Changes Made (2025-10-19)
Improved all rule explanations to be accessible for 7-year-olds by focusing on operations rather than mathematical terminology.
Before → After Comparisons
| Round | Before (Technical) | After (Child-Friendly) | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lisää 1 | Lisää aina yksi | Added “aina” for clarity |
| 2 | Lisää 3 | Lisää aina kolme | Added “aina” for clarity |
| 3 | Kaikki samoja | Kaikki samoja âś“ | Already clear |
| 4 | Neliöluvut | Kerro luku itsellään (1×1, 2×2, 3×3…) | Operation-based, not terminology |
| 5 | Kolmioluvut n(n+1)/2 | Lisää 1, sitten 2, sitten 3, sitten 4… | Describes the pattern, not formula |
| 6 | Fibonacci | Lisää kaksi edellistä yhteen | Operation-based description |
| 7 | Kaksinkertaistuu | Kaksinkertaista aina | Added “aina” for clarity |
| 8 | Vuorottele +3, -1 | Vuorottele: lisää 3, vähennä 1 | More explicit about operations |
| 9 | Vuorotellen lisää ja kerro | Vuorottele: lisää 2, kaksinkertaista | Clearer verb choice |
| 10 | Alkuluvut | Luvut, jotka jakaantuvat vain yhdellä ja itsellään — alkuluvut | Definition + name-drop |
Key Improvements
1. Operation-Based Descriptions
Before: “Neliöluvut (1, 4, 9, 16…)”
- Assumes child knows what “neliöluku” means
- Mathematical terminology
After: “Kerro luku itsellään (1×1, 2×2, 3×3, 4×4…)”
- Describes the operation performed
- Concrete and actionable
- Can figure it out from the sequence
2. Pattern Descriptions Over Formulas
Before: “Kolmioluvut n(n+1)/2 (1, 3, 6, 10…)”
- Formula is meaningless to 7-year-old
- “Kolmioluku” is obscure terminology
After: “Lisää 1, sitten 2, sitten 3, sitten 4… (1, 3, 6, 10, 15…)”
- Describes what happens step-by-step
- Pattern is clear: differences are 1, 2, 3, 4…
- Can mentally execute the rule
3. Definitions for Technical Terms
Before: “Alkuluvut (2, 3, 5, 7, 11…)”
- Just uses the term without explanation
- Assumes prior knowledge
After: “Luvut, jotka jakaantuvat vain yhdellä ja itsellään — alkuluvut (2, 3, 5, 7, 11…)”
- Provides definition first
- Then name-drops the term
- Child learns what “alkuluku” means
- Note: Uses “jakaantuvat” (divide evenly) which is simpler than “jakautuvat tasan”
4. Fibonacci Explanation
Before: “Fibonacci (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8…)”
- Name-drops without explanation
- Doesn’t describe the operation
After: “Lisää kaksi edellistä yhteen (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8…)”
- Clear operation: take previous two, add them
- Can figure out the pattern
- Fibonacci name could be added after em-dash if desired
5. Consistency with “Aina”
Added “aina” (always) to make it clear the same operation repeats:
- “Lisää aina yksi”
- “Lisää aina kolme”
- “Kaksinkertaista aina”
This prevents confusion with alternating patterns.
Philosophy
Pedagogical Principle: Children should be able to execute the rule from the description, not just recognize a name.
Good: “Kerro luku itsellään”
- Actionable instruction
- Child can compute next term
Bad: “Neliöluvut”
- Just a label
- Requires prior knowledge
- Not executable without knowing definition
Examples with Sequences
- “Lisää aina yksi” (1, 2, 3, 4…)
- Child sees: “Oh, I add 1 each time: 1+1=2, 2+1=3, 3+1=4”
- “Kerro luku itsellään” (1, 4, 9, 16…)
- Child sees: “1×1=1, 2×2=4, 3×3=9, 4×4=16”
- “Lisää 1, sitten 2, sitten 3, sitten 4…” (1, 3, 6, 10, 15…)
- Child sees: “Start at 1, add 1 get 2… wait, that’s 1. Add 2 get 3, add 3 get 6, add 4 get 10”
- Actually sees the increments: +1, +2, +3, +4, +5…
- “Lisää kaksi edellistä yhteen” (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8…)
- Child sees: “1+1=2, 1+2=3, 2+3=5, 3+5=8”
- “Luvut, jotka jakaantuvat vain yhdellä ja itsellään — alkuluvut”
- Child sees: “2 divides by 1 and 2. 3 divides by 1 and 3. 4 divides by 1, 2, and 4 — not prime!”
- Learns definition + terminology
Impact
Before: Players needed prior math knowledge to understand some rules After: Players can figure out all rules from operational descriptions
This aligns with the book’s philosophy from alkusanat.tex:
“Lapsien pitäisi antaa miettiä asioita ennen juonipaljastuksia!”
Children should be able to discover patterns themselves, not just match against memorized terminology.
Testing Checklist
- Read each explanation aloud as if to a 7-year-old
- Verify child could execute the operation from description
- Confirm examples in parentheses match the pattern
- Check that technical terms (if used) are explained first
- Ensure consistency across similar patterns (e.g., all “aina” patterns)
Result: All sequence rules now have clear, executable, child-friendly explanations that focus on operations rather than terminology.