Mathematical Thinking

On Monday, Button remarked to me that when he was in Ethiopia, he thought 0 (zero) just meant “nothing.”

But now – by implication – after seeing numerals like 100 and 1000 and realizing that that means a whole bunch, he understands that 0 can also be part of a numeral representing something big.

So he is beginning to form an understanding of “place value,” that 0 can be a place holder for “nothing of a particular size” within a numeral of several digits. This is a key concept for mathematical thinking in Grade 1 and beyond, when the kids start working with multiple digit numerals and doing adding and subtracting involving carrying over or borrowing.