Teaching Tool Tuesday - Balance Benders

Don’t tell, but my wish lists at Lakeshore Learning and Amazon are much longer than the one I have at Endless.com. Honestly, I’m a complete sucker for books and educational games, software and toys. But this past year I’ve honed my ability to discern which tools will be fun once or twice and which ones we'll use over and over . . . and I’ll be sharing our favorites with you every Tuesday.  

This is what my little guy can't get enough of these days - Balance Benders from The Critical Thinking Company. In case you haven't heard me rave about their curriculum before, we love them! Yes, love.

This book is his his favorite of the three we purchased for this year. Here's the description from the company website:

Move over Sudoku, here come Balance Benders™! You can use these books as quick, fun logic problems or as stepping stones to success in algebra. Children develop deductive thinking and pre-algebra skills as they solve balance puzzles that are more fun and addictive than Sudoku puzzles! Children must analyze each balance to identify the clues, and then synthesize the information to solve the puzzle. Try one—and then try to stop!

They're not joking about the "try to stop" part. Noah attempted to complete the entire book in one sitting last week. In fact, every book we've purchased from them, I've actually had to ration so he didn't sit down and complete it in one sitting - although these days I either just let him go to town with it or I use it as an incentive to get other work completed.  

Still not sure whether to call this math or critical thinking in our activity log, but as long as Noah keeps calling it his favorite, I don't really care!

Wild Idea Wednesday - Ditching the Schedule (and Watching YouTube Instead)

Need some new ideas for keeping learning fun? I’ll be sharing our favorites each week on Wednesday. To be honest, the thought of committing myself to having one great idea every week is stress-inducing, so I’m going to put it out there in advance that I will probably borrow heavily from all my wise mama friends.

In case I haven't mentioned it before, I'm a planner. I love having a schedule, even if we rarely stick to it . . . although too often I find myself adapting our day to the schedule rather than the other way around.

Today though, my wild idea was to throw the schedule out the window. Our first activity in the classroom this morning (and I used the term "morning" very loosely since I worked until 4AM) was a brand new workbook from the Critical Thinking Company called Balance Benders. As explained to me at the FPEA convention by the woman in their booth, it's the beginnings of very basic algebra. To me, it just looked like something Noah would totally love - and he did. So much so, in fact, that he asked if he could complete the entire book today.

My first reaction of course, was to tell him that I'd planned to do only 10 pages of Balance Benders, then move on to handwriting and Singapore Math. Fortunately, I saw the lunacy in the plan and decided to follow him down his chosen path rather than dragging him down mine.

Seeing him all lit up by math inspired me to look up info on "The Human Calculator", a man named Scott Flansburg who my friend Regina had just told me about yesterday. So after Noah had his fill of Balance Benders (no, he didn't finish the whole book), we sat and watched YouTube videos of this man solving complex math problems in his head in less time than it took the host to punch the numbers into a calculator.

I'm so glad I followed his path, because I like where it led. And to remind myself of this important lesson, I posted a note in classroom . . . Lead less, follow more.

Lapbook Preview - Crazy About Cars

It's nearing 2AM, and the cars lapbook did not get finished. It's great to have a goal . . . but not as great to make myself crazy trying to achieve it. So I'm calling it a night and will finish tomorrow - only one more mini-book to go, so I really am close!

It's turning out really cute, and I know that Noah will love it! I'm very pleased with the diversity of the content, which so far covers science, history, geography, math and a little art or language arts.

As soon as I mock up my sample, I'll make the PDF available to download - right now, all I have to share is the sneak preview "The 8 Fastest Cars in the World" mini-book. Do you know what they are???

Making Math Fun (and Tasty!)

So we've been using our Singapore Math curriculum for two months now, and it's going well. I like the way it is organized; it's been a nice review of skills we've already learned and a good introduction to a few new concepts.

That said, Noah highly prefers math on IXL. I know that he needs the pencil-to-paper practice that Singapore provides, but like me, he is usually bored with the repetition once he feels that he knows it already. And having been highly bored by repetition in school myself, I can completely understand.

We're almost done with our 1A books (which makes me think we'll be wrapping up the 1B set by February), so I feel like we have some time to back off the curriculum and play a little. Our newest addition has been chocolate chip math - which may need to alternate with pistachio math or Honey O (cereal) math now that we're into double-digit addition and subtraction.

The nice thing about this concept - aside from the overwhelming enthusiasm from the kids - is that it's a way to work on math with both of them at the same time. Noah's been learning the basic concepts of multiplication and division while Ava practices counting and very simple addition. Basically, I use the chips as manipulatives for math problems, and when they answer correctly . . . you can probably guess. Yum!

Last night, we added in place value problems (uses up less chips!) for Noah. The photo at the top shows two of our problems from last night - Noah's place value problem (left) of 641 and Ava's addition (2 + 1 + 3).

And if you're wondering why they're white chocolate chips, it's because they're not my favorite and I won't eat them all!!!

IXL Math Practice Site

Both my kids love online learning, and I'm a fan of whatever works. With Noah's blossoming interest in math, I was thrilled to learn about the math practice site, IXL.

Try up to 20 problems a day for free, or purchase a membership (very reasonable at $79/year for one child or $99/year for two) for unlimited use. We started with freebies, but my kids were so hooked there was no doubt that we were headed for a paid membership. Hooked is good when it comes to math, right?

We're still getting the hang of it, but here's what we like about the site so far:

• It is the ultimate in user-friendly; activities are grouped by grade level, then broken down by skill. Within each skill, it lists each activity in order and lets you mouse over each one for a preview of what a problem would look like.

