I don’t remember where Parker first heard about the number googol, but ever since he has been fascinated with it. So, when I saw the book Can You Count to a Googol? by Robert E. Wells at the library, I snatched it up! It’s a very well written book and we had a fun time with it. It starts with the number one and keeps adding zero until it gets to a googol (a one with 100 zeros!). It’s very engaging and captures the child’s attention right away. The first page reads, “If you’re looking for a really big number, it certainly won’t be 1. One is the number of bananas you can balance on your nose, if you’re a good banana balancer.”
Here is a partial dialogue of the conversation we had while reading this book …
Mom: How long would it take you to spend a million dollars?
Parker: Oh, about 2 days.
Mom: What would you buy if you had a billion dollars?
Parker: A Dollar store!!!
Parker, Sophie, and Sarah are budding gardeners. They are always digging in the dirt, tending to various plants, etc. Imagine how excited they were to discover real live onions in our front yard!!!! (The children do not get their green thumbs from Mom and Dad!)
Sorry for the poor picture quality – don’t know what was going on that day!
I find myself trying to steer clear of messy projects even though I know my kids would enjoy them. The girls especially love to paint but I don’t love cleaning paint off the walls and floors for days after. I found some paint markers (kinda like bingo dabbers) and thought it was a perfect solution! All the mess ended up on the kids and not the walls!
Sarah showing off her picture of a baby.
Tags: painting
The kids and I have been a little stir-crazy this week. It’s been too cold to go outside and even snowed a tiny bit on Monday! Today was a nice day so we took advantage of it! The ground was still wet but they and their friends used the opportunity to make mud sculptures!
Tags: play
One of the things I love about homeschooling is the ability to tailor my teaching methods with each child. Even though Sophie is only 4 she still craves knowledge and wants to do things like her big brother. But … there is no way that I can work with her like I can with Parker. She does not like to be quizzed too much, she likes to take her time and be very active in the process! We were both getting frustrated when I was trying to work with her like I do with Parker. After getting really frustrated with her one day this past fall. We took a long break from school work. And know what I noticed? The things that she didn’t seem to be picking up on while we were actively ‘schooling’ just seemed to click with her. Now I’ve learned to teach her a topic or two and then give her time to mull it over. She has come a long way since I’ve started doing this with her. I am so proud of her! Some of her favorite things to do in her down time is drawing and coloring, cutting, spinning around, pretending to be a cat, and building. She loves legos, blocks, tinker toys, k’nex, and magnetix. A new thing that she really likes are geoboards.
Geoboards are little boards with pegs where you make a design with rubber bands. Take a look at some of her handiwork.
Tags: geoboards, learning style
Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted! It’s the first time I’ve sat down to download pictures since my hardrive bit the dust. Don’t worry – I didn’t lose anything!
So, we use the math curriculum Right Start Math. It’s fun for me and the kids. I wish I had such fun school work when I was young! Normally the lessons are short and sweet and integrate a lot of manipulatives. However, we read about one project that promised to be a little tedious, but looked really cool. That was the Cotter Tens fractal.
Here is an excerpt from our math manual that describes the Cotter Tens fractal:
Fractals are a new branch of mathematics only a few decades old. There are two types of fractals, regular and random. Scientists use random fractals for computer modeling in order to study some of nature’s irregular patterns and structures. Regular fractals, also called geometric fractals, consist of larger structures that are identical to the smaller structure.
The Tens Fractal, a regular Fractal starts with ten small equilateral triangles, arranged in the pattern of a larger equilateral triangle, the ten triangle. Ten of these triangles arranged in the same pattern forms the hundred triangle. And ten of the hundred triangles in the same pattern forms the thousand triangle, the Cotter Tens Fractal.
One purpose of the building this fractal is to help the children visualize and experience the repeating tens structure of our number system. Another purpose is integrating mathematics and art.
Here are Parker and Sophie getting started:
And after many days, here is the finished product:
And Sarah made one too!
Lots of learning went on during this project. Sarah practiced cutting and gluing skills and learned about triangles. Sophie learned about place value, how triangles have 3 sides and 3 angles, what equilateral triangles are, and patterns. Parker also learned about patterns and geometric designs and reinforced some of his multiplication facts. And me? I learned that young children can’t cut 1,000 triangles without having a lot of backups!
Tags: Art, fractal, math, Right Start
My kids love to color – I personally don’t like the quality of most coloring books, but came across this wonderful site chocked full of coloring pages. There are even famous art works made into coloring pages! Sophie is having a field day with the horse coloring pages and Sarah likes the farm animal coloring pages. Go check it out: Funny Coloring
Tags: coloring
We recently had a project day where we did science and art all day; thanks to Memaw for taking the tyrant, uh, I mean toddler, out of the house for the day so we could have a hands-on day!
One of the things we did that day was make quicksand, otherwise known as goop. It’s very easy to make and yields hours of fun! All you need is cornstarch, water, a bowl, and a spoon. Once everything is mixed the mixture looks like a liquid but if you smack it with your spoon it acts like a solid. It was cool to play with. Parker only messed with it for a couple minutes, but Sophie played with it for a long time!
