One day General Mayhem and his dad looked over the day’s math assignment…
Step One: 3 1/2 a=490
Step Two: 7/2 a=490
Step Three: 2/7 x 7/2 a=490 x 2/7
Step Four: a=490/1 x 2/7
Step Five: a=70/1 x 2/1
Step Six: a = 140
Step Seven: (The Check) 3 1/2 a=490
Step Eight: 7/2 (140)=490
Step Nine: 7/2 x 140/1=490
Step Ten: 7/1 x 70/1=490
Step Eleven: 7 x 70 = 490
Step Twelve: General Mayhem: “I say to you, do not forgive a man seven times, but seventy times seven.”
Step Thirteen: Dad (speaking like Herschel and Hyam): “490 forgives! Oy! We’re going to be here all day, but by tonight you will be well forgiven! I forgive you! I forgive you. I forgive you…”
Step Fourteen: General Mayhem (singing in his best Pa Grape voice): “We are the grapes of wrath,We'll never take a bath, It is our style to seldom smile, And never laugh!”
And thus completed the journey from math to Bible studies and on to pop culture in one short lesson.
That’s homeschooling in Bedlam!
Showing posts with label Saxon Math. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Saxon Math. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Captain Chaos Math
Say!
I like Captain Chaos math!
I do! I like it, in the bath!
And I would add fractions in a boat.
And I would calculate Pi with a goat...
And I will round my numbers in the rain.
And on the couch. And on a train.
I will add that tax, with a cake on my head,
And flat on my back, with a fish in my bed!
So I will figure perimeters with a boat in my lap.
And measure the miles twixt two towns on a map.
And I will add exponents in a house.
And find common denominators with a mouse.
And I can calculate here and there.
Say! I can calculate ANYWHERE!
I do so like like Captain Chaos math!
Thank you! Thank you, Mr. McGrath!
This is what happened this morning when we sat on the couch and started today’s Saxon math lesson. The girl decided to bring out her Cat in the Hat I Can Do That Game
and see how well her brother could learn scientific notation while she systematically placed a cake, a goldfish in a bowl, a plastic boat, and a bunch of flowers on General Mayhem. This exercise had the benefit of forcing the General to use mental math while I recorded what he told me to write, with the added benefit of making a rather dull topic fairly amusing. My boy was remarkably accurate while balancing a foam cake on his noggin’. I’m thinking of trying him out with a Baked Alaska tomorrow.
I like Captain Chaos math!
I do! I like it, in the bath!
And I would add fractions in a boat.
And I would calculate Pi with a goat...
And I will round my numbers in the rain.
And on the couch. And on a train.
I will add that tax, with a cake on my head,
And flat on my back, with a fish in my bed!
So I will figure perimeters with a boat in my lap.
And measure the miles twixt two towns on a map.
And I will add exponents in a house.
And find common denominators with a mouse.
And I can calculate here and there.
Say! I can calculate ANYWHERE!
I do so like like Captain Chaos math!
Thank you! Thank you, Mr. McGrath!
This is what happened this morning when we sat on the couch and started today’s Saxon math lesson. The girl decided to bring out her Cat in the Hat I Can Do That Game
and see how well her brother could learn scientific notation while she systematically placed a cake, a goldfish in a bowl, a plastic boat, and a bunch of flowers on General Mayhem. This exercise had the benefit of forcing the General to use mental math while I recorded what he told me to write, with the added benefit of making a rather dull topic fairly amusing. My boy was remarkably accurate while balancing a foam cake on his noggin’. I’m thinking of trying him out with a Baked Alaska tomorrow.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
It's a Homeschool Again!
I was returning home from Karate practice last night when I noticed the message board on the sign in front of the Apathy fire house. The sign might be for the Apathy prison, too. One sits in front of the other. I drive past the sign regularly but I have no idea which organization owns it. The message informed me that registration for the 2009-2010 Apathy school year was on the last day of July.
Oops. I guess I missed that deadline.
Ironically, Sunday morning I mailed notices to the superintendent of the Apathy School District and to the principal of Apathy Middle School, informing them that I was withdrawing General Mayhem from school. I used the generic withdrawal form supplied by the Home School Legal Defense Association. I love using HSLDA letterhead to send a message to the school district. It screams, “Mess with me, I dare you!” Apparently, the forms have not arrived yet. Twenty minutes ago I received a phone call from the registrar of the middle school. She wanted to know if the General was returning for classes this year.
Nope.
I have not written much about home schooling. Last year was a very difficult homeschooling year that saw all three children in our local public school for a brief period of time. The general was in for the longest time, and when he was discharged for the summer he told the Boss and me that he wanted to return to the middle school this year. I was disappointed. The decision was not solely his to make, but his desire to return would make the decision on whether or not to homeschool that much more difficult. Fortunately, letting go of the issue and allowing God to work in our lives paid off. Rather than forcing a decision, we just enjoyed our summer.
