Is it just me or is this a creepy picture of Aaron?
I hope all the nerds out there had an amazing day today because it only happens once in a life time!
Showing posts with label March=Math Month. Show all posts
Showing posts with label March=Math Month. Show all posts
Saturday, March 14, 2015
3.14.15 9:26:53
Happy Ultimate Pi Day!
Is it just me or is this a creepy picture of Aaron?
I hope all the nerds out there had an amazing day today because it only happens once in a life time!
Is it just me or is this a creepy picture of Aaron?
I hope all the nerds out there had an amazing day today because it only happens once in a life time!
Monday, March 12, 2012
A Math Field Trip
Today we went on a little field trip. Jake wasn't buying it when I told him it was a field trip because we were going to go shopping. Well not really shopping...we were going to two different stores to compare prices. You see, now that Aaron doesn't work at the airport I no longer get free coupons (he would bring home 3 or 4 set of coupons for me.), I am weighing the options of how much I can actually save shopping at my favorite local grocery store: Bi-Lo. Since I still work there (very part time-1 or 2 shifts a month) I feel the need to shop there. I know the employees and I always see faithful customers turned happy to see acquaintance's. I know where everything is. I know how awesome the sales, double coupons everyday (on coupons up to 99cents...in other words a 75 cent coupon is really $1.50 off...awesome I know), and fuel perks (every $50 you spend earns you 5 cents off per gallon of gas. Plus there are certain fuel perks deals like buy 3 products that are on sale from this list of items and automatically get 20 cents off per gallon of gas. One time I had $2.65 off per gallon of gas and I spent $1.93 on a WHOLE tank of gas.) are. But...there is always a but...I also know that the prices on groceries have been steadily rising at my beloved store (probably most stores...). I know this first hand because one of the shifts I work every month is a 3rd shift changing tags. We change the tags on the price locked items every four week (another great way to save at Bi-Lo. Items go on sale for a whole 4 to 6 weeks. Good sales...) and I am a first hand witness to them going up. When I first started couponing and shopping the sales at Bi-Lo I cut our grocery bill by 35%. Awesome. But that hasn't been happening lately. The coupons haven't been as good (for the things I buy at least. I don't use coupons just to use coupons. I use the ones on things I actually want to try, need, or use a lot.), plus they aren't free anymore. So...this brings me back to our field trip...I saw a commercial the other day for Walmart (where I used to shop before becoming a Bi-Lo employee) and they were showing people how much they saved buying the same things from Walmart that they usually buy else where. Brilliant. Math project and something that has to be done and I really don't want to spend my spare time doing wrapped up in one! We made a list of some basic items that we get a lot: milk, eggs, bread, and cheese were just a few. We took said list to Wally World and "the Bee-Lo" (this adorable older couple from Africa came in and were calling it that with their awesome accent one time and I have called it that for fun ever since) and we compared. We compared name brands and store brands. Broke it down to how many sheets per roll of toilet paper or ounces which was a great lesson for Jake. He wanted to just write down the prices and call it good until I pointed out that they may not have the same quantity as the other store. Jake took notes and was only mildly entertained while we were doing this at our first stop which was Walmart. After a library break (we love the library) and a quick Doritos Taco Locos at Taco Bell (have you tried one yet? If you like those 2 things you will like this combination. The shell it like a big Dorito) we headed to Bi-Lo. This is where the fun began...
Jake got so serious he had to get in the shopping cart to take better notes. He was totally into this project! He was amazed and after every thing he jotted down he would say "we are not shopping here anymore!" or "we are going back to shopping at Walmart!". We haven't done all the calculations to see just how much we would save by shopping at Walmart...but EVERY.SINGLE.ITEM cost more at Bi-Lo...{sigh}. Example: we use Hunts spaghetti sauce and it is 50 cents more a can at Bi-Lo...even on sale and with fuel perks added the regular price at Walmart (they didn't carry it for a while but in my absence have since gotten it back on the shelves) was better....I am sad. I didn't want to admit it but I have seen the prices rising at Bi-Lo for about a year but it was just a little at a time. They were rising at every store! The problem is Walmart has more stores, buys in bigger quantities, and therefore can lower their prices more to get people in the door. Back when coupons were free (and better) and I worked when Jake was at school (and knew all the sales and all the coupons that were out there to go with those sales because I rang them up all day), and Bi-Lo was trying really hard to compete...I saved a lot of money there. Now that Fuel Perks have sucked people in (saving on gas while buying groceries is a VERY powerful tool) they don't notice the prices have crept back up.
