How We've Excelled with XtraMath

I've mentioned using xtramath.org with my kids numerous times. But I feel like I need to share how we've finally begun to excel with xtramath because using it wasn't always easy:/


We started using this free, online program about a year ago (give or take). The reason was my little Anna... she knew her math facts but NOT fast. In fact for her annual required testing she placed LOW on math facts which the test-giver said was due to her not being able to do the facts FAST. We were very excited about finding xtramath because it seemed like it fit our needs perfectly:)

Except, the kids HATED doing it.... HATED it!

The problem is that xtramath practices with the students until they can do math fact correctly in 3 seconds! So it's timed... they got soo frustrated and discouraged by not doing the facts quickly enough. So often xtramath was left undone most weeks:(

This year I've really tried to work more on their math facts... teaching them the different "tricks" at first, then practicing with flashcards and worksheets (that can be timed). But even those ways are great for practice to figure out the facts, but not the SPEED!

So here are some ways we moved from dreading xtramath to happy faces during math time, which are always nice;)

* First, teach and practice the facts before trying xtramath.org! They can learn new facts on xtramath but keep the stress low by giving them the ability to complete it well.

Thankfully xtramath can tell where a student is based on their placement tests. But I think I started it a little too earlier for my middle two (5 and 6 yrs at the time we stepped away from xtramath) and they really benefited from the "break" of being timed.

*Give them a "pep talk" before they even start:) Remind them over and over and over that it's PRACTICE. It can be fun and shouldn't be stressful.

I have one child that really struggled at first and I had to add that I really cared more about their attitude during our xtramath time versus how many "smiles" they got!   

BTW... I had to not let their attitude and struggle stress me out. So I reminded myself often to that it's more about "my attitude" too and I tried speak really calmly and quietly to keep the pace of the game from affecting me as well!

* Type their answers.  I know this sounds like I am helping them too much. But if they ask, just do it if you think it will help them. I have two kids who do it themselves and one that does better when I help in this way. Better yet...

*Make your own account and try to it!! I did and totally got a new perspective. The kids think it's great that I have to practice too;) I actually opened my own to see how the program progressed... but it's been a good decision... but NO ONE can talk to me when its my turn... LOL!!

*Practice the tough ones. Every time one of my kids miss a problem I have them read the problem aloud... sometimes more than once depending on the kid (and how much practice they need). I

*Eliminate the distractions!! For all the kids, they sometimes get distracted by the "timer" and "smiley count".  I know they get disappointed when they would miss one, but sometimes instead of focusing on the FACTS they watch that timer on the bottom of the screen or the smiley face counter in the top left during the Race the Teacher game.

This is what our screen often looks like:) LOL!!

*Offer praise!! Even if they get stuck on 2+1... we've been there! Again, focus on practicing with a good attitude:)

*Sometimes motivators work, too;)  As I saw them really begin to work hard I started offering them some motivations:) For every 10 smileys on the Race the Teacher, they get to watch a LEGO movie on YouTube or get a treat. BTW... this is also good because they are having to add up their smileys for the two games each session and they have to group by ten to figure out how many movies they can watch:)

I am so proud of my little xtramath-ers;)  Now  I have two that have (or are about to) complete the addition facts and are heading into the subtraction as they learn multiplication and division in their math curriculum! So we are also keeping up with new facts by  using many of the earlier pre-xtramath activities to  prepare!!

Linking up to Works for Me Wednesday !

Weekly Wrap-Up

Monday last week, was a very different "school" day. Nate had a really high fever Sunday night... even his little fingers were burning up. Sometime in the middle of the night his fever finally responded to the Tylenol, but I know we had to take him to the pediatrician. They diagnosed him with Hand, Foot, Mouth Disease...

I'm a little skeptical that he does have HFMd since he has more symptoms that normal HFMd and the spots the pediatrician "saw" are microscopic probably from him screaming his head off while she checked his lungs, heart and ears:/ It's usually blisters and Nate didn't have anything like that!

Anyway, the rest of the week it was doses of Tylenol, fussy, extremely picky & erratic eating toddler, lots of poopy diapers, diaper rash... basically Momma tending to Nate more than usual. Thankfully we found ways to school around Nate's needs... even pulling out the books when we got home Monday afternoon :/

We also prepared the house for company;) We had Brian's brother Scott and Aunt Bea come stay the night with us:) Let's just say lots of "under the bed" cleaning:)


We had a good time with them. The kids had plenty of uncle wrestling time;) I actually spent a little of the time grading mid-terms for my class... which I hadn't planned to do. But since the kids were all having fun and very occupied, I jumped at the chance to get some work done;)

Bible
We read from Acts this week. Prayed for big needs from our extended family this week. Continued to read from the Story Bible each afternoon.

