In Early Math, Think Actions Not Operations

Word problems. Oh, word problems. They get such a bad rap. But what if word problems aren’t as scary as they’ve been made out to be? What if the fault lies not with the word problems, but with the way we think about them? Moreover, what if the problem is the way we teach children to think about them?

In the younger grades, word problems are frequently sorted into types based on the operation involved--addition word problems, subtraction word problems, multiplication, division. But this sorting by operation is deeply detrimental to a young child’s critical thinking because it interrupts a key thinking process. Take this problem for example:

Amelia had 7 stickers. Her sister gave her some more stickers. Now she has 10 stickers. How many stickers did her sister give her?

This problem would traditionally be categorized as a subtraction problem. Maybe your brain also solved by saying 10 - 7 = 3. But consider the following approach:

A child solves by modeling with a manipulative and takes out 7 counting bears to represent the 7 stickers Amelia started with. Then the child takes out another bear--8 stickers. And another bear--9 stickers. And another bear--10 stickers. The child counts to see how many more bears she took out, “1, 2, 3,” and states that the sister gave Amelia 3 more stickers.

This child never subtracted. Rather, this child solved the problem 7 + ____ = 10. Telling this child that it’s a subtraction problem would have not only confused her, but also cut off the beautiful thinking process she used to arrive at the answer.

When introducing number stories (aka word problems) to our young children, we should focus on the action in the story rather than the operation we would use to solve. The action in the story is concrete and fixed. The operation used to solve can vary from child to child.

In my next post, I’ll talk about the two simplest versions of number stories:

• Joining with the result unknown: I have 2 orange slices. I get 3 more orange slices. How many orange slices do I have now?

• Separating with the result unknown: I have 9 blueberries. I eat 4 of them. How many blueberries are left?

(Read about joining and separating here.)

Our children are so creative. The goal is to connect their natural curiosity about the world around them to the numbers that are part of their everyday interactions. In doing this, we set a foundation that will help our children learn to reason through word problems at every age level.