more math

It's fast and easy for me to just dash them off here -- and since the stories here live in cyber-space, they won't get lost in the next computer crash.

We were in the car yesterday -- maybe we should call what we do car-schooling -- when Andy asked, 'what's 95 plus 65?' I answered 160, without thinking about it. I know Andy can do math, so I figured he was keeping other facts in his head and probably just checking his answer with me. He was playing Pokemon on his DS when he asked.

A few seconds later, Dan said "I know how to figure that out. 95 plus 5 is 100, then plus the 60 from 65, and you get 160." Very cool! He knew the easy method for that problem was to make two groups of ten-units and add them up. Andy then quizzed Dan for several math problems, a favorite activity for Andy, who seems convinced that Dan should know as much he does. Dan was very close in his answers. He's good at figuring out a system to do the math reliably. It also gave Andy a chance to show he could do the math, correcting Dan's answers.

It's great that they really enjoy playing with numbers and doing math. Really, tho, my favorite part in all this is watching their relationship -- they're good friends and companions despite their differences in age and personality.

And they laugh so much every day!