Tomorrow we will put up the complete tally of our random and make believe grocery list (we didn't compare produce because the prices change so much according to seasons and if they are gross at one place I will spend more at the other for them and the farmers market will start getting the good fresh stuff soon). We forgot about crackers and chips and snack stuff so it is a pretty random list but the point has been made clear. Actually several points:
*We use math in everything we do.
*Stores will try and make you think buying the bigger quantity is the way to go because it is cheaper, but that is not always the case so check the cents per ounce (or price per sheet...).
*If they blind your with other bells and whistles (coupons, cheaper gas,...) than they will trick you some where else.
*Going to the grocery store can be a field trip.
*Math can be fun...did I really just say that?
*Jake was reminded today just how quickly "small change" can add up. As he told me today: "It is like you always say Mommy: every penny adds up!" Makes me wonder how many extra pennies we have spent this past little while that we didn't have to if I would have just swallowed my pride and gone back to the loathsome Walmart...
*And most importantly: If you can save 40 cents on a bag of chocolate chips and 17 cents per ounce on flour and sugar you can make cookies more often and your family will think you are the bomb.
Tomorrow we will put up the complete tally of our random and make believe grocery list (we didn't compare produce because the prices change so much according to seasons and if they are gross at one place I will spend more at the other for them and the farmers market will start getting the good fresh stuff soon). We forgot about crackers and chips and snack stuff so it is a pretty random list but the point has been made clear. Actually several points:
*We use math in everything we do.
*Stores will try and make you think buying the bigger quantity is the way to go because it is cheaper, but that is not always the case so check the cents per ounce (or price per sheet...).
*If they blind your with other bells and whistles (coupons, cheaper gas,...) than they will trick you some where else.
*Going to the grocery store can be a field trip.
*Math can be fun...did I really just say that?
*Jake was reminded today just how quickly "small change" can add up. As he told me today: "It is like you always say Mommy: every penny adds up!" Makes me wonder how many extra pennies we have spent this past little while that we didn't have to if I would have just swallowed my pride and gone back to the loathsome Walmart...
*And most importantly: If you can save 40 cents on a bag of chocolate chips and 17 cents per ounce on flour and sugar you can make cookies more often and your family will think you are the bomb.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
March=Math Month
Happy Math Month! We are starting a whole month of math. My nerdy guys love math...me not so much! I am trying to love it and hoping that homeschooling this month will help me even more. And (if I am being honest) also stop me from stressing about the test Jake has to take the end of April that will prove me as a great teacher or failure. I am starting to see why teachers in NC stress so much in public school and basically just teach for the end of grade test! In NC all you have to do (we do much more than this obviously...but according to the laws) is take attendance and give your child a bench mark test at the end of the year (they don't even care what your child makes on it-just that they took it!). I however have moments of uncontrollable anxiety that I am failing as a homeschooling mom and that my child brain is turning to mush...Is that normal for your first year of homeschooling? Please tell me it is and let me know that "this too shall pass"...Any who! Jake is a smart kiddo, does really well on tests, and why I stress is beyond me but I do (especially when I have just worked 3rd shift and been up all night and rented my child a video game so in my tiredness I feel less neglectful...is neglectful a word? wait...is tiredness even a word?). So, math month is supposed to make me feel better....and of course further my child's education! That is really the main point I swear...
For March=Math Month we are going to have all sorts of fun (I am trying to psych myself up for this...) focusing on math in every subject we study. We are going to read math books (cool ones of course), do math projects, and of course celebrate Pi day (March 14th...get it 3.14...it is a math geek thing. I am trying to understand it myself...).