Awana verses are going strong. They are little sponges when it comes to memorizing these verses!!

Language Arts
I didn't take any language arts pictures this week... but I am really liking our divided schedule (language arts and math in the morning and then history and/or Science while Nate naps). Our mornings are still busy:) But it gives us some room to enjoy the material and not just rush to check it off our "to do" list!

Math
Somehow we completed 4 math lessons a piece this week... here are our highlights;)

Lydia's math assessment this week. I helped her spell some of the words... but the rest she did alone;)

Ways to make 10 with playing cards. We did the game in the book and then memory (Chris and Lydia)

Chris making all the different types of line segments:

Horizontal

Vertical (minus he head tilt)

History

I gave you all the good stuff last week;) LOL!!

This week we read more of Johnny Tremain. I tried to read some Independence books... but the kids were a little bored with the same information. Anna worked on the lapbook as we discussed some of the elements as she completed them. There are a few more battles we need to complete and then talk about the Treaty of Paris;)


They watched a good amount of the Liberty's Kids episodes... again, it's not my favorite choice for them to watch videos,etc for learning. But I really liked these videos and they covered soo much about the Revolutionary War in a way that the books we have access to couldn't do. And it was nice to have this week with the fussy toddler and extra cleaning tasks.

Science
With everything else going on this week, Science got pushed to the back burner :( We did have a bottle of coke given to us.

We also spent a lot of time outside this week (after the rain). It seems like Science questions always come up outside... my favorite was Christopher's. "Momma, why did God make the pine cones so sharp on the outside? So the squirrels couldn't eat them?"

Tot in the Schoolroom
I laughed a little when Nate stayed very quiet and busy with these items! It was a good reminder that it doesn't have to be something fancy or expensive for them to enjoy it! I had to share;)

Dry Ziti, a balance and stacking cups

Anna jumped in also and added some pipe cleaners;)

And there's our week. I"m praying for a healthy and fun week! The weather is supposed to be gorgeous and we have a field trip planned!

Weekly Wrap-up : Math Pictures & Chemistry Helps

We started the week with a holiday;) The kids and I took the day of home schooling, but it wasn't long before they set-up their own school in Chris' room and were bringing us math problems they needed help with. Chris is a tough teacher;)

We did read a few books about Dr Martin Luther King Jr. and discussed a little. The laws and "world" that he lived in seems sooo foreign to what my kids are used to. They thought that the man who demanded for Rosa Parks to give up her seat was rude! And that people should always been treated the same regardless of the color of their skin. I am thankful for children who aren't "color-blind" but know that God loves all people and wants us to do the same!

Bible

We spent the week reading through the Gospel stories about Christ, working on Awana verses and reading through the Proverbs of the day.

Since we are starting Awana halfway through the Awana-year, the kids want to "catch up" with everyone. I think Lydia did 3 sections in one week, Anna had 4 sections signed off and Chris received his vest and 1st Sparks book :) So thankful for our return to Awana... they love the program and their teachers;)

 



Language Arts
The kids really enjoyed Sight Word Bingo. So one day this week, I let Spelling go for the day. It was nice to sit and play for a bit:)Nate even joined us for a few seconds to put the little papers in the boxes;)

 

 

We stayed on top of reading this week:) YAY... always good;) Our favorite activity was Lydia and I conversing (aka... reading a script) over Banana phones;) She was a little hesitant because it was silly... but she asked to do it again the next morning;)

Anna tried to get a picture, but for reading Lydia and Chris have been wiggling their way into my lap! 

Anyway, it struck me of what a sweet way of learning how to read... that I need to savor these early learning moments and not rush through them to check it off my "to do" list!! Or get frustrated over lack of effort that happens:)

I am blessed to be home and able to sit with my kids in my lap as they learn to read.... BLESSED!!

And maybe we'll get a picture this week:)

Math
We had a fun math week... here's proof;)

making a pattern fence out of pattern blocks to keep in the lions!

Anna hard at work on her "math project"

She had to find all the abbreviations and capitals for 30 states, then the weather temp. Then she had to round it to the nearest ten and make a graph!!  Her favorite part was using weather.com :)

Lydia's lessons are prepaing her to play "store" soon:) She had to purchase a few things using pennies and dimes;)

Using Daddy's GI Joes to make "some & some more" word problems;) Great math activity for a little BOY!

