Arithmetricks

A couple of years ago I did a few fun science mini-camps for my kids and their friends. We did electricity, dinosaurs, and messy science experiments camps. They lasted for about 3 hours and were all hands-on activities. This year I decided to do a couple of camps again, but went with math camps instead. Sarah worked really hard in math this year, but we rarely took time out to play with math. Even though she would have preferred more science camps, I think there will be long reaching benefits when she realizes that math isn't just boring texbooks, but something that can be fun.

I spent a few hours going through a huge stack of math books I've been storing. I found more than enough activities to get us through our 3 mornings. In fact, it was hard to narrow it all down! Here's what we did this morning:

1. Bingo - a good warm-up game. We made it a little more exciting by playing "speed bingo." I read the problems VERY quickly and they had to race to find the answers. No time to compute - they just had to know.
2. Number magic tricks - You know what these are...write a 3 digit number. Use those same digits to write a new three digit number. Find the difference. Total the sum of the digits of the difference. Subtract 5. Your answer - 4, every time!
3. Line designs - These came from a great book called Enrichment Units in Math Book 2. You can see an example on the bottom left corner of the book.

4. Snack -Can't have a group of fourth through sixth graders without a lemonade break!
5. Math Olympics - The kids did a variety of activities like long jump, running, etc. and timed each other and computed their team's average. These activities came from this book:

6. Combinations - Another unit from the Enrichment Units book. We ended the morning by trying to come up with as many of the 242 ways to make a dollar using quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies as we could in 15 minutes.

We took some kind of score for every activity and then declared a winning team at the end. It was so much fun to see this group of homeschooled kids work together on some fun math activities. They encouraged each other and had such a helpful attitude. What a great way to spend a morning!

Growing up too fast!

You know how one day your kids walk up to you and you realize they've grown at least 2 inches overnight? It's an overwhelming reminder that they're growing up way too fast. We had one of those moments last week as Sarah got ready for Courtney's wedding. One minute she was playing with the dollhouse, then in the next she looked like this. It's seems like just yesterday that Stephen and Sarah were running around this same driveway blowing bubbles and giggling. Now look at them!

A great start to summer vacation!

I just spent Memorial Day weekend with my mom and sister in Myrtle Beach, SC. It was 3 days of reading just-for-fun books (rather than school books), shopping, eating, and MAID service. It was so relaxing to hang out and reconnect with them. We go to the beach every summer with the kids, but this was the first time we've ever had a girls' weekend. What a blessing to have time alone!
I've read a lot of blog entries about Ballard Designs in the past few weeks. Curious, I visited their website and imagine my delight when I discovered they have 2 outlet stores in our area. S2 and I went this afternoon. It was a lot like Pottery Barn outlet, with loads of discounted furniture and some home accessories. We'll definitely be stopping by from time to time to see what treasures await. The beach and a Ballard outlet in one week...what could be a better start to summer vacation???
Well, we're headed to Kentucky tomorrow for a family wedding. We'll get to catch up with the whole family while celebrating C&C's big day. S2 is involved and looks beautiful in her dress. I'll post a picture soon. We haven't seen the family in months and we're really looking forward to it.
Have I mentioned how much I love summer vacation?