Middle School & Math

Seems my writing "vessel of ideas" is rather empty of late. Guess that means my head is rather empty as well! Not surprising, huh?!!
I travel a bit back and forth to the southernmost coastal area of this, the "Tarheel State." And each weekend as I return home I observe interesting things and happenings many of which I have written. I observe middle schoolers as I volunteer in the media center of a middle school while I am there. What I observe with these "kiddles" serves to remind me that with all of the modern inventions and technologies available to them today, kids haven't changed much. Can't say that I have observed any behaviors there that I did not see in my days of teaching which must have spanned at least 100 years!!! Teenagers are just teenagers!

This past week was Book Fair time. Interesting observations were how students shared their money with one another. My sister (the media specialist in this school) kept a container of change with lots of pennies on the table near the register for assisting youngsters with tax money in case they had forgotten that book purchases were taxed. I observed that students often just dropped their change into the container as they finished their purchases.
This school has lots of students who really do not have much money to spend. One female student came to book fair with $5.66 that her friend had given to her to spend. She was very frugal with her choices and was certain half of what she bought was for her friend. I observed that she was so happy to be able to shop but that she was very unkempt reflecting her need for assistance from her friend. I found it touching as I helped her figure what she could buy with her money as she made the choices.

That thought brings me to another point of concern. Many of these children do not know how to do mental math well enough to calculate their purchases. They often asked, "if I buy this and this, how much money will I have left, if I have this much money to start with?"
Some knew how far their money would stretch with the exception of the tax but were prepared for possible taxing. Perhaps it was mainly the sixth graders who were having the "$$$ figuring struggle" but having taught Math to students of this age I knew they should have previously mastered these skills. Knowing that EOG's are not far away, I mentioned this to one of the Math teachers who accompanied her students. She acknowledged that money was a difficult concept for some, although SHE tried to link all of decimal instruction back to money to enhance students' understanding.

Reflecting on this ......it seems that parents could really help with this situation by working with students at home with money. I'm certain that there are days when, "I have no homework," is heard at home. With a few resources one could come up with problems buying items with a certain amount of money and having children make change and even count it back. Or am I being too practical about this?

Wish I knew some magic that would help me understand why some mathematical concepts are so difficult for some to learn!! As a matter of fact, I would use it on myself!!