Does anyone know when a child is developmentally ready for abstract reasoning? How about concrete reasoning? I just got some homework home for my 8 year old, 3rd grade son that seems way over the average kids head that is his age, let alone one like him were math is a frustration and struggle. Seems like we went through all that in developmental psych (way back when) but I can’t remember :roll: Thanks!
Re: estimating and abstract reasoning???
Third grade was a very hard year for us. Higher reasoning was expected and it was clear that my son was not there. Hang in there….schooling changes a lot in third grade but doesn’t necessarily get harder in fourth.
Beth
Re: estimating and abstract reasoning???
Thanks. It is clear that Tucker isn’t there yet either :wink: . Just seems to me that for kids like him it just becomes a lesson in frustration and failure. Heck, most of the kids in class are lost, unfortunately he can’t see that. Anyhow, thanks again and we will hang in……
Re: estimating and abstract reasoning???
It’s a noticeable pattern that American schools in general are lousy with transitions. The transition from non-reading in K to reading in Grade 1, the transition from elementary to middle/junior high, the transition to senior high, the transition from arithmetic to algebra — all of these are well-known trouble points. Here’s another one, the transition from primary learning to upper elementary learning. A lot of people report on the real trouble they have with the change in the reading and language expectations. This is also where far too many kids give up on themselves as math learners.
The problem is that in one level, the teachers say “we don’t do that yet” and in the next level the teachers say “you’re supposed to know how to do this.” Neither of them is exactly wrong, but things would go a lot better if there was actually a sequence of lessons developing the skill across the two levels, rather than throwing the kid into deep water.
Teachers are used to this and they do keep re-introducing the topic. It;s a frustrating approach but keep working at it.
Well, you’re right on the cusp right now. According to Piaget (whose ideas I don’t swallow whole, but his developmental outline is a help) kids move out of pre-operational (little reasoning) to concrete operational (can reason about/with concrete objects) around age seven, so age eight and Grade 3 is a reasonable place to start doing more reasoning tasks. The key word is *start*. Some text and program writers have no clue and it has been noted that elementary texts sometimes demand higher-level skills than high school texts. What is needed, and what is rarely seen in a lot of new programs, is a gradual developmental progression from simple to complex. Unfortuately with everyone trying to cover every topic in one year, just a few too-difficult problems get thrown out before speedingon to the next topic.