Need child math assistance

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Deathwing

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My son, 8YO, has been liking Osmo a lot. He wants to voluntarily play it instead of that cesspool of Roblox sometimes. Not very compatible with most tablet cases though, so be mindful of that in case your kid is clumsy.
 

Asshat wormie

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How the fuck do you post on this board, arent named Xequecal or Lendarios, and not know how to solve this? Christ.
 
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Captain Suave

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However, she ignores EVERYTHING ELSE in order to play games.

My son started down this path, so we severely rationed screen time and got him a kindle that I loaded up with books. He switched gears and reads literally 100 books a year now. It's also an obsession, but I figure a more healthy one for brain development.
 
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BrutulTM

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That's a simple algebra problem but it seems pretty hard for 4th grade. I thought they were barely getting into long division at that age?
 

Hateyou

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That's a simple algebra problem but it seems pretty hard for 4th grade. I thought they were barely getting into long division at that age?
Some of the story problems like the OP posted I’ve seen in my kids homework in 1st grade although simpler. He’s in advanced 1st so I think they’re just doing normal 2nd grade work. I wouldn’t be surprised seeing this problem by 4th grade since they’re already introducing them.
 

Deathwing

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Some of the story problems like the OP posted I’ve seen in my kids homework in 1st grade although simpler. He’s in advanced 1st so I think they’re just doing normal 2nd grade work. I wouldn’t be surprised seeing this problem by 4th grade since they’re already introducing them.
Seriously? I remember learning about variables as a concept in 6th grade and more concretely(equations and such) in 7th. How do you tackle a word problem like this without knowing you have to solve for multiple variables?

My kid is in 3rd grade and they're doing multiplication tables currently.
 

Hateyou

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Seriously? I remember learning about variables as a concept in 6th grade and more concretely(equations and such) in 7th. How do you tackle a word problem like this without knowing you have to solve for multiple variables?

My kid is in 3rd grade and they're doing multiplication tables currently.
Yeah but it was more simple, just one variable. It was like you have twice as many apples as sally and Sam. Sally has 3 more apples than Sam. How many apples do you have if there’s 10 apples total? He was like uhhh how do I know that, so I just had him plug in numbers. “Let’s try Sam has 5 apples and see what happens, oh ok that’s way too high, well what number should we try next if we know it has to go a lot lower?” I don’t remember the exact questions but they’ve had a few like that. There was one that had apples and oranges that was similar. He can do them on his own now by trying one number like that, then figuring out how high or low he went and adjust.

Like I said it’s a lot easier but they are introducing it, I could see it progressing over the next couple years to multiple variables.

He was doing multiplication tables in kindergarten. I’m not sure if the whole class was or just him. His teacher said she has to give him extra work cause the regular stuff he goes through too quick or already knows. He asks me for square root and division problems now. A couple weeks ago he wanted to do square roots at dinner and I just threw out a million to blow him off. After a few seconds he said “easy 1000.” I paused and was like uhh, wth, yes. I ask how he knew that so fast, figured he saw it somewhere. He said well it was easy cause a million has six zeroes so to get there I just times the same number that has three zeroes, that how they add zeroes to each other.
 
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Tuco

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Honestly seems like a trap to see which parents are just flat out doing homework for their kids. What fourth grader knows how to convert that question into (X/5)+(X-45)+X=193?
I'd be impressed if the teachers had the time or energy to honeypot parents like this.

Kids will learn specific tools to solve these kinds of equations. Armed with those tools snd recently going through them in class they arent impossible, but if the kid, or many adults, were just thrown into the problems it'd be ridiculous to expect them to solve it.

My kids first grade math is a lot more story problem focused than i remember mine being. Maybe I'm misremembering but i remeber sheets of solving addition, not this timmy and two apples stuff. I like the new stuff much better.
 

Korillo

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Teachers usually like it when you show all your work, so I'd probably write it out something like this:

Let x = Cows
Let y = Chickens
Let z = Ducks

x + y + z = 197

y = 5x
z = y - 45
z = 5x - 45

x + (5x) + (5x - 45) = 197
11x - 45 = 197
11x = 197 + 45
11x = 242
x = 242/22
x = 22

y = 5(22)
y = 110

z = 110 - 45
z = 65

Therefore, there are 22 cows, 110 chickens & 65 ducks.

I feel like this is 7th or 8th grade math though not 4th grade. Or perhaps you do learn substitution this early and this is just an extra credit type question. I know kids generally struggle with word problems. If you simply asked the question:

Suppose x + y + z = 197, y = 5x & z = 5x - 45. Solve for x, y & z.

While the above question is in essence the same, kids would solve this one much more easily than the word problem, as it is already clear what the objective is. If you can try to help your child pull the important information from a word problem and put it into a simple equation, it is a great first step. It's also worth mentioning that many children will simply solve for x in the above equation and say the question is answered. It is asking you for the number of chickens, cows & ducks, so only providing 1 answer is not sufficient. The last sentence is important when answering a math question in school. It's not uncommon for a high school math problem to ask something like "how fast is the train going" and a student will find out the distance the train travelled and not take the extra step to actually provide the speed.
 
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Cutlery

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I remember doing "challenge" problems like this as a kid, and even before I knew the "math" required to do it, I would just plug in numbers. Alright, how many cows we have? 100? Lets see where that winds up in the numbers. Oof, way too much. Okay, 20 then. Hey, 20 gets me pretty close, lets fudge this out a little bit and see where it takes me.

When you're a kid and you don't know the algebra for it, you can still solve it because all they're asking you to do is do things you already know how to do. I can already do multiplication, addition and subtraction. All I need to do is try numbers, and because the target number is so low (197 is not that big when multiplication is involved), you have a finite amount of numbers it can be. It's not like you're gonna sit there all day because you need to fill out Jimmy's industrial ranch that has 300,000 head of cattle or anything.
 
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ToeMissile

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Teachers usually like it when you show all your work, so I'd probably write it out something like this:

Let x = Cows
Let y = Chickens
Let z = Ducks

x + y + z = 197

y = 5x
z = y - 45
z = 5x - 45

x + (5x) + (5x - 45) = 197
11x - 45 = 197
11x = 197 + 45
11x = 242
x = 242/22
x = 22

y = 5(22)
y = 110

z = 110 - 45
z = 65

Therefore, there are 22 cows, 110 chickens & 65 ducks.

I feel like this is 7th or 8th grade math though not 4th grade. Or perhaps you do learn substitution this early and this is just an extra credit type question. I know kids generally struggle with word problems. If you simply asked the question:

Suppose x + y + z = 197, y = 5x & z = 5x - 45. Solve for x, y & z.

While the above question is in essence the same, kids would solve this one much more easily than the word problem, as it is already clear what the objective is. If you can try to help your child pull the important information from a word problem and put it into a simple equation, it is a great first step. It's also worth mentioning that many children will simply solve for x in the above equation and say the question is answered. It is asking you for the number of chickens, cows & ducks, so only providing 1 answer is not sufficient. The last sentence is important when answering a math question in school. It's not uncommon for a high school math problem to ask something like "how fast is the train going" and a student will find out the distance the train travelled and not take the extra step to actually provide the speed.
Math has been moved up a couple levels since I went through grade/middle school, it’s much more common for kids to be taking calc as sophomores or freshmen.
 

Asshat wormie

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Bunch of dumb dumbs up in here. Back in the soviet union we were solving shit like this with gaussian elimination in 2nd grade.

Seriously though, no way this is 7 or 8th grade level, come the fuck on.
 

Lanx

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Ultimately is our fault as parents. I got her interested in video games because I liked them when I was younger. However, she ignores EVERYTHING ELSE in order to play games. I'm suddenly becoming my parents saying she needs to do anything else first.

Ugh, fuck me. I need to figure this shit out instead of just complaining about it.
father-rage.gif
 
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ToeMissile

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My daughters (coming up on 5 and 3) were getting crazy about their little amazon tablets so I just hid them away. They stopped asking after a few days. The same with TV; we started letting them watch too much during a holiday that ran into everyone getting sick. Cold turkey or very strict guidelines as to when/how long they get access .
 

