Math check

Yesterday the Hearthsong catalog arrived, and Little Guy snatched it up right away. He likes to peruse catalogs and make up wish lists. Last night at bedtime he was busy writing, and because he was quiet we forgot he was up. After a long time he came out to where I was working on the computer, to show me what he'd done.

He had three pages, illustrated, with the names of the items his heart desired, copied carefully. At the top of page one was the cost: $77.11.

Then there was a page of five or six calculations, though the addition problems were different from the ones used to add up the cost. At the bottom right of the page was a funny box with the label, "If crect, culr in. If not, do not."

And on the back of that page was the note:

'Math check.
Sens I can't pay you back I will pay in math, my favrit clas."

I was impressed, He did not whine or beg or demand, and he thought up his own way to earn money. This morning I told him that for every extra five math pages he does (over and above his daily 3-page assignment) he will earn one math dollar. I figure that if he can do 386 pages of math (77.11 x 5), then I can fork over the money to buy a remote control alien spaceship, and a couple other things. He got to work right away.