Sundays are Fundays!!
A man goes to see his doctor. The doctor asks what is wrong and the man says, "Doctor, I think I'm a moth."
To this the doctor responds, "You think you're a moth? Well I don't think you need a doctor. Sounds like what you need is a therapist."
"Yeah I know," replies the patient. "I was on my way to see a therapist, but I came in here because I saw your light was on."
BBC History for Kids has some really interesting games and animations for elementary ages, if you are studying any history from that part of the world, such as the Vikings, Celts, or Anglo-Saxons.
When my youngest got ready for table foods, it was tempting to get him the little jars of chunky toddler food. They didn't seem very cost effective, however, and the selection was pretty sparse, but the convenience would have come in handy many times, especially when traveling.
Now that he wants to feed himself, I just drain off the broth, and the pieces are the perfect size for him to pick up. I keep these on hand for the times when the rest of us are eating something that he doesn't care for, or that I am not sure he can handle yet.
For those of you that re-use freezer bags, you probably have the same trouble that I do. It’s hard to find a place to dry the bags after you wash them.
To eliminate drying the bags, I keep a “bag of bags” in my freezer. It is a large freezer bag into which I put my wet bags when they are clean. I stuff any wet bags into my bag of bags and zip the top shut. The water freezes into little crumbs, and when I need a bag, I take it out and shake the little ice crumbs loose. Then I have a (mostly) dry bag to use.
To make my bags last longer, I turn them wrong side out to clean, but I do not turn them completely. I leave the top zipper part turned back, because this seems to be the weakest part of the bag, and that seam doesn’t want to be turned the other way. I hope this makes sense. If you try it you will see what I mean, though.
I don’t buy regular bags if I can help it. Freezer bags are just so much tougher.
**Edited 6/23/08 to add: If you have only a couple of bags to dry, you can just throw them in the freezer without the outer bag. They will completely dry in two or three days, then you can remove them and store them in the cupboard. This is not a good option if you have more than two or three, because they start to look messy and get lost in the freezer.My older kids are at my mom’s this week. While I was helping them pack, I was afraid that my daughter would run out of matching clothes, since her jeans will match anything, but she had other pants and skirts that needed a certain shirt to match them....I would have never considered a math notebook before beginning Living Math, but it makes perfect sense....
This is third in a series of posts where I am documenting our adventures in living math. The first post in the series is here.
We read a book called One Grain of Rice by Demi. A selfish raja in India stores up rice each year so that in time of famine there will be enough. When the famine comes, he won’t share and the people are starving.
A girl named Rani comes up with a plan. In return for a kindness, she asks the raja for one grain of rice that day, and a promise that he will double the amount of rice each day for 30 days. The raja agrees to the plan.
From there, we see how this simple plan gives the people their rice back. The selfish, foolish raja becomes wise and fair after being tricked out of all his rice.
Amazon rates this book for grades 1-4. It is easy to see that this is not correct. This book would be useful for all ages, maybe even up to college. The reading level is very easy, perhaps second grade level, but the concept is very deep.
I found a few links with ideas for using this book, especially for more advanced students.
One Grain of Rice Unit: Ideas for a unit study. This is an older website, and some of the image links are broken, but the text is all there. Look under Math Connections and Other Subject Connections to help make a complete unit study.
Excel Spreadsheet Activity This would be great for older students who are learning to use MS Excel.
Illuminations Another lesson plan. It uses some algebra, but I am beginning to see it is not too early to introduce these concepts. I would not expect my gradeschoolers to completely understand, but they can observe and get a taste of what is there.
The Solution Site There are some great plans on here, including an MS Excel sheet that is already set up for your student (great for younger ones who do not know how to use MS Excel.) Students get ½ cup rice to weigh and they learn to count a small amount to approximate how much rice would be in a 1 lb. bag of rice.
More Than One Grain of Rice Here is a PDF with some lesson plans. We printed out one of the pages to use for our notebook pages.