Some of the resources we have been using for math (or will be using this month) are:
1. Khan Academy. Have you checked this site out? If not you should because it actually makes me (a self proclaimed math hater) have fun with it. Enough said. Seriously the guy doing it is a genius and he will make you 1 too.
2. These are the NC standards for the 5th grade (no problem for Jake at all) and this site (click on either of those and it takes you to the same site...I just got a little link happy there) sets it all up and gets it in 1 place for you. You can pick the state you live in and it will tell you what your child should be studying. I have had this bookmarked for like a year (since we were thinking about homeschooling) and haven't used it all that much (because we have been using workbooks, I will tell you about in a second, more) but we will be more this month. I will let you know how it goes. I think it looks pretty cool and the few times we have used it we have liked it.
3. Abeka is the curriculum we have been using this school year (for math) and it lays it all out for you. When to do speed drills to keep skills sharp, what to review, and when to have quizzes and tests. Pretty fool (me being the fool...) proof. It can get a little boring after a while though...No offense Abeka! I think you have a great product, but in my opinion (and my child's) worksheets do get old after a while. Somethings you just have to do! That is why you do other fun things like....
4. Family Math: We.Love.This.Book! It isn't like you could base your curriculum on it (maybe you could if you are smarter than I am in math...) but it really gets the math juices flowing! It is basically games you can do with your child that make you use that part of your brain that is all "mathy" and stuff. Does reading my made up words and incorrect grammar make you concerned for my child's educations? :) Check it this book and you will love it!
5. Math for Smarty Pants. This is another book I got for cheap at a local consignment homeschooling store (how lucky am I?) and haven't used yet...Sad I know but there are so many hours in the day and I would much rather spend them trying to convince my child that writing can be magical!....Just kidding I don't do that...(much)...It is the whole right brain, left brain thing. I am the opposite of Aaron and Jake. They try to pull me over to the dark side (the math side) and it hasn't worked...and vice versa (they both hate to write)...Jake is a math and science guy but pretty much a smarty pants all around. This book caught my eye for 2 reasons: 1. it was cheap. I am sucker for a good deal. 2. It tells you no matter what you are a smarty pants at, you can do math and like it. I think my own unwillingness to like it has made me not get into it too much but I will remedy that this month! Seriously this book looks like a whole lot of fun and I was saving it to use for March=Math Month (I really was I swear).
6. One project we will be doing is making pies on Pi day. We will each pick a recipe and use our mad math skills to double the recipe to share with a friend. This will give you an idea of what math geeks do on Pi day:
7. Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land. I have never seen it but Aaron has been looking for an excuse to get it and here it is. I am actually excited about this. How can math not be fun when Donald Duck is involved!
8. Language Arts and history are going to happen through some very cool books my mother-in-law got me from a school in SC that was changing...to some other kind of school?..I can't remember the whole deal but the school was getting rid of books and she grabbed a ton for me. Historical Connections in Mathematics is the name of the book and we have volume 1 and 2 (thank you again Nana). We are going to do some reading in them and write what we learn about in mini reports..that type of thing.
9. Jake is also going to fix this:
little kiddo bench for Nee for another math project. He will have to use some measuring skills to figure out the size (length, width, etc.) of the pieces he will need to fix it. We will show you the after when he gets it done. :)
I am determined to make this fun. Jake is totally psyched (he has already determined that September is Science month) and him being psyched is making me psyched...That is as excited as I am going to get about math people...I am trying. :)
Have a happy Math month! Do you have any suggestions on books or activities that can make math month more magical for us unbelievers? If so PLEASE (yes I am begging...) let me know. See how much I love my child? Enough to dedicate a whole month (and a 31 day one at that) to my least favorite subject. That is love people! Aaron I am sure is proud, being that he is a major math geek. (He was a math major and is a math teacher for those of you who don't know.) He is going to have to help me out with this one!
