buddy numbers make number buddies!

Here is what Little Possum and I get up to make learning maths a little more fun. One pack of cards is all we need.

Here we are learning buddy numbers, adding up to 10. Remove all facecards and 10's. We put the cards in rows like solitaire. LP has to find the buddy number pairs from the top row and then we see how many pairs we can make. (for the more advanced maths brains in the household we keep the facecards, raise the goal number and encourage using combinations of several cards to add up to the goal number).

Variations on snap.... if you can add up the values of the cards you get to keep the pair. There is also the basic "war" card game where you each put down a card and whoever has the highetst value wins the pair. Good way to learn number values for the beginner maths brain (like myself)

lost for words?

My best find for the kids in October was this website. My kids all love doing wordsearches, and I think they are fantastic for helping with reading skills as well as being fun. The Wordsearch generator allows you to type in the words that you want to use in a puzzle. This way you can set the degree of difficulty (eg the number of words) and the theme. Setting the theme around a child's favourites like Pokemon characters or fairytale creatures makes it even more fun, and you can sneak a few spelling list words in too!
Happy puzzling!

if only it were so simple.....

Doodlebug is 9 years old now, and is starting to pay serious attention to the world around him and the issues at hand. Like the upcoming US election.

D: "It's the US presidential election on Tuesday"
Me: "Yes.. do you know who the candidates are?"
D: "Obama... Barack Obama and John McCain", "but who's the woman?"
Me: "That's Sarah Palin - she is McCain's running mate and will be the VP if he wins"
D: "So who's Obama's mate?"
(more discussion on the VP role)

Doodlebug then wanted to know who was the republican and the democrat, and
D: "What's the difference?"
cue a very simplified explanation of tax, welfare, health and education issues (we'll save foreign policy for another time) and how the 2 parties have different ideas of how to run the country, how to get money in and how to spend it.

When we got to tax and welfare, and the Democrat idea of increasing taxes to help those who need it, spreading the wealth. Doodlebug thought this was a great idea.

"After all, Mummy, those who are doing allright and have lots of money can help those who need it. They'll still be doing allright".

How do I explain the nature of greed, the attitude that "I earned it, I keep it..... let others sort themselves out" to a 9 yr old who thinks sharing makes perfect sense? If only it were that simple.

a school of fish.......

Turtle and Doodlebug both had a week off from homework last week. The teachers decided to let them off for the first week of term. It was a relief..... for me..... my boys do not enjoy it and I do not enjoy making them do it. All in all I think homework causes some stress around here.

However.... some things can be made more fun... like maths, spelling and reading. Meet our school of fish:

This is just a variation on the ever popular fishing game. Fishing rods made out of dowels, string for a line, magnet for "bait". I laminated the fish because they spend a lot of time on the floor, and I thought they might last a little longer that way. With the paperclips on them, the fish are easily caught.

We have maths fish and word fish. The maths fish have basic addition and subtraction for LP and multiplication for the boys. I will be adding some division fish soon, too.

The word fish I laminated plain, and I have stuck the words on with BluTack. This way we can accommodate spelling and sight word lists as they change. the Times Table doesn't really change... :)

The rules are simple. In order to keep the fish(count it as your catch...), you have to give the correct answer to the equation. The boys - ever competitive - want to see who can get the most fish. LP just likes to play and count....

The word fish are the most versatile. LP and I vary the games that we play with our wordfish:

• Reading the word on the fish that you catch.
• Spelling the word,
• Using the word in a sentence,
• Finding words that rhyme with your word or
• Finding an opposite to your word.

The fish can also be used for learning basic grammar. When all the fish have been caught, they are sorted into 3 piles: Verbs, adjectives and nouns.

(we have to put the rod down in order to have full use of all counting fingers.....)

ooey and gooey

Doodlebug's idea of a good time! Our little one-armed bandit and his best buddy went off to Mindquest for a chemistry workshop exploring the wonders of gloop. They had the best time playing with various substances and seeing some basic chemical reactions like submerging eggs in vinegar. My personal favourite was the bread dough Doodlebug brought home, but his pride and joy was the collection of assorted slime:

From the left: The absorbent "stuff" from inside nappies, biodegradable carrier bags mixed with warm water, Rainsaver crystals, PVA and lastly psyllium husks (or "silly yum" as per Doodlebug's label). We live in a world of slime.....

The boys had a great time and can't wait until the next Mindquest comes around in 6 months.

boomerang

Doodlebug has studied the colonial era in school this term. As part of these studies the class visited Cockatoo Island and the whole school had its Colonial Day. For their end of term project, the children have to make and present either: 1. A ship like one from the First Fleet, 2. A model of Uluru, 3. a model of a settler's cottage or 4. a boomerang. They also have to write a report about their chosen model. Doodlebug wanted to make the boomerang but needed some assistance from MOTH. The opportunity arose on Friday when Doodlebug was off from school with a high temperature and MOTH was working from home. They went down to The Shed and got to work.

This photo was taken around the time Doodlebug's temp spiked again, hitting a toasty 40.8/105.5, and judging by this photo he was feeling the chills despite the outside temperature still being pleasantly warm.

MOTH gave a hand with the curved bits, but Doodlebug did the cutting on the straight lines, thanks to the guidance of a laser line. Very cool apparently..... :) The finished product was then sanded. That was enough for an exertion for one day, and Doodlebug had a long sleep after this.

We continued yesterday with the finishing touches - the painting. We had researched traditional Aboriginal designs and Doodlebug decided he wanted to do the dot painting rather than painting a kangaroo on it. MOTH had cut out some extra boomerangs for the others so they could have some fun too, and yesterday afternoon we set ourselves up on the deck with paints and cotton buds to make dots.

And here are the finished products, didn't they do well?

Traditionally the owner/maker of a boomerang would decorate it with a design that had some significance to him. In that spirit all the children chose their own patterns rather than copying the designs we had found on the Net. We have possibly the very first boomerang with a Pokeball on it........

Last, but not least, we had to check if it flies.

A picture book...

We have a little author in the family. I rediscovered this piece of literary excellence the other day when I was cleaning out my deskspace. LP wrote this story around Christmas time, it's a story of a little kitten who was scared by a dog, hid in her basket, and then the mummy cat came and scared the dog away so all is good....
I particularly enjoyed the illustrations.