Fun with Math

Goblin has been having a great time and flying through RightStart A's final few lessons.  This week we completed the whole level!

Although the math balance wasn't used in many of the lessons this level, he still played around with it a lot.  His number sense and understanding amazes me.  One of his last lessons was all word problems, and he buzzed right through them in no time flat.

During one lesson using the balance, we put different amounts of weights on each side of it, then Goblin had to figure out how many to add to the smaller side to make them equal.  Plus, I had him write out the equations we figured out this way.

I could not be more happy with how well RightStart is working for Goblin.  He doesn't always want to do his school work, but as soon as I pull out the abacus, he ALWAYS gets excited for math.  Lots of manipulatives, games for reviewing, and variety in lessons really make RightStart a winner for him.

We're going to take a full week off from math (formal math, at least) to celebrate finishing this level.  Then we'll move into RightStart B and keep plugging along.

--Little Miss Crazy

Looking ahead in Language Arts

I've been looking for a new language arts program. Don't get me wrong, I still LOVE Logic of English.  But soon my kiddoes will be through the programs. So I decided to start searching for our "next step."

One of the best things about LoE has been that it covers all of language arts: reading, writing, literature, handwriting, grammar, vocabulary, phonics, and of course spelling.  It is great to have all those bases covered for now, and it would be amazing to find another single program to do it all again.  I am still on the lookout for that perfect program to combine all that and not be prohibitively expensive.  But in the meantime, I'll be piecing together what I know, what I have, and what I feel can give us a simple but thorough approach.

I know I will continue to use the tools from LoE to practice phonograms and probably move on to the advanced ones to give my kiddoes a good base, coupled with review work on spelling rules.  So, my primary focus has been on finding something to cover the other areas of LA like literature, grammar, and writing.

I've decided to jump in with both feet and try out Language Lessons Through Literature for our primary curriculum.  This will determine our readings, grammar practice, copywork, and additional narrations.  It even includes some picture study for a little bit of art appreciation, which has certainly been missing from our schooling.

We'll be coordinating our language arts work with our read-alouds.  LLTL covers one grammar concept at a time using examples and practices from those readings.  The kiddoes will also need to begin doing oral narrations based on fables as well as some from the picture studies.  LLTL also includes a daily copywork or dictation assignment from those readings and narrations.  It does a very nice job of tying all the learning to the literature selections, which I really appreciate (and those selections are all public domain books, which keeps the expenses down).  This allows the kiddoes to see grammar and literature elements in their actual reading, rather than random exercises, so they can more easily connect them to something real.

Copywork and dictation are the basis for writing in LLTL, and should be plenty for the boys.  I'm still looking for something to add in a little more structured writing work for Athena.  I may just choose one concept (outlining, introductions, etc) to work on and assign a monthly project (a la BraveWriter), rather than trying to find another full program to add in, although this is definitely up in the air (I'm having a lot of fun researching programs, even though I still haven't found one I want to use).

We'll continue with our poetry and hot cocoa days, since the kiddoes love those, but LLTL also includes a poem to read with each lesson.  If they don't enjoy having it as part of their daily work, we can always skip it; and I'll make sure to read those poems during our usual poetry time. :)

The best part of LLTL, for me, is that I can begin to add it in now.  The program is laid out for only 3 days a week and can be very flexible.  I have been meaning to give the boys the chance to slow down in their progression through LoE Foundations, and this should be a good way to substitute a day or two a week and still be doing something worthwhile.  A gentle introduction to grammar and an increase in their writing awareness should be just the ticket to keep everyone working without getting burnt out.

--Little Miss Crazy

Flying apples, flour, and racing in circles

Newton's second law is best summed up with the formula F=ma or force equals mass times acceleration.  It seems like it should take a lot of math to explain newton's 2nd law.  But in fact, it takes a marshmallow and a golf ball. :)  Let me explain.

Gravity is always our go-to force to study, since we can easily see it in every day situations.  When the apple falls onto the knife, it de-celerates because of the addition of friction, which changes the downward force until it finally comes to a stop.  This demo left the kids a bit confused, so we looked into something a bit more fun . . . and messy. :)

We filled a container with flour (sand would have been less messy, but I didn't have any on hand). Hulk held up a golf ball, and Goblin held a marshmallow.  Then, they dropped them into the flour. 

Then we measured how deep the holes made by each object went into the pan.  Since they had different masses (golf balls are much heavier than marshmallows), we can see the difference in force at which they hit the ground based on the difference in the impacts (the depth of the hole they made).

Since the boys were covered in flour, I made them go outside to shake it all off, which I think was everyone's favorite part of school for the day. Science should always be a little bit messy and a lot of fun.

--Little Miss Crazy

Introducing the Jewish nation

Along with our discussion of Egypt, we talked about the Jewish nation. The Story of the World uses Bible stories to explain their origins and how they ended up in Egypt.

First they related the story of God telling Abram (later Abraham) to go to Canaan and obey him, and he would make Abraham father of a nation.  The family line continues from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob.

Then we have the story of Jacob's sons. He had 12 sons; the youngest was Joseph.  He is best known for his coat of many colors. But he also was taken away to Egypt because of his brothers' jealousy, where he eventually became very important to the pharaoh.  He even warned the pharaoh about an upcoming famine and was put in charge of grain rations.  Eventually his brothers were also hit by this famine and came to Egypt for grain. The family was reunited, and Joseph encouraged them all to move to Egypt, which is how the Jewish nation and the Egyptian empire came to be in the same place for a stretch of history.

The kiddoes each painted their own coat of many colors, and they all turned out very differently.  They each started with the same template but came up with very different ideas of what such a special coat would look like.  Goblin even drew in the man within the coat on his picture. :)

This week was strange for me, since it was more of a Bible study weekthan a typical history week. Of course, a great deal of the information we have about our history comes from religious texts, since those have been considered the most important documents to preserve.  In the end, it all does come out to be a very cohesive story, and at this stage, that's what it's all about

--Little Miss Crazy