• It's completely self-guided. Follow the sequence, skip around . . . whatever you like. Practice for five minutes or an hour. I love the flexibility to fit a few minutes in on a busy day or practice for a longer period of time to reinforce something we've just learned.

• The reward system is really simple, but for some reason, my kids really dig it. As you progress towards a score of 100 (completion), you earn three little ribbons, which are displayed under your score. After completing each activity, it will notify you if you've earned any rewards. I haven't cracked the code yet, but these seem to be given for meeting certain criteria for time practiced, skills mastered and questions answered. The "reward" is getting to turn over a piece on the game board to claim a virtual prize. Doesn't seem all that exciting to me, but like I said, the kids LOVE it.

• I've been working with the kids as they get accustomed to the site, but I'm hoping that Noah will be able to practice independently at some point. Which brings me to point #4. With membership, they e-mail periodic parent updates detailing how long the kids have practiced and what skills they have been working on.

Because the kids learn so well from the computer, I've looked into quite a few online learning sites. With its excellent content, user-friendly format and kid-friendly reward system, this is the first paid site I've felt to be worthwhile.

Fall 2009 Curriculum is Planned

We are so excited to have our Fall 2009 curriculum planned. Even though we're a month from starting, I feel like I can really enjoy our "off" month knowing that everything is in place for starting first grade! We just received confirmation back from the school board on our letter of intent, so we are officially ready to go. Here's what's planned:

Math
- IXL (Noah & Ava)
- Singapore Math (Noah)
- Graphing, Venn diagram, place value and addition / subtraction games & activities

Language Arts
- Language Smarts (from the Critical Thinking Company) (Noah)
- Starfall (Ava)
- Lots of reading! (Noah & Ava)

Science
- Developing Critical Thinking Through Science (Noah)
- Field trips to OSC, MOAS and Innoventions at EPCOT (Noah & Ava)
- Working on our fall garden & a great 5-week plant/gardening unit study with SLC

Art
- Atelier curriculum (Noah)
- Field trips to OMA and My Art Studio (Noah & Ava)
- Young Person's Concert by the Orlando Philharmonic

Critical Thinking
- Mind Benders and Dr. DooRiddles books from Critical Thinking Company (Noah)
- Mind Benders and Memory Challenge software from Critical Thinking Company (Noah)

US History Unit Study
- US Literacy Library & US Resource Box from Lakeshore Learning (Noah)
- Declaration of Independence and Thanksgiving Project Packs from Hands of a Child (Noah)
- Field trip to US pavilion at EPCOT
- Field trip to Colonial Spanish Quarter Museum in St. Augustine (Noah & Ava)
- Field trip to Washington DC!!! (Noah & Ava)

Other Activities
Horseback Riding (Noah)
Gymnastics - maybe (Ava)

Not sure yet whether or not we'll get back to our French studies this semester. I could tell that Noah had lost interest, but when I asked him about it, he said it was because he couldn't get into the higher levels (I'd been having problems registering the software and it only let him into Levels 1-3). We'll see if his interest picks up once he can move on, but I do have a very lofty goal of using it myself.

Noah, in the meantime, tells me he wants to learn Chinese, Japanese and German. The kids have been watching a Chinese language DVD Ava got for her birthday and seem to really enjoy it. Ava said "thank you" to me in Chinese the other day, and it took me a minute to figure out what she was saying. Sad that my foreign language skills have already been surpassed by my three-year-old.

I'd love to make a big deal about the first day of school this year (we'll call it Ava's first day of preschool, too). Anyone have ideas for me???

Time and Money Game Board Book

Yesterday was . . . well, it was a day. You know, one of those days. Not necessarily a bad day, just one full of many frustrations and challenges - most of them related to not being able to make things go my way. The high point (by a clear mile) was hitting the road with some girlfriends to shop for bellydance costumes in Gainesville. Sequins make everything better!

This, of course, is my long-winded way of telling you that I missed Teaching Tool Tuesday yet again. I've missed it so often that I should just rename it. But I won't. Instead, I know you'll look the other way and let me share a really great tool with you (no matter what day it is).

We've had our Time and Money Board Book for about a year now, and it's been a fun way for Noah to learn to count money and tell time. When you open the book, a pocket on the right holds three double-sided game boards and an envelope on the left holds all the game pieces and spinners - six games in one handy "book".
Math games include:

• Sherlock Hog's Coin Mysteries: This one is for basic coin recognition. Noah already knew those when we got this, but we both really enjoy this game anyway. Put your marker on the board in a spot that correlates with the coin pictured on the spinner. Four markers in a row wins the game.

• Coin Cleanup: Hmmm . . . don't think we've actually played this one. It's the intermediate level math game and focuses on adding coin values.
  

• Sidewalk Sale: Use the spinner to earn money, then advance to the finish line by "buying" items on the board (each space has a different item and price). I love this one for adding and subtracting with money as well as for experimenting with different combinations of coins.

Time games include:

• Telling Time Tales: This "level 1" time game gets kids familiar with the concept of hours and the movement of a clock. Place your marker on the clock face and use the spinner to see how many hours ahead to move it. First player to "tomorrow" wins!

• Watch Dog: Practice reading clock faces as you move to the finish line. When your marker lands on one of four colors, move to the next clock of that color.
  

• Time Flies: Associate "clock times" with analog / digital times to line up four game pieces in a row and win the game.

Pulling this out to write about it has been a great reminder that Noah would love brushing up on these skills - and that the two "level 1" games would be perfect for Ava.