Meaningful learning comes from real experiences, not through ‘work’ with symbols. It is possible for children at this age to be successful with symbols, yet without fully understanding what they represent.
This indicates that they do not connect their real-life experiences to the symbols they are working with, and rather memorize the facts and figures instead. Ditch those worksheets for the moment if this is what you see.
For children to clearly understand addition and subtraction, they must be able to see the connection between these processes and the world they live in. They need to learn that certain words such as add, subtract, total, sum, difference and equals are used to describe things that happen in their lives every day.
The use of natural language along with the actual objects reinforces the connection between the real world and the mathematics the children are learning. Children will then regard them as every day events and not something to be heard or done in school only.
However, children still need to learn to read and write the equations that describe the processes they are working with. They need to connect their experiences with the symbols used to represent those experiences. They need to see symbols as tools for keeping track of the numbers in the problems and not as the problem itself.
Modifications can be made to these activities to enable your child to reach the next level. For example, as you present these story problems, provide the opportunity for children to record the actions through pictures or other informal representations and then to conventional symbols. The symbols should only be introduced as a way of keeping track of the numbers and actions in the stories.
"The most powerful learning experiences have value in being repeated".
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