More Math Resources

Math was one of my favorite subjects in school.  Actually, I liked most of the subjects, except science.  I am not sure I ever had a good science class, or rather, one that I enjoyed.  It was always at the bottom of my favorite list, if I had to list them all.  Math, however, was closer to the top, right alongside of history and literature. 

While I personally find numbers and calculations fun, some of my children do not.  Which is why, when I found a few new-to-me math resources at the library, I picked them up, checked them out, and brought them home.  We have been going through them a little at a time over the past few days.

Here's what I found...

Books:
How Many Jelly Beans? A Giant Book of Giant Numbers! by Andrea Menotti
Two children and a dog, discuss how many jelly beans they could eat over the course of a year.  With each number grouping, the same number of jelly beans are shown.  As the numbers increase, the jelly beans are pictured in decreasing size to fit on the page.  Finally, in a huge fold out section, one million jelly beans are shown.  Fabulous and fun way to learn the immensity of larger numbers.

What's Your Angle, Pythagoras? A Math Adventure, by Julie Ellis
While this is probably not the best biography, as it is not historically accurate, it is a great book to introduce the concept of Pythagorean Theorem and its practical application.  Excellent resource for any student learning the basics of geometry.

Sir Cumference and the Isle of Immeter: A Math Adventure, by Cindy Neuschwander
Join a host of characters with math related names in a medieval setting complete with knights, damsels, and dragons.  In this math adventure, two cousins must sail to the Isle of Immeter and use formulas for perimeters and areas to solve a mystery.  A fun way to introduce, or reinforce these concepts.

Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland: A Math Adventure, by Cindy Neuschwander
Another Sir Cumference book!  These books are a favorite of my children.  They love the whimsy and comedy.  I love the math concepts they learn.  This one is about angles and is another great resource for learning some of the basics of geometry. 

DVDs:
Math Challenge: Fractions, animated video by Schlessinger Media
Using a fictional story line of secret agents and villains, our hero Matt Mattics must solve math problems involving fractions, mixed numbers, and improper fractions. Students are encouraged to help Matt.  The episode is about 10 minutes in length.

Math Challenge: Equivalent Fractions & Mixed Numbers, animated video by Schlessinger Media
Both Dr. Strangeglove and Secret Agent Matt Mattics are again locked in a fight of good verses evil.  Math questions using equivalent fractions and mixed numbers are vital to good's triumph in this episode of Math Challenge.  This episode is about 15 minutes in length.

Bill Nye's Solving: Algebra I, Volume I, video by Disney Educational Productions
A twenty-five minute video filled with Bill Nye's (the Science Guy) quirky, but informative explanations.  Algebraic principles including variables, balancing equations, and exponents are covered in this first volume.  A great extra when beginning algebra.


These math resources are fabulous finds from our local library.  If you can find any or all of them at your local library, I would definitely recommend borrowing them!

{Links are not affiliate, but are included for reference.}


Related Posts:
Math Resources for the Middle Grades
Learning Math Concepts
Early Learning: Math Manipulatives

Experimenting with Paper Air Planes

Ever since he could fold a piece of paper into an airplane, he has been hooked.

Paper airplanes of all sorts have been designed, constructed, and flown in and outside of our home.

Naturally, when asked to pick a science fair project, he thought of paper air planes.  Several questions were thought of to test, but he choose testing the rigidity of paper.  He wanted to know which paper would result in a longer flight time for his paper air planes. 

With some help from his science teacher, he designed an experiment, conducted it, and reported his results to the entire science co-op. 

Though he was nervous speaking in front of so many people, he did a great job!  And, I'm not just saying that because I am his mom (OK, maybe I am).  However, on all his evaluations, he scored high marks!

Testing Bottle Rockets

This year our oldest son participated in a state wide science olympiad.  He competed in several events including 'Bottle Rocket.' 

Using a 1 liter plastic bottle, paper, and tape, teams of two students built rockets.  The bottle rockets were then filled with water (an amount chosen by the team) and pressurized on a tripod launch.  Then, the student pulled the pin launching the homemade bottle rocket into the air.  The rocket that stayed in the air the longest won. 

On his first attempts (those pictured here), my son's bottle rockets remained in the air for 3 seconds.  Not too bad for his first try.  He went home, modified his design by lengthening the nose and using various papers. 

His second attempt resulted in an increase of flight time.  His top rocket stayed airborne for over 10 seconds.  He returned home, tweaked his design slightly, and made his bottle rockets for competition. 

During the science olympiad, the bottle rockets were launched all day, despite the rainy start to the day.  Our son's team went in the first group.  Unfortunately, it was pouring rain.  Since rain and paper don't mix too well, his rocket did not fly as well.  However, all in all, planning, preparing, and making bottle rockets was a fabulous learning experience!

