How do I explain this problem to an 8 year old?

[NinjaGnome]

I can do this in my head and cant really explain the whys to it so he will understand so could someone give me a step by step of it that an 8 year old can understand?

the problem is 237- _ = 195 ive been using the blanks as smiley faces to make it more fun for him.

 

[Brian23]

use an X instead of a _

EDIT: better yet, use three Xs. That'll be fun

 

[pancho619]

237- _ = 195

Why not just tell them to re-arrange it like this instead.

237-195 = ?

Whatever the answer is will fit the blank in the original question.

 

[konakona]

would he or she be able to understand
1) adding same terms to both sides of the equation does not affect the equality
2) -x and x cancel each other out

 

[KarenMarie]

draw 237 circles on a piece of paper, ask the child how many have to be removed before there are only 195 of them left... allow the child to cross out, with a pencil all the ones that are being 'removed' and when the child gets to 195 have him count all the ones that were removed. then explain how 195 + 42 = 237

start with smaller numbers first so the child gets the concept



edit: kids work better with visuals when they dont get something

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Say it out loud

What would you ahve to take away from 237 to get 195?

Teacher him that 237-195 will give that, then plug it back in, and it works

 

[Wallydraigle]

Am I the only one who came into this thread thinking an STD would be involved?

 

[dbk]

Start with small numbers and gradually move up

 

[Brian23]

When I first saw this thread I thought it was going to be about ABC's monday night football skit they pulled off.

 

[HappyPuppy]

Buy him several huge bags of M&M's for a visualization. He may never understand the problem but he will surely love you. :thumbsup:

 

[Cristatus]

Originally posted by: pancho619
237- _ = 195

Why not just tell them to re-arrange it like this instead.

237-195 = ?

Whatever the answer is will fit the blank in the original question.

that's what i used to tell my brother when he used to come up to me for help

if he/she doesn't understand it, try and make them understand that because 237 minus something is equal to 195, if you take away 195 from 237, you will get the answer.
you might have to explain it a couple of times tho

 

[Tremulant]

Originally posted by: Wallydraigle
Am I the only one who came into this thread thinking an STD would be involved?

rofl

 

[BatmanNate]

I don't remember learning algebra when I was eight, but I could do those problems by thinking of it as what I needed to add to 195 to make 237. Use an analogy, like ducks in a pond or some such thing.

 

[TheNinja]

Hi fellow ninja, just say:

"If you have 237 guitars that are wailing....HARD. How many of these guitars would have to have take away so that you would only have 195 wailing guitars left?".

Be sure to bribe with spicy chili as a reward.

 

[chuckywang]

THE MEANING OF LIFE!!! How do you explain that to anybody?

 

[Cristatus]

Originally posted by: chuckywang
THE MEANING OF LIFE!!! How do you explain that to anybody?

84 i think the answer to that was...

 

[SmoochyTX]

First try 8 - X = 3

When he gets that, move up to double digits and then triple digits. With the repetition he'll get it.

 

[rudeguy]

now they are teaching to either count up or count down.

Its much easier than trying to explain the exact math. We have a whole bunch of coins that we use. Grab 42 coins and have it it.

 

[NinjaGnome]

Originally posted by: logic1485

Originally posted by: pancho619
237- _ = 195

Why not just tell them to re-arrange it like this instead.

237-195 = ?

Whatever the answer is will fit the blank in the original question.

that's what i used to tell my brother when he used to come up to me for help

if he/she doesn't understand it, try and make them understand that because 237 minus something is equal to 195, if you take away 195 from 237, you will get the answer.
you might have to explain it a couple of times tho

I think he understands now

 

[TheNinja]

Originally posted by: NinjaGnome

I think he understands now

Was it the spicy chili reward that did it?

 

[her209]

Money works best.

 

[TechnoPro]

Back when I was in school, they used a balance scale to explain what an equation was. So they would put 2 balls on side and 5 on another, and then ask us how many balls were needed until the scales were matched up. Equations became easy at that point, as the concept was very clear.

 

[NinjaGnome]

Originally posted by: TheNinja

Originally posted by: NinjaGnome

I think he understands now

Was it the spicy chili reward that did it?

Haha yes, ive gotta take care of my little bro and make sure he is getting everything so thanks for all the help, I did the way where we started small and then we worked to the bigger numbers.

 

[EpsiIon]

Originally posted by: SmoochyTX
First try 8 - X = 3

When he gets that, move up to double digits and then triple digits. With the repetition he'll get it.

That's what I would suggest, too.

 

[Semidevil]

well, first start with sets and unions, and then slowly move onto number theory, and then, to Cantor's Diagonal theorem. Once he gets that, go to Groups and cyclic groups, and rings and fields....

I know, it's hard, but I promise, he'll thank you later when he gets his ph.D at the age of 15