For March=Math Month we are going to have all sorts of fun (I am trying to psych myself up for this...) focusing on math in every subject we study. We are going to read math books (cool ones of course), do math projects, and of course celebrate Pi day (March 14th...get it 3.14...it is a math geek thing. I am trying to understand it myself...).
Some of the resources we have been using for math (or will be using this month) are:
1. Khan Academy. Have you checked this site out? If not you should because it actually makes me (a self proclaimed math hater) have fun with it. Enough said. Seriously the guy doing it is a genius and he will make you 1 too.
2. These are the NC standards for the 5th grade (no problem for Jake at all) and this site (click on either of those and it takes you to the same site...I just got a little link happy there) sets it all up and gets it in 1 place for you. You can pick the state you live in and it will tell you what your child should be studying. I have had this bookmarked for like a year (since we were thinking about homeschooling) and haven't used it all that much (because we have been using workbooks, I will tell you about in a second, more) but we will be more this month. I will let you know how it goes. I think it looks pretty cool and the few times we have used it we have liked it.
3. Abeka is the curriculum we have been using this school year (for math) and it lays it all out for you. When to do speed drills to keep skills sharp, what to review, and when to have quizzes and tests. Pretty fool (me being the fool...) proof. It can get a little boring after a while though...No offense Abeka! I think you have a great product, but in my opinion (and my child's) worksheets do get old after a while. Somethings you just have to do! That is why you do other fun things like....
4. Family Math: We.Love.This.Book! It isn't like you could base your curriculum on it (maybe you could if you are smarter than I am in math...) but it really gets the math juices flowing! It is basically games you can do with your child that make you use that part of your brain that is all "mathy" and stuff. Does reading my made up words and incorrect grammar make you concerned for my child's educations? :) Check it this book and you will love it!
5. Math for Smarty Pants. This is another book I got for cheap at a local consignment homeschooling store (how lucky am I?) and haven't used yet...Sad I know but there are so many hours in the day and I would much rather spend them trying to convince my child that writing can be magical!....Just kidding I don't do that...(much)...It is the whole right brain, left brain thing. I am the opposite of Aaron and Jake. They try to pull me over to the dark side (the math side) and it hasn't worked...and vice versa (they both hate to write)...Jake is a math and science guy but pretty much a smarty pants all around. This book caught my eye for 2 reasons: 1. it was cheap. I am sucker for a good deal. 2. It tells you no matter what you are a smarty pants at, you can do math and like it. I think my own unwillingness to like it has made me not get into it too much but I will remedy that this month! Seriously this book looks like a whole lot of fun and I was saving it to use for March=Math Month (I really was I swear).
6. One project we will be doing is making pies on Pi day. We will each pick a recipe and use our mad math skills to double the recipe to share with a friend. This will give you an idea of what math geeks do on Pi day:
7. Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land. I have never seen it but Aaron has been looking for an excuse to get it and here it is. I am actually excited about this. How can math not be fun when Donald Duck is involved!
8. Language Arts and history are going to happen through some very cool books my mother-in-law got me from a school in SC that was changing...to some other kind of school?..I can't remember the whole deal but the school was getting rid of books and she grabbed a ton for me. Historical Connections in Mathematics is the name of the book and we have volume 1 and 2 (thank you again Nana). We are going to do some reading in them and write what we learn about in mini reports..that type of thing.
9. Jake is also going to fix this:
little kiddo bench for Nee for another math project. He will have to use some measuring skills to figure out the size (length, width, etc.) of the pieces he will need to fix it. We will show you the after when he gets it done. :)
I am determined to make this fun. Jake is totally psyched (he has already determined that September is Science month) and him being psyched is making me psyched...That is as excited as I am going to get about math people...I am trying. :)
Have a happy Math month! Do you have any suggestions on books or activities that can make math month more magical for us unbelievers? If so PLEASE (yes I am begging...) let me know. See how much I love my child? Enough to dedicate a whole month (and a 31 day one at that) to my least favorite subject. That is love people! Aaron I am sure is proud, being that he is a major math geek. (He was a math major and is a math teacher for those of you who don't know.) He is going to have to help me out with this one!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)