{He did well in his other events and even placed in the medals.}

Ten Ways to Develop Better Writers

1. Encourage your child to tell stories and narrate/summarize what they have heard. Bible, history, or science lessons make great material for narrating/summarizing.
2. Live life.  Interesting experiences such as vacations, trips, sport games, etc. all make great writing prompts.
3. Help your child find the interesting in the mundane.  A weekly trip to the grocery store could offer many writing ideas to a keen observer. 
4. Encourage your child to write outside of school lessons.  Friendly letters, journal writings, or fictional stories can be fun as school lessons or beyond.
5. Increase your child's vocabulary.  We have always spoken to our children normally.  We have never renamed something or used 'kiddie' language with them.  If they don't understand a word we use, we take the time to explain it.
6. Keep a student or college level dictionary and thesaurus.  It helps with the large vocabulary.
7. Provide a writing formula when your child is stuck.  Writing poetry can be easier with a specific formula like a haiku or rhyme pattern.
8. Have writing prompts on hand.  A good piece of art work can provide ample ideas for stories.  A finish the story activity book may help as well.
9. Encourage your child to share some of their writing with others.  People will naturally encourage a young, budding writer.
10. Read aloud to your child as often as possible.  Good literature, poetry, and Shakespeare are great places to start.

{There are, of course, more than just ten ways to develop better writers.  The ones listed here are what we use in our home.}

Fun Science Experiments and Observations

Currently, we are knee deep in science.  Experiments and observations are scattered about our home and filling our time. 

The kitchen table centerpiece has been replaced with a greenhouse which is made from two large animal cracker plastic containers taped together.  It stands about two feet tall, and houses two growing daffodil plants. 

On the nearby counter stands a white carnation.  The stem has been sliced straight down into two pieces.  One of these rests in a jar of red water.  The other is in blue water. 

We wait for the dyed water to make a difference in the color of the carnation.  See the blue starting to form in the photograph below?  {very faint along the left side of the outer flower petals}  Both of these projects are from my son's Apologia science text.

In the back room, three bottle rockets await test launches.  More will be created today.  These are in preparation for an upcoming science olympiad.  Our oldest son is competing in three events: bottle rocket, write it/do it, and polymer detective. 

Over the weekend, we visited the library in search of a few more resources to help prepare for the science olympiad.  While there, I found two fabulous science resources.

• Smash It! Crash It! Launch It! 50 Mind-Blowing, Eye-Popping Science Experiments, by Rain Newcomb and Bobby Mercer
• Rocket Science: 50 Flying, Floating, Flipping, Spinning Gadgets Kids Create Themselves, by Jim Wiese

Don't these titles sound fun?  Both books were new to me.  We've already tried out a few of the experiments and like the ideas so well that I am contemplating purchasing these resources to add to our personal science resources.

Almost daily, with our regular science lessons, co-op, science olympiad preparations, and now these two fun books, there seems to be some science experiment or observation occurring in our home.

Ships, Navigation, and Whaling

This year, our oldest son completed a small unit study on ships, navigation, and whaling.  This unit fit easily into the context of our current colonial America studies, but reached beyond the 1700's into the 1800's. 

For bite sized nonfiction information, he read Ships, by Philip Wilkinson and Whale Port, by Mark Foster. 

Ships, published by Kingfisher, is divided into four main sections: Trade and Discovery, Ships of War, Peopling the World, and Discovering Ships.  Each section has numerous topics displayed in the typical two page spread of this type of book.  The information was just enough to create an interest and determine a course of more in depth study. 

Whale Port is a fun book that follows the fictional town of Tuckanucket from colonial times to contemporary times.  Though the book has elements of imagination, it is seeped with true facts of interest.  The overall effect was the story of whaling through the years.  It was a good book for my son to read after his recent reading of Moby Dick.  {He read this title on his own by his own choice.  Though it was not part of this unit study, it did lend itself well to the theme.}

For a personal example of navigation and shipping, he read Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, by Jean Lee Latham.  This biography follows the remarkable life of Nathaniel Bowditch.  Bowditch's determination, perseverance, and diligence are character traits are showcased in this well written book.  If you only want to read one book on navigation, let this be the one.  I highly recommend it.

For more hands on activities and further navigational information, he used Tools of Navigation, by Rachel Dickinson.  This book includes the history, as well as the science, of navigation.  Some of the topics include ancient navigators, explorers, using the stars to navigate, and land exploration. With directions to make your own compass and explanations on contour mapping, the fifteen different activities are applicable and interesting for children and adults. 

