly careless mistakes. I pointed out how if she had pay attention and been more careful she would have been done so much faster. It takes less time to do a job properly the first time than to have to go back and fix careless work. Sparkle agreed, but I'll wait and see her actions next time to see if it really sunk in.