The Life of Fred

I cannot believe I forgot to mention these books in my list of fun and potentially inspiring math story books:  The Life of Fred: "Math As Serious As It Needs to Be."  The first title in the series is "Apples."  We borrowed it from a friend once and thought it was really engaging and definitely stimulating.  Some people use these books for their math curriculum, but I think they are best as "fun math" for days when I want to introduce a new concept, or get the kids interacting with ideas more independently, or just to have a break from "regular" math and do something different and fun. 

Alas, the library does not appear to have any of them, and I believe we can no longer use Ocean Grove funds to purchase these books. : (  But ask your ES if there are any at the resource center.

Or, if any of you Vintage homeschool parents have any Life of Fred books and don't mind sharing, please let us know in the comments below!

I found a site that allows you to download a preview of many of the Life of Fred books.  Here's the download link to the "Apples" book (let's see if that works--not sure if I can link to a pdf).

Here is the link to all of the previews.

Fun Summer Math Reading

So after starting that last post about our book project for the 2015 Author's Fair, I did some research, and found that our local library seems to have quite a good selection of funny and creative easy-reader and picture books to inspire our young authors. Here are some I found:

Conned Again, Watson! Cautionary Tales of Logic, Math, and Probability

Minnie's Diner

The Great Divide

Divide and Ride

Grandfather Tang's Story

The Warlord's Puzzle

Anno's Mysterious Multiplying Jar

Math Curse

Inch by Inch

The Wishing Club: A Story About Fractions

Lemonade for Sale

The Doorbell Rang

17 Kings and 42 Elephants

One Grain of Rice

Arthur's Funny Money

Measuring Penny

The library also has a lot of these well-rated "Sir Cumference" books--I'll definitely be checking some out!

I've read this one before--and it is a fun read: Spaghetti and Meatballs for All

Some of the books available at the library may not tell math stories, per se, but sound like really good additions (ha!) to a summer reading math unit:

Mathematicians Are People Too

G is for Googol

Millions to Measure

The Boy Who Loved Math

The library also has many of the Encyclopedia Brown books, which do not specifically deal with math but still require logical thinking for solving their mysteries--plenty of good inspiration there for the kids' own math mystery writing.

Then I have a few books here at home that anyone may borrow:

100 Pounds of Popcorn

The Adventures of Penrose the Mathematical Cat

Math Talk

Once Upon a Company


If you have any math tales of your own to recommend, please share the titles in the comments!

Announcing the 2015 Author's Fair Book Project!

Well, there parents!  I know, I know.  This is the last official day of school for a lot of us. You are not at ALL interested in thinking about next year already, certainly not thinking almost one year ahead to the next Author's Fair, when we just recently had the last one!  Most of you have not even participated in the Author's Fair for the past two years, so why would I think you would be interested in thinking about it now?

Bear with me for a moment.

First of all, for those who did jump on into the fun and make a "Book of Months"--good for you!  I loved seeing them on display at the Author's Fair.  And a special shout-out to Emmy for her FIRST Author's Fair book!  You did such a great job!  Anyone who liked that project, but just could not pull it off this year--well, you can do it anytime you like, or not. The info will always be here on this site, if you want it. : )

Second of all, because not many families seem as interested in participating in the Author's Fair anymore, I was debating this Spring whether or not to just stop coming up with projects.  I understand completely that some of our kids might be getting too old to enjoy the group projects--totally fine!  If any of the parents of younger kids want to participate in a group project (which we could or could not work on together at Old School Mondays), just let me know and I will plan something if there is enough interest.

But otherwise, I think we will just do projects on our own--not books we make all together, but projects we can do our own way in our own time frame at home with our kids.  I was not sure I would purposefully create projects for Vintage Homeschool families anymore--since it seems like perhaps most of you are not that interested--but then just this week, my kids have stumbled upon a FABULOUS and fun idea for next year.  It's so flexible and has so much potential for engaging young author's in so many ways, so I just have to make it official.

So, ta-da!  Here is the official Vintage Homeschool book project for 2014:

Story Problems

I know, I know: that sounds like the opposite of fabulous and fun, if you dreaded story problems as much as I did in math class throughout my elementary years.  But WAIT--let me explain.

My eldest girl has gotten excited about writing a mystery that needs to be solved with math.

My second eldest is writing a very funny narrative that we started together, having to do with the cost of stamps and raising costs of stamps over long periods of time and the peaceful death of her parents.  (See--don't YOU want to read it?!)

My youngest girl is not yet into the idea, but we will start by using a basic story problem we find in a book and adding to it and adding to it until we get a good story out of it.   Then we can either be done, or she can decide to write another one completely from her imagination.

The titles of the stories will undoubtedly be exciting-sounding ones, like "Escape from The Castle of Doom: A Story Problem," or  "To the Moon and Back Again: A Story Problem," or "The Mystery of the Missing Millimeter: A Story Problem." 

(Don't those sound fun to read?  How much more fun would they be to write?!)

This project will be another one that you do at home with your kids--or they do independently.  It is perfect for any level or writer or mathematician.  It can use any math concepts your children are already familiar with.  And the story can be as long or as short as they want it to be!

There is only one requirement for the stories: they must show lots of math (completed math, not just throwing out math questions without answers).  Your kids may choose to keep it simple and straightforward in the math sections and how they further the story (ala Encyclopedia Brown) or they may get crazy and add as much math as they can squeeze into the narrative (ala "Math Curse").  The math can even function as characters in the story (ala "The Phantom Tollbooth")! 

You could use this project as a fun way to get your kids engaged with math over the summer, as they explore different math concepts and work out what elements they want in their stories.  Brainstorming could end up leading to the viewing of lots of fun youtube math videos (I recommend Vi Hart! Even if she is usually over my head--the kids get glimmers of ideas, and that's often enough to set them excited about a math concept and what they could do with it creatively.) 

And hey--you could use math stories from the library as inspiration  for a Summer Reading Project!   (Do it through somebody like Barnes & Nobel and you can even get free books for your kids' summer reading efforts!)  I'll start a math books list in a separate post, which anyone can contribute to. : )

For my kids, this is going to be a Summer Writing Project--with the goal being to have the book done by the end of summer.

A summer project that involves reading, writing, and creatively engaging with math?

Now you know why I had to tell you about it this week. : )

Old School MATH Party! This MONDAY, Jan 28

Old School Monday Math Party

Monday, January 28, 2013

11-2

Vintage Preschool classrooms

Hello everyone!

My girls all finished their math programs before Christmas, and I am so proud of them.  Per our tradition, we are going to have a Math Party to celebrate, and we want to celebrate the math accomplishments of all your kids too.

So part of our next Vintage Homeschool gathering will be all about math!  Please have your kids come with something to share (if they want) to show something they are doing in math, or something they completed in math of which they are proud.  We will have share time so everyone who wishes to share gets a turn.

We will have the gym that time too, so does anyone know of a good physical game that involves any math?  I would love it if someone knew/would lead such a game!  Send me an email or leave a comment if you are game. (Ba dum dum!)

As always, you are welcome to bring your lunch for your family.  This party you do not have to bring food to share (unless you want)--my kids will each make something to bring that represents the colors of their math book covers!  (But if your kids want to do the same, of course they are welcome to--we don't want to hinder their creativity!)

Hope to see you there!

Number Parade--little tool for learning to write numbers

This is a little thing, but something that I just used this morning with Bronwyn and thought it was worth sharing.

Years ago, when I was helping Gwynneth learn how to write her numbers, she had a hard time remembering which way each number was facing, and would often write them backwards.  So I came up with a little poem to help her remember, and it has helped all three girls.  It might only work well with kids who are already visual learners, but if your child tends to write letters backwards, it might be worth trying.

Point to the numbers as you read them aloud.


1    2     3    and     4   

say "Come on everybody, let's march some more!"


5     and    6    

say "We feel sick."  (sad voice)


7     and      8    

say "We feel great!"


9     and     10   

say "Let's march again!"


See, for a visual person, the numbers 1, 8, and 10 look like they are facing the reader.  2, 3, 4, 7, and 9 look like they are facing left.  5 and 6 look like they are facing right.  So, if we pretend there is a parade and all the numbers are marching to the left, only 5 and 6 look like they are turning in the other direction, like they don't want to march.  I show this to my kids and teach them the rhyme, and then they can more easily remember which way to write the number.

Just a little silly thing, but thought it could be useful/fun for some of you. : )

lisa

Two resources I thought I would mention--multiplication and US history

Hello moms!

I just thought I would mention a couple of things we have been using in our homeschooling that our kids have really enjoyed:

1) Timez Attacks

http://www.bigbrainz.com/

Multiplication game you can download, in which your kid battles big ogres in underground tunnels (his character uses his multiplication skills to defeat them ; ).   The basic download is completely free, although you can pay for different "levels"--basically different scenery, maybe different characters to battle.  My kids are happy with the free version.

2) Liberty's Kids

http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Liberty_s_Kids_The_Complete_Series/70106132?trkid=2361637

Basically Saturday morning cartoons that teach kids about US history, specifically the American Revolution.  I like how they try to get a broad range of perspectives in the episodes, like showing how the British soldiers might feel, and what was going on with Benedict Arnold to make him a traitor.  At the moment they are instant downloads available via Netflix, which makes them really convenient. 

(If you have been holding off on getting Netflix, they have changed their plans, so now it is even more affordable.  We do the plan that is $8 a month, for which we get unlimited instant downloads and one DVD out at a time.  If you have the internet connection to support it, it is a fantastic educational support--so many excellent documentaries.) 

Please do share your favorite resources here too!

Fascinating Math program! Please read!

Lisa C. here. I thought you all might enjoy this little conversation from one of my homeschool egroups:
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Howdy!

So as we are ending the "school year," I am panicking a little, because my daughter Aliya is really behind on her math. She's in first grade and happy to memorize her math facts, but the conceptualization of what she's doing is only now arising. Only now is she able to figure out a problem she doesn't know by using numbers she does know and figuring out from there. It took her a long time. We'll work through the summer to help her get down the addition and subtraction facts to catch her up to first grade.

But I am really worried about second grade math for next year. For borrowing and carrying, she'll need to understand place value, and conceptually, she just doesn't get it. Most first graders have a pretty good understanding of place value, and I've tried so many different ways to teach her, but it's just not getting through. I just gave her a calendar so she can keep track of her busy social life :) and the columns for the days of the week are a stretch. The idea of numbers in columns (place value) is really difficult for her.

I like my kids to be --reasonably-- grade level. I'm not very strict about it, and I think we'll keep on homeschooling, but I know things happen, and for my own peace of mind, I want them to at least approximate their grade level.

So do I wait, perhaps a year if necessary, for that "aha!" moment before moving on, allowing her to get farther and farther behind? Testing the faith that I'm not sure I possess in copious quantities?

Or am I not teaching her in the right way? Do I forge ahead, teaching her the pieces in more clear ways, hoping she'll put it together eventually? Math is not my expertise, so maybe I just need to explore other curriculums and ways of teaching it?

I've heard of the "aha!" moments for late readers, who all of a sudden bloom into reading at 9 or 10, but never for math...

Please let me know your anything at all that comes to you!

_____________________________

Rena, both of my children are very bad at computation. I must have tried (and bought) six different curricula. Two things really helped:

1. Kumon tutoring. The Kumon worksheets only have about 6 problems to a page and the materials are really non-threatening. I see they have a center on Cedar street--they did help my daughter when she was in 2nd grade.

2. Jump Math, a Canadian program. It's really great, really different, and had I known about it earlier I may have done this with my daughter from the beginning. I'm a real fan of JUMP'S down to earth approach--kids are taught how to count with their fingers, for instance. People have counted on fingers for a million years, I started to realize. Anyway they have a lot of sample material online that you can download and try, at this website:

http://jumpmath.org/about

Here is the page with the files to download:

http://jumpmath.org/publications

Here is the page where you can download second grade samples:

http://jumpmath.org/publications/materials/w/2

And here is an article about the developer of JUMP:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julia-moulden/math-is-not-hard-a-simple_b_331878.html


Claire

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I followed the links, and the math approach sounds fantastic! In fact, before you look at the websites about JUMP, I highly recommend you start with the article about the founder, which is listed last.

And as a follow-up to that conversation, you might be interested in this article, which was referenced in that last article.

Khan Academy--Good, FREE math help

Lisa C. here--if any of you have not yet seen the Khan academy videos on youtube, you really should go look just to see what is available for when you need it down the road. This is an email I just received from one of the local homeschooling groups, and thought it was good information you all might want to know, even (esp.?) if your kids are just starting out in math.

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Hi everybody,

I just had the thrill of interviewing Sal Khan of http://khanacademy.org . He's really cool and I'll be writing about his summer camp. In the course of our conversation, he pointed out something about his site that I hadn't noticed: he is working on an interactive tool that will let students assess what their proficiency is in all levels of math. It's really interesting and I'm sure he'd be interested in having as many people use it as possible, as he is just developing it. It's at http://khanexercises.appspot.com/ -- Each person using it will need a distinct Google account to use it correctly.

He said something that I am planning to take to heart: He said that if a kid doesn't learn the foundation skills solidly, then he'll have problems later that will seem like, for example, not understanding Trigonometry, but the core of the problem is actually in earlier skills that they didn't learn. My daughter hates, hates, hates to work on foundation skills. I just have to figure out a way to be more creative about it so that she enjoys it…

Suki

Susana (Suki) Wessling
Blog: sukiwessling.parentclickblogs.com
Examiner.com: Santa-Cruz-Parenting and Gifted-Children
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