Today is a busy, emotionally charged day. The baby is to resume feeds, albeit verrrrrry slowwwwwly, and my father is to undergo surgery. So, since I cannot be with either one of them, I will focus my attention on the children. I will torture ... eh, uhm, I mean, educate them. I changed things up a bit here last week, and made a major wall in our home into the school wall. I put up two dry erase boards, our world and US maps, and some posters. I have once again caved to the reality of our life - we homeschool. No one room can contain what is the main focus of our lives. So let us embrace the books, the papers, the various writing implements, the building blocks and math manipulatives, the Lego men ... basically, the mess. And each morning we now begin with math problems on the board. Now, while this may sound "schoolish", it has real value in that it has enabled me to use what the kids are "supposed" to be learning in the texts and apply the concepts in different ways to see that they are mastering the material. Case in point: the oldest twin is using Math-U-See Zeta and Life of Fred: Decimals and Percents. As has happened each year we have been with Math-U-See, I sometimes do not understand Mr. Demme's explanations/methods. And if I have not followed from the beginning close enough, I cannot possibly explain it to my student in his way. So to the board we go for a re-explanation a la Mom. Once she has seen the light, I focus on those types of problems for a bit. Otherwise, the oldest twin will get really down on herself, feel like a failure, and convince herself that math is her nemesis, not her friend. Today's problem was the following:
Jim spent 15% of his $100,000 salary on a new car. He paid 18% sales tax. He also bought new tires for $1200, each. How much did he spend in all? How much money did he have left from his salary?
This one problem required her to use addition, subtraction, and multiplication, and remember how to figure percents. She did it with ease. Just a few minutes each morning focusing on "Mom's Math Problem of the Day" has helped quell her math phobia, and it has really given her confidence that she can indeed do math.
(We also make use of the pictures on the walls in Art and Art Appreciation. We study the artist, the actual picture depicted, and the children attempt to re-create the scene in their art notebooks. They have become quite adept at this. My 8 year-old has used the skills she has learned to draw various items around the house, including the china cabinet and the armoire. It is really amazing to see the lessons in art and drawing take root and blossom.)
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