Hi John, I live in Australia, and when in primary school, long tots were, as Suzannah suggested, a mental mathematics activity, and the exercise was as long as the teacher wanted it to be by - verbally saying "plus this; minus that; times that, etc." You only wrote the final answer down - probably after about 5 mins or so. It sounds like the Head Teacher is commenting on a teacher's work, and he would have liked to have seen evidence of this activity occurring. I guess the long tots should be prepared so as to (a) cover the necessary mathematical processes at a particular year level & (b) know what the correct answer is at the end of the exercise. I was doing this activity in the late 1960s, so it certainly stood the test of time! Estelle > From: john.newport1@ntlworld.com > To: KENT-ENG@rootsweb.com > Date: Sat, 13 Feb 2010 20:47:25 +0000 > Subject: [KENT-ENG] "Long Tots" > > I came across the following entry, made by the head teacher. in an old > school log book (about the year 1880) - can anyone enlighten me as to what > the words "Long Tots" mean, please? > > > > "No cards or apparatus for "Long Tots" being provided, although applied for, > I fear this branch will be very weak" > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to KENT-ENG-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message _________________________________________________________________ If it exists, you'll find it on SEEK. Australia's #1 job site http://clk.atdmt.com/NMN/go/157639755/direct/01/

Hi, Estelle, Memories - I remember it well - didn't really help me a lot - I fantasized through maths. eagerly awaiting history and anything else - My brothers were a whiz then and now - but perhaps inherited the ability from our parents - as well at school. Much better than having to depend on machines. Cheers, Stella At 04:31 PM 13/02/2010, Estelle Daniels wrote: >Hi John, > >I live in Australia, and when in primary school, long tots were, as >Suzannah suggested, a mental mathematics activity, and the exercise >was as long as the teacher wanted it to be by - verbally saying >"plus this; minus that; times that, etc." You only wrote the final >answer down - probably after about 5 mins or so. > > > >It sounds like the Head Teacher is commenting on a teacher's work, >and he would have liked to have seen evidence of this activity >occurring. I guess the long tots should be prepared so as to (a) >cover the necessary mathematical processes at a particular year >level & (b) know what the correct answer is at the end of the >exercise. I was doing this activity in the late 1960s, so it >certainly stood the test of time! > > > >Estelle > > > From: john.newport1@ntlworld.com > > To: KENT-ENG@rootsweb.com > > Date: Sat, 13 Feb 2010 20:47:25 +0000 > > Subject: [KENT-ENG] "Long Tots" > > > > I came across the following entry, made by the head teacher. in an old > > school log book (about the year 1880) - can anyone enlighten me as to what > > the words "Long Tots" mean, please? > > > > > > > > "No cards or apparatus for "Long Tots" being provided, although > applied for, > > I fear this branch will be very weak" > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > KENT-ENG-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >_________________________________________________________________ >If it exists, you'll find it on SEEK. Australia's #1 job site >http://clk.atdmt.com/NMN/go/157639755/direct/01/ > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >KENT-ENG-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without >the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Thanks to everyone who answered my question! I had thought that it might have been something to do with long additions or long multiplications but I'd never heard of it! What it was all about was that the head-teacher (my grandfather, actually) had ordered, via the School Managers, the cards or apparatus that he needed in order to teach the "Long Tots, but these had not arrived. This was quite usual as, according to the School Log Books, the managers were always reluctant to spend any money and didn't always order everything asked for. My grandfather was concerned about getting the pupils up to the level required for the coming examinations - his pay depended on success and attendance - it couldn't have been easy! When he talks about 'cards', I assume that these were, probably, pre-printed lists of numbers, to be added or whatever, but are there any ideas as to what the "apparatus" might have been? Couldn't have been a calculator!!! It's not important because I have my answer, but it's just interesting. I was very interested to know that the idea was still in existence, in the 1960s, though purely mental arithmetic. I don't remember having to do anything like that, back in the 1950s but perhaps my memory dims! Thanks again to all, John No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2687 - Release Date: 02/14/10 07:35:00