Last week & This

Ok it's happened already. Only a month into our curriculum and I've deviated from the original.. . But DJ was struggling. He can't stand math - neither could I at that age. SO when ever I'd give him a worksheet that was just review addition he would drag his feet over it for HOURS! (I'm not exaggerating either!) So, instead of reviewing addition then subtraction then introducing multiplication and division, I decided to do our addition review then introduce multiplication (since it's just repetitious addition) then we'll do our subtraction review before introducing division.

So, last week I started with short cut multiplication - those little tips and tricks we all use....

• n x 0 = 0
• n x 10 = bouncing n over to the left a place value and add a 0 at the end
• n x 5 = everything ends in a 5 or 0
• n x 11 = n n (write the n twice, we're not doing adding the places yet so the n is usually a ones number)
• n x 2 = everything ends in a 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8

Then there are the checks - like n x 9 = the answer, take the place values and break them up adding them together should equal 9 {for instance, 2 x 9 = 18.... 1 + 8 = 9}

He had a neat little workbook I printed (sorry I can't remember from where) that explained the cheat and then gave a worksheet where he had to write out the 'cheat' then do some equations. Well, the first sheet was on 10x. When asked to explain the above cheat on his worksheet he wrote (I kid you not) "It's easy". Now at first I thought he was writing that it's easy to remember or to execute but then I realized I'd introduced the whole 'cheat' concept as an 'easy way to do multiplication'.... he's so friggin literal!! LOL

SO here I sit, at nearly 8pm on a Sunday night struggling to figure out how I can reintroduce the whole concept to him this week. I came across this website. They actually have a little video lesson explaining how multiplication is just repetitive addition and they have flash cards and everything! Multiplication - no no, no need to thank me...lol...I also found these vid links for explaining the communitive property of addition and multiplication. Furthermore, I was frustrated with the lack of comprehensive worksheets explaining the topic and introducing multiplication. So I'm making my own (of course...lol) Here's the intro worksheet: Cumulative Property. (remember to use the user name: kickbutttidbits and the password: kickbuttmama) I'll continue this week working on completing the mini-workbook. I hope to have a sheet for each number through 12 explaining the skip counting process and going from there.

X-man is flying through his Hooked on Math. My only complaint with it is the material they used for the flash cards. It's that really shiny laminated material. It makes it difficult to flip the cards as fast as the CD dictates, so he becomes frustrated. He's doing amazingly well. If you ask him an addition equation he stares blankly at you, but if you give him a worksheet or hold up a flash cards he's all over the right answer....Whoo-Hoo!

So we're doing more of the same this week. They'll do the next chapter in their horrible Latin book....I'm so disappointed. I've been wanting to use the Minimus series for years and was excited to find a relatively cheap used copy. But there are no worksheets. The 'book' is only 70 pages long. The first thing they learn is "Who are you? My name is...." It lists a bunch of examples. For instance under a pic of Minumus it said "Minumus sum, mus sum" It took me an hour of repeating it with the kids before I realized mus wasn't something they should be tacking onto their responses, as it means mouse! There are no colors or numbers, no alphabet....maybe I'm strange when I think they should learn these basics before learning the conversations?

Spelling is status quo, both kids are used to the process so it's a blissfully easy means of learning (at least one part of our day is!).

As I stated in a previous post instead of learning about the ocean first the kids decided they wanted to do their anatomy & physiology. As long as they want to learn who am I to gainsay?