Best of “Let’s Play Math!” in 2007

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Cooking class

Farewell to 2007. We have snacks on the table so we can munch the night away, and the little ones are giggling over their Barbies, thrilled at the prospect of more sugar than is good for them.

Beach party

The teenagers have launched their annual movie marathon. This year, it was the girls’ turn to invite friends over, so the men in my life have all found excuses to run into town.

Winter in Illinois

Meanwhile, I am hiding in my den, indulging myself in a sort of blogger’s nostalgia. Some of the following posts got a lot of attention when they were published, others not so much. Topics range from preschool to high school, Captain Kitten from kindergarten games to teaching fractions to Shakespearean insults, so I hope there is something to interest everyone.

[The photos are small so this article won’t take forever to load. Click on any picture to view a larger image.]

Continue reading Best of “Let’s Play Math!” in 2007

Pre-Algebra Picture Puzzles

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Balance problem

Maria at Homeschool Math Blog has posted a fun set of worksheets:
Pan balance problems to teach algebraic reasoning.

Princess Kitten, at nearly 9yo, keeps telling me, “I hate math, but I like algebra.” So I printed all four pages for her to try. These get pretty complicated, and the 2-variable problems had her flummoxed for awhile. But after an explanation and bit of pouting (I think she hates math because she’s such a perfectionist that she can’t bear to get something wrong, even the first time), she came back and conquered the toughest ones.

Trouble with Percents

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Can your students solve this problem?

There are 20% more girls than boys in the senior class.
What percent of the seniors are girls?

This is from a discussion of the semantics of percent problems and why students have trouble with them, going on over at MathNotations. (Follow-up post here.)

Our pre-algebra class just finished a chapter on percents, so I thought Chickenfoot might have a chance at this one. Nope! He leapt without thought to the conclusion that 60% of the class must be girls.

After I explained the significance of the word “than”, he solved the follow-up problem just fine.

Living with History

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Farm in winterMy daughter has been decorating the kitchen, and she decided to hang these old photos that came with the house. The frames needed repairs, so I took the opportunity to scan the photos. (Click for larger view.)

Family farmI wish I knew who the people were, or when the photos were taken. The house shows changes over the years. Eventually, the back porch was closed in to create a pantry and laundry room off the kitchen.

Horse cartThe horse cart picture has a date across one corner. It looks like 9/1908.

Pony trick

This young boy has taught his pony a trick: to step up on a box or something — I can’t quite see what.

Vintage carCan anyone identify this car? The boy looks sweet with a bouquet for his mother. I wonder if that’s her in the driver’s seat.

Welcome, Princess Kitten!

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Not to be outdone by her older brother, Princess Kitten insisted on starting a blog of her own:

Kitten’s Purring

I have given them a section of my blogroll. If you are interested, they would both love to have you drop by and read their stories. Chickenfoot is writing in the “fractured fairytale” vein, at least for now, while Kitten’s tales tend toward animal adventures.

This teacher’s opinion: It certainly beats those dreaded “Pretend you’re a pencil” essays!

Spring, the Season for Planning…

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Oops! No Alexandria Jones post this week. My writing time has been overtaken by the monster school supply catalog (“Mom, haven’t you ordered my books yet?!“) and by yesterday’s co-op planning meeting and today’s 13 (so far!) follow up emails.

Planning a homeschool co-op is a little bit like juggling kittens. No matter how careful you are, something is going to get scratched. Several of the classes I was hoping for did not draw enough interest in the public polling, but of those that remain, I would like my students to study:

dd#1 — drama, photography, sewing, Spanish, writing, guitar, and biology lab
ds — drama, photography, writing, Spanish, guitar, PE/health, and maybe biology
dd#2 — art, sewing, cooking, music, science, and maybe PE/health
[Wouldn’t you know it, not a single one of my kids wants to take any of their mom’s math classes. 🙂 ]

Problem: We only offer three class periods. And dd#1 plans to teach karate during one of those time slots.

Well, whatever else works or doesn’t work out, I sure hope we can get the lady who took these pictures to teach that photography class.