Impromptu Math Lessons

The kids have been getting $1 a week for allowance for a few months. It started when B abruptly cried at supper one night with the declaration that everyone had money except for him. Since the allowance started, the kids have been learning to save and make consumer choices. They've also been learning about currency since they frequently ask how much various toys are; we've been reading the price tags together and talking about what the decimal point means and everything. It's been good for them.

The first time, they saved up enough money to buy a Star Wars figure. They had some existing money in their wallets that preceded the allowance policy. Next, they wanted to buy a remote control robot. Since the two of them had broken one of B's birthday presents, a remote control robot, I was going to subsidize this purchase. They really didn't play roughly with the toy, but the toy appeared to be poorly made and broke very easily.

I decided to put in the same amount of money that each of them put towards the toy. The toy cost $12 so we were all going to contribute $4. We spoke about the breakdown of cost and how it made sense. Then, at the last minute, T changed his mind and went back on the deal. Now that he had to spend his own money, he was going to be choosy about what he spent it on. We spent 15 minutes or more, looking at different toys and talking about whether he had enough money or not. He wanted a $20 toy; he insisted it was only $1 because it said "1st Edition" on it.

Ultimately, he had to choose something that he could afford. I decided that, since I was going to contribute $4 towards the original toy, I would give them each $2. They each chose a small robotic toy, with B still managing to get the original robot he wanted. They didn't quite have enough money so I made a deal with them. In addition to the $2 that I was giving them, I would LOAN them $2 each. This meant that, not only were they depleting what was in their wallets, but they would have to pay me their allowance money for the next two weeks to pay off their loan. They agreed with some degree of reservation.

Later that night, dh talked about how a real loan would charge interest and how they were actually getting an interest-free loan. When dh explained that we have to pay the bank to borrow their money, B countered that the bank pays us to use OUR money. He was right. They were both right. A small discussion ensued about that.

Earlier in the day, when we were trying to determine if we had enough money to buy the original toy, I asked them how much they had in their wallets. B had $8 and T had $6. I asked B how much that was, all together. He replied, "10!". I said, "No. Think about it again." He looked up toward the ceiling and one second later replied, "14!". Sometimes I sweat it that he doesn't have math facts memorized. But then I can see that he can actually manipulate numbers without memorizing the answers and I feel better. Dh is fantastic with math and he doesn't even have his times tables memorized! He can just figure it himself. I'm sure there will be some memorization required in the future, but for the time being, I feel good about B's math understanding despite the fact that we don't "do math". Maybe we should "do math" more often.