Previously read books relating to ships, navigation, and whaling:
All Set Sail, by Armstrong Sperry
Clipper Ship, by Thomas P. Lewis

Math Resources for the Middle Grades

Last week, I shared a few math resources we discovered at the library.  However, most of those were for elementary grades.  Today, I wanted to share a few math resources we like for the upper elementary and middle school years. 

The first is called The Usborne Illustrated Dictionary of Math, by Tori Large.  It reminds me of an encyclopedia style resource.  There are four main sections, including one called Numbers and another for Algebra.  Each of these four sections are divided into subsections.  For instance the section on Algebra has subsections like Equations, Inequalities, and Functions.  Each of these topics is thoroughly explained with examples.  The book also includes a glossary of money terms and a chart explaining math symbols.

Another book for the middle school years is Why Pi? How Math Applies to Everyday Life, by Johnny Ball.  This book is divided into three sections: The Ancient World, The Age of Discovery, and Modern Measuring.  Each section includes information that would have been available or discovered during that time period.  The information is presented with interesting text, pictures, and cartoon like illustrations.  With sections on pyramid building, mathematics from the Ancient Greeks, and astronomers, the chronological format of the book lends itself well to anyone wanting to add another dimension to their history studies. Simply select the section corresponding to the time period you are currently studying.

Finally, for upper elementary and middle school math, we still use some of our math manipulatives, just not in the same ways as younger learners.  When I introduce the children to equations with unknown variables, I pull out the balance and the colored squares.  Each number has a corresponding color square and we 'discover' the unknown number as we balance out the equation.  A similar method is used to help the student learn to always keep the equation balanced as they solve for the unknown number.

Developing Reading Comprehension

One of our main goals as parents is to cultivate a love for reading in our children.  It is a great desire, and easy to accomplish, but just as easy to squelch. 

As homeschooling parents who have taught three children to read, we still need to check pronunciation and develop comprehension.    To do so, we have implemented several different methods. 

For pronunciation, we listen to our children read aloud several times a week.  During these read aloud sessions, we also work on speed and elocution for our older children.

Checking comprehension can be a bit more time intensive. 

Sometimes we have the child narrate orally what a chapter or book was about.  This is very easy to do and provides a great opportunity to dialogue about characters, plots, and events. 

Other times, we have the child write either a few sentences or a few paragraphs (depending on their age) about their reading.  This is very similar to the oral narrative, but provides a written component.  Often, our children draw a picture to accompany this written work.

Another way we develop comprehension is through literary guides.  Two we prefer are Veritas Press literature guides and Progeny Press study guides.  Both offer vocabulary, detailed questions, and related projects to accompany a selected book.  We use these guides occasionally for variety. 

Finally, for a few books, I have developed our own comprehension guides.  When I wanted to use a particular book for a specific purpose, I wasn't always able to find a guide.  In these cases, I simply made our own.  I hope to eventually share these short guides with you as free downloads on this site.

A Light-Hearted Read Aloud

Since Christmas break, we have taken a few weeks to only read shorter books.  We started by learning about animal migrations.  Then, we pored over a bunch of cold weather books, read about sidewalk chalk art, and explored a few titles connecting our colonial history to Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Now, we've added chapter books back into the mix.  However, after such serious, though very interesting, subjects we have opted to read through a humorous book that a friend let us borrow.  {Thank you, Annette!}.  Have you heard of it?  It is The Strictest School in the World: Being the Tale of a Clever Girl, a Rubber Boy and a Collection of Flying Machines, Mostly Broken, by Howard Whitehouse. 

The title and subtitle serve as a perfect synopsis of the book.  Emmaline is the 'clever girl,' who is sent from her home in India to England to attend boarding school.  She aspires to create a flying machine, and actively pursues her dream.  Rab, her friend, is the 'rubber boy,' who seemingly never gets injured despite many accidents.  He helps Emmaline by piloting her flying machines.

We are still reading the book, and haven't yet reached the ending, but I can safely say our children {and I} are thoroughly enjoying this book.  Each day, we look forward to hearing more of the adventure and laughing aloud at the antics. 



Linked to Read-Aloud Thursday at Hope Is the Word

Location, Location - Read Alouds Set in Maine

We've read it before.  About four years ago, when we first studied this time period in history, we followed another's recommendation to read The Sign of the Beaver, by Elizabeth George Speare.  It did not disappoint.  Though our children were young, the exciting story line captured their attention.  This time, reading through the book, the children and I are appreciating the character development, interaction, and struggles. 

