Edmundo, a young smiling elementary kiddo, was curious about the “weird looking soccer goal” we had set up.
Who could turn down soccer though, on such a beautiful day at the Cesar Chavez Celebration event.
He saw numbers on the goal and learned sticker prizes were on the line .
Game on
He stood behind soccer ball #1: took a deep breath, lined up the ball, his foot, and the goal. AND KICKED THAT MAMMA-JAMMA as hard as he could!
Right into my SHINS
…0 Points for that one.
Thankfully, ball #2 and #3 had more luck, each scoring 40 points
But Edmundo did not know how to add double digits, his score was still a mystery to him.
What Edmundo did have, was a genuine curiosity. His sticker prize hung in the balance until he could tell me his score.
You can read Edmundo’s mind from each line wrinkled into his pondering face.
“Think, think, think…wild guesses are not working…I do not have 80 fingers to count”
What to do? What to do?
It was my turn to chime in: “hey bud, instead of adding 40 + 40, Let’s try 4+4”
“Oh 4+4= 8!” he screamed.
His final correct answer of “80”, was followed right after.
Edmundo was enthralled with his new math skill + the ability to improve his penalty kicking scores.
What he decided to do with his day was now crystal clear.
During a community event where Edmundo could get free candy and toys around the entire campus, he instead spent his entire afternoon “Kicking + Calculating” with us.