Kids Econ Lesson This is a lesson on economic scarcity using the book. Very simple and to the point. Good for younger students.
What we did: We made a notebook entry to show the grains of rice Rani was given each day. To calculate, we used the simple MS Excel spreadsheet. We measured out an ounce of rice, and counted the grains of rice. This was very hard, but my daughter did it with me helping her. On the spreadsheet, there is a way to figure out how much rice can be carried by a child, a pickup, a semi-trailer, and a train car. We decided to represent the number of pickups that would be needed to carry 1 billion grains of rice by using clip art pictures of a truck. We had to copy it 37 times on our paper.
We also used a picture from The Penny Project to show what one billion would look like in pennies. We pasted our items to notebook sheets.
This is the first entry in our new Mathematics Notebook. I would have never considered a math notebook before beginning Living Math, but it makes perfect sense.
A man walks into the sheriff's office... "I want to become a deputy!"
"Good, I want to you to catch this man" says the sheriff handling the man a wanted poster.
The poster reads : 'Last seen wearing a brown paper hat, brown paper shirt, brown paper pants, and brown paper boots.'
"What's he wanted for?" asked the hopeful young man.
"Rustling."
I was reminded Friday of one of my favorite sites by this post. I commented about some historic sheet music sites, and I thought I would share them here: 
Duke Library Digital Collections
Lester S. Levy Collection
These are great sites for history as well as music. The artwork on the covers on some of this music is beautiful, and can really give you a feel for the era in which it was published. Some of the content is racist, the artwork and the lyrics, so don't turn your kids loose here without discussing that aspect first. I have found that some of the music is a bit out of focus when printing, but it is a minor issue.
This was for next week's Frugal Friday, but I am posting it now because I feel like the time is right.His love has no limits, His grace has no measure
Last weekend was difficult. My dear mother-in-law is undergoing cancer treatment. Right now, she is getting chemo, radiation, and they are backing off another medication, because it was having bad effects.
(I think that's because she is not used to me care-giving. I was able to coach them on some positioning strategies. As she is bed- and chair-bound, she is at risk for developing pressure ulcers, and that is my specialty, so maybe I was able to help in that way.)
Now, sadly, she is not able to do more and do better. Instead of living out her Christian life, she has reached the end of any of her abilities. She is managing to just survive.
When we have exhausted our store of endurance
When our strength has failed, ere the day is half done
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving has only begun.His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.From “He Giveth More Grace” by Annie Flint
As a believer in Christ, do you struggle with works vs. grace? Is is hard for you to trust that your salvation is really secure in Christ, without you adding in the good things that you do. When you fail, do you worry that God cannot forgive you now? The Word of God says He is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory, with exceeding joy. (Jude 24) He wrote your name on the palm of His hand. (Isa. 49:16) You are loved with an everlasting Love. (Jer. 31:3)
Praise the Lord!
...Hang shirts upside down. If the clothespin makes a mark, it is on the bottom of the shirt and will be tucked in, or at least not near your face.
I’ve been using a clothesline on and off for eight years. Last year was the first time I had a “real” clothesline, though. Before, we had strung clothline between two trees or between a tree and a fencepost. I prefer the real clothesline, but a makeshift clothesline is a good option, and that is what I did for so long.. Here is a picture of my empty clothesline that hubby built for me.
Teacher Tube is a free site for educational videos. They have short videos for teachers and for students. It is in no way as large as YouTube, but it is also very specific for educational videos, and is a safer environment for kids.My little fellow (19 months) loves his bath. He has a lot of fun, but he splashes too hard. I have been working with him on not making big splashes. He has several toys to play with in the tub, but he would rather slap the surface of the water and send splashes everywhere. (I keep the water depth very low, but it seems that the splashes go a really long way when he is excited. This gets to be a problem, and the older kids have a fit when he splashes the roll of toilet paper!)Earlier this week I shared this idea on Works-For-Me Wednesday. It was about my daughter playing with paper dolls. I have another old-fashioned idea for kids.
