First day back after holidays

After a fabulously fun holiday we had a gentle first day back to school!  We started reading a couple of new books: Listening for Lions (G Whelan) and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Early Christianity (J. Matkin).  Sarah even managed to organize us all for Poetry Teatime.

 

We enjoyed playing a fast-paced version of Scrabble,

... and our favourite math game, Corners.  Bekah soundly beat the rest of us and also had the best move in our history of playing the game!  The numbers on two connecting cards have to equal a multiple of 5 and she managed to connect three sides (10+5, 8+7, and 1+4)! 

Big Math

Multiplication charts are a lot more fun when they are life size!

Math Art

Matt learned about different kinds of lines in math today.  After the lesson he decided to draw a picture using only vertical and horizontal lines (and then he laid down on the floor with his sister on top of him!?? :-)).

Short Chain Subtraction

Matt faced the math challenge and conquered!  He used all of his cards in a subtraction chain game.  Way to go, Matt!

Shopping

Bekah and a friend braved the mall this week armed with numerous gift cards (some from several birthdays ago!).  I never knew one could spend almost an hour in Claire's (an accessories store) but I found out it is possible - especially when you are trying to stick to your budget ("Mommy, what is the tax if I have a hat that costs $12 and a necklace that costs $7?").  Yippee for mental math! 

Bekah leaned over to me right before going up to pay and whispered, "Mommy, I really don't like paying tax!"  I confessed that I don't either. 

Organizing their money and receipts after several purchases.  "It is good to keep the receipt to make sure that the store doesn't cheat you!"  She didn't learn that from me.

Sarah patiently waiting while the girls shop!

Fun with Math

Working together with Base Ten blocks to figure things out

...and then using the blocks for fun with Polly Pockets!

Bekah beating Mom in Subtraction Corners

(forming multiples of 3 with cards and using subtraction to tally the score)

and Matt beating Mom in Subtraction Corners

(forming multiples of 5 and using subtraction to tally score)

Playing with Multiples!

Matt & Bekah enjoying a memory game using multiples

("3s" for Matt & "8s" for Bekah).

Math Games

We love math games at our house and it is now getting

harder for Mommy to win!

One of our current favorites is "Corners" (you have to place your card with another card so that the colours match and the sum equals 5, 10, 15 or 20). 

Each player also has to keep track of his/her own score which adds to the fun!

Daddy likes playing "Cat in the Hat" with the kids because they get to

 learn about buying and managing real estate.

Life of Fred

We've started reading the delightful book "Life of Fred: Apples"

from Dr. Stanley Schmidt's Elementary Series.

Each hilarious chapter is short (6 pages) and concludes with a handful of questions for the kids to do.  It is really intended for Matthew's age and so some of the questions are simplistic for Bekah but then others are very appropriate ("Do you think a million is a big number?").  Amazingly enough both kids are entertained and starting to do simple algebra in a very natural way.

Matt's Work 

Bekah's Work

Scrabble

Bekah's first Scrabble game

Lego Robotics (Wedo 1) Class

Matt just finished a 8 week Lego Robotics class (Gateways Discovery Camps) with some of his friends from soccer.  Of course, this is right up Matt's alley and he made some awesome creations.

Hard at work

A car that moves!

His own design he created on the last day of class.

Money Management = Fun Times!

Problem: 

How do you keep an eight year old awake while teaching her

about money management? 

Solution:

Send her to the mall with $20 and a good friend!

Decisions, decisions, decisions!

("And how much tax will be added to this, Mommy?")

What $20 buys you:

$7 Sunglasses (good thing they were on sale!), $7 stuffy and a $4 bookmark

(and ice cream from Mommy)

Priceless = the fun had by all!