Math Chat: Going the Distance

When I was a child, I devoured adventure stories. My favorite characters sailed pirate ships, rode horses, and traveled in a giant peach—the more excitement, the better! 

While I’ve made peace with the boring modes of transportation we actually use, my children seem to always find magic in our everyday journeys. And just like me, they ask questions about it all. Mom, how long will it take to drive to school? How far is it to the park if we bike? What’s the distance from one end of our backyard “safari” to the other?

Distance, like time, is a concept that’s learned over time. In early learning adventures, ships sail for days, submarines dive 20,000 leagues under the sea, and mountains reach up to the stars. While it may not feel as epic, your daily commute home from school can be just as much of an adventure. 

I always leave the navigation screen on, and they always eagerly watch the numbers. At first, they counted down the minutes until we got home. But soon, they began to notice the other numbers, too: After we pass the gas station, it’s two more miles ‘til we get home!

After that, the questions and connections kept coming. Mom, how far do we live from the school? Mom, how far do we live from Aunt and Uncle? Mom, how far do Aunt and Uncle live from the school?

This curiosity gradually worked its way into their play, too. Distances, particularly relative ones, became just another part of their imagination. In their world, their shoes are two hands long, and their teddy bears are one length-of-hair-a-week-after-a-haircut tall. 

Mathematical concepts become meaningful when they’re rooted in the real world. Distance is a tangible concept that we use in and out of the math classroom every day. Most mathematics curricula have phased out word problems, and we’re now in an age where we foster number sense. Understanding distance builds these sense-making skills, while also providing a gateway to talk about addition, subtraction, and related units of measurement. 

My kids still ask to see the directions every day, and share all the information they can interpret from the screen. They’re still developing their understanding (Mom, are tus abuelos literally a million miles away from home?). And the more ways they can interact with concepts, the better. Playful exploration of topics like distance fosters a deeper understanding that will serve them well in school and in life.