We came home late one night in Singapore after visiting our relatives last `Eid. When we emerged from the elevator, we saw this outside our fifth-floor neighbour’s house.
A broom for forgiveness?
What was THAT all about? We never did figure it out. The tokens of peace were not accepted – days later both whiteboard and broom were thrown aside :P
Free reads from Simply Charlotte Mason
Is there such a thing as too many freebies? Not necessarily :)
I find these freebies from Simply Charlotte Mason too good to pass, especially “Smooth and Easy Days” by Sonya Shafer. Homeschooling days can become insanely hectic, especially for those who have numerous responsibilities and little help. Charlotte Mason said, “The mother who takes pains to endow her children with good habits secures for herself smooth and easy days.” Shafer’s work talks about how “habits produce character” and how to go about habit-training gradually but surely. She also reminds parents to look into their own habits and to address their shortcomings while at the same time making it a valuable learning experience for the children. I really needed this reminder! You can download the book here.
The other book available for download is “Getting Started in Homeschooling” also by Sonya Shafer. This book tells the difference between the five main homeschool approaches and will guide parents to find the approach that will help your children flourish, to create a rich, comprehensive, and engaging education for your children, to save time by teaching all your children together and to begin homeschooling with confidence. You can download this book here.
Mars adores reading and walks around with her nose buried in her book. I mean this literally. Her father’s come close to a coronary watching her – “The stairs! The stairs! Put the book aside before you crash down the stairs and break something!” I’m pleased that she loves reading because there was a time when I was worried about her seeming lack of progress. My fears were completely groundless of course – but then you do develop some measure of paranoia when everyone asks you why your daughter isn’t reading at such-and-such age. (She read independently at 6 in case you are wondering.)
Anyway, she is so much like me that it is uncanny. She reads constantly, loves learning new words, has a strong inclination for the humanities and enjoys Science, especially natural history. She’s been trying her hand at writing stories and poetry as well and this has been a great source of pride for me. She is a novice for sure but I’m so glad that she has put her thoughts and feelings down on paper. She had never dared to before – she had never thought that she could or should, always harbouring this notion that she was never good enough.
So like her mama, Mars is doing well on the language front. Unfortunately, like her mama, she is less inclined towards Math. OK, let’s just come right out and say it… she hates Math with a vengeance and would do anything to get away from it.
I’ve tried to inject a bit of fun into her lessons and alhamdulillah there’s been a positive change. I prepared her a Math notebook – the cover has cowboy and horse clipart (she is horse mad!) and and old western style font. I’ve uploaded some of her notebooking sheets here if you want to download them. (Just click on the image below.)
Some 'fun math' books we've used
I’ve used some fun Math books like the following:
- Arithmetricks: 50 Easy Ways to Add, Subtract, Multiply, and Divide Without a Calculator by Edward H. Julius
- Brown Paper School book: I Hate Mathematics! by Marilyn Burns
- Brown Paper School book: Math for Smarty Pants by Marilyn Burns
- Funny & Fabulous Fraction Stories (Grades 3-6) by Dan Greenberg and Jared Lee
- Fraction Action by Loreen Leedy
- Spaghetti And Meatballs For All! by Marilyn Burns
- Amanda Bean’s Amazing Dream by Marilyn Burns
- Family Math (Equals Series) by Jean Kerr Stenmark, Virginia Thompson & Ruth Cossey
Do any of you have Math phobic kids? If so, what have you done to help them along? What resources have you found useful?