"Mom, did we do math today?"

I am participating in Homeschooling Hearts & Minds Virtual Curriculum Fair. This week's theme is Discovering Patterns: Mathematics, Logic, and some Science. This theme can include anything to do with mathematics, mathematical thinking, numbers, arithmetic, symbolic logic, critical thinking, and math-y sciences (physics, chemistry, etc.). 

Yes, you did. Math is all around you.


With a couple of learning disabilities in our house, we tend to do math a little differently. We have found that Math Mammoth works great with my two dyslexics. They are able to move at their own pace, and that makes all the difference.

Dragon is using a Glencoe Mathematics text book that we bought second hand last year.

We also make sure that we make math fun. We do a lot of hands on math. It might be a lesson in  symmetry,   or even planning our vegetable garden.

If you have a chef in the family, like we do, there is a lot of math in the kitchen.

If you have a child handy with tools, there is math in that as well.


If you have a gifted artist in the family, guess what...yep math.

We have played some marathon Monopoly Games lately. 

We are currently working on saving money for our Disney World Trip this fall. We are doing a lot of counting money and clipping coupons.

This is how we incorporate math into our daily lives. How do you do math?

For many more wonderful ideas, grab a glass of water and head over to Homeschooling Hearts & Mind.

Here are the other wonderful blogs that are taking part in the Virtual Curriculum Fair:


Math Lapbooks---Virtual Curriculum Fair Week 2 Angie Wright @ Petra School
Virtual Curriculum Fair Week Two: Discover Patterns, Mathematics, Logic and Some Science by Leah @ The Courtney Six Homeschool
Our Choices For Math by Melissa @ Grace Christian Homeschool
A Magnificent Math Manipulative by Letha Paulk @ justpitchingmytent
Our Math Choices - Virtual Curriculum Fair by Tristan @ Our Busy Homeschool
Math Literature?!?! by Christine @ Crunchy Country Catholic
Learning Math at My House by Jessica @ Modest Mama
Math Using Hamburger Paper by Debbie @ Debbie's Digest
Math Facts or Fun? Why Not Both! by Beth @ Ozark Ramblings
Heart of Dakota- The Fine Details- Part 2 Science by Lynn @ Ladybug Chronicles
Learning Math Block by Block by Laura O in AK @ Day by Day in Our World
Plugging Along with Math by Cindy Horton @ Fenced in Family
What's Working and What's Not: Math Edition by Leann @ Montessori Tidbits
Math Anyone? by Cindy @ For One Another
Ahh, Math. by Nicole @ Schooling in the Sun
Flying Without a Parachute: Math with no Curriculum by Pam @ Everyday Snapshots
Math in Our Homeschool by Christine T @ Our Homeschool Reviews
Math, Math, and More Math by Dawn Chandler @ tractors & tire swings
Thinking Mathematically- How I Choose Math Curriculum by Kristen @ Sunrise to Sunset Discovering Patterns: Math, Logic, and Some Science by Christa Darr @ Fairfield Corner Academy The Science of Math by Brenda Emmett @ Garden of Learning
"Mom, did we do math today?" by Chrissy at Learning is an Adventure
Math, Math, and More Math by Joelle @ Homeschooling for His Glory

Playing With Words

 If you were to enter my house at any given time, you would most likely hear an audio book or two. We seem to always have one going in the house and one in the car. If you came to my house for lunch, you might hear a poem or maybe an adventure story.

In our house, we listen to a lot of audio books. We also have a couple of read a loud books going at the same time. Dragon is an avid reader and writer. He is constantly coming up with fantastic ideas! He is currently working on his first book. Last year he was able to meet one of his heroes, Christopher Paolini. Ever since then he has been more determined to finish his book. I try to help, but he is way beyond my level. He has just started taking writing lessons from a neighbor. This is his favorite part of the week! In addition to writing lessons, we are using Painless Spelling & Vocabulary. For his Literature we are using Living Books. We pick out classics, read and then discuss them.

