Polygons - oh no its the dreaded maths

I was going to post today of my great counselling session and my coming to terms with my post surgery body and all that, but I cant. "Why" I hear you ask, well my four year old has entered the magical, mythical and ah so dreaded world of mathematics.

We always knew that he was that way inclined, but up to now I have been able to keep up and MadDad has always been on hand, but today all that changed. I went to collect him from school to take home to the park and then for a friend to take him to swimming lesson, when his teacher pulled me to one side.

 

My tummy did a flip, oh no he has been overenthusiastic I thought, but no, she said "I have been discussing polygons with MaxiMad today and would like you to continue with him tonight". My mind was in a whirl, what the heck was a polygon. I knew it had something to do with maths and my dim and distant schooling, but couldn't quite grasp the concept there and then. So I smiled and replied "Sure thing", knowing that I had 45 minutes to get googling and sort this out in my mind before he was dropped back home after his swimming lesson.

 

This conundrum did at least spare me the worry of his first swimming lesson without mummy to help with clothes, armbands and drying.

 

Polygons, I googled and looked at the wikipedia entry, which left me more confused than I was to begin with and then I had a lightbulb moment. Hexagons, octagons and the likes. I had cracked it.

 

So when Maxi came home and whilst dinner was being prepared we did some join the dots, where by he then wrote the number of sides in. we discussed how to remember the shapes names and also that they had to have sides of equal length.

 

Then MadDad came home and we had a yummy home made sweet and sour with noodles and started to discuss our days. All was fine until Maxi decided to bring back up the topic of polygons and they started to try and name all the large ones, well my mind was reeling. But you know what I now know a twelve sided polygon is a dodecagon, such a nice word, kind of flows off the tongue. But it is not as though a dodecagon is going to get me a cup of tea in the morning.

 

So pray tell, why do we need to know about Polygons and what do they do for us? I NEED to know, no really I do because Maxi is bound to ask and I want to be able to answer him.

I have prepared a craft activity for him before school though. I have cut out a hexagon, octagon and pentagon from sponge and we can do some stamping and tessellation (another great word)!

 

I am proud of him and do want to encourage his inquisitive mind, but surely they should cover more of this with him at school. I already get a book an day to read with him, plus a project to do over the weekend on a Thursday and this is in addition to all the reading we do at home anyway.

 

Anyway, I am now off to try and rid my mind of numbers and shapes by filling it with Amada Soule's Handmade home instead - Oh and I might have a small sherry too.

 

Goodnight