The Rookery

The Video Helpers that we've been creating for the problems of the week are being used by an increasing number of families.  Thank you for letting us know how you're using them at your house and for letting us know what's most useful.  We're learning a lot about making them as useful as possible — it's been fun to tackle this new challenge.

Here are some ways that families have used the videos that we wanted to pass along to you.

• "Read Aloud"  Have your child attempt the problem independently.  When he or she gets stuck or confused, have them watch and listen to the beginning part of the problem in which we read the problem and highlight key information while doing a "think aloud" and sharing what is going on in our head.  After the read through, stop the video and have your child try to apply what he or she just saw.  As an aside, children will have this "text to speech" option when they take the MCAs this year, something that wasn't offered to our students last year.

• "Get Unstuck" Similar to above but this time your child checks in with the video on the parts that get tricky.  Remember, it's often helpful to watch a part of the video several times until it makes sense.  The first time is often still confusing.

• "Alternative Approach"  Your child may have been able to tackle the problem but he or she might have used a strategy that ended up being a lot of work.  Watching the video together is a way to illustrate another, more efficient way to solve the problem without undermining his or her work.  Children are often excited to know that there may be an easier way to do a similar problem next time.  They are rarely excited to redo the same problem in a more efficient way.  The next time, you'll have a common reference point to say, "Hey, remember on that problem where multiplication worked and you wouldn't have had to add all those again and again?"

• Checking Work – Often parents and children get into a conflict when a child has worked hard to finish a problem and a parent finds errors in that work.  We strongly believe that children should check their work, at least with by questioning if an answer makes sense.  However, at the end of a homework session, it can be stressful to be corrected by a parent.  The video is a neutral third party that the child can watch (with or without you) to see if the answers match and if they don't to figure out why not.

• "Parent Training Tool" Some parents have been watching the videos to see the kind of language and approach we use as we solve the problem.  This gives them some new ways to work with their child without worrying that they may be muddying the waters.

• "Give the Challenge a Try"  Some parents have found that their child is willing to do the Level A problem independently but balks at trying the Level B problem.  Simply having the child watch the video and make some sense of it can be a triumph that leads to a greater willingness to try next time.

We have already learned a lot about what works and doesn't work in these problems and videos.  We are honing our technique each time we make one.  We really welcome your input and your ideas on how to make them even more useful.  As you can see from all the uses people have shared with us, these are not just tools to help your child get unstuck but portals to widen the math conversation at your house.

You can find all previous videos at:  Prairie Creek Video Helpers.  Soon we will be adding general examples for the algorithms we most commonly use with children to further support your work at home.