Tracker is just starting to come into his own when it comes to writing and reading. He has made tremendous progress since he has started therapy for his dyslexia. He is currently using Spectrum workbooks for grammar and vocabulary. We do a short reading comprehension everyday. I am so thankful to be there when I get to see that spark.  He has homework from therapy that he must do everyday, but he sees them as games. He is also reading anything that he can find on hunting, fishing, and zombies. Quite the combination!

Squirrel is a combination of both Dragon and Tracker when it comes to grammar and reading. She is a mild dyslexic that is an avid reader and writer. She taught herself to read, but still has some difficulties here and there. We are working on those spots every week. She is also using Spectrum workbooks. She is most often found curled up on the couch with a couple of books. Her current favorite is Junie B. Jones.

This semester we are going to be changing things up just a little bit. We will be using Ignite Your Writing. I love this program! I can use it with all 3 children and just make a few adjustments. We have done one or two of the lessons before and the kids thoroughly enjoyed them. Another new thing this year, will be writing journals. We are going to be writing in them everyday. I am going to use inspirational quotes, picture prompts, and a journal jar for inspirations. This semester we will focusing on doing research reports. We will continue with 30 Days of Poetry as well(you can find the file here). The children will each continue using Spelling City. This is a fairly new addition to our day, but the children love it. 

For many more wonderful ideas, stop by the Virtual Curriculum Fair at Homeschooling Hearts & Minds.


Reading on Time by Cindy Horton @ Fenced in Family
Playing with Words: the Language Arts by Christa Darr @ Fairfield Corner Academy
Reading and Beyond: Language Arts in Our Homeschool by Laura O in AK @ Day by Day in Our World
Language Arts that Work for Us by Melissa @ Grace Christian School
Learning Language at Our House by Jessica @ Modest Mama
Virtual Curriculum Fair: Language Arts by Christine T. @ Our Homeschool Reviews
The Learning of Language by Dawn @ tractors & tire swings
Reading and Spelling: Modifying the Magic by Pam @ Pam and Everyday Snapshots
An In Depth Look at All About Spelling by Missouri Mama @ Ozark Ramblings
Virtual Curriculum Fair: Let's Talk About Words by Debra @ Footprints in the Butter
Why We Love Classical Conversations Essentials (and how I know that is not a complete sentence!) by Nicole @ Schooling in the Sun
Virtual Curriculum Fair---Playing with Words: the Language Arts by Angie @ Petra School
Whole Language vs. Phonics by Christine @ Crunchy Country Catholic
It's All About the Art of Language by Brenda Emmett @ Garden of Learning
Watching Movies for Language Arts Class by Debbie @ Debbie's Digest
Only 5 Spelling Tests a Year! (Can we do that?) by LP @ justpitchingmytent Language Art at Our House by Joelle @ Homeschooling for His Glory
Virtual Curriculum Fair Week One Playing with Words: the Language Arts by Leah Courtney @ The Courtney Six Homeschool Blog

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Spelling City Review

I was excited when Spelling City approached me with the opportunity to review  their online curriculum.  As a homeschooling mom, I am always excited to introduce a new way to learn those challenging words. 

Spelling City has pre-made reading lists containing over 40,000 words. If you would rather make your own spelling list, you can do that as well. Once you determine your word list you get to choose from 25 activities to reinforce these words. My children's favorite activities were HangMouse, Word-O-Rama, Letter Fall & Alphabetize.


The Kid's Review:

Dragon: I have enjoyed the some of the games. The games that I have not enjoyed would be better if there was less repetition of the same sentences. For example, in Match It Sentences, the same sentence will repeat a couple of times. I would enjoy it more if they only used the same sentence one time per game. I really found HangMouse challenging due to a lack of hints. I would enjoy it more if there were more hints other than the number of letters. 

Tracker: I think that the games were a good mix of easy and challenging. I found the most challenging game to be HangMouse. My favorite game was Word-O-Rama. I enjoy Spelling City.

