Real Life Math!

Okay... so the title is a lie! This is pretend real life math. Usually when we do math it turns into something else. I let her lead the lesson into something she wants to do. Here she is pretending to be a grocery store clerk and selling food to me with pretend money. She is using her cash register to check that all of the prices are added together correctly to give me a total. I pay her and she checks my money to be sure that I've paid her the right amount.

World Math Day 2012

For the past couple of years we have participated in World Math Day. It is a worldwide, online contest that is hosted by a different city every year. You can register your children or class room and on World Math Day, which will be held on March 7th, 2012, they have 24 hours to answer as many questions at their current level as they can. They are competing for their country and the program keeps track of the amount of currect answers. Kids can start to practice on the online site well in advanced. There is also an app that can be downloaded so that they can practice and participate on an iPod or iPad. Funds can be raised to be donated to UNICEF if it is a classroom registering. Registration and practice starts today! Click HERE for more information or to register.

Math Manipulatives

 Why not? Build things with them!

Math is different

 What may look like a regular math worksheet to one person is something completely different for someone working on RightStart Math. In fact, someone came over and saw what Austyn was working on and proceeded to show him him the procedures she was taught in school on how to do the worksheet, but this is not the intention of the program. This program isn't about memorizing and learning proceedures to do math. It's more about TRUELY understanding how math works. It's hard to understand this, for some, especially if they were good at memorizing and learning proceedures (were good in math).

This lesson was taking two 4-place numbers and adding them using the base ten cards and trading with a bank. So, instead of learning to carry the one or two or whatever, he is truely learning that there was a place value to it that is moving along. Here is what the book says about this lesson: "This purpose of the leson is not to teach the child paper and pencil procedures, rather she is to experience trading on a more abstract level."

While Austyn worked on math Zoe had a snack that turned into an art project!

Math that is so much fun?! It's true!!

I know I've said it before, but our math program is way too much fun! We use RightStart Math and do the lessons at our own pace. This lesson that is finally finished was in a previous post and is made for a group of kids to do. We did it on our own. It took some time. This is called the Cotters Fractal Ten Triangle. It is meant to be stuck on a wall and ends up being 6 feet tall when finished. HERE is a recent post I read on another blog that features this triangle on their school room wall. I love their description and details about fractals.

We didn't put our triangle on a wall because we don't have a house to put it on the wall of. We are living with relatives and they don't want this big triangle thing on their wall. The floor was the next best place. There are tiny triangles that we coloured and cut out. Then we took ten triangles and pasted them on a larger triangle so that they were edge to edge to make a larger triangle. Then we took the larger triangles with ten triangles on them and pasted them onto a larger triangle in the same fashion making one large triangle with ten medium triangles that were made from ten smaller triangles. This project helps children understand how tens make up larger numbers and how equilateral triangles can be placed together to make larger triangles.

I have read that some people didn't like this project because it was tedious and time-consuming, but Austyn loved it.

Fun Math and a Little Distraction

 We skipped a park day because we were having so much fun on a math project. We are working on Triangles for Cotter Tens Fractal. It may sound boring but Austyn loved it. It will be 6 feet tall when we are done.

 While we sat there cutting and gluing, we chatted and out of that chat the kids learned of my pet rock when I was a kid. So, they headed outside and picked out stones to colour on and name. They also made houses out of cups.

 It was a fun distraction!

We are more than half way through the project now. It's a long project if it's only a couple of people doing it. This project was meant for a classroom of kids, I think, but we are still plugging away.

Adjusting to Change

 Austyn and I have been doing much more school type activities lately. Our homeschooling looks more like school than unschooling sometimes because Austyn has made it clear that that is what he wants. He has been reading from his reader, learning Canadian history, and doing math. Zoe sometimes feels a bit left out so I sit down and do things with her. In this picture she is doing math. She went off track, but this is what I let them do because I find it makes the experience more individual and fun. She decided that she wanted to play X and O's with the tally sticks. She made little pieces of paper and put X or O on all of them and that is what we played for the next few minutes until she lost interest. This is creative and provides confidence. The game itself provides it's own strategic challenges.