We checked out a book from the library called Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran. This very sweet book is about a group of children who set up their own imaginary land in an empty lot. I read this to my kids, hoping that they would do something similar, but I didn't push it. I kind of sat back and waited to see what they would do. It took a few months, but last fall they made up their own “town” with the kids next door, called “Monkey Town.” They use found objects to create their homes. They have a mayor monkey and a rich monkey, and whatever else they think a town needs. Monkey Town changes and evolves from time to time, and is often abandoned for long periods, but they come back to it. I love seeing them creating and being silly.
Here are some pictures of their “play houses.” I was asked to take pictures, but it was already almost dark. Walter A. Monky is the rich monkey.
And here is Walter's backyard. The round object surrounded by rocks is a swimming pool.
I have been teaching piano lessons to both my older kids this year. This is the first year for both of them. I got this idea from an Alfred Publishing newsletter, and it has worked really well.
We have the "AAA Club" for piano. "AAA" stands for Anytime, Anywhere, for Anybody.
Anytime means that the child can sit down and play a certain song anytime. They do not have to go over it a couple of times to get it right.
Anywhere means that the child can play the song anywhere there is a piano. They might not have their piano book with them, so they have to know the piece by memory.
Anybody means that they play the song well enough that anybody (not parents and grandparents only) would like to listen to the song. Very easy songs are okay (that is all they can play right now) but they need to know how to play it musically and not bang it out like "Chopsticks" or keep messing up and saying "Wait, wait, wait."
When they play a song for me first thing after sitting down, by memory, without mistakes, and nicely, they get two dollars. The song goes on the AAA Club list which is currently on the 'fridge. In addition to that, if they play the song for others, they get 50 cents a song (not 50 cents per listener.) The other person has to want to hear it, and if they play a second song, it has to be requested by the person. (i.e. Not, "Let me play you ten songs, Grandma!")
Yes, this might be bribery. However, I am a musician myself. I do play for the joy of music...but I certainly do not mind getting paid and I have accepted money for my music on many occasions! I make it difficult to get a song on the AAA Club list, and I know as they move up to more difficult peices, they will get fewer and fewer songs on the list.
I am not exactly sure what to do about maintaining this list. So far, I have not required that they keep practicing the songs on the list to "keep them up." I am hoping that the performance aspect will force them to keep at least a couple of songs "performance-ready." So far it has worked, but we have only been doing it since November.
My 9yo daughter does not have trouble understanding math concepts, but she does seem to have something against math, if that makes sense. She says she hates it, and cannot understand it, but she does well once she actually opens her book and gets started. I am always looking for anything that will help open the door for her.
And I don’t mean only to make math “fun” or play games, but to really open up a sense of wonder. After all, mathematics was created by God, and I know He doesn’t mean for us to just suffer through it, but actually see a glimpse of His glory, and to wonder at it, and be amazed!
I have barely even scraped the surface on this site, but it is amazing what I have discovered so far. I started by looking at the book suggestions on this page and this page.
These are actually “living books” about math concepts. We found several at our library, and we’re working our way through them.
I am going to start a new series about the things we learn about this concept. I am thinking I will post once a week, and if you want to send me your email, I will let you know when the new posts are up.
I will leave you with two comments my daughter made. After we read a few pages of The I Hate Mathematics Book, she giggled and said, “Well, this is kind of fun.” But later on she was more serious and said, “Maybe I could be a mathemetician someday…” Sounds like success to me!
“My first memories are when I was four or around that age. Gertie and I found a lot to play with. We used our imagination in those days. We could make dolls from corn cobs and even sticks. We had stick people, glass people (from broken dishes) and an out-of-date Sears or Ward’s catalog was special. We had families and they went to church. We made towns from flat rocks, the rocks were their houses. We marked rooms. Christmas was the only time we’d see toys in the stores. I remember how thrilled we were to get to go see the toys.”
