Math - Idioma sin Palabras

Lucia (or Lu for short), Silvana’s daughter, is a smarty.  She’s nearly 11, in 5^th grade and is a math W-I-Z.  Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever met a kid who picked up math and really understood it so quickly.  Her brain just works that way.  Well, when we first arrived, Lu really wanted to learn algebra.  So, with my elementary Spanish vocabulary – especially when it comes to math terms – I sat down with her.  We discussed how the variable is a place holder and how to balance equations.  Then came negative numbers.  Then came multi-step algebra equations. 

 

48 + 3a = 73

 

Easier than cake.

 

127 – 4a = -13 – 6a

 

HA.

 

I could go on.  This may seem like nothing for some of you 25 year old PhD holders, but for most of us, we didn't really learn (geez, let alone understand) algebra until we were in like 8th, or 9th grade at least.  And the coolest part is (dorky teacher moment in 3…2…1…), she gets it.  Better than any kid I’ve ever worked with – teaching, tutoring, whatever – she can explain the WHYs of manipulating equations.  Most adults I know can’t do that.  It’s impressive.

 

In fact, she’s going to be in the regional (and then hopefully national!) Math Olympics.  Woot!

 

So, all this to say that there are some smaaaaarties in this family, but also that it was fantastic to be able to help Lu do something she loves (learning math) while I was able to do something I love (teaching) too.  And, of course, all the while learning a few new vocabulary words.  Lu was very patient with me.  J