Want to Improve Your Child's Math Skills? Make Math a Way of Life!

Interesting news about how to get kids more fluent in mathematics.. (fluent works because math is said to be a language). According to the The Scotsman, it is possible to foster math ability with children.

And we here at Sweet Schoolin' say that homeschooling fits this mission beautifully. Schools are doing a lousy job at this... don't compartmentalize math. Talk about math with your kids. Did you know the nautilus image at left is a perfect start for discussing the Golden Spiral. Try it! (with search engines, you have no excuse, learn along with the kids!)

Some things to try:

• teach your children to see themselves as problem solvers. Use math language and make it part of your life


• make sure your children are doing math puzzles, Sudoku, mazes, logic puzzles. You can start mazes early on


• discuss math with your children, how to solve puzzles, word problems.


• encourage a flexible view of numbers... break up the numbers to make operations easier. 2 x 98 is the same as 2 x 100, -4, which is easier for many people.


• point out the logic in even wrong answers when your child is working on a math problem, rather than just saying, "No, that's wrong."


• take a "real life" approach to math. USE it. Talk about it, find the beauty in it.



Read the whole article here.

Living Math
Incredibots
Mathematical Magic
The Golden Mean

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Want to Improve Your Teen's Essay Writing Skills?

Probably one of the greatest fears if you polled high school students is taking the SAT. It has made many a blood run cold. And the worst part seems to be the SAT essay portion. One topic, 25 minutes: Go. Write a well-organized, critically-thought-out essay with examples. At 8 a.m. Ack!

Fortunately, there are options. This Saturday, we spent the day at a High School Essay Intensive course, designed specifically for the SAT and college entrance essays. It was lead by Andrew Pudewa, the founder of the program. The experience that we have had with Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) has been very favorable, so I decided to give the workshop a try.

When my daughter was in the 7th grade, I purchased the DVD program Student Writing Intensive, a complete program for teaching writing. There are three levels, A, B and C, depending upon age and experience with writing. I purchased the B program, figuring I could both gear it to a higher level or bring it down to the lower level for my son when it was his turn. To be honest, my daughter didn't love it. She prefers more freedom when writing. I however, found it a great program, and Andrew Pudewa was entertaining on the discs. And her writing did improve.

my daughter is camera-shy

The High School Essay Intensive program gave my daughter the building blocks she needed for writing an effective essay. The approach was systematic and strong.

By providing a Discussion of Criteria, word lists, writing diagrams and outlines and exercises, the material proved to be invaluable. Though my daughter had some hesitations, she went with me. She found it was excellent seminar, and she has new-found confidence in essay writing. She left prepared and able to write a good all-around essay.

It was inexpensive for the value and I highly recommend the series, which is also available on DVD, in case Andrew doesn't come to your area any time soon. And at the end, my daughter thanked me for taking her to the workshop, though she was reluctant at first to attend. I don't think there could be a higher recommendation than that.

IEW offers many products for writing and improving communication, as well as an email loop, chat and teaching support. Andrew's email is available to anyone who buys the program, a touch that I believe few programs provide. He really does want to know what you think.

*this is an uncompensated and unsolicited review, because I really believe in the product.

IEW FAQs
Download the catalog

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Suggestion to Increase Reading Comprehension

One of the neatest things about homeschooling is accompanying my children on their journey of self-discovery. Today, JBug found a solution and I am proud of her. She loves to read. In fact, more often than not, you will find her with a book in her hand. But she reads very fast, and sometimes will miss details. She will end up rereading to catch what she missed the first time. Up until now, this has been a problem. But she discovered finger knitting. And now, she can read and finger knit at the same time. This slows her reading substantially, and her comprehension has really increased.

I love that she figured this out all on her own. Hope it helps someone else. I certainly wouldn't have thought of it! (And added bonus...it is good motor practice and easy enough for my 7 year old to do, with a bit of practice.)

T, who used to read really fast, but slowed down over the years, because reading is relaxing

Progress Report: E for Effort

Ok we started out a bit rough, but it is getting easier. JBug had some big trouble getting adjusted to her schedule and the new demands that homework placed upon her. She is still working out the kinks, but we haven't had every day melt downs like we did the first week and a half. To be fair, the classes started with a bang, and just overwhelmed her.

She started Biology, and the book is dense, a lot of extraneous information that she doesn't have to know for quizzes and tests. But she didn't know that. She was taking far too many notes, and freaking out, thinking she wouldn't be able to handle the class. She told me she would have to drop, and I said she needed to stick it out for a while. Sure enough, she has had two quizzes, that she has aced, and a chapter test she felt quite good about. And she loves the labs. So she is starting to settle down now.

Then there was Logic. The first day of class, she had an essay assigned, "The problem with Blind Faith." hello? I mean, as a college student that is a tough topic! And on top of that? It was assigned on Wednesday and DUE on Friday. 500 words, typed. A complete recipe for falling apart. I walked her through it,step by step.

How To Write An Essay

1. brainstorm some ideas, pick the best ones
2. write each idea on a separate post-it.
3. use the glass door or a wall, and move the various notes around until they are in the desired order.
4. write an outline that mentions each major point
5. throw in some filler, transitions, pretty up the sentences
6. 5 paragraph essay- done!

It wasn't easy, as I said, the topic was difficult to write on. She turned it in and received credit. Not even a grade (though I was glad to see that). So her first class assignment was trial by fire. She doesn't have another essay due for a while, and figured out she could do it, let's hope she remembers.

As far as other work, she hasn't done a ton. I am hoping she picks up soon. She is knitting well, and it is working to soothe her so I am glad. But she needs to make better use of her time. She also doesn't like it when remind her, so I am not sure what else to do. Will probably discuss this with the therapist this week.

Still, we are now in the middle of it, let's hope classes go well. I myself had a bit of anxiety at the prospect of all the places I had to be (I hate figuring it all out when it is so new and all), but that is settling down, too.

JBear is doing really well, though he hates the Aleks math. I am thinking of moving him to a book, but the problem is, he doesn't hate Aleks, he hates math. He doesn't retain things like math facts (or his phone number!) but yet he has an amazing memory for the things that matter to him. Spelling is going well, I am using a multi-sensory program called All About Spelling. I am planning a review of it soon. History is good, Science is not ready to start yet. We started grammar today and he is getting that, hope it continues. He is reading more and more, I pretend not to notice. That has to be his thing.

JazBean is currently enamoured with her Word Book, a spiral-bound notebook she writes new words in , especially when watching Word World. They are DVRd so she pauses to write the word, and sound it out, and spell it... love that. I have not pushed her too hard in the academics, she is very resistant, so for her I use "teachable moments" when they come up. She likes formal bookwork when it is her idea. We are going slow, she has that autism stubbornness. She started ballet, which she loves and I posted some pics.

All in all, we are off to a good start, and I will update more as we go.

T, who is optimistic about the year