Algebra Fun

I have noticed that I am missing a lot of things on the blog.  One thing I've forgotten to blog about is Lumptons.  Lumptons are little gumdrop shaped people invented by Leena.

There are Good Lumptons, Bad Lumptons, and Average Lumptons, all with slightly different shapes.  When a Bad Lumpton becomes better, they change shape to look more like an Average or Good Lumpton.

 
This picture is of a Good Lumpton asking for a flame thrower.  You may notice that they change shape in many circumstances.  This one starts out in her normal shape, is very startled when she isn't given a flamethrower, and then becomes pleadier, and pleadier...

But what do they have to do with Algebra?

Leena finished up the delightful Life of Fred: Pre-Algebra with Biology a while back, and we were trying to decide which Algebra text she wanted to use next.  Of all the Life of Fred books I own, the only one I dislike is Algebra I.  I find it confusing and quite different from the other books in the series.   Math U See is very good, but she hasn't enjoyed it in the past.  The world is full of Algebra programs... but the world is not full of math that Leena will have fun doing.

"Could you teach me Algebra using Lumptons?" Leena finally asked.

Well, why not?  This is my fourth time teaching Algebra, it would be fun to try it with Lumptons!

I decided to use the Math U See program as my schema for scope and sequence (what to teach and the order of presentation), but to explain it all with Lumptons.

Here's an example.  Sally is a Good Lumpton, and Sulky is a Bad Lumpton.  I tell Leena part of the story, she figures out the math, and we write and illustrate the story in a notebook. 

Here, I told Leena that Sally is going into the jelly making business.  She has two jars in her pantry and can make 6 more jars of jelly and hour.  If J is the number of jars, and H is the number of hours, we can say J = 6H + 2

If you've done a lot of algebra, you might say, "Hey! That's the slope intercept formula!"  And it is.

At this point, usually Leena starts coming up with her own questions to further the story.  She wanted to know how long it would take to make enough jelly to feed Sulky for an entire day.  Bad Lumptons eat more jelly than Good Lumptons and Sulky is a very bad Lumpton.  She eats 20 jars a day!

Well if J=20 then 20=6H+2  When she worked it out algebraically, that would be 3 hours.

I find it really interesting that when I teach half the lesson, Leena usually comes up with the other half on her own.  I think that, in school, Leena would be written off as "not good at math." But the fact is that she is very good at math whenever she sees the slightest reason to use it.  She just finds math in abstraction tedious.

The joy of being a fourth child!  My first few tries at algebra, I probably couldn't have done it with Lumptons.  I was written off as "not good at math" in school, and didn't know the subject well enough.  One of the fun things about home schooling is that I actually understand math, and now I really enjoy it!

Seven Quick Takes: Silly hats, Snow, and Toilet Seats

 1. I got to go visit my folks in NJ last weekend!  Hooray!  I haven't seen them since Christmas! Klenda and Leena went with me, and we celebrated Leena's upcoming 14th birthday.


Yes, the cake does say 59, but 5 + 9 =14. Actually, I think it says 159 because I didn't get the picture the first time, and Mumpy (my mom) figured blowing out the candles twice gave her an extra year.

Leena immediately asked if this meant she could drive.

Also, silly hats may have been involved.

2. It snowed last night.  I mean it SNOWED last night!  It was in the 60s earlier this week, and is supposed to hit the mid 70s next week.

Welcome to March Madness, Maryland style (and apologies to those reading this from the truly Frozen North).

 3. My phone is full of pictures of spotless areas of my house.  I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that this is all Oob's doing - both the cleaning and the pictures he brings me to provide evidence.

This started out as "coupon jobs," ways to earn extra flat screen time by doing extra chores, but lately he's just been cleaning things up.

Lent: it really is the most wonderful time of the year!


4. While in NJ, we went shopping with Mumpy and she got the girls their Easter dresses (and a Confirmation dress for Leena)!

I loved getting Easter dresses as a girl,so it was a special thing to share with my own girls.

I really thank God that I was given both girls and boys.  There are plenty of special fun things about boys, but shopping for Easter clothes with them hasn't hit the top of my list.






5. While we were up in NJ, I noticed that my mom had a very beautiful white cyclamen.

It was a gift, she told me, but she always kills these plants, so could I take it home and care for it.

Sure!

This is the plant 5 days later.

6. If you can stand one more NJ story, one thing I love about going up there is the chance to do little odd jobs for my folks.  This time I noticed that Mumpy had bought new toilet seats, but hadn't gotten around to installing them.

No problem!  I put them in for her while she was off doing something with the girls.

Mumpy (later): That was so sweet!  I'll be reminded of you every time I...(she realizes what she is about to say)

Me (cracking up): That's great! Every time my mom sees her toilet seat, she thinks of me!  Brings a tear to the eye, doesn't it?