The Sign of the Beaver takes place in the Maine wilderness during the 1700's.  Matt, a twelve-year-old, is left alone at his family's cabin while his father travels to bring his mother and siblings to the new settlement.  The situations and people Matt meets while living alone are interesting and bring the time period to life.  It fabulous to read aloud, whether the first time or second time.  For those wondering what reading level this book is, I would consider it 4th to 6th grade level.

Other titles we have read aloud that are set in Maine are Calico Bush, Blueberries for Sal, and One Morning in Maine. 

Calico Bush, written by Rachel Field, takes place during the 1740's in a northern part of Maine.  The area where the Sargent family settles is quite isolated.  However, the location is not the only reason Marguerite feels lonely.  She has lost her family and now lives with the Sargent family as a servant.  Neither the family nor the area feels like home to Marguerite.  The story line is poignant, and thirteen-year-old Marguerite's courage and inner strength are admirable.   The book is great for independent readers in grades 5th to 8th.

Both Blueberries for Sal and One Morning in Maine are written by Robert McCloskey.  Each is a fabulous short story to read aloud to preschoolers or early elementary aged children.  Our favorite of the two is Blueberries for Sal.  After all, who doesn't love when Sal follows the momma bear and baby bear follows Sal's momma around on the blueberry hill?

 

To find more read aloud selections, visit Amy at Hope Is the Word
for this week's Read-Aloud Thursday link up.

Learning Logic

Who knew the wealth of information I would learn as I began teaching our oldest logic?  Using The Fallacy Detective, by Nathaniel Bluedorn and Hans Bluedorn, we began our logic studies informally.  Each week, we read and discuss a lesson.  The brief lessons are designed to be completed alone, in pairs, or in a group.  Topics include making assumptions, statistical fallacies, and propaganda.  The lessons flow easily from one fallacy to another with built in review. 

Our oldest son is enjoying his first lessons in logic, and I have been gleaning great nuggets of knowledge as I guide him through this book.

There have been times, during informal discussions, that I have known a statement or conclusion was wrong, but I did not know how or why it was logically incorrect.  After completing twenty-eight lessons, I now know some of the errors and the types of fallacies.  This small book has only scratched the surface of studying logic, but it has been a fabulous start.  After we complete the remaining ten lessons, my son and I plan to read through The Thinking Toolbox, by Nathaniel Bluedorn and Hans Bluedorn. 

Encouraging Them to Read History Related Books

It's no secret.  We have lots of books in our home. 

Some are ours, but a lot we borrow from friends and local libraries. 

Each year, as we progress through history in a four year cycle, I try to find a variety of children's books set in, or about the time period we are studying.  This is harder for ancient history, but quite easy for our current time period (1400's/1500's to 1850). 

Due to the over abundance of selections, I started a new system this year.  I still read aloud several selections to the children, but the extra books get placed in a basket.  Each child is encouraged to read a few extra books each week.  

To further encourage them, I made a graph that records each child's progress.  We have four children with four different reading and comprehension abilities.  To make it fair, we set guidelines for how many books must be read for each particular child to color a box. 

Our guidelines:

7th grader - read 4 picture books / color 1 box; read 1 chapter book / color 1 box

5th grader - read 2 picture books / color 1 box; read 1 chapter book / color 2 boxes

3rd grader - read 1 picture book / color 1 box; read 1 chapter book / color 4 boxes

Preschooler - listen to 1 picture book / color 1 box

Eventually, we will add some incentive prizes,

but for now, we are simply implementing the system. 

To Read or Not to Read

Though I find great enjoyment in reading Shakespeare's plays and sonnets, I have shied away from sharing Shakespeare's plays with my younger children in the past.  Since our oldest now reached seventh grade, I thought we ought to read more than the sonnets.  Laying aside my apprehension, we embarked on a mini unit including all the children from preschool through seventh grade. 

To begin, we read through three plays, including A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet.  Instead of reading the originals, we tried illustrated storybooks of the plays retold by Bruce Coville.  The younger children were enthralled with these read alouds, and they served as a great introduction to the story lines and characters for our older children.  Afterward, the older children sought out more Shakespeare to read.  They tried some of the stories found in Charles and Mary Lamb's Tales From Shakespeare.

For a biography of William Shakespeare, we read Bard of Avon, by Diane Stanley and Peter Vennema.  This is an illustrated text offering a summary of his life, relationships, and work on a level that interested the younger children, but did not overwhelm them. 

For a fun historical fiction account involving Shakespeare, our oldest son read The Shakespeare Stealer, by Gary Blackwood.  It is the first in a three book series about a young orphan boy living in England who works at the Globe Theatre.

All in all, I am glad this year, we chose to study Shakespeare and his works a bit more closely. 


Linking to Read-Aloud Thursday at Hope is the Word.