Summer School: Beach School

While camping at Skidaway Island, Georgia,

we went to nearby Tybee Island to enjoy the beach.

We also ended each day in Charleston at the beach on the Isle of Palms.

Both beaches were beautiful and provided a nice way to unwind

and to learn a little, too.

Here is what the boys learned at "Beach School"....

Aerodynamics

This "peregrine falcoln" kite caught the attention of everyone on the beach.

Orville enjoyed making its "wings" flap by tugging on the string.

Engineering

 

The boys dug pits in the moist sand

and waited for the ocean water to return and fill them.

Once filled, each pit was called a "water source".

Then they dug canals to connect the sources.

Spelling

We gave the boys words to spell in the sand.

They had to write quickly before the water erased their work.

Architecture

This is the saddest sand castle ever constructed.

And I am using the word "constructed" very loosely!

We had to hault work on it suddenly

because someone needed to go to the potty. :)

Math

 Similar to spelling words,

we gave the boys math problems to work in the sand.

The ocean was the timer,

and the boys had to complete their calculations

before the tide washed the problem away.

I could attend Beach School everyday!!!

Announcement: Quarter Mile Math

You can save $5 on any Quarter Mile Math purchase.  Keep reading to learn how to claim your savings.

I know I just announced my break from blogging yesterday, but as I was packing for our vacation, I realized I had not announced my latest affiliation.

I am now an affiliate for The Quarter Mile Math, a company I wrote a review for as a member of the TOS Crew.  Quarter Mile Math was one of our favorite products for the year; it even made my top ten list.  The boys love "riding" a horse or "driving" a car.  I love that they are practicing important math skills while playing. 

I also love the amount of math covered- practically any skill included in Kindergarten through 8th grade. 

The REALLY good news is that you can save $5 if you purchase The Quarter Mile Math through the link provided in my sidebar.  Their prices are already tremendous, as little as $2.95 per month per family (not per child) for the Deluxe Version subscription. 

To claim your savings, simply click The Quarter Mile Math icon in my sidebar.  You will be redirected to their website and the discount will be applied upon checkout.  I have also placed a link to my review beneath the icon if you would like to read about our experience with them.

Any questions?  Feel free to comment or email. 

Blessings,
Dawn

Disclosure:  I am an affiliate for The Quarter Mile Math.  If you follow the links I have provided from this blog to their website and purchase any of their products/subscriptions, I will receive a commission.  I have not been compensated for this post and have offered my honest evaluation of their products.

Singapore Math

This is the next post in my Considering Homeschooling? series.  You can click your way over to Part I, Part II Intro, and the Early Years if you like.

When Orville began 1st grade, I selected Sonlight Curriculum for him.  I will write more about how that worked for us in my next post.  Per Sonlight's suggestion, I started him in Singapore Math that year.  Wilbur began Singapore's level 1 the following year, and we have never looked back.

We chose Singapore because of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science study.  Singapore students took the top scores on this study for three years.  The features of Singapore Math were exactly what I was looking for, too. 

Singapore begins instruction with concrete examples and builds to the abstract.  This means that the students don't just learn how but also why and are moved along the ladder of learning in such a way that all skills are put into practice.  Some do not like this approach, citing that there is not enough rote practice for the students to master the skills.  It has been our experience that developing a deeper understanding of the math concepts and putting them into real applications has led to high retention.  Also, Singapore stresses mental math and algebraic thinking.  We have not begun Algebra yet, but this type of thinking in the early years is supposed to make the transition easier.  You can read more about the benefits of Singapore Math here.

I will admit that I supplement Singapore with flash cards, computer games, memory songs, and free worksheets found online for those things that must be memorized (like times tables).  I have always felt like these types of supplements are available in abundance, making it easy to add this component to our Singapore studies.  However, programs that stretch children's mathematical thinking, like Singapore, are difficult to find and not as easy to supplement. 

Also, one of my sons does struggle with memorization.  His ability to problem solve and reason is very high.  I firmly believe that he has been able to memorize as well as he has (which is not perfect but better than could be) because of the way Singapore "exercises his brain", so to speak.  I also believe that if he were completing a program that stresses memorization and drill work, his math frustration level would be high and he would not enjoy math.  Instead, he says that math is his favorite subject.

Another great feature about Singapore is that the lessons are short and to-the-point.  I use the textbook to teach from.  When the boys were younger, I provided manipulatives that are similar to the pictorial representations in the text and we worked through the first few problems together.  Then I allowed them to work the next set while I watched, having them explain the concept to me.  The next day they worked independently and sans manipulatives in the workbook.  Each lesson takes about 30 minutes to complete.  Some days it takes a little more or a little less.  And upkeep is continual. 

