Math and Gameboys

Several months ago, I received a few Nintendo Gameboys as a donation to use at Casa Hogar Douglas.  I have to admit that at first, I had no idea what to do with 2 Gameboys for an orphanage that has over 70 kids.  Sammy, another Back2Back staff member, suggested that in the same way that we have the boys read chapter books in order to earn the right to play video games that we could use the Gameboys to get the boys to do extra math practice.  And so it began...

For the past 3 months that's exactly what we've been doing.  I found some ESL (English as a Second Language) Math workbooks that have instructions in Spanish but teach American number concepts and have been making photo copies for the boys each week.  For every 3 pages they complete, they earn 30 minutes on one of the Gameboys.  When their 30 minutes of game time are up, they can do more math pages to earn more time.

Many of my 3rd, 4th and 5th graders when asked the question, "what is 3 minus 2?" insist on counting on their fingers to tell me the answer.  They have absolutely no number concepts.  Addition and Subtraction are manageable if you are counting on your fingers for every question (not ideal but it's possible) but Multiplication and Division are near impossible if you have no choice but to count on your fingers.  Doing their assigned math homework with my boys is often a nightmare for me and for them - I want to rip my hair out and they cry because they have NO number concepts and are frustrated and lost.

So we started with the basics - my 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 year olds do American 1st and 2nd grade math worksheets to try to help them better understand simple addition and subtraction.

Later we got into the idea that multiplication is about groupings of numbers and not just another set of numbers to try to memorize.

The word "Division" in spanish can easily set off several of my boys into a fit of tears just at the mention of the concept because the sad truth was - they didn't know what it means.  My sweet 5th grader said to me this past week after doing 3 very, very basic division pages that he finally understood what division meant, that he liked those pages, and the next time I make him pages - he would like more of those.  Hallelujah the heavens have opened!!! I honestly can see that they are making progress, learning and improving.

I am so so thankful for our Gameboys and the donated games.  Without them, I'm not sure I ever would have challenged the boys this way in their Math abilities.  They will do almost anything to play with them - even if it means a ton of math problems.

You wouldn't guess that my BOYS fight over who gets to play with the pink DS but they do.  Makes me laugh every time.

If you have old Gameboy, Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advance, or Gameboy DS games that you would want to donate - we can use them.  Gameboy Advance or Gameboy DS consoles that have rechargeable wall charger batteries - we can use those too. Contact the Back2Back home office for information about getting them down here to Monterrey at 513.754.0300