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What to do what to do.. educents has a sale

2/17/2016

Last week was a snowy week... We had over two feet of snow dumped on us over a period of three days... and this week there is more coming. So what do YOU do on those snowy days where doing school seems so VERY optional?

We had a day like that yesterday. Snow falling still, mom and boy with no desire to do school so we opted out.. we did a Project instead.. we worked on building a bigger feeder for the lad's mice... we'll need to rework it a bit more yet. :) But it gave us a time to problem solve, to work with new materials, and to communicate with each other differently over our schooling/work. It was a fun way for us to do math that seems practical rather than "AH MORE WRITING!!!

If you need a different option for doing math, Educents just might have the answer for you.

What is Math Mammoth?

Math Mammoth is a collection of digital lessons and worksheets focused on developing different math skills for children of all ages. You can find lessons that range from basic addition and subtraction to more advanced subjects like statistics and linear equations.

My kid finds the no-nonsense, straightforwardness of this book more to his liking." - Tammy L. via Educents

One of the coolest and most innovate aspects of Math Mammoth are all the ways you can interact with it. Since it is a digital package, you can complete pages on a computer or print out and work with the sheets - but that's not all. You can also use Math Mammoth on an iPad using annotation software. This is a great way to get your children learning on the go!

Three Ways to Interact:

On the computer
On a tablet
Hands-on: choose the pages you print

You can purchase subjects individually, which are sometimes spread out over three lessons. For example, Early Geometry is great for grades 1-3, Geometry 1 is for grades 4-5, and Geometry 2 is for 6-7.

Two ways to save

Math Mammoth Blue

$math mammoth$ If you are interested in a series of workbooks focusing on different subjects, Math Mammoth Blue is the way to go. Math Mammoth Blue features all the content you need for students grade 1-7 broken down into their own categories such as fractions, money and geometry. These are great for filling in areas on a case-by-case basis

Math Mammoth Light Blue

If you want more of a complete curriculum, look no further than Math Mammoth Light Blue. This product is designed to teach over a year and features all of the content in Blue, plus cumulative reviews and tests. It also features a bonus Soft-Pak math software.

Easy access for all ages

No matter the age or skill level, any child will be able to get a great learning experience out of Math Mammoth. The comprehensive nature of the program, the simplicity of use and the way it delivers information make Math Mammoth the perfect companion piece for young learners. Check it out and you child's troubles with math will be extinct before you know it!

Insects and more

6/4/2013

My son is more and more using his reading skills in his learning.

Today we started a new program called Samson's Classroom. I was able to purchase this quite inexpensively through Educents.

Everyday of doing formal homeschooling (or is the hope) my son will be doing a new sight words list and working through a reading comprehension game. He will be practicing the spelling word list that I designed for him all week. These are words that he has struggled with pronouncing and reading on a regular basis or are taken from his reading program. The goal is to reduce memorization and to cement words into his brain better. :)

Today he showed me how well he knows some of the common sight words which is a confidence booster for him. Each level he needs to do perfectly in order to advance.

Oh Insects...where does that come into play?
We continue to work through our Insects Study from In the Hands of a child.

The lad is enjoying this study. Today we learned the exciting fact that Katydids hear through their knees. That struck the lad in interesting and kinda funny. But the Moon Moth totally intrigued him so we looked it up. They don't eat when they are fully mature, and then to live as adults for only one week (surviving only on what they took in as caterpillars). They go through five larval stages, changing colours at each stage. We read these online articles: Meet the Moon Moth and Wiki.

The above photo comes from this source.

The lad also continued this morning to work through mammoth math. This morning's sheet was a puzzle he needed to solve in order to answer a question. The lad had fun doing it but was highly disappointed in the answer.
The question: how do you get a giraffe in the refrigerator?
The answer: open the door. Put the giraffe in. Close the door.

Made me laugh, but the lad was just ... but mom, that won't work, giraffes are too big to fit in, you have to shorten him first!

This afternoon the lad will go for a bike ride (phys ed) and do some horitcultural work with me (planting our beans and moving his broccoli around a bit to make room for our own veggies).

We've continued to enjoy our bird feeders and I am hopeful to put up a finch feeder this afternoon and to get the lad to help me protect one or two of our feeders from the grackles. I like grackles but they will eat a feeder empty in one afternoon and I can't afford to feed that many birds, eating that much food, ALL THE TIME.

this captures perfectly how hard the grackles will work to get free food. They don't fit on the feeder, but boy oh boy will they try hard to do so. They flap and flap and work and work. They do succeed IF they are the smaller grackles, the bigger ones just can't. :)

Oh! It was rather cool on the way home last night. I saw a smallish turtle on the side of the road. So we stopped to take a look. It was rather neat. It was a wild eastern painted turtle. :)

We didn't mean to, but we made him hiss at us. It was a soft but determined KR--ISS. He threatened us with an open mouth and everything. But the lad commented something to the affect of "Mom, why do people call turtles slow, he can really scurry away fast". But I pulled him out of the grass a few times so we could take a good look at him. He was quite determined to get away from us and as soon as he was put down would get as far into the grass as we could. When we were one looking at him, we made a path in the grass for him to get through more easily and he used it speedily to get away and down into the ditch.

