Math for Jedi Knights

Remember my gushy post about the amazing-ness of my fellow moms?

So. I have this friend. Her name is Elsie. She assists me in our homeschool co-op on Fridays when I teach about Japan to eight delightful girls first period. She is a fabulous assistant. Then, I assist her when she teaches about Ancient Greece to eight delightful girls third period. She is a fabulous teacher. 

What does Elsie do during second period? you ask. Answer: She teaches Jedi Math. Fabulously, of course. And during lunch, she feeds ideas into my brain, where they spin around, breed, multiply, and pop out at home. The result is more exciting than a ride on the Millennium Falcon as it makes the jump into hyperspace. Especially since the Math Facts Drill Hating Force is strong around here. 

For example ...

1. Luke, Han and Leia Vs. the Trash Compactor. Remember that scene in Star Wars (Episode 4) where those three heroes are stuck in the trash compactor, desperately trying to radio C3PO for help before they're smunched to death? Well, we use multiplication flashcards, and we're trying to get through the whole deck before we get flattened. I make the last card the "magic code," and when my young Jedi solves it, he's cracked the code and stops the compactor JUST IN TIME. Whew!

2. Anakin's Pod Race. Again, the flash cards (which we made as an art project). This time, he's Anakin in his pod racer from Episode 1. We use the stopwatch function on my iPod, and his previous time -- the time to beat -- is Sebulba, Anakin's main competitor in the pod race. If he finishes faster, Anakin wins. If the stopwatch finishes faster (hasn't happened yet), Sebulba wins. Go Anakin!

3. Find R2D2. Using the "line drawings" function in Google Images, I found simple images of R2D2 and C3PO, who go together like bread and butter, Gilbert and Sullivan, me and 70% dark chocolate. I printed about thirty copies of each, laminated them, and cut them out. Using dry-erase or wet-erase markers, I write the multiplication (or for Eliza, addition) facts on all the C3PO's, and all the answers on the R2D2's. We scatter them on the floor. Young Mathwalker works to joyfully reunite the matches. Awww ...

4. Word Problems. With a cursory knowledge of the Star Wars Universe, or a little help from a book like Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary - The Ultimate Guide to Characters and Creatures from the Entire Star Wars Saga, one can come up with any number of zany word problems. Here are a few from this morning. Help yourself. 

1. Anakin is checking the fuel situation on his pod racer before the big race. His fuel gauge shows that his tank is three fifths  (3/5) full of fuel. Meanwhile, his chief competitor's tank is seven tenths (7/10) full. Whose pod racer is more likely to finish the race before running out of fuel -- Anakin or Sebulba?

2. Queen Amidala uses white nail polish as a tradition from her native village. This morning she painted half of her nails before being interrupted by a messenger from the Senate. How many fingernails does she still need to paint?

3. Jedi Master Qui-Gong Jinn has been training his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, to use his light saber. Today they practiced for one hour. Yesterday they practiced for an hour and a half. How many minutes in total have they practiced this week? If they're aiming for 300 minutes by the end of the week, how many hours and minutes do they still need to practice?

My nine year old is the only one who does much formal math around here, and he happens to be somewhat obsessed with the ways of the Force. So, how's he feeling about math practice these days? 

Much improved, his attitude is. 

Family Games

Angela at Homegrown Mom is hosting a blog roundup of Family Fun Night ideas. I'll be the first to admit that my efforts in that department aren't going to win any creativity awards, but I thought I'd share a few of our favorite family games. It ain't easy, pleasing a six-year age spread. But bravely we soldier on, determined to HAVE FUN AND BOND.

1. Don't Eat Pete!
   You can download this game for FREE, y'all, and print it out for hours of rowdy enjoyment. Yup, I said "free." God bless the lady at Sparkle Power.

2. Harvest Time and  Secret Door
   I'm listing these two together because they're brainchildren of the same company, Family Pastimes, and -- here's the kicker -- they're what's known as cooperative games. As in, everyone works together toward a common goal. As in, no one loses. As in, no tears and no drama. Hooray.

3. Apples to Apples Junior - The Game of Crazy Comparisons!
   Great for a group, ideally of four or more. My oldest child tends to eschew games of strategy in favor of more verbal, open-ended options like this one (if you know him, you're not shocked). And whaddya know, so do I! We sometimes get this one out to play around the dinner table, and refrain from pointing out that they're learning the difference between adjectives and nouns. A guaranteed crowd-pleaser.