Squirrel: I think that it is great! My favorite game has to be HangMouse. It would of been even better if there was a  word list on the screen.

My Review: Overall I really enjoyed Spelling City. I found it easy to manage the assignments. I really liked being able to track each child's progress throughout  the week.  I also liked being able to print out flash cards that included the word and definition. I  did notice that my children were getting frustrated with a couple of the activities.  Tracker & Squirrel were having a difficult time with Sentence Writing Practice. They found it long. It would of been better if there was a way to pause the activity in the middle. It is hard for dyslexics to put thoughts to paper, or computer in this case.  I would recommend this program to my friends.

I've been given a premium membership to VocabularySpellingCity.com for a candid, personal, online review.

VocabularySpellingCity.com helps students study word lists using 25 different learning activities such as Crossword Puzzle, HangMan, and Handwriting Worksheets. Parents can create their own spelling lists, find published lists already available on the site, or use any of dozens of free teaching resources such as sound-alike words, and contractions. Be sure to come back in three weeks to read about my experience.

 

There might be more free memberships available for bloggers. If you're interested, find out how you can review VocabularySpellingCity.com.

Pinterest & A Great Quote!

Have you checked out Pinterest yet? I have fallen in love with it. You are able to group your favorite things together by boards or subjects. You capture an image and 'Pin' it and the link to your board. My favorite thing is the visual reference. I can see the craft I wanted to create. I do not have to try and remember which link it was or where I put it.  If you have not checked out Pinterest, let me know. I will send you an invite.

I found this quote on Pinterest this morning. It was in a list of Life's Little Instructions. I think that it might be my favorite quote of ALL time. 

"Live your life as an exclamation,  not an explanation."

Coming Soon..

I've been given a premium membership to VocabularySpellingCity.com for a candid, personal, online review. 

 

VocabularySpellingCity.com helps students study word lists using 25 different learning activities such as Crossword Puzzle, HangMan, and Handwriting Worksheets.  Parents can create their own spelling lists, find published lists already available on the site, or use any of dozens of  free teaching resources such as sound-alike words, and contractions.  Be sure to come back in three weeks to read about my experience.

There might be more free memberships available for bloggers.  If you're interested, find out how you can review VocabularySpellingCity.com.

 

Divison, Dyslexia & Dysgraphia

Tracker has a love-hate relationship with math. He loves puzzles and he sees math as a puzzle. He gets frustrated because he gets numbers and even directions mixed up. He might be able to do a problem one day, but not the next day. Imagine if you were given a calculus book on the first day high school math. You would most likely be overwhelmed and not know where to start. This is how my dyslexic son is currently sees math. He is overwhelmed and getting frustrated because he is not making much progress. He feels that he should know how to do this, yes he can be a perfectionist at times.

Dyslexia is not only a 'reading' disability. It has to do with short term memory and sequencing. These are 2 very important things in math. Dyslexics often have a hard time getting beyond addition. In my household, multiplication is the stumbling block. Tracker has struggled with memorizing his time tables.  When he does math, he uses a multiplication chart for reference. He does not always use it, but he said that it makes him feel better having it. Take today for example, he was struggling with long division. He could not get the sequencing correct..do I add first, multiply or divide. We started to write out times tables and he struggled. We then started to use his multiplication table, and it made it a little bit easier.  Whenever there is a new topic introduced, graph paper is essential. Graph paper helps him properly line up his columns. This is one of the symptoms of dysgraphia.

Tracker's dysgraphia is very evident in math. He has a hard time getting his numbers to line up and writing  numbers in a consistent way. I make sure that he does not do all the writing. I will write out some of his problems. When we are starting a new lesson, I tend to write them out mostly on the first day and then my writing decreases as he becomes more comfortable with his lessons.

We will be starting to include more games both online and hands on to help with math. We will find creative ways to overcome and adapt to the different challenges that lie ahead of us. While teaching a child with learning disabilities is a challenge, it is the greatest challenge in the world. You get to see the light bulb moments. You get see the joy in their eyes when they do it by themselves for the first time.