Two of my daughters are attempting NaNoWriMo this year. So I’m thinking I might keep them company and give the EBookWriMo Challenge a try. What topic should I write about?
Don’t like any of my ideas? Enter your suggestion in the poll, or leave a comment below!
I cleaned up the clutter on my other blog, and so I decided to make a page about my daughter’s book, which meant taking the time to pull out excerpts from her reviews. And since I hadn’t posted anything about her on this blog for a couple of months, I thought I’d brag a bit to you all, too.
Banished is a captivating fantasy story with a well-thought-out plot that would be a credit to any writer. But it is especially remarkable coming from a thirteen-year-old student who has been homeschooled all her life.
Teresa Gaskins actually wrote this book as a project for the National Novel Writing Month program. One noteworthy thing about the book is that there is no sexuality or bad language (the euphemistic interjection “Blasted” is used once), so, other than those who object to the presence of any kind of magic in books, parents can let their kids read the novel with no reservations.
However, be forewarned. When you reach the final page and find the words, “Not the End…,” you will cry, “Oh! No!” The story does not resolve itself at the end and then pick up in a sequel. Rather, the plot is left hanging at the end and will continue in another book. I for one feel as if I simply can’t wait to read the next installment to find out what happens to Chris and his friends. It’s that good!
— Wayne at Home School Book Review
Blog carnivals can be a wonderful source of inspiration and information. The Blog Parties for Teachers widget in my sidebar offers an wide assortment of recent carnivals on math and homeschooling.
The widget disappeared over the summer, as some carnivals (like the Homeschooled Kids Blog Carnival) went on hiatus — and as I just got too busy to maintain the list by hand. But now, with the new school year, I’ve found several new carnivals to explore, so I’ll try my best to keep the list up-to-date.
Enjoy!
P.S.: If you host an blog carnival for teachers or homeschoolers, please email me a link.
Sunday, October 21, is the worldwide hexaflexagon party in honor of Martin Gardner’s birthday. Gardner’s article about hexaflexagons launched his career as a recreational math guru who inspired people all around the world to love math.
Here’s how to join in the fun:
“Writing is how we think our way into a subject and make it our own.”
— William Zinsser
Writing to Learn
Since the last recession, our homeschool co-op has been too small to support a blogging class, and I have seriously neglected my Blogging 2 Learn blog. So last week, I decided to refresh everything by starting up a new Blogging 101 Series. If your student has been longing to start a blog, you may want to check it out.
Nrich recently updated their amazing website. I love exploring their backlog of puzzles and games — what a mother lode of resources for math club or a homeschool co-op class!
If you are looking for some mathematical inspiration, check out this month’s Math Teachers at Play blog carnival. It’s full of activity and game ideas, puzzles and problems, and interesting mathematics for students in elementary, middle, or high school. Enjoy!
Welcome to the 55th edition of the Mathematics Teachers at Play Blog Carnival. The number 55 is the 10th Fibonacci number and the sum of the first 10 counting numbers.
Below are the entries to the 55th edition of the Math Teachers at Play Blog Carnival…
I’ve been enjoying the Introduction to Mathematical Thinking course by Keith Devlin. For the first few weeks, we mostly talked about language, especially the language of logical thinking. This week, we started working on proofs.
For a bit of fun, the professor emailed a link to this video. My daughter Kitten enjoyed it, and I hope you do, too.
Poster by Maria Droujkova of NaturalMath.com. In this Homeschooling Math with Profound Understanding (PUFM) Series, we are studying Elementary Mathematics for Teachers and applying its lessons to home education.
Multiplication is taught and explained using three models. Again, it is important for understanding that students see all three models early and often, and learn to use them when solving word problems.
— Thomas H. Parker & Scott J. Baldridge
Elementary Mathematics for Teachers
I hope you are playing the Tell Me a (Math) Story game often, making up word problems for your children and encouraging them to make up some for you. As you play, don’t fall into a rut: Keep the multiplication models from our lesson in mind and use them all. For even greater variety, use the Multiplication Models at NaturalMath.com (or buy the poster) to create your word problems.
Denise Gaskins' Let's Play Math 