Long before the school year ended we decided that the General would complete his Saxon7/6 math curriculum over the summer break. His math grades plummeted after he started at the middle school. The math instruction hop scotched through the textbook in what was obviously an attempt to teach to the state mandated tests last March. The remaining instruction time between March and May was used to fill in the concepts that had been skipped throughout the school year. We strongly felt that regardless of where he attended school this year, we needed to re-teach sixth grade math if the General had any hope of understanding math at the next higher level.
Last month, at the end of a particularly fun math lesson, I teased the General. “Are you enjoying working with me on math as much as I am enjoying working with you?” I asked.
He smiled. “Yeah.”
“So, are you ready to stay home and home school this year?”
He smiled again. “Yeah.”
My jaw hit the floor. Instead of my getting a rise out of him, he had me speechless. It was obvious by his tone that he was sincere. I allowed a couple of weeks to pass before I seriously pursued the topic. He did not change his answer after I asked him if he was serious about homeschooling. Not only was he enjoying our work together, but he had rediscovered the joys of school work in jammies at the kitchen table after sleeping in. That was enough for him.
Several conversations took place before we made the final decision. The General is returning to the home school. I am thrilled. This is the way it is supposed to be. The Major will be home again (and if he karate chops his teacher this year there will be consequences!). Only the Captain will return to the elementary school, but that will be for two mornings each week and only for the purpose of receiving speech and occupational therapy. I promise that if there is one case of swine flu at that school this year, she is out of there!
We are collecting the last of the curriculum needed for the seventh grade school year (we already have the Major’s and the Captain’s curriculum), and completing some basement work to move the classroom into a new location. I am looking forward to a challenging school year where I will be teaching three children full time. I am looking forward to participating in a homeschooling running club that I started with Twisted Sister, a regular reader of BiB and a homeschooling mother of three. It will provide a regular opportunity for our younger two to meet with and play with other homeschoolers in the area while the older kids run. We’ll be participating in four 5K races this fall. If that doesn’t shed some pounds, nothing will.
Somewhere in Illinois, Prodoceo will be dancing!
Oops. I guess I missed that deadline.
Ironically, Sunday morning I mailed notices to the superintendent of the Apathy School District and to the principal of Apathy Middle School, informing them that I was withdrawing General Mayhem from school. I used the generic withdrawal form supplied by the Home School Legal Defense Association. I love using HSLDA letterhead to send a message to the school district. It screams, “Mess with me, I dare you!” Apparently, the forms have not arrived yet. Twenty minutes ago I received a phone call from the registrar of the middle school. She wanted to know if the General was returning for classes this year.
Nope.
I have not written much about home schooling. Last year was a very difficult homeschooling year that saw all three children in our local public school for a brief period of time. The general was in for the longest time, and when he was discharged for the summer he told the Boss and me that he wanted to return to the middle school this year. I was disappointed. The decision was not solely his to make, but his desire to return would make the decision on whether or not to homeschool that much more difficult. Fortunately, letting go of the issue and allowing God to work in our lives paid off. Rather than forcing a decision, we just enjoyed our summer.
Long before the school year ended we decided that the General would complete his Saxon7/6 math curriculum over the summer break. His math grades plummeted after he started at the middle school. The math instruction hop scotched through the textbook in what was obviously an attempt to teach to the state mandated tests last March. The remaining instruction time between March and May was used to fill in the concepts that had been skipped throughout the school year. We strongly felt that regardless of where he attended school this year, we needed to re-teach sixth grade math if the General had any hope of understanding math at the next higher level.
Last month, at the end of a particularly fun math lesson, I teased the General. “Are you enjoying working with me on math as much as I am enjoying working with you?” I asked.
He smiled. “Yeah.”
“So, are you ready to stay home and home school this year?”
He smiled again. “Yeah.”
My jaw hit the floor. Instead of my getting a rise out of him, he had me speechless. It was obvious by his tone that he was sincere. I allowed a couple of weeks to pass before I seriously pursued the topic. He did not change his answer after I asked him if he was serious about homeschooling. Not only was he enjoying our work together, but he had rediscovered the joys of school work in jammies at the kitchen table after sleeping in. That was enough for him.
Several conversations took place before we made the final decision. The General is returning to the home school. I am thrilled. This is the way it is supposed to be. The Major will be home again (and if he karate chops his teacher this year there will be consequences!). Only the Captain will return to the elementary school, but that will be for two mornings each week and only for the purpose of receiving speech and occupational therapy. I promise that if there is one case of swine flu at that school this year, she is out of there!
We are collecting the last of the curriculum needed for the seventh grade school year (we already have the Major’s and the Captain’s curriculum), and completing some basement work to move the classroom into a new location. I am looking forward to a challenging school year where I will be teaching three children full time. I am looking forward to participating in a homeschooling running club that I started with Twisted Sister, a regular reader of BiB and a homeschooling mother of three. It will provide a regular opportunity for our younger two to meet with and play with other homeschoolers in the area while the older kids run. We’ll be participating in four 5K races this fall. If that doesn’t shed some pounds, nothing will.
Somewhere in Illinois, Prodoceo will be dancing!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)