On Young Minds

Today's favorite part of the day truly blew my mind, and I almost missed it! Class time was winding down in the 6th grade math glass I tutor for. Poor Danny was still 4 problems away from finishing the worksheet due by the end of class when the bell rang. I was about to leave but decided to help him. Quickly, I guided him through the problems (ok fine I did tell him that 15x4 = 60 without him working it out but it was minor part of the problem!) and finally, the last 2 problems required some long multiplication with bigger numbers. I usually watch as they multiply them out and make sure it's correct but this guy's mind is crazy! He proceeded to scribble at least 7 rows of numbers when 2 were required, none of it making any sense to me and I was just about to stop him when he blurts out the right answer! I just stared at the skajillion numbers he wrote out. Then, he repeated the whole Danny multiplication process with 2 new sets of numbers, giving the correct answer again! I mean, not that it's a faster method but how..?! Wha-..?! Where-...?! Wow.