Story Problems

Today we visited our friends in Plattsmouth, about an hour away from Lincoln. The boys wanted to know how long it would take to get there, and we answered using the standard unit of measurement when explaining time to preschoolers: two Dinosaur Trains (actually, closer to three, since we watch without commercials). This answer satisfied them until we were about halfway there. “How far is it now?” “Thirty minutes,” I answered, “One Dinosaur Train.”

But then the real trouble started when ten minutes later Ian again wanted to know how long it would be. I knew I couldn’t give the same answer I had just given, so I said, “Twenty minutes. Two-thirds of a Dinosaur Train.” 

Simon didn’t let “two-thirds” just slide by like I hoped maybe he would, so I tried to explain fractions. By the end, Ian especially was thinking hard (I assume about fractions), and the look on his face was so dear that I nearly had to pull over because I was laughing too hard. No exaggeration.

And so began our math game. Let me tell you, math with young kids is a lot of fun, both when they get it and when they don’t. It went something like this:

Me: If I have four eggs, and Ian gives me two more, how many eggs do I have?

Simon: Six! Okay, my turn. If I have three eggs, and Mommy gives me one egg, how many do I have?

This continued for several rounds. We also did some subtraction (If I have three eggs and two break . . .) and eventually changed from eggs to ornaments.

Simon threw me a couple of curve balls: “If I have a million ornaments and six break, how many do I have?” and, even harder, “If I have sixty, eighty, nine, and nine break, how many do I have?”

My favorite story problem of the day, though, came from Ian: “If I have two ornaments and Simon gives me one more and Mommy gives me two more and one breaks, how many ornaments do I have?”

Soon after that, though, the genius all fell apart into quarreling.

Simon: No, Ian! It’s not TWO!

Ian: Yes! It is! It is two! [It wasn’t. He had had several rounds of luck where the answers to his story problems were two, but Simon was right on this one.]

Simon: Mom! Ian says it’s two, and it isn’t. IT’S NOT TWO!

Ian: It IS!

Simon: Eeeeeooooon! Why is it always two?

Ian: Because I’m two.

Well, there’s that.