As our children grow older, the challenge to keep up with their education in Spain, their schoolwork and their often vast quantities of homework continues. I am currently a very proud mum who has two very intelligent and hard working children (yes I know they are only 5 and 8 and there is time to change but please let me wallow in the glory of this moment!).
Mr Google is regularly present at homework time as my range of vocabulary is expanded on a weekly basis looking for antónimos, sinónimos and who knows what else for words I have never heard of before, in order to keep us with my eight year old son.
Up to this point, I have managed to rise and conquer the most challenging of challenges of an eight year old’s Spanish school homework (that BA Hons degree has its uses!). However, I have stumbled. I am still stumbling. But, I think I’m getting there ….
I am attempting to understand and be able to explain the reasoning behind the Spanish way of carrying out mathematical divisions!
What in the world are they trying to do to us? Why do they make it so complicated? Do they know how frustrating it is not to be able to explain something to your eight year old son who thinks you can do everything? You can do everything in his eyes … except Spanish division!
I posted a plea for help on my Facebook page for mums who had older children who could maybe enlighten me. Their replies…
“Omg. It’s a nightmare. They do it all backwards. How they get the right answer is beyond me. Good look in finding an explanation”
“After one of daughter no.1 ´s teachers rubbed out a whole page of long division homework (btw the answers were correct…) I really spat my dummy out and ended up having a lesson from one of the teachers! I don´t like it and think it´s a real is arse-about-face method……”
“I never got to grips with it and would check all my daughter’s homework questions with a calculator! Eventually she learnt how to do it both ways to please me!It is however the most arse about face method ever!”
” *headache.com* good luck!”
The only tips were … “You will find tutorials on you tube…. Good luck!” and “I went to the school and asked the teacher personally to show me what to do – it was the best solution”
So, at the last parents meeting, I raised the issue and was very kindly given this web link by Joshua’s teacher: SEE HERE
These pictures are what you are shown. ( NOTE: If you click on each image it will enlarge and you can read the comment)I have added some translations at the sides. Simple isn’t it ? (lol)
Thankfully my little brain box of a son has mastered this and no longer asks for my help but I continue on my quest to find an easy solution and explanation. Do you have any tips to share to enlighten us? We’d love to hear from you.
We eventually got it from 1) watching division videos on Khan Academy to re-learn how to do it the “sensible” way (yes I am now old, but not old enough to not rely on a calculator 😉 then 2) trying to translate that the opposite way round into the “Spanish” way, it took pages and pages of trial and error and lots of mistakes but think we have pretty much cracked it, it just goes wrong if you get your columns in a tiz! 🙂