In a summer math program of 2015, there was a 6-year-old little girl who caught my attention because she simply doesn’t stop talking!! After telling me all about her whole family, her friends, what she did during the summer days, we finally sat down and started doing some addition and subtraction.
After her cheerful characterization of every single number like calling 5, Mr. Five, and personification of 2 by saying “Two is a question mark dancing on stage”, I decided to ask her:
“What do you think the biggest number is?”
She thought about it and replied,
“There is no biggest number because numbers keep coming and coming just like the days never end”
What a brilliant answer for a 6-year-old!
Just like that, her and I discussed the concept of infinity.
I keep using this example to remind myself that little learners may just surprise you if you give them a chance to be curious, think outside of the box, colour outside of the lines, and in this case, think beyond infinity.
Written by Mandy Lam
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