My boys will continue with Singapore until they have completed the primary level 6B (there are 2 levels per year).  Primary is their "elementary" program.  Then 6 "elementary" (which is their middle school/high school) levels are available.  However, the elementary books are not written to be course specific, as we are accustomed to in the U.S.  Algebra, Geometry, Trig, etc. are integrated.  Solely because I do not want the process of keeping transcripts to be confusing, I will switch the boys to another math curriculum when they are ready for Algebra.  (Though many public schools in the U.S. are adopting Singapore which should make it more familiar and recognized by college admissions boards).  I am considering Transitions Math and higher math course books from The University of Chicago's Math Project.  I have seen excellent results from this program as well.  Their elementary program would be my second choice to Singapore.

I am listing links to Singapore books available at Amazon below.  I am an Amazon.com affiliate and will receive a commission from any purchases made from these links.

I also have a link in my side bar to Sonlight Curriculum's website where they offer free placement tests and great advice on how to determine the level of Singapore Math that will best suit your child.  Please note that Singapore's scope and sequence runs about one year ahead of most American math programs.  If your child is finishing 3rd grade math this year and tests out as needing to start a level 3 book next year, that means he/she is on track.  Please do not be discouraged by this.

Any other questions about Singapore?  Please feel free to ask.

Happy Curriculum Hunting!
Dawn

p.s.  I am not an affiliate for Singapore Math or for Sonlight Curriculum. I have not been compensated for this post and have offered my unbiased opinion.

National Pi Day

photo credit

Did you know that March 14 is National Pi Day?


Get it?

3-14
three point one four

Edited from original post: This year we have the chance to celebrate the Pi Day of the Century!

Since pi = 3.141592653...

(Thank you, Google!)

...we have the opportunity to celebrate 3-14-15
So make sure you have dinner at 9:26:53 and you will be a Super Pi Star!

But if you're like me, you'll probably just eat whenever there's time. ;)

Okay, back to the original post....

Since March 14th falls on Sunday this year (Not really! It's on Saturday in 2015), we will complete our activities on Monday. Here is what I have lined up for the day.

1. Complete a few of the activities from this resource.
2. Go to the pool and determine how many laps each of us can swim in 3 minutes, 14 seconds.
3. Calculate the average number of laps we swam.
4. Calculate the circumference and area of circles of varying sizes.
5. Create a piece of artwork using circles only.

And last but not least...

Enjoy a Pi(e) Dinner!

Oh yeah!

 

Pie. For Dinner!

 

My people are all about the pie. Chicken pot pie is a favorite that has to make its way to the table every now and again. In fact, pie dinner became tradition at our house purely by accident.

One night, I was utterly exhausted-- completely out of spoons. (That's code for energy among those with chronic illness.) I looked something like this...

 

The hungry people at my house still required food, though. And for some strange reason, they looked to me to provide it. Shocking, I know.

I plodded into Kroger and didn't have the energy to make it past the bakery. The apple pie looked really good. It was already baked and everything. And it had apples... that's fruit, people! Fruit!

Don't judge me.

As healthy as my plan was, I knew Michael would want more than just pie. Perhaps some ice cream on top? So I sent the boys around to the freezer section to grab a carton of French vanilla. The clever one saw pot pies and grabbed four of them. My two little stinkers came running back up to the front of the store so proud of what they had acquired.

Look, Mommy! Pot PIIIIIES! We loooooove pot pie!!

We can eat apple pie and pot pie, and it will be a big pie dinner!

A tired, spoon-less mother cannot argue with that logic or temper that enthusiam. Pot pie and apple pie it was.

I was declared the best.mom.ever as my sons danced around the dinner table, stuffing their mouths with various pastry delights, singing the apple pie version of Bill Cosby's "Chocolate Cake Song."

 

 

Mom is fly... give us the apple pie!

 

Shazam! Pie dinner was born. Now, the tradition lives on every March 14th. Pie dinner has rightfully moved to Pi Day.

 

This year, I have a few more available spoons and will serve my secret weapon, Ham Pie, with Michael's all-time favorite dessert, pudding pie.

Real cooked food! I'm so granola.