4. ThinkFun Zingo!
   Like Bingo, but with a zippy little gadget. No reading required; one of the few that's equally fun for all the ages that comprise our offspring.

5.  Somebody Board Game
   It feels funny to include this one, since it's really more "educational" than recreational, I suppose, but all I have to say is, we ALL had the giggles about the pancreas the other night. Eventually the pancreas sang them off to their bedtime routines, which was deemed totally hilarious. I guess you had to be there.

6. You've Been Sentenced!
   Ian's current favorite. See item #3 for a description of his taste. More fun if you're flexible on what constitutes a logical sentence. Also, more fun if you can read -- unless you team up with an adult. Still, more fun if you can read.

7.  Snorta
    Don't even think about maintaining your dignity while you play this. You're going to be making barnyard noises, and there's just no way out of it. Your kids will laugh at you, and is there any more important ingredient for a Family Fun Night? (Good for a range of ages because younger ones can play at a slightly easier level.)

8. Wig Out!
   Fun. Quick. Cheap. I rest my case.

Do you have any favorite games in your family? I'd love to hear more suggestions!

A Photo Assignment Poem

Something old
Something new
Something gold
Something blue

Something hollow
Something full
Something shiny
Something dull

Something moving
Something stuck
Something yummy
Something yuck

Something cold
Something hot
Something funny
Something not!

To flesh out the staycation we're having this week at my parents' house with the various aunts and uncles (i.e. my siblings and their spice), each couple is in charge of planning one group activity and one theme dinner. Yesterday we did Kristen and Allen's activities: making steamed dumplings and then completing the above photo scavenger hunt around the house in teams. Then we all brought our cameras, uploaded our photos to one computer, and projected them on the big TV while everyone guessed what line of the poem the featured picture portrayed. Some serious silliness ensued. Feel free to borrow my sister's creative labors for your own family Game Night!

Today we're doing a Yankee Swap and then playing Wits and Wagers, which our family brought. I think a Spain Night is on the dinner menu. An icy wind is howling out there, but if we can find any snow tomorrow, we're headed for the sledding slopes! Have to do something for these snow-deprived children of mine.

Something Intelligent

At the head of the dinner table every night in my household of origin sat my father. At the opposite end sat my mother, probably (I realize now) exhausted from a day of cleaning, cooking, getting five kids to do the stuff we should and shuttling us to our various activities. In between, sat the five kids. Us.

And nearly every night, we'd be indulging in some sort of vapid silliness, my brothers mocking their teachers with humorous precision, my sisters and I guiltily guffawing, while my dad attended with great concentration to the task of consuming his well-balanced dinner. Either he was considering some of the thornier patients he'd dealt with that day or some of the more opaque prophecies in the book of Revelation, I'm guessing. Anyway, all of sudden the plate would appear empty and my dad would look up from his work like Shackleton returning from an enforced stay at the South Pole to find the globe engaged in World War I.

"Does anyone have anything intelligent to say?" he'd inquire.

Silence.

Absent any resulting conversation topics, we'd resort to quizzing each other from the National Geographic Global Pursuit game. We got pretty good at geography.

Just in case you, too, find yourself at a loss for meaningful, edifying conversation at your own dinner table, I'd like to present a little pastime we stumbled across a few nights ago. (Across which we stumbled, that is.)

The youngest child picks a letter, any letter. Each family member is assigned a part of speech -- noun, verb, adjective, adverb. Like this:

Caroline: Letter H!

Ian, noun: Hippo!

Eliza, verb: hiccuped!

Tim, adjective: hip!

Me, adverb: hideously!

All together now: The hip hippo hiccuped hideously!

We also came up with Chip cheerfully chomped chocolate chips and The terrible torpedo tastefully trumpeted toots.

Because of course, according to Newton's Fifth Law of Multiple Children Gathered at a Table, there must, at some point in the discussion, be gas.

Enjoy educating, enormously.

My, that was interesting

Hi ho, hi ho, I'm back online. And feeling spoiled by all the sweet condolences for the limb amputation temporary service disruption we endured. Have I told you lately that I love you?

It's been a week.

We flew home from Boston.

We lost Internet service.

We started Friday Co-op.

One of my siblings had major surgery.

My mom came into town.


It seemed like a logical week to let the blog simmer.

But, I do owe a couple of you an explanation.



Behold, the jocundity-in-a-bag known as Bananagrams. A favorite in my word-nerdy family of origin. If you haven't discovered it yet, you're in for a treat!