History
This week learned about the beheading of Charles I and take over of Oliver Cromwell. About Cromwell's unpopular Protectorate and Charles II's return to England. And then how Londoners were hit with the Plague (again) and the Great Fire of London!

We also read (and are still reading) a historical fiction book from that time period called Nell of Branford Hall by William Wise. What was soo unique about the book was how kid friendly it was and how many notable historical figures the book mentions... Newton, Sir Christopher Wren, Charles II, etc! It was like the book came right from our history book.

Our project for the week was to re-create the Great Fire of London. We colored and glued our little pieces of LOndon together... but due to lots of rain, wind and cooler weather, we haven't gotten to burn up our project... yet!! Chris can't wait:)

Science

I feel like I'm floundering with Chemistry this year!!

We have lots of friends doing Classical Communications this year... both locally and kinda far! They are learning about the periodic table during these next few weeks. So I thought we'd "join" in.... kind of!  The kids and I reviewed the parts of the atoms, what elements were and we started on the periodic table!

We also did a little activity to get them to thinking how small an atom really is!

It takes 31 cuts to make an atom... I got to 14!!

I'm hoping to have them learn the first 12 elements (name, atomic number, and what it is/does) of the periodic table... taking a few each week. And then doing one of the little experiments each week to give us some hands-on, too!

Here are some of the resources we are using or planning to use:
The paper cutting activity
List and links to Elements 1-36
Periodic Table with links to introduction to each Element
Proton Don (periodic table game)
Found some Atom Structure Worksheets here
Chemistry Activities and Lesson Plans

I'd love to hear what your younger children liked learning about Chemistry!! I need some inspiration!

Favorite Pictures of the Week:

Snack Time! - Anna style

Lydia's winter observations;)

Nate's "fun" activity of bringing us ALL of his shirts from his dresser.... never a dull or clean moment around here!

Linking up to Weekly Wrap Up!!

Weekly- Wrap Up : Snowflakes, Pattern Blocks and Getting Back into a Routine

Last week we tried to get back into a routine.... back to home school, back to chores and housework! We did accomplish a lot... it definitely was WORK getting back to into the swing of things! Just as hard for me as the kids;)

Bible
The kids and I have been reading through the Proverbs that correspond to the day of month. One or twice they have drawn one of the Proverbs, other times we just talk about it. It's been interesting what they pick up and what we talk about. It's been fun.

We also have been reading through the Egermeiers Story Bible... we've tried reading through it before. But this time we are starting from the New Testament:) So as we settle in for rest time in the afternoons we read a story or two about Christ's life (at least right now... soon it will be His resurrection and the early church).

The kids returned to Awana last week as well. They were soo excited about going back into the program! They are eagerly studying verses and doing Cubbie Hugs.

Language Arts
Everyone is still doing their First Language Lessons (FLL)! While they may initially grown, Chris and Lydia enjoy the short, fun, interactive lessons from Vol 1! This week we did 3 lessons on pronouns;) And Anna "the workbook queen" loves pulling out her workbook! She's become quite the little sentence diagram-er! We added in adverbs this week;)

We are still working on Thank You notes. So our writing/copywork has included some letter writing;)

Maybe it was the break, but this week Chris and Lydia really did well with OPG. Sometimes we hit lessons that are more challenging for them or they forget phonic rules from previous weeks, but last week I really felt like I could see am improvement with BOTH of them!! Just a sweet homeschooling mom moment to see (and hear) the kids get better at reading;)

Anna is reading like a pro;) The problem is that she's too much like her mother... she's picky about the books she reads, but she she finds a good one she reads and reads and reads and reads until it's finished:) Anna devoured Ramona and her Mother this week and only touched the history library books :( 

For Spelling, Lydia started another Unit from You Can Read @ 1+1+1=1. Anna worked through 2 lessons from Spelling Power. And Chris reviewed Sight Words from the Fall "semester" and then we played Sight Word Bingo, too;)

Lydia liked trying to read words off the Bingo cards;)

Math
Saxon, Saxon, Saxon;)

We did have one change for the New Year... and that was Chris getting to move into Saxon 2:) He was very excited! And since they always start with review, it was an easy week and a great start;)


The girls completed 4 or lessons this week:) And our Pattern Blocks from Christmas got plenty of use... from Nate and the girls;)

Lydia used them to find different ways to make certain shapes.

Anna used them for fractions... seeing how different combinations of fractions can equal a whole.

