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February 26, 2007
As The Brain Turns
I've ordered Gelfand's Algebra, to work through myself. And, to throw problems at my kids when I can't resist.
Here's the problem I gave them today, after I solved it. I'm embarrassed to say that I couldn't solve it without a hint - embarrassed, because after you see how to start it really is blindingly obvious:
You have a six-digit number that begins with "1". If you take the "1" off the beginning and place it on the end, the resulting number is three times the first. What are the other digits in the number?
Tick ... tick ... tick ... that's the wind whistling through my brain. It *is* easy. Once you figure out how to start.
I showed Connor and Aidan how to set up the problem, and even then it was difficult for them to solve. They both solved it, eventually, with lots of prompting. Connor got the concept faster, but he's lazy with arithmetic and so had more errors to backtrack and fix. Aidan was slower to get the concept, but once he did his arithmetic was impeccable. Typical. And so we spent all morning on this one math problem. Lately I've lost sight of the fact that one morning struggling with one problem often means more than any amount of plugging through curriculum..
I'm also about to order Introduction to Number Theory. I'm excited about this book. It looks, dare I say it, fun.
I'm picking my Henle back up as well. I've let my brain be idle for too long. This is not about me shoving texts at the kids and telling them to do the work; this is about educating myself as well, and showing them every day that education is a lifelong activity.
Posted by lynx at 11:32 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
February 21, 2007
Why We Couldn't Do Latin Today
The cat won.
Posted by lynx at 9:09 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
February 20, 2007
Clean up, quick! Zeus is coming!
I just walked in on my 5 and 6 year olds chanting "All hail Zeus!" so I decided I ought to see just what kind of a game they were playing. They had most of the pieces of a Star Wars chess set lined up on a box. This, they explained to me, was the war.
A few other chess pieces were on a white cushion. This, apparently, was Heaven. Sometimes the spirits of the people in the war drifted upwards and came to Heaven. In Heaven they apparently had a big party ... but they cleaned up quickly before Zeus came back. If Zeus found Heaven a mess, he'd shock them all with his thunderbolts.
I don't know whether to be proud or worried, but you can't say they're not creative.
Posted by lynx at 2:09 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 14, 2007
Valentine's Day
How was your Valentine's Day? Ours involved:
Steak grilled on the stove
(Not our actual kitchen. I didn't stop to take a picture of the flames. And I just want to note that I was not the one cooking.)
A scrumptuous desert:
And depressing romance, as we decided to introduce the boys to:
Do you think they'll always associate Valentine's Day with gang violence, murdered love, and spiffy dancing?
Posted by lynx at 10:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 12, 2007
People on 'ludes should not make the laws.
Via Chris, here's a list of items that are considered controlled chemical laboratory apparatus in the state of Texas. If you have any of the following, and are not connected with a school (teachers are exempt), you could fall under suspicion of making nasty illegal things in your home:
A) a condenser;
(B) a distilling apparatus;
(C) a vacuum drier;
(D) a three-neck or distilling flask;
(E) a tableting machine;
(F) an encapsulating machine;
(G) a filter, Buchner, or separatory funnel;
(H) an Erlenmeyer, two-neck, or single-neck flask;
(I) a round-bottom, Florence, thermometer, or filtering flask;
(J) a Soxhlet extractor;
(K) a transformer;
(L) a flask heater;
(M) a heating mantel;
(N) an adaptor tube.
Let's play another round of "spending public money on totally unenforceable laws!" Whee! Makes lab science tough, eh? In Texas, homeschools are technically considered private schools. Homeschools need no documentation or registration whatsoever. Technically homeschoolers are connected with private schools and exempt. But legally, we can't/don't have to prove it.
Teachers are exempt? How many science teachers take their lab apparatus home with them? Is this common?
But if they come for my coffee pot, I'm taking up arms.
Posted by lynx at 7:58 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
February 7, 2007
The Breakfast Cereal of Sociopaths
This is my kids' favorite cereal. Look at it.
That's right, it's shaped like people.
What was Kashi thinking, do you think? What is the thought process involved in deciding that you're going to make your new kids' cereal in the shape of human beings?
Does no one on their research team have boys? Do you realize what boys do with this cereal? Breakfast isn't just breakfast any more. No, it's a massacre every morning, complete with little screams as the little people get devoured.
"What do you want for breakfast this morning?"
"I want to eat the little people! Can you hear them? AIEEEEEEEEEE! Don't eat me!"
Betcha the Kashi people had some beautiful ideas about health and world peace when they made this cereal. The Kashi people have never met my children. Obviously.
Posted by lynx at 8:13 AM | Comments (8) | TrackBack
February 6, 2007
If you were following the math discussion below ....
Go back into the comments to read Dave M.'s addition. Dave, I was hoping you'd chime in. When it comes to math, I have the goal dimly in my sight; but I have no answers, because I don't even know what the questions are. I do know that I don't want to sail through the standard math sequence to have my kids pass the SAT and call it done. We're pursuing classical education, and doing math in that way misses the whole point, doesn't it? But I don't know where to stop and do something else.
I've had Liping Ma's Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics recommended to me many times. Let's be honest, I've always assumed it would put me to sleep. I'm ordering it now.
Posted by lynx at 10:38 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack