Another Use For MUS...

Need another use for those math-u-see blocks?

Son found that they make great building blocks. 

Love double duty items!

Problem Solving...

This morning I found myself explaining the relativity of pre-algebra to my 8Th grader.

My explanation probably was as relative as algebra itself.

Stuck on Nine?

Gosh, it's been awhile since my last post. So sorry! Sometimes no news is good news.

I have a couple of math tips for you. You may already know these.

Multiplies of NINE!

Tip one: 9x4=36, 9x6=54, 9x1=9, right? Look at the numbers...the first number of the answer is always one less then what you are multiplying nine by.

Tip two: look at the examples above. Look at the answers. They all add up to nine!

So if you are stuck on 9x7....6 is one less then 7...6 plus...3 equals nine...your answer will be 63!

Have a good day!

Man, I have been so busy to even blog about our HS adventures! Sorry! We started back to school last Mon. Things have been going pretty smooth! Yeah! We are reading *So Far From Home* from the Dear America series. DS & I are reading *The Trumpet of the Swan*(DD loves to listen along). I am slowly easing into CM. We have started studying Mary Cassatt. Next week I think I'll bring in poetry.

This morning DS wanted to skip ahead a few pages, in math, to the test. Okay sure, if you think you're ready. He did the first half. The second half totally stumped him. He knows how to do it. He just thinks too much and then forgets everything. Long story short. We closed our books. I took a shower then we went for a bike ride. DD does NOT like bike riding at all. So we cut my regular route a bit short. Poor thing has NO fat to burn, but muscles that need to be built. DS has been riding with DH on much harder rides then mine, so he was wanting to go longer. Again our DC are so different. We are on lunch break and will go back to Lang. Arts and Mary Cassatt after.

As you know long division has been a bit of a bear for DS. I have tried many different things. Anyway, the light has come on!!! I believe he's gotten it! Here he is working out the problem.
Notice it's money...which used to throw him.

Did I do it right?.....

YES!!!!! This makes it all worth it!

In other news. My dear friend, Anne wanted to to print out the Word by Word Story that the kids and I wrote.

The Mad Scientist Strikes Again

Today when I opened the window I saw that our yard was very, very strange. A man was wearing a purple hat, with a bag that stunk up the whole neighborhood. He was standing in a boiling pool from sobbing because he lost his book about bombs. Then he started banging on our door. I did not know why he was doing this thing. My dogs and the neighbors had noticed the smell and came to my rescue. When they came they captured the strange man. he went to the kitchen to tell why he had put the bomb in the tree to see what would happen. He was sorry that he was going to blow up the tree. We invited him over for chicken. The End.

This is what happens when you put a 10 yo boy, 12 yo girl and a mom together to write a story! LOL!! Again, this game is only to get the kids to love, interested in writing. we didn't correct spelling, etc.

We just did another writing game. The name escapes me.

Here's how it works:

Everyone thinks of something (animal, place, food)

Then we ask each other questions that can only be answered with Yes or No.

For example:

Subject is places. Q. Do you have to fly to your place?

Subject animal: Q. Does your animal have fur?

They wanted to do this game for awhile. We did 3 subjects.

Next we may try an arguing game. (Which they've been doing lately.)

In this game you have to argue your point. There is a judge.

You pick a topic ex. why Dogs/Cats make a better pet.

Then each of you write down 10 or so reasons to prove your point.

The judge then picks the winner.

Using the Force!!

The kids and I did our first "Nature Walk" yesterday. It went okay. They were not all to excited about it. I am slowly implementing the Charlotte Mason Method. Anyway, here's a photo I took of the Sleeping Indian. We also collected seeds that we will put into our nature book today.
Onto math. I am going to order Math-U-See for both kids today!! DS is really having a hard time with long division. So I took a step back the other day a went back to simple division. But this time we used the "force"!!! Haha! We used Legos and Star Wars Legos as manipulatives. He had a blast. I told him that there were so many kids and there was so many Legos. Divide the legos amongst each kid. We did have remainders too.