I've Been Lost In Wordpress Land

So getting my other blog fully functional on wordpress has been slightly time consuming. I still have some design work to do, but it no longer needs constant attention.

Of course, to celebrate my shared hosting server is screwed and I can't ftp! Somedays I just have to wonder.

"School" has been going well, and I think we have totally turned the corner with the addition & subtraction debacle. I'm trying to decide what 2nd grade math topic I want her to cover next, and whether I will use Kumon (assuming they cover it) or something else. I am still sort of debating investing in Horizons.

Since we are schooling year round I decided to give her a "report card" every 2 months. This is definitely a hold over from her ps days; but not one she is ready to give up yet. She was thrilled with her report card and loves that everything she gets for "school" has penguins on it.

We are continuing weekly trips to the library and zoo, and are trying to add at least one other field trip type event to each week. The Mississippi has won the draw that last 2 and may win again another just for ease and cost ($0).

Math Meltdown

So we had a little math meltdown over carrying & borrowing (aka regrouping). I was watching her last week doing addition on Time 4 Learning and I noticed that she seemed stressed. We talked, did some problems on paper, and off she went relatively happy.

Monday I had to go out and my Mother helped her. The poor kid was dissolving over subtraction, not because she doesn't understand borrowing; but because the computation process is too slow. Unfortunately, Time 4 Learning doesn't have a built in process for catching poor performance and generating more practice, instead she stumbled through a section and then came the quiz! My mother quickly stopped her and got her playing a game and doing problems on paper.

Public school sucks realization #101 - it's not important that you get the right answer, it's only important that you know how to do the problem. I mean honestly does anyone think this really works?!?

We have stopped using Time 4 Learning for math right now (still using it for everything else); and are using flash cards for basic addition and subtraction facts, and tomorrow will start Kumon Grade 2 Addition. I liked the single topic focus and the fact that there was no huge program commitment to start. If she runs with it we may just work it for the rest of the year and see where we are then. She's already a much happier camper and that's all I really care about.

If you live near a Dollar Tree and you have a youngster learning addition and subtraction I suggest you run and look for the Teaching Tree Math Adventure game. It is a really simple 2 to 4 player game with about 36 math problems and a poster game board. Our girl just loves it and it was a simple matter to cut card stock into rectangles similar in size to the existing cards and add more problems (we're up to 136). There is also a state fact game (The Amazing State Race) and a money game (Shopping Cents), both simple but expandable and lots of fun for kids.