Ahem, here are the recipes:

Ham Pie (adapted from a Ham and Swiss Pastry Bake found in this cookbook)


2 cups cooked, cubed ham
1 cup grated cheese (we prefer swiss)
1 bag of Mirepoix Style Blend
(Kroger brand frozen veggie, thaw first; if you don't shop at Kroger it is about 1 1/2 cups combined of chopped carrots, onion, and celery)
1 tsp dried mustard
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup light mayo
1 9 in deep dish frozen pie shell, thawed

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Mix all ingredients and pour into pie crust
3. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes
4. That's it! It's sooooo easy!

Dawn's Pudding Pie

2 large boxes of instant pudding
3 cups of milk (I use 2 %)
1 large tub or 2 smaller tubs of fat free Cool Whip
1 graham cracker pie crust

1. Mix pudding with 2 cups of milk.
2. Stir in additional milk, until the mixture is smooth but not runny.
3. Stir in cool whip and mix on high until fluffy and firm.
4. Pour into pie crust and refrigerate for about one hour before serving.
5. Seriously, that's all! Easy Peasy, too.

Isn't Pi Day the best holiday of them all? You can't get any easier than that, folks... except maybe to get yourself something store-bought. But you would never do that, would you?! Lol!

(Go ahead... buy Marie Callender's! I won't tell.) :)

 

If you plan to celebrate, please share any fun activities you have planned!

Happy Pi Day!

Dawn

More about Mathletes

After posting, Mathletes Has Begun, I received a few questions about the program and wanted to pass on a little more information about the Math Olympiad and how I manage our Mathletes group.

For those of you interested in the Math Olympiad, it is a national program that is open to homeschoolers, and the enrollment deadline for the 2009-2010 school year has been extended to Oct.30. You cannot enroll individually, but must be sponsored by your local hsa or other homeschool group. I suggest calling the the folks at MOEMS (Math Olympiad for Elementary and Middle School) if you have any questions concerning your eligibility. I have called them several times with numerous questions, and they have always been helpful. I have not had to send them any official documentation of my local hsa's sponsorship. I did present the idea to my hsa board for approval before including our association information on the MOEMS registration form.

The Olympiad releases two five-question math exams each month, November through March. One test is for elementary students, 4th-6th; the other is for middle school, 6th-8th. 6th graders have the option of taking either exam. I have mine take the elementary exam. Some teams have all students, 4th-8th, take the middle school exam. There are a number of options. Their information pages explain in detail how the program works.

The cost per team (US, Canada, and Mexico) is $89 if you choose to receive the tests and report your scores online. If you wish to receive the tests/report via snail mail, the cost is $99 per team. If you want to receive an elementary test and a middle school test, you must register as two teams and pay two fees. I divide the membership fees by the number of students on the team and charge per student. With 7-12 members on the team each year, the cost has been around $15 per student.

The program is available to students outside the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. See the MOEMS site for more information.

The five exam problems are always challenging word problems, but I have seen a lot of growth in Orville, who is participating for the second year. The parents of the children on last year's team all gave me positive feedback on the program, and all but one signed up again this year. Each participant is guaranteed to receive a certificate of participation, and each team receives a trophy for the highest scoring member. There are other awards that can be earned as well. I also award my team members points for effort and points for correct answers. When a student earns 100 points, I present him this medal. This has motivated my team to try more problems and report to me on time each week.

The Olympiad only requires the once-per-month meeting for the purpose of taking the exams. However, most school-sponsored teams meet at least once per week for practices. That is why I added in the Problem of the Week component. By emailing the problems to my team members and allowing them to email their completed work to me, everyone involved is saved a lot of time. So, in a way, I do a virtual mathletes (hee, hee to my friend who asked this). Membership on the team I sponsor is limited to those who are members of my local hsa, though. Sorry.

The Math Forum is a paid membership site and well worth the $25 for a teacher-level membership. This level of membership gives me the rights to distribute problems to the team members who are not my children. If you are interested in incorporating a problem of the week into your school schedule, the individual membership costs $15 per year. There are other membership offers that include services like mentoring and feedback. They always offer multiple explanations of how to solve each problem and other helpful features like a grading rubric. It is a great site.

Math Counts also offers problems of the week for free. Answer keys are provided for their problems as well. However, I like The Math Forum more and find their features for teachers very helpful. The Math Counts Foundation also offers a national competition for middle schoolers, available in all 50 states. Since this is the first year that I have had middle schoolers on my team, we have not competed in Math Counts yet, but I have heard great things about it.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to leave them as a comment.

Math Time, Story Time

Teaching Tip Tuesday

I have highly verbal boys. They like to read, write and TALK! Nothing makes them as happy as a good story. On the other hand, numbers just don't "move" them. They are not math phobic but they don't have an intrinsic motivation in this area.

