Archive for the ‘Math’ Category

Ramblings About Math

Thursday, April 28th, 2011

mathI promised the people who bought my “Overcoming Math Frustration” audio that I would observe to see if my children finished their Teaching Textbooks faster when they did their workbook first, then afterwards turned on the computer to type in their answers. After using this program for nearly a year, I can now answer that question with a resounding yes. It cuts the time down considerably. Just this morning my second son said that he had done two lessons in one hour.

Maybe I need to skip him to a higher level. That’s odd, because he’s already 3 years ahead, and my oldest son is 2 years ahead. I don’t want both of them in the same grade level because my oldest son has a mathematical mind, and there’s no reason to make him feel stupid, like his little brother is smarter than he is; because he’s not. My oldest son is definitely more brainy. Maybe this makes me a bad mother, to not let my second son progress to catch up with his brother, but I refuse to do so…

I asked my second son what his grades were (on the two lessons he just did), and he said 95% and 100%. I am so much enjoying not having to grade the math of my two oldest sons. I totally love that it’s self-grading.

My oldest son takes an hour to do his Teaching Textbooks math, as opposed to the two hours he used to take on Saxon math. By the way, Saxon has the highest SAT scores, so don’t ditch Saxon unless you’ve prayed about it. I get no money from any of these companies, and I’m only giving you my blunt opinion, as always. Teaching Textbooks is extremely expensive; the cost alone is prohibitive for most homeschoolers unless you plan ahead and use your tax refund money or Christmas bonus for it.

My younger two children are still doing Horizon, with a little bit of Math U See thrown in to jazz things up and help them see the math concepts visually. Well, one night while setting out my children’s math, I accidentally switched math pages. My 5-year-old daughter was doing a page on multiplication the next day. When I walked in, I was flabbergasted that a first grade math program would have multiplication. (Yes, she’s one year ahead.) She was so proud of herself, and her brothers were impressed by her mathematical prowess.

I grabbed the page off the table and asked my third son where his math page was. He showed it to me. He said he had finished it already because it was so easy. “Didn’t you notice it was your sister’s math? Why would you be doing addition when you’ve been doing multiplication? And can’t you see the numbers are way bigger?”

My third son started laughing. “No wonder it was so easy,” he said. His poor bleary-eyed mother needs to pay closer attention next time…

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(By the way, if you click on the picture above, you will see that my daughter likes to turn her numbers into smiley faces on her math.)

Rearranging a Room on Graph Paper

Thursday, April 14th, 2011

rearranging-a-room-on-graph-paperWhen rearranging a room on graph paper, you want to measure the room. Each foot will convert to one square on your graph paper. Then measure each piece of furniture that you want to have in the room. Cut those out of construction paper so that you can move them around on the paper, seeing which configuration works best. You will want to label the pieces of furniture so that they are easier to picture on your page. Make sure to place the doors and any feature that is built-in, like a fireplace or bookshelves. The things that you can’t move should be drawn in pen or permanent marker, because they are fixed.

You might decide that based on your needs, you do not need a specific piece of furniture, but that you would rather have a different piece of furniture. You can replace a large stuffed chair with a desk, for example. Decide what you want to do in that specific room, and then make sure you have space to do each of those things.

Rearranging a room on graph paper before you move the furniture will help you save time. You also avoid hurting your back by repeatedly moving the bulky furniture back and forth. Seeing the configuration of furniture on paper will help you to optimize your space and come up with ideas you might not have thought of. We rearranged our family room and came up with a much bettter-looking room than before. It was a fun transformation that didn’t cost any money!

Only A Homeschooler…

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

only-a-homeschoolerI got up this morning and was making coffee. My 9-year-old son was sitting there, doing nothing. “How come you’re not doing your math?”

“I finished it at 3 o’clock this morning.”

“What?! Did you go back to bed?”

“Yes.”

“Did you go back to sleep again?”

“Yes.” His eyes glazed over as he stared at the floor.

“Don’t do that any more,” I said.

“Okay.”

The Myth of Losing Math Over the Summer

Monday, September 27th, 2010

losing-math-over-the-summerThis past summer was the first time I did not do math with my children for three months. I have always homeschooled three months on, one month off, to have three huge breaks during the year, with no break being so long that the kids were bored half out of their minds. Well, this summer I had a lot to do for my business, so I decided to take a real summer break. Of course, we ended up doing tons of homeschooling anyways by accident because we can’t help learning all the time. But we did no math whatsoever.

After three weeks of school, I realize that it’s a complete farce that kids lose their math over the summer. Sure, if the kids never learned their multiplication tables for real, they might not remember them. But they never really learned them in the first place. Timed drills can help your child to really learn their math facts until they are second nature. Anyway, math programs assume that you’ve taken the summer off, and they make the first few weeks easy-peasy on purpose to review what was done the previous year.

Just look back on your own childhood memories. Didn’t some of your best childhood memories take place on the long and lazy summer days? Weren’t you all refreshed to start the new school year in September because you were happy to get into the swing of things after so long a break? Should I never give my children the gift of a real summer holiday, where they can play and run and fill their days with their own ideas of what they would like to pursue?

It was my children’s first summer break ever this year, and I’m glad we did it. They didn’t lose their math. They’re getting A’s. “Mom, this math is so easy,” they say. So now I know that losing math over the summer is a complete myth, and I now have the freedom to take a summer break if that’s what we want to do. Hurray for summer!