This encouraged some research on the boys part. How do you tell a girl turtle from a boy turtle? The size of the tail for the most part. Boys have a longer, heavier tail.

Review: Math Mammoth

5/31/2013

Today I am going to give you a review for Mammoth Math.

Vendor Information

Vendor: Math Mammoth.
Product: Light Blue Series, Grade Three.
Cost: Full set grade 3: $34.00
(part A and B worktexts, answer keys, tests, cumulative reviews, a worksheet maker, and Soft-Pak)
Additional pricing: An affordable price of $34 for each grade level. It also has bundle pricing of $136 for grades 1-6, $68 for grades 1-3, $68 for grade 4-6, and a CD version for grades 1-6 with 33% discount $141.

My son is technically still in Grade Two, but I wasn't too concerned about him doing this grade three curriculum. Every grade three book I've EVER looked at starts a good portion of the year reviewing Grade Two materials, so I figured that it would give us a good taste of what this program could do for us.

The Light Blue Series is a complete math curriculum, student manual (includes teaching sections) tests, reviews, worksheet maker and BONUS.... CANADIAN materials as well. (how cool is that!).

How we Used It.

I received a downloadable PDF. So I would print off a couple sheets, then we'd do them. The instruction is right there on the worksheet. It's nicely marked off in a blue box.    Just two sheets everyday. Didn't matter how long it took to do them, didn't matter how big the teachers box was, we did two pages most every day. Some days we'd repeat a lesson just to help teach a concept that was new.     5 minutes or an hour.. just two sheets.    It never took us an hour (just so you know). Normally about 1/2 an hour.   We'd talk about them. We'd figure out what was expected. The lad would attempt them (sometimes successfully, sometimes not) and then we'd talk some more and work together on one or two problems and then he'd work on his own. This got us through.

And two pages... that's doable in the eyes of my boy.

I really like that I can print off just exactly what I need so he doesn't get intimidated. (full visual workbooks tend to do that to him).

We haven't had a need to use the Canadian money yet, but I appreciate that they are added.    We also didn't use the geometric cutouts since we have a whole set of geometric shapes already.

What We Liked

My son: It's just two pages Mom, and it shows me what to do.   I can do it if I really want to but sometimes it's too complicated.

Me: No pictures and no frills to distract.   I find that cutesy graphics just distract the lad and he focuses on that rather than on the work he needs to do.   Clear examples, though my son finds ways to do it his own way... especially at the beginning when she's going through the tricks of how to do math easier.
BUT MOM, says the lad, I can do that by doing it THIS way.   (the same way, just backwards). :)   So he was up for that challenge. :)

The lessons are short.
You can make practice as long or as short as needed.

What we didn't like

I can't think of anything off hand that I didn't like. The program worked well for the lad.
His only complaint was "Book work AGAIN?.... Can't we do something funner?" Or "can we play more games mom?" (I liked that the links to on-line math games were included).

My Opinion

This is a solid math program. I've oft been intrigued by Math Mammoth and have gotten their freebies in the past. Having had a chance to review their math program was a yahoo in my eyes. And now that I have actually WORKED WITH the program I can definitely say ... this is a good program and well worth spending your hard-earned dollars on.

Go here to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Review Crew or click on the banner below.

Disclosure

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Working through review materials

5/15/2013

Here toad is supposed to read a list of words as fast as he can. He didn't do so well. I"m impressed that the lad can do this now in about 2.5 minutes (down from 4.5)

Right now we are continuing to work our way through review materials.

Scaredy cat reading system by Joyce Herzog. The lad is understanding vowels and what not better. It's cool to see his understanding grow.

Mammoth Math. We do one page a day, no more than that. The lad finds it hard, but he's getting it. It's good to make him think. Part of the reason it is hard is that I'm doing grade three with him rather than grade two. But at this stage in the review it's basically review of grade two and it's showing him that he can do this, he just needs to think on it a bit.

Working through the word search.

We're continuing to work through the Christianity Cove study on the Lord's prayer. yesterday we did a wordsearch, this gave us an opportunity to really think about some of the words used in the Lord's Prayer and what they mean.

We've also started a new review from Birdcage Press. The lad is learning Eygptian terminology while playing games. He even had fun playing it with one of his friends yesterday. It received a thumbs up! :)

What to do what to do.. educents has a sale

What is Math Mammoth?

My kid finds the no-nonsense, straightforwardness of this book more to his liking." - Tammy L. via Educents

Three Ways to Interact:

Two ways to save

Math Mammoth Blue

Math Mammoth Light Blue

Easy access for all ages

Insects and more

Review: Math Mammoth

Vendor Information

How we Used It.

What We Liked

What we didn't like

My Opinion

Disclosure

Working through review materials

Who Am I?

Archives

Categories

2013 TOS Reviews

Other Reviews

What to do what to do.. educents has a sale

What is Math Mammoth?

My kid finds the no-nonsense, straightforwardness of this book more to his liking." - Tammy L. via Educents

Three Ways to Interact:

Two ways to save

Math Mammoth Blue

Math Mammoth Light Blue

Easy access for all ages

Insects and more

Review: Math Mammoth

Vendor Information

How we Used It.

What We Liked

What we didn't like

My Opinion

Disclosure

Working through review materials

Who Am I?

Subscribe to our mailing list

Archives

Categories

2013 TOS Reviews

Other Reviews