I am a die-hard believer in teaching math concepts before drilling facts. It is sooooo important that kids understand what is happening in mathematical operations. By knowing what is "going on", they are better prepared for higher levels of math and problem solving and are more likely to retain the facts (like multiplication tables) that we want them to know. In order to keep my boys engaged and to lay a good foundation, I begin the teaching of each new math "segment" with manipulatives coupled with good stories. Here is my favorite example....

After my students have a good handle on place value, I use a chart like this:

First I have them write in the minuend and then create it with the units, rods and flats:


Then I demonstrate on the board how to write in the subtrahend while they copy it to their charts:

Next we discuss what happens in a subtraction problem (taking away) and I tell the following story while I demonstrate the subtraction procedures on the board and they work out the problem on the chart in front of them:

On your chart there are three houses, a ones house (I have them draw a rooftop over the ones column), a tens house (draw roof top over tens) and a hundreds house (rooftop over hundreds). In each house everything is placed in groups. In the ones house everything is in groups of one. (I give a few examples and relate it to the unit blocks). In the tens house everything is in groups of ten. (Once again I give a few examples and relate to the rods). In the hundreds house everything is in groups of one hundred (examples, relate to the flats).

Today, the mom of the ones house, Mrs. Ones, wants to bake a cake. She has four cups of sugar and needs seven cups to bake her cake (explain how this relates to the numbers on the chart and the manipulatives; demonstrate how four is insufficient). Since she does not have enough sugar, she decides to visit her next door neighbor, the tens mom, and ask to borrow some (I move my fingers as if walking on the board from the ones column to the tens then knock on the board). KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!! Excuse me Mrs. Tens, could I please borrow some sugar for my cake? Does Mrs. Tens have enough sugar to loan Mrs. Ones? (Here's where the story goes in one of two directions.)

(If there is at least one in the tens place, lead the students to understand that Mrs. Tens can loan the sugar.) However, everything in the tens house comes in groups of ten. Mrs. Tens does not have one cup of sugar to loan but ten. (Have the students pick up one rod from the tens column and move it to the ones. Remind them that everything in the ones house must be in groups of one. Have them exchange the one rod for 10 units and replace them in the ones column) Now, Mrs. Ones has fourteen cups of sugar! She has enough to bake her cake. (Demonstrate on the board how to write the regrouped ten and then how to subtract.)

This chart shows the regrouping from tens to ones:

This chart shows the subtraction process:

This chart shows the ones place difference:

(The story continues with Mrs. Ten needing 30 cups of sugar to bake a cake the next day.) Because Mrs. Tens loaned ten cups to Mrs. Ones, she only has 20 cups. She cannot go to Mrs. Ones' house and ask her to return some of the sugar because that would be rude. Besides, Mrs. Ones already broke the ten into ones so they cannot return to her tens house. She decides to visit Mrs. Hundreds and ask her for some sugar. (Act out the same scenario with Mrs. Tens visiting Mrs. Hundreds. Demonstrate with manipulatives and the notation on the board. Complete the story with Mrs. Hundreds baking her cake and using the amount of sugar in the subtrahend's hundreds place.)

This chart shows the regrouping from hundreds to tens:

This chart shows the subtracted tens and the difference in the tens place:

This chart shows the subtracted hundreds and the difference:

Now, think back to when Mrs. Ones asks Mrs. Tens to loan her a cup of sugar. If there is a zero in the tens place then Mrs. Tens cannot loan any to her. What is Mrs. Ones to do? She cannot return home, so she decides to visit Mrs. Hundreds. (act out the moving and knocking on the board) Does Mrs. Hundreds have sugar to loan? Yes! She has five hundred cups. Remember, everything is grouped in hundreds and so she must loan it out in hundreds. She gives one hundred cups of sugar to Mrs. Ones.

What is Mrs. Ones to do with all of that sugar? She decides to be a good neighbor and give some to Mrs. Tens on the way home. (demonstrate on board and with manipulatives as you finish out the story) She must give the sugar to Mrs. Tens in groups of ten so she breaks the one hundred into ten groups of ten. Then Mrs. Tens gives one group of ten to Mrs. Ones. Mrs. Tens is left with ninety cups of sugar while Mrs. Ones takes ten home, giving her enough to bake her cake. (finish by demonstrating the subtraction steps)

This has been a hit in our home and at the school where I taught. May you have much success as you instruct your dear ones!