7. If you are musical, this will be merely amusing.  For those of us who are not naturally musical, it's the world's best explanation of  major and minor keys.

Leena, photo by Klenda

 Happy weekend! More fun with Kelly!

Happy New Year!

 Every year we have a family party on New Year's Eve.  We serve fancy hors d' eurves horsderves hordeveres appetizers, and sparkling cider.  We count down to midnight in another time zone (this year it was Paris!), we watch the fireworks from Sydney (thank you, YouTube), and then we watch a Cirque de Soliel show (thank you, Netflix).

This year, shortly after Christmas, Leena suggested that we do a masquerade party.

I opted for pirate.  Completely independently, the Emperor went for pirate, too.  I'd claim he stole my idea, but if he were stealing stuff, it would make him more piratey than me.

 Leena was a medieval damsel.  This was a late switch from archer, when that costume proved too difficult.

Me: Don't you need a bow?

Leena: Why would I need a bow?

Me: Well, don't archers have bows?

Leena: I've never seen an archer wear bows.  They wear a pointy green hat with a feather.

Well, she made a great damsel, anyway!

 Moving right along, Choclo was a knight, and Oob was a king.  We are terribly proud of the king cape, although you can't see much in the picture.  I taught Leena how to use the sewing machine, and she sewed on the "ermine" trim.

Klenda was the Guardian of the Forest.  She designed and sewed her costume in secret (by hand!) and it looked fabulous!

 Mxyl was the Doctor (yes, that is a sonic screwdriver he's holding: he made it from a kit he got for Christmas!), and Zorg is a robot (but not a cyberman).

Unbelievably, we had, not one, but two adults drop by unexpectedly while we all dressed up.  They were both quite surprised.

What can you do except say, "Arrrrrrr!"

And, "Happy New Year!"

Little Convent on the Llano

Leena and I actually stayed in the convent and hung out with the sisters: my sister and my sister's sisters, who are, of course, my sisters too.

Try saying that five times fast!

And Molly, their moose dog.

Leena loved Molly, Molly loved Leena.

Every time Leena approached, Molly flopped over in hopes of a tummy rub, and Leena never disappointed her!


The valley really is cowboy type country - lots of sage brush and tumbleweed.



And lots of cowboy hats and pick ups.

And lots of open space, perfect for taking a first driving lesson with Manty MaryAnn!

Not bad for 13!!

Best of all, it is big sky country.  At night we saw more stars than I have ever seen, including the Milky Way, and dozens of shooting stars!

Home School Blocks

This is how it works:

We always start with Prayer Time/Bible Time/Violin Time (usually also nursing Oob time).
The other kids can then take a 15 -30 minute break while I play with Choclo.
Now we start the blocks. I have 4 kids, so there are 4 blocks of time. Everything in a block happens at the same time.

Block 1:
I spend time with Myxyl, maybe doing some math.
Klenda works independently in a workbook, reading a book, or on a project.
Zorg does a chore say, cleans a bathroom.
Leena does something fun, either pouring water in different containers or her own idea

Block 2:
I spend time with Klenda, show her how to make designs with a compass
Zorg does independent work
Leena washes walls
Mxyl draws robots

Block 3:
I play Dolch knights with Zorg (sight word game)
Leena does her wipe off alphabet book
Mxyl cleans a bathroom
Klenda plays with sculpey clay

Block 4:
I do math manipulatives with Leena
Mxyl works independently
Klenda washes windows
Zorg draws on more index cards (he is making a game)


This leaves me time to do stuff together: Child's History of the World (I read while the kids draw about it, or do related activities), and an enormous unit on the human body (lots of experiments!). It also leaves us with large swaths of time free in the afternoon for kids to do their own thing.

St Elizabeth

Leena: I'm going to be St Elizabeth!

St Elizabeth of Hungary (the princess who fed the poor)?

Leena: No, St Elizabeth the snow princess.

Well, Hungary can be a snowy place. You can be St Elizabeth of Hungary.

Leena: No, she ate the snow!

????

Leena: She ate the snow, she wasn't hungry.


Oh.

Leena's Pictures

 This has been such a packed summer that I forgot to blog about Leena's camp!

She went to a nature photography camp run by the Audubon Society.

It was a day camp, but she stayed overnight with Grammy, so she had extra fun there!

At the end of the camp, the kids each made a poster to show their favorite shots.

It turned out that Grammy doesn't have a color printer, so Leena printed her shots in black and white, then enhanced them with colored pencil.

She also invented a cute little character, "Rae," to introduce and explain her work.


Congratulations, Leena, on a job well done!

Happy Birthday Leena!

 Leena is 15!

 So, how many birthday cakes can Leena have?

As many as she wants, apparently!

Not that anyone's complaining!

She had a party with extended family the day before her birthday, a party with "just" the 8 of us on the day, and a party with friends later on...

And every party was loads of fun!

