Math and Signing

"What is your secret to teaching your son Math facts?"

This was what my first grader's teacher asked me just recently. I stood there for a moment wishing I had an explanation, some novel strategy of teaching that caused my child to succeed in this unforeseen math assessment that day.

But I did not have a specific strategy. To tell you the truth, I had done nothing to promote his quickness in solving addition and subtraction problems in his head.

I relayed to his teacher that both his older brother and him have a way with seeing the numbers in their head and solving problems as they seem to be drawn to strategic things.

It was only later that I thought of the visual process of math solving in your head and comparing it to the visual process of signing.

Here's some thing to consider in the process of signing and Mathematics:
Learning to talk, thinking of the need they wanted to express in words, not knowing how to say it, visualizing the sign that would produce that same word they wanted to express. And then signing what they wanted to express.

Math being a similar problem solving situation.

Thinking of the problem (addition or subtraction) and what needs to be expressed (the sum or difference), not knowing the answer readily, visualizing the numbers and producing an answer in their mind. Being able to then answer the problem.

So when asked next time what is my secret in teaching my children math facts, I just might start with the notion of how using sign language at a young age may have enhanced the ability to visualize problems and solve them in their head.^_^

By Shawna Tran