Tag Archives: math

It was a Monday.

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Monday.  It comes every week.  So often the Monday starts with little ones who are tired from the weekend; schedule might not be quite as structured or bedtimes get bumped back a bit.  Mondays can be the “catch up from the weekend day” or “errand running days”.  Then you have a Monday like today. The “mom just needs to keep her head above water days”.  Not necessarily meaning that it was a bad day; just a “let’s keep it real” day. (Loving the quotation mark, aren’t I? )

Martha had a rough night and as we were finally getting into a nice deep snoozing session, others started waking up to start the day. Nice.  No worries. Get up, get moving and get ‘er done. I get the Tribe up and moving.  Quick breakfast, showers start, and then into Bible reading.

Here are just a few snapshots of our Monday:

*Sam joined Hannah and Sarah during their Sonlight time today.  We were reading about the planets and the sun.  The girls are talking about the different planets, why we can’t live on some of them, rotation of the earth, etc. Sam? He points to Pluto and says, “I like that one. It looks like a gun.” Wha? Yep, the way Pluto was labeled, well, it kind of in a three year old way resembled a gun. Alrighty. He did do a great job being the sun. It must be the hair.

*While the older ones were working on math and grammar, Hannah was busy creating a variety of masterpieces. From drawing all the planets to sketching the water cycle, she was busy with science. Then I had her fold a piece of paper to divide it into fourths and then drew the same scene but showing the different seasons.  I overhear Lydia, deep in the brutal trenches of 4th grade, say, “I wish I could do fun things. I don’t get easy things anymore.”. Ah, welcome to the big time, baby.

*Sam must have rested well!  He was Mr. Happy Sunshine all day. Endless energy, ready for any and every adventure.  It was decided by Bekah and myself that consumption of caffeine (aka Dr. Pepper) was a necessity while parenting Sam. Yes. Yes, it is. Trust me. However, tomorrow I will hide my cup.  He was sneaking a drink when I was changing a diaper. Busted!

*I would not recommend kissing the feet of a mummified saint. It will not cure your acne but might give you the flu.  Want to learn more? Come and join our literature studies. That lovely tidbit was in My Family and Other Animals. Bekah has been laughing up a storm reading this little treasure.

*Cheese, cheese, cheese! Martha likes it and she isn’t afraid to shout it over everyone else to get it. Reading aloud to the little girls? She is happy to get louder and louder to out talk me. Then proceed to laugh while bouncing on my back.

*Oh, but wait! It doesn’t end. Then I decided to print an assignment sheet. Just one page out of a 400+page document. I forgot to tell it to only print the “current page”. No problem, right? Just cancel print. Which leads to a paper jam. Fix it, no problem. Then make the same exact mistake again. Which leads to a paper jam.

*Toss in that Sam and Martha, who were napping at the same time, were both ripped from their naps a bit too early due to some unnecessary noise..yep, A Keeping it Real Monday.

How is your week rolling?

MathRider ~ A Review

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MathRider is a math fact mastery game that we have reviewed twice before. Why did we review it for a third time? I’d love a moment to tell you why!

As a homeschool parent, I love using resources and tools that have been created by other parents. MathRider was created by Thomas Brand; a parent who had two children who struggled with mastery of basic math facts.  In seeing the struggle of his own children, he created a product that is fun, engaging and works!

MathRider covers all four basic math operations from 0 – 12.  The premise of the game is simple. Your child  and her horse Shadow will go on a series of quests through the Land of Ray. From venturing into elven lands for mystical flowers to rescuing a princess, your child’s growing knowledge and mastery of her math facts will advance her throughout the quests.

MathRider was easy to implement into our day.  You can easily download it to your computer, have your children sign in with a user name and password (My children had fun selecting names) and it is time to master the facts!  My children were allowed play MathRider once their daily math lesson were done. Great motivator! They were limited to 20 minute sessions, 5 or 6 days a week; otherwise no other work would get done.

Why do I think MathRider is a great math resource?

*It is intuitive and adjust for your child. As your child is completing a quest, she may miss a question. MathRider instantly pauses to show and tell the correct answer to your child. Then that particular fact reoccurs several times for immediate feedback.

*MathRider is downloaded on to my computer with no internet access needed. So often games designed for children are online with various links that can take them off site. No worries with MathRider.

*No tricky game controls or directions to master.  The child only needs to be able to enter the numbers and hit the enter key. Simple. No frustration.

*The story that is told at the beginning of each quest, you can read or listen to the quest. A struggling or new reader does not have to miss out on the excitement of the quest.

*I can see progress charts for each child.  It clearly shows me progress made, which math facts my child is struggling with and what level they are working on. There are three levels (easy, medium, advanced) and then mastery level.

*Practice runs are great for young learners. My seven year old used the practice runs often. She struggles with addition and subtraction. Practice runs gave her an opportunity to get comfortable with entering answers and the feel of the game; without affecting her statistics.

*The child can see for herself her progress; she can see that she is getting faster in responding. She may even see her name at the top of the high score list. (My children can be a bit competitive!).

*As a mom of 8 children, I love that I can purchase a lifetime license that allows for multiple users. All 8 of my children can be on the same license.

What my children think of MathRider:

Hannah, 7, – “MathRider is fun. I like going to other places and the stories are interesting.

Lydia, 9, – “It was fun and challenging. Math is easier now. I don’t like division but this made it better. Practice runs are helpful.

Caleb, 11, – “I liked the horse and earning points and gems.”

Mary, 13, – “I like seeing the mistakes and that the stories change. If you don’t make the right number of points, the story changes a bit the next time you go on the quest.”

Rebekah, 14, – ” My subtraction is better and the stories change this time. I’d love a higher level.”

(My two oldest are technically out of the product’s age range; however, they loved trying to increase their scores and get faster. My oldest has actually completed all the mastery levels twice this time and keeps improving her score. Competitive, much?)

What would we change?

The only thing that we would change is that some of my children would love to name the horse. I don’t think there is anything I would change.  It is a simple, straight forward program that is fun, engaging, challenging and it works.

Even better? You can try it for free and see for yourself.

Pricing:

MathRider  (ages 6-12/ grades 2- 6) – $47 with free lifetime updates. Yes, free updates!

There are system requirements so be sure to check those out along with the FAQ page. I always find those helpful. Also stop by the Crew and see what others are saying about MathRider!

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Fruit Loopy Math

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Way back in chilly February, I shared Fruit Loopy Fine Motor Skills that made learning fun for Sam.  I didn’t let Sam have all the fun.  Lydia (9), Hannah (7), and Sarah (5) joined in with some fruit loopy math.

It can be so beneficial to those young minds to have a “break” every now and then.  We do math drills, worksheets, math tests….math is one of the subjects that is textbook in our home. Why not toss in a bit of fun (and food) to help concepts click in a whole new way?

The activities I whipped up were quick and simple. It truly was a spur of the morning plan.  I printed off a simple, blank table to use for graphing.  I gave each of the girls a scoop of fruit loop cereal.  They also each had a sheet that I “drew” up with different activities based on age and ability.

Activities included: coloring a pattern made with cereal, using tally marks to show how many there were of each color, adding two or three colors together, multiplying two or three colors together, comparing which color had more and which had less,  etc.

The girls had a great time. The older ones were more than happy to help out the younger ones. Sarah even worked on her fine motor skills by using a pencil to pick up her loops. In the end, they were rewarded with a yummy treat for a job well done.  The only disappointment was that I am not gifted enough to figure out a way to use Fruit Loop Math for Algebra.

We plan on doing this again!  You could use so many different items: Skittles, M&M’s, colored bears, legos, etc.  Math is an easy area to add in hands on learning. What fun math activities have you done lately? What other areas do you add in hands on learning? I can’t wait to hear!