A Beautiful Mind

Jessica is wonderful!  She has a unique perspective on most things in the world.  She is bright and talented and brings so much joy into our lives.  As I was doing some math homework with her, I was very impressed.  It's been awhile since I've helped her with math, and I can see why.  She is very good at it!  Her mind clicks quickly and grasps concepts well.  For this assignment, she was working on simple fractions with variables.  It was new to her and she needed some guidance.

We went through most of the problems.  She continued to do very well.  Then we got to a problem that showed how creative and yet unique are the processes that go on in her head.

Problem:  Windy Bay is 48 miles away.  Make up your own fraction word problem with multiplication.  Be sure to include a non-unit fraction.  (Jess had to educate me on the definition of a non-unit fraction.  Once again, I was impressed.)

I helped her create a problem:  When you are 6/8 of the way there, how many _____ (I was going to finish this with "miles have you come?"  But I wanted her to determine the units for herself.  So I verbalized it:  "When you are 6/8 of the way there, how many…."  Blank stare.  I repeated:  "When you are 6/8 of the way there, how many…."  Again, I waited for her to come up with the correct unit.  Again a blank stare.  Me again:  "When you are 6/8 of the way there, how many…."  Pause. Pause.  "Cats?"

Me:  "Huh?"

Jessica:  "Cupcakes?"

Me:  "What?"

Jessica:  "Eyeballs?"

Me:  "Huh?"

Jessica:  "What?!?  I was thinking of Halloween!"

One of many notes that make my life a rich symphony on a daily basis.

-Jer