15 Great Things About Leena

1. She does great music videos.
2. She's The Gerbil Whisperer.
2. She's super creative.
3. She sings beautifully!
4. She makes great baked beans.
4. She has a thriving You Tube Channel.
5. She does all sorts of voice acting.
5. She's got really eclectic tastes in music.
6. She's a sweet and loving sister.
7. She's always willing to help out anyone.
7. She loves wearing lime green.
8. She draws the cutest gerbils!
9. She does the best Temmie voice from Under Tale.
9. She can swing dance.
10. She's got style!
11. She's got a great Sound Cloud Account.
11. She can have fun with people much older than she is.
12. She can have fun with people much younger than she is.
12. She's great at audio and video editing!
13. She's a sweet and loving daughter.
14. She composes music on the piano and in FL Studio.
15. She tells great jokes!
15. She laughs at my (not so great) jokes!

Happy Birthday, Leena: Round 1!

Today was Leena's 10th birthday party!

The actual day falls later next week, but we had the party a little early.

Leena asked for a "rain forest party."

Klenda painted the windows with appropriate flora and fauna.


Mxyl hung vines across the ceiling and I put a waterfall (silvery streamers) across a doorway.




I  gathered all the jungle animals I could find and put them around the room, but Curious George's predicament is from the Emperor.

Not that the monkey seemed to mind!

 We made an ice-cream-cheese-cake.  This was super easy and yummy!

Each "cake" is a (store bought, in my case) graham cracker pie shell. The filling (for each) is 2 8oz packages of cream cheese, 2/3 cup of sugar, some vanilla, and 1/2 cup whipping cream, whipped together until light and silky.





I then tinted some of the filling to make the "10," added some sprinkles and froze the whole thing.


It tasted like cheesecake flavored ice cream mousse!

Yum!  Yum!  It was delicious even after it thawed and returned to a mousse consistency!

The kids played a bunch of rain forest themed games that Leena had found or made up.  The only one I was involved with was "Pin the Banana on the Monkey."

You can see the monkey face behind Choclo in the picture.  I drew the face, Zorg made the bananas, and I handed out the Mardi Gras beads (the ones I couldn't find on Mardi Gras) as prizes.

I like everyone to get a prize, and I like to have a winner, so they got to pick their beads in the order of "closest banana!"

Quick Takes: Things We've Noticed

1. I've noticed that when I say, "Hey, let me get a picture of you."  My teens hear, "Quick, look like a super hero!"




2. Leena noticed that the business sides of construction equipment look like they were painted by Jackson Pollock.

I can't decide if this is a home schooling win or not.

3.I noticed that Leena's naturally wavy hair looks exactly like I tried to get my (pathologically straight) hair to look back in the 80s!

But she usually blows it out straight. Seriously.





4. Oob noticed that going to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and seeing millions of dollars was his favorite trip ever!

5. I noticed a beautiful sunrise yesterday, but when I called the Emperor out to look, he noticed that the sunrise was making a beautiful rainbow in the west!

 

6. Leena and I noticed that when she gets dressed up, she can pass for 23 (gulp). 

She's turning 14 in a couple of weeks! 

 7. Choclo and Oob have noticed that they can make pretty much anything they want out of paper while I'm enjoying a quiet cup of tea with a friend.

And get me to take a picture of it.

And get me to post it on the blog.



Have a great weekend!  More fun with Kelly!

Happy Birthday, Leena!

 Leena is 14! 

She had a story themed birthday party where she and her friends dressed up as favorite characters from books.  She was Charmaine Baker from House of Many Ways.

They had a cake shaped like a book (decorated by Klenda!).

Then, on her actual birthday, she had Klenda's chocolate buttercream pie!

One of her presents was an another gerbil cage and some more tubing, so now her gerbils, Chocolate and Vanilla, live in palatial splendor!

 We actually were sick around her birthday, but, when we were feeling better we had Pop over for one last birthday celebration and some silliness!

Lots of silliness!

He gave her a new headphone and microphone for the recording work she is doing!

And for "cake," we had ice cream!

14 Great Things About Leena

1. She does great music videos.
2. She's getting Confirmed next month!
2. She's super creative.
3. She's been taking voice lessons!
4. She makes great baked beans.
4. She does great video podcasts.
5. She's a proud member of the BCC.
5. She's got really eclectic tastes in music.
6. She's a sweet and loving sister.
7. She's always willing to help out anyone.
7. She loves wearing lime green.
8. She draws the cutest gerbils!
9. She loves Jane Austen.
9. She can swing dance!
10. She's a master gerbil trainer.
11. She makes fascinating audio books.
11. She can have fun with people much older than she is.
12. She can have fun with people much younger than she is.
12. She's great at audio and video editing!
13. She's a sweet and loving daughter.
14.She tells great jokes!
14. She laughs at my (not so great) jokes!