Pedigreed Housewife World

Briana has decided that math is her favorite subject. All day long she wants me to give her a multiplication problem to solve. Like today she got 4 x 7 when she asked. So then she responds with “4 times 7 is the same as 7 times 4. I think I want more numbers to add this time so I’m going to solve it as 4 times 7.” Then she starts.  “Well 4 times 1 is 4. If I add four to that I have 4 times 2.” Then she adds them and says, “That’s 8. Four times two is eight. So if I add 4 more that would be 4 times three.” And she stops to add 8 + 4 before announcing that 4 x 3 is the same as 4 + 4 + 4 or 8 + 4, which is 12. And so on until she gets to 4 x 7 = 28.  This tickles me because I always saw math as a series of fun puzzles and not an exercise in memorization too. While I know from experience that doing math this way will lead to running out of time on many a test, I also know from experience that it will lead to a better understanding of what the numbers mean...