Oh MY Goodness...

I am coming to you live from a home schooling "session", can I call it a session? We are back here in the school room, Matt is copying his multiplication facts, Emily is working on addition and Kaitlin is KILLING me with math. I think I have literally blown some blood vessels. We have been in the school room for like 25 minutes, no longer actually! Time for lunch!


Emily did well on her reading of course this was after I made her sweep the kitchen and dining room after complaining about reading in the first place!

Matt looked at me after a few problems of subtraction with borrowing from the hundreds..." Mom how do you do subtraction?" I was like, "HUH?" What he had been doing was the math in his HEAD------ I am making him physically do the "math" on paper! So what he meant was how do you write all the borrowing stuff! He just does not get it on paper- he just does it in his head! While that sounds great in theory.. he still has to KNOW how to actually do the work for when the numbers are just TOOOO big to do in his head!

Kaitlin is working on fractions right now. AKKKKKKKKKKKKK. Dave has been enlisted to help on several occasions lately. Although he can explain the math.... he is not a teacher? Does that make sense? He doesnt really understand why we dont just GET what he "explains" the first time. I mean it makes sense to him! so I am at a loss! She is doing common denominators and I cant seem to convince her that you cant ummm make numbers up while you go? There is actual math involved... and the math is surrounded by the little things called RULES. Bothersome I know!


So anyway...we found this neat game online with fractions but I got so frustrated trying to help her get the answers - answers I am (YES... I am not ashamed to say) not really sure are the right answers! So we took a break... fortunately the next lesson in her book took a short hiatus from actual denominators and numerators and on to word problems...

HMMMM. So I wrote the 4 things you do to solve word problems on a paper and tacked it on the wall next to her...

1. What am I supposed to be finding out in this word problem?
2. Do I use addition, subtraction, multiplication or division to figure it out?
3. Set your problem.
4. Solve the problem and make sure it makes sense in regards to the story...


So I just checked her work and she did fine, but they were very easy and there was no trickery involved... You know when word problems twist and turn and you dont have any idea what they are really asking you to solve!

So it bugs me when the question is not answered properly...

Mother bought 8 bags of sugar for $1.76 a bag. What did Mother pay for the sugar?

Answer: 14.08 (((*******WRONG*****))))

the proper answer is $14.08 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay I am done... all the children have ran away... far away! They get a break because I NEED A BREAK... why because I am having trouble breathing and there might be spots involved! Maybe we do need a summer break???

Um no way! We have to make up the 4 weeks we have missed in the last 3 months! So I trudge on... this afternoon is easy--- reading and making the 6 flags of Texas out of whatever the kids want to ....let the creativity flow!