Kithani

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Ultimately is our fault as parents. I got her interested in video games because I liked them when I was younger. However, she ignores EVERYTHING ELSE in order to play games. I'm suddenly becoming my parents saying she needs to do anything else first. We only allow her to watch or play on the weekends, but from the moment she wakes up on Saturday to the moment she goes to bed on Sunday, she ONLY wants to play video games and watch TV at the same time, somehow. It's non stop, and we allow it because we already limit her to weekend only. Maybe we should make Saturday a non-screen day where we only do board games and shit. I hear good things about that, but at the same time, my wife's schedule is very hit or miss. She works weekends (well, 7pm until 7am) every other Saturday/Sunday. So she works one weekend then off the next. At the same time, because I'm doing a free education thing now, I'm learning on the computer most Saturday/Sunday combos because I work week days.

Ugh, fuck me. I need to figure this shit out instead of just complaining about it.
I used to get grounded from EQ/D2/TFC if I didn’t get all As. Pissed me the hell off at the time but I did end up academically successful.

Still pissed 25 years later about the time I got all As except for a B+ in “study skills” and couldn’t lawyer my way past it by arguing that I clearly had good study skills if I got all As in everything else.
 
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Chris

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So my daughter's 4th grade teacher gave the kids an extra credit math problem, and I can't figure it out at all.

There are 197 total animals.
The instructions says there are 5 times more chicken than cow.
There are 45 less duck than chicken.
How many ducks are there?


I was confused, so I created a new set of numbers based off of the same question.
There are 175 total animals
There are 5 times more chicken than cow.
there are 45 less duck than chicken.
How many of each animal are there?

I know the answer to the 2nd question because I created the question, but I can't figure out how to reverse engineer the math in order to make it work. Especially in the mind of my 9 year old.
Any suggestions to give my daughter a fighting chance on doing this shit?
Unless trial and error is the intended method, simultaneous equations are not 4th grade lol.
 

fred sanford

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My daughters (coming up on 5 and 3) were getting crazy about their little amazon tablets so I just hid them away. They stopped asking after a few days. The same with TV; we started letting them watch too much during a holiday that ran into everyone getting sick. Cold turkey or very strict guidelines as to when/how long they get access .
Games on tablets and mobile devices are designed to be addictive as fuck and never ending. They want you to sit there as long as possible so they can sell ads all day. After seeing my kids (5,8) sit with their necks hunched down one too many times, I banned mobile games in our house. They can play consoles during their screen time (weekends only). It seems to work as far as addiction goes. If I hint at going outside my kids drop controllers and run.
 
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Conefed

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Honestly seems like a trap to see which parents are just flat out doing homework for their kids. What fourth grader knows how to convert that question into (X/5)+(X-45)+X=193?
My child's second grade teacher gave insane questions. Some were tough for me; I eventually asked them and they said the questions weren't intended to be gotten by most, to not help them because if they do get them then they may be tapped for accelerated programming.
 

Borzak

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I don't remember any questions like that. Of course I was terrible at math. Only good on the math I could see.

Tell you what I got tired of.

If a train leave Chicago at 2pm traveling 90mph and a train leaves St. Louis at noon traveling at 60mph. Those got so old. Not once in my adult life have I ever had to figure out when two trains would collide.

Of course life didn't turn out to have quick sand ready to trap you every 5 minutes either. Those are the breaks I guess.
 

Hateyou

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I don't remember any questions like that. Of course I was terrible at math. Only good on the math I could see.

Tell you what I got tired of.

If a train leave Chicago at 2pm traveling 90mph and a train leaves St. Louis at noon traveling at 60mph. Those got so old. Not once in my adult life have I ever had to figure out when two trains would collide.

Of course life didn't turn out to have quick sand ready to trap you every 5 minutes either. Those are the breaks I guess.
It isn’t your math teachers fault that you failed to become a train collision prevention engineer. That’s on you.
 
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