Happy Teaching!

Word Problem Relay

Farewell Friday

The highlight of this week was the first Mathletes meeting. The kids completed a word problem "relay race" which was so much fun.

I divided them into 3 groups and gave them one word problem printed on a strip of card stock. When each team thought they had the correct answer, they wrote it on the paper and showed it to me. If they were correct, I gave them the next word problem. If they were not correct they kept trying until they found the answer. There were five word problems in all.

On each word problem card, I also wrote one letter of a clue word. I made sure to hand the cards out in an order that the word would be scrambled. Once all of the problems were solved and all cards obtained, they had to arrange the letters to spell the clue word. It was "piano" the place where I had hidden bags of candy for them.

Everyone worked furiously to solve their problems and felt well-rewarded when they found their goody bags under the piano bench. Who knew word problems could be so much fun and so rewarding?!

Mathletes Week 4

Everyone did a terrific job last week. Team members BH, DS, AS, CS, and JW found the correct answer and completed the bonus work. Team members AC and MC found an alternate solution to the problem. WOOT!! Way to go team!

Last week's challenge was a multi-step word problem. You will encounter many of these in the Olympiad. Since everyone found the correct answer and since I intend to devote a good portion of our first meeting to these types of problems, I won't post any details here. I will just give the hint to this week's problem and let you guys get to work.

Hint:
Think about last week's bonus work.

Keep up the good work!

Mathletes Week 3

Hi Team. Last week's problem was a real challenge. Here is the explanation of one good way to solve it.
1. The problem states that there are 15 houses on Mr. Sullivan's street, so I drew a picture of them2. Pick a starting point. I always like to start at the beginning so I don't get confused, so I'll pick house no. 1. If Mr. Sullivan lives in house 1, then the total I get by adding the house numbers before his = 0. There are no house in front. I cannot add together any house numbers after his and get the answer of 0; therefore, Mr. Sullivan cannot live in house 1.

3. Try house no. 2. I put the rooftop on no. 2 to help me remember that's where I think Mr. Sullivan might live. If I add the house numbers before his, the total = 1. Once again, there is no way to get a total of 1 by adding the houses after no. 2, so Mr. Sullivan cannot live in house no. 2.

4. Now I try house no. 3. The total by adding the house numbers before his is 3. 1+2=3. I cannot get a sum of 3 by adding the houses after his, so he cannot live in house no. 3.

5. I try house no. 4. The total of the house numbers before his is now 6. The sum of the next 2 houses after his is 11 (5+6=11). He does not live in house number 4.

6. I try house no. 5. Once again the sum of the houses before his does not equal the sum of the houses after his.

7. Now I try house no. 6. The sum of the houses before his is 15 (1+2+3+4+5=15). The sum of the next 2 houses after his is 15 (7+8=15). EGAD! I have found the answer. Mr. Sullivan lives in house number six. But wait! The question does not ask for his house number, but for the number of houses on the street. Since I added house numbers 7 and 8 together, I know that the last house on the street is number 8. There are 8 houses on Mr. Sullivan's street.

Now to this week's hint:

1. Find the amount that Ryan paid.

2. If the magazine costs twice as much as the book, it counts as 2 portions of the cost. There are 3 books which make up 3 portions of the cost. Together they make up 5 portions of the cost.

Mathletes Week 2

Last week one team member started a chart like this one:

A- 34, 29, 24

B- 33, 28

C- 32, 27

D- 31, 26

E- 30, 25

He noticed that each person's counting decreased by 5 so he decided only to complete Amy's row.

A- 34, 29, 24, 19, 14, 9, 4

Then he counted backwards. If Amy said 4, then B said 3, C- 2, and D- 1. Diego was the correct answer.

He used a chart, skip counting, and counting backwards to find the answer.



Hint for this week:

Draw a picture of the 15 houses on Mr. Sullivan's street. Use pencil to write in the house numbers. Consider the first few houses on a street, then the house Mr. Sullivan might live in, and then the first few houses that come after that. Use trial and error to find the answer. If you do this and it works for you, when you report, tell me you used the trial and error method. If you find a different method, explain it to me. I may post your idea next week.

Mathletes Hint

Hi Team!
Here's a hint to help you solve this week's challenge:

This week's problem cannot be solved by simply adding or subtracting. Draw a picture or a chart to represent the "story" within the problem. You can even act this one out with your family. The answer is there if you look for a pattern.

A- 34, 29
B- 33, 28
C- 32, ?
D- 31, ?
E- 30, ?