 Living with family, they get different experiences. There are many farm cats here. One of them had two kittens and they are kept right outside the door in a little cat house. This little kitten just opened it's eyes. 

 They have been learning to drive because Austyn is going to be old enough to drive a junior dragster. One way to learn to drive is to drive the golf cart and the lawn mower. 

 Zoe didn't want to be left out. They take turns driving with Daddy.

 There are many things to do that they could never do at our past couple of homes. Here Zoe is climbing a tree.

 The hammock provides hours of amusement.

It is very quiet here. We have had the chance to be here on our own for most of our stay so far. We can see far, there are many insects, and many birds. With the land so flat we can see what weather is coming and the sunsets are great.

Playing Uno

One of our favourite games is UNO. This time we tried to say the numbers and colours in Spanish. After Austyn tried a magic trick.

10 Reasons RightStart Math Works!

Here is Asutyn enjoying a yogurt and RightStart Math. He really enjoys it. We do it many times a week right now.

Here are 10 reasons that this program works so well for him.

1. There is very little paper work. He has never been a huge fan of being told that he has to fill in blanks or do work with a pencil. What work there is is fast and I just photocopy from the work pages provided.

2. It's very hands-on. He loves to manipulate things, build, touch things, and experiment. This program is all of this and more. 

3. It is full of self-discovery. He isn't a fan of being sat down and told facts without any self-discovery. The lessons are laid out in a way that I can follow the instructions easily to allow him time to figure things out on his own. Basically I'm told through the lessons what to tell him and ask him to help him discover the answers on his own. He loves this way of learning since he is a thinker. 

4. Not much emphasis on memorization. This program goes about math in a similar way to how they teach math in China so that the basic understanding of the concepts is well known instead of just memorizing numbers and how the concept is done. It approaches each concept from many angles but in a way that the child understands truly what is happening instead of just memorizing something. This makes math more interesting and fun.

5. Each concept leads into the next concept in a way that just makes so much sense. At the same time they sometimes mix things up a bit to keep interest and help him remember what he has learned in the past.

6. It teaches math with place value as an important factor when naming numbers. So instead of saying twenty this program says 2-ten. Instead of saying nineteen he says 1-ten, 9. Again, this is how they learn it in China, from what I understand. This helps so much. I would, however, like to note that I get him to say twenty and nineteen etc... after learning how the program says it to ensure that he knows both. I know a couple examples of children who didn't learn the names of the numbers that we commonly use here in Canada and when they got to a certain point they had some difficulties. So, if you do this program you may want to consider teaching them both together. Just mention the commonly used name after each RightStart number learned.

7. It's so much fun and full of games. I wish I learned math this way! I am learning it over with him and am so much better at math than I've ever been before. It's a great program that I find is well worth the money.

8. It's learned in a way that falls in line with unschooling. As many of you may know, I tried to set up schedules and follow a whole curriculum with Austyn but it was a complete flop. That is when we moved toward unschooling which is how he seems to learn best. I read many books and articles on unschooling and was amazed at what John Holt said about math and how it should be taught, if it was going to actually be set out for a child to learn. It seems to me that this program is as close to his example of how kids would learn math as I could ever get.

9. The child moves away from counting and toward a faster more efficient way of seeing numbers. It is recommended to start your child with the RightStart program at about the age of five because it is hopeful that by that age they don't have too much of a habit yet with counting things. Instead he learns to see the numbers or sort them without having to count which is much more efficient. Counting is a waste of time. The human eye can see up to 5 items without having to count. They learn to see the numbers quickly through many different common visuals. 

10. Testing isn't a focus with this program. I remember when I went to school we had math tests all the time and even the regular math sheets that we did on a regular basis were taken from us and marked. We were given grades and compared to other children. This isn't how this program is done or at least it doesn't have to be if  you don't want it to. There is not a great deal of testing or marks so far.

Here is their website in case you would like to check it out for yourself. 

http://www.alabacus.com/

World Math Day 2011

http://www.worldmathsday.com

Austyn has registered for World Math Day 2011. It is going to be held on March 1st. We learned about this contest last year when Alex over at Canadian Home Learning shared information on her blog about it. It's a contest that takes place for a whole day every year. Students from all over the world attend online and take the math quizzes. Whole classes can register or individual homeschoolers can register. The age ranges are 5-8, 9-13, and 14-18. One thing to keep in mind if your children register is that the time that they say is the time in the time zone of the host city. There is a timer counting down to the start of the contest at the top right of the main website. That counter is important to watch so that your kids start the contest as soon as they can. This year there is an iphone and ipod touch app available. This will help many kids have more access to the contest even if they aren't home.

This year they have added World Spelling Day. Here is the link to that site.
http://www.worldspellingday.com/

Next year they plan on starting World Science Day.

Math

He did a bit of math this week. He loves math, but mostly the hands-on and figures-in-his-head parts. He's not a huge fan of worksheets, but will do them once and a while.

Natural Math

Okay, okay... you got me! This is a completely unrelated picture! Right?! Or is it???? I mean, what is a math learning time and what isn't? Couldn't math happen at any moment? Even standing in line waiting to see Santa Clause? We grow up, going to school, and end up having this idea that math learning is something that happens when someone teaches. Don't we need worksheets?! Shouldn't we follow what our public schools are doing? What about calculators and how are kids suppose to learn everything they need to know? It doesn't just happen right? If this is what you believe, it's understandable. I use to think this way too.

I couldn't even count on my fingers and toes how many times I was asked how I teach math. People assume that I must be a math whiz. How else are my kids, suppose to learn what they need unless I'm teaching them all the math concepts that the "other" kids get taught in school? Now, I'm an honest person. I usually say that I'm TERRIBLE in math. Or at least I use to be. I explain that I learn right along with them and even after grade one I learned so much and in such a different way than I was taught in school. The expression is usually that of utter surprise or terror, on their end. Mainstream people can't seem to get their heads around the idea of not having to be taught, or even of learning something together with their kids. After all, I don't usually see myself above my kids when we learn together. We learn together even if I know more.

I'm sure your wheels may be turning by this point. You may want to ask what program we use or you may be afraid to ask if we are even using a program at all! Well, you'll be comforted to know that I do purchase a program and I have to say it is AMAZING! It's RightStart Math. Here is the website: http://www.alabacus.com/. This program, in my opinion, is the opposite of what math is in school. It's more of an Eastern way of doing math. They use manipulatives (especially an abacus) and we learn concepts slowly from one concept to another. Worksheets? Hardly any!!! Nope!! This program doesn't feel like work. It's just plain fun! There are games and we learn many ways to do each concept. Memorization isn't a big part. Instead we learn how math really happens instead of trusting that the memorization is correct and just using that. At some point we would need to know how what we memorized really happened. We learn that right up front.

One thing that may make you uncomfortable is that we only do math when the kids want to. Yes! I don't sit down and drill it into their heads. Yes! They even ask for math! Why not?! It's fun! It's hands on!! It's real life! But, speaking of real life... back to the picture. Is it related to this post? Of course! Math happens. It really happens! All the time. In the mall. At home. In the van. All day!! It can happen anywhere. Even in line waiting for Santa. How much is the picture of us with Santa going to cost? How much do we have? How much is left over? How many minutes have we been in line? What time is it? The list goes on and on.

I will share two great, real life examples of my kids doing math, all on their own, in life:

Example one: Austyn was eating supper the other night. He got quiet while eating (that's unusual for him) and then told me that he figured out, just then, that two hours is 7200 seconds. Then he went on to tell me how he came up with that answer. I didn't prompt this. He thought of it in his own head and in his own time (while he was eating supper) and because he really wanted to know this, he figured it quietly in his head.

Example two: Zoe is younger and her math is obviously much less complicated. I was reading a storybook to them while they were having their bedtime snack. It was the Franklin Classic book. I was reading along and didn't let them know that the book actually had four stories. I went from one story to the next without much of a break. Well, if you know Franklin stories you'll know that the author always starts the book in the same way "Franklin knows how to tie his shoes... bla bla bla..." Zoe noticed that I read the same intro before and commented. I let her know at that point that this book had four stories in it and I just didn't show her that we are in another story. So she said "So, that means we have already read a story and now we are reading another story and that means that after this story we have two stories left! Right mommy?!" I said that yes that would be right except that we've already read two stories and now we are on another story. And she said "Oh, so if we read two stories and are on another story there is one more story after that!"

I'm not saying that regular school kids would never do anything like this. I think this happens naturally when there is interest. That is the key! Keeping the interest is so important. I know that for me, math was dumb and I had no interest. It was something I had to do. Work! It's not this, at all, for my kids and so they do it every day without being prompted. I'm so grateful to be able to give my kids a good math experience. Sure from what other parents, who have their kids in school tell me, the math is getting more and more advanced and the kids are getting pushed ahead more and more. The fact is Austyn talks about math and many other subjects with his school friends and he is surprised time and time again that they aren't interested and they don't know what he knows. So, you may think that it's good that the kids in school in grade 3 are now doing grade 5 math but you must ask yourself "Do they like it?", "Are they really going to remember it", and "Is it good for them". Maybe you can answer yes to all of these for your own kids and that it great. I can't answer yes to these for my kids. I want them to have a great math experience in life... naturally. This remains my goal.

Happy math learning to everyone!! :)

Dragons... dragons... dragons...

I find it so amazing when Austyn if following his interests and from that topic he touches on so many subjects. I don't even have to prepare a unit of study for him. I just need to be flexible and open enough to follow his lead and support what he wants to do. Lately he is interested in Dragons. This is a book we got from the library. We love it so much. This book is called How to Raise and Keep a Dragon by John Topsell. 

 If anyone was ever thinking of owning a dragon, this is the book for them. It is a detailed guide for anyone who wants to own and care for a dragon. It gives many common breeds and describes them to help decide which dragon is right for your home.

 It describes in detail the environment needed for each dragon. What supplies you need. Did you know it's very expensive to own a dragon? They also require a large amount of space. Even miniature dragons require at least one whole room in a house. 

There are many tips and tricks to help train your dragon. A dragon not trained well could cause lawsuits if they destroy property or people. 

Austyn and I read all of the dragon descriptions and discussed which one made the most sense. He ended up choosing a Standard Western Dragon to order and decided to order the egg. He played out this scenario. He even gave up his room so that the dragon could use it.

He then had me photocopy the registration form for the Worldwide Dragon Club and filled it out. I helped. Then he had me get an envelope and he put the address on the front.

He started to talk about how he might be able to afford a full sized dragon. I told him that it would be very expensive and that most people could never afford one. So, he went to get his play money (we print mini money off of the internet and he has purchased some mini U.S. dollar sets) and counted all of it with  my help. We counted it in sections and then added it up in the end. He decided that three million dollars should cover the cost of getting a dragon and setting up an environment for it. I then reminded him that full sized dragons eat a great deal of food. "A hungry dragon isn't a happy dragon!" He said that dragon feed is probably ony $10. I said that was for a small amount and that the dragon would have it eaten in no time. He would have to have a good, constant income. He said he'd get a job. LOL!

This is one of the eggs he found to pretend that he had a dragon egg. The object beside it is a serpent dragon that he made up with string and a mini clothes pin.

Dragons continue to be the main theme in his artwork.

