Verbal explanations are hard for young children to follow
When discussing ways to teach mathematics to young children, Herbert Ginsburg advises, “It is especially futile to give them a lot of verbal explanations.” (Ginsburg, 1977, p. 73) The ability to follow clear verbal explanations of mathematics increases as children get older, but for children at the young ages when basic number properties and addition are first being learned, even very clear verbal explanations can be difficult to follow. This is true even for many young children who are able to learn the very same concepts in other ways.
The frustrating thing for most mathematics instructors is that we naturally want to use verbal explanations. Why? Well, we all know that certain ideas are important in mathematics. And we want learners to learn those ideas in a reasonably short amount of time. So it is natural to try verbal explanations. Unfortunately, many students find that hearing verbal explanations sometimes just isn’t enough for learning the ideas.
Games minimize verbal explanation for quick learning
These games provide a structure for learning the ideas in a reasonably short amount of time, with minimal verbal explanation. Once learners know the rules, the game play walks them through using a concept.
One example of this approach is “Which is more? 2-digit numbers”, a game that comes early in the Place Value section. If you have ever tried to explain place value to children verbally, you know it can be a frustrating experience. Instead of explaining the logic of place value verbally, this game — like other games and activities in the first part of the Place Value section — encourages players to think about problems that just happen to involve place value. In it, both players roll two dice each. Each player arranges the dice, in any order, to make a 2-digit number. (If they don’t know how to do this, the Skill Builders information points you to an earlier activity that will show them how.) When both players have their numbers, the player whose number is larger gets to advance one space on the board.
In a very short amount of time, children notice that putting the larger digit in the tens place and the smaller digit in the ones place is a good strategy. They may not know what the tens place or the ones place is called, but they realize that the order of the digits is important, and they quickly figure out the optimal digit order. These can be the same children who previously felt discouraged because they couldn’t follow verbal explanations of place value. They might believe they “can’t understand place value”, but they start using place value on their own when it is the way to win.
Once players have the practical experience of using the tens place and the ones place, it is easier for them to learn the verbal terminology when playing the later games that teach it.
Next section: Intrinsic motivation
Back to Why the games work
References
Ginsburg, Herbert P. 1977. Children’s Arithmetic: The Learning Process. Oxford: D. Van Nostrand.
July 14, 2020