Combination Clubs and Math Fluency

This week our class began Combination Clubs! As stated in the introduction letter, addition facts will be sent home on "flash cards." Each student will begin with set number one (combinations of ten, plus one, plus two). The cards should be cut out and practiced at home throughout the week. Some time during the week, a parent volunteer will quiz your child on these facts. It should take no longer than 3-4 seconds to answer each expression. When your child masters the set of facts, a new set will be sent home to add to their cards. 

You may be asking yourself "but I thought Chets focused on conceptual math, rather than algorithms and rote memorization?" And you would be right....sort of. In the primary grades, it is extremely important for students to develop a strong understand of what is actually happening when adding to and taking away from a quantity. As we move through 2nd grade, our focus is still very much conceptual. However, we begin to discuss some higher order thinking. In order to do this, we need students to become automatic in basic addition and subtraction facts. "If this fluent retrieval does not develop then the development of higher-order mathematics skills — such as multiple-digit addition and subtraction, long division, and fractions — may be severely impaired." (from the Scholastic Research Foundation Paper Research Foundation & Evidence of Effectiveness for FASTT Math). 

We will spend a lot of time this year during Interactive Math to build fact automaticity. We will also be using a computer-based program called Reflex Math. However, we also need your help at home. Please take 5-10 minutes each evening working on these facts. The investment of time spent building fluent retrieval of facts will pay dividends as your child moves into higher-order mathematical thinking this year!