Through our study of dragons and the use of the book I described earlier in this post, we learned about the bombardier beetle. It seems to have dragon like qualities, so to confirm this we looked it up in one of our resource books. There was only a short description, but the information was correct. It can explode chemicals out of it's butt!

I just love this dragon he made.

This is a rainbow dragon that he made.

So far we have covered many subjects and none of this was planned by me except getting the book. We have covered hand writing, math, history, mythology, art, crafts, nature, science, and probably something else that I've not thought of. So, in some cases I'm required to do so much work and use so much creativity to introduce ideas and activities to accommodate his interests but sometimes... just sometimes... these things come to him naturally and all I need to do is be there to help the magic happen. 

I'm sure we are not finished studying dragons. It is only the beginning.

I CAN'T TAKE IT... I MUST BLOG! LOL!!

Okay... so it's been a long time for me not to be blogging our activities on here. What a bummer that I can't import pictures easily like I could before blogger updated their import program. I've had some issues with my computer and have been doing things Austyn and Zoe's computer. While using their computer I discovered that this blog doesn't look the same on PC. On my computer the blog looks beautifully aligned and everything looks in place but on their computer it looks much different. So, I'm due to update the look soon. 

It's not easy because we are so up in the air right now. We could be moving for work soon. Things have been up in the air for a long time and it's getting to be tiring looking up homeschool laws and apartment rentals in different cities across Canada. I am now to the point of just wanting to know where we are going and when. I am tired of not knowing. 

So, with things being so busy and strange lately it has made it even more difficult to blog, but I just have to do it. It may take me hours to update you on what we've been up to since I have to go through a lengthly process with each image just to get it on here now, but I'm doing it anyway. Here goes! Here are a few of the things we've been doing at home.

I take it back!!!! I can import images right from my computer again!! YIPPPY!!! Life is going to be so much easier now that I can do this! I'm so ecstatic!! Oh ya... the picture... ha ha ha!! This is a picture that Zoe drew after watching the new movie out called How to Train a Dragon. There are some extras that came with the movie and in the extras there is a part that teaches you how to draw the main dragon in the movie.

This is the dragon that the man drew and she tried to follow along and copy. I think she did an amazing job for only being 4 years old!

We've not been doing as much music but Austyn has played a bit here and there. His guitar needs to be fixed. It has a short but he still strums away at it.

I went through almost all of our things and purged. While doing that I came across these blocks that they've not played with in a long time. They still don't want to get rid of them, apparently. 

Austyn got a skateboard for his birthday.

Zoe likes the skateboard as well.

Austyn got two Crayola glow stations for his birthday. This one is like wall paper. This is Zoe using it.

Zoe found these old curlers in a bathroom drawer and asked me to use them on her hair. 

Here is her hair after using them.

I got some craft supplies from a new friend over the summer and we finally used some of them. These are, what I use to call when I was a kid, Shrinky Dinks. I think that was the name. I can't remember what the actual brand name of these are, but they were fun. You draw and colour pictures on them, cut them out and put them in the oven. They shrink and become a thick plastic tile in the shape you cut.

I drew the letters for each of their names and that night they were mixing the letters around to make other words so I asked them if they'd like lots of silly letters. They wanted me to make more.That night I stayed up and drew them all and cut them all out. I had them set out on pans to place in the oven first thing the next morning. That is what we did. 

The whole next morning we played with the little letter tiles we made. We did sight words, phonics, and spelling. It was a great time! 

We made our jack-o-lanterns for Halloween. We are really going to miss having Daddy home when he goes back to work. 

Austyn decided one day that he wanted to sit and do all of the puzzles we have with me. We didn't get through them all, but we did most of them including the hardest ones.

This is what Zoe calls her "Character". She wanted me to take a picture of her holding her character's hand. I thought this was so adorable. She just loves to draw life sized pictures on our white board.

 

Well I guess that wraps up just a few of the activities we've done around the house.