Numbers Are Interesting

My son and I had a discussion yesterday on numbers. Numbers really are an interesting way of communication!

I remember a time when my son was in kindergarten. Everyday they would go through the calendar and use it to teach numbers. He caught on right away! It was the first week of October and he came home one day and says, “Mama, I want to talk with you about the calendar. Does each month have 7 different days that repeat called weeks and are there about 30 days in a month? Does the name of the month change and we start it all over?” My answer, “You got it!” He’s always understood numbers way beyond my thinking!

Our Number List

1. Dichotomy – 2 choices example is yes or no, true or false
2. Digits – 10 fingers, 10 toes – base 10 originated from this
3. Roman numerals – made from chisels and hammers. Who knows where the C came from
4. Arabic numbers – what we use today
5. Irrational numbers – numbers that are infinite and have no pattern
6. Rational numbers – ratios, percents, integers – all whole numbers – negative, positive or zero
7. Mixed numbers – are a whole number with a fraction. We teach children to use these in elementary.
8. Fractions – an improper fraction is a true fraction. My son says secondary education requires the fraction to be written this way with the numerator greater than the denominator.
9. Whole numbers – we count with them and they are always positive