And Lydia used the Pattern Block Design to make different pictures. The butterfly was beautiful:)

History
This week we jumped into India for our history! Again, with the help of Story of the World and our awesome librarian we read a chapter, narrated, mapped it out, and read some fun books. The main characters had crazy names... so basically they were some ruthless emperors who thought they were rulers of the world when they ruled India. They made some bad decisions though that caused India to fall into the hands of a European nation (to be continued in another chapter...)!

For the activity the kids decorated a peacock picture and decorated it with glitter. The decor of the buildings and dwellings of these three rulers would have been very nicely and expensively decorated because of how wealthy India was due to trading with the world.

Anna's finished project:)

Some of our favorite books to go with India were... Tigers at Twilight(a Magic Treehouse Book), The Blind Men and the Elephant,and Taj Mahal: A Story of Love and Empire (Wonders of the World Book).

As I look at all the different countries we are visiting through our history lessons. I am a little saddened that we aren't spending more time learning about the actual country. We definitely read books about the countries and stories from the countries. But Anna seems to pick up more when she has an activity or something that goes with it. I just found these printable Country Fact Sheets from Homeschool Creations (one of my favorite home school mommas). Anyway, we'll be working on these each week, too!! To help us try to remember all the places we've been to:)

Science
Since I'm doing awful at Science this semester, I decided to ease us back into Chemistry using something seasonal and fun. So last week we did Snow and Snowflakes. 

We used the book The Story of Snow as our guide. We read it and discussed the whys and hows;) Anna made a Chemistry of snowflakes notebook page with three chemistry facts about snowflakes. While I worried it might be soo simple for Anna I learned a lot.

Do you know... What do snowflakes start from? And why are they six-sided??



I read the younger books to the younger kids and Anna and I plan to tackle the man who photographs snowflakes this week (kind of a delay there).

The rest of our snowflake time was spent trying to make paper snowflakes with six sides. The kids had fun with this but it wasn't until we started doing some "tough" designs that I realized we were learning about symmetry:)

The best snowflake was this one! Anna wanted to make it for our neighbor who they try to visit daily:) She is the kitten owner and an avid gardener!

Can you pick out cats and flowers ???

This is the limit to this Momma's artistic abilities;)





Well, that's about it for us:)

I've been trying to get into a routine for myself... trying to balance home schooling, the house, downtime with the kids and teaching my online classes. I'm a little stressed out... but I know that it will become routine soon.

Just thankful for the weekend... a day out to town with the family, my parents visiting for the whole day on Sunday (soo nice!) and an extra day to get myself together for schooling everyone this week:)

Linking up with Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers:)

Gallon Man

**Please check out my Shutterfly giveaway to win a set of 25 cards from Shutterfly:)

This week one of Anna's math lessons was to learn about capacity and the different liquid measurements. Since I STINK at remembering these (I am glad I'm a homeschooling Mom so I can learn it again), I decided to add to the lesson!!

So we made Gallon Man:) You Tube "gallon man song" to get an explanation of him.

1. I pre-cut all the pieces for the kids. I used just 1 piece of construction paper as the gallon "body" and then cut the pieces based on that size. So for the "quart" cut the construction paper into 4 pieces, the "pint" cut into 8 pieces and the "cup" into 16 pieces!

2. Then I laid the pieces on the table one color at a time and had the girls figure out how many of each color they needed to cover the "gallon body".

3. After fitting each color, I had the kids label the pieces with the name! I thought it would be helpful in remembering the pieces to write them over, and over and over:) CHris was busy with finishing other work, so I wrote his labels for him!

4. We laid the pieces out so that they each understood HOW to glue it all together! Also good to see the spacing and that these guys are big... we used the school table and the dining room table;)

5. They got to work gluing;)

6. I loved how they turned out and the kids have had fun with them!! They were having them race down the stairs later in the evening... LOL!!

7. Tomorrow I'm planning to use them to review and there will probably be some more stair racing;) I'm hoping one of these guys makes it to the new school room in the new house;)

I also have a giveaway from Shutterfly coming this week.. very good... especially if you haven't finished your Christmas cards yet:)

Linking up to Works for Me Wednesday @ We are That Family  check out lots of great ideas.

More Wordless Wednesday at  NapTime MomTog, 5 Minutes for Mom,  Mama to 4 Blessings, Go Graham Go

and any other linkys I find !!!

Weekly Wrap-Up: Kids Licenses, Trying to Make Gas & The Real Pocahontas

In my Life this week.... I saw my need to be purposeful in being a joyful mother... too often I let circumstances dictate my attitude and I want to change! I also saw how much I have been consumed by the "house hunt"... so I'm trying to let that "go" too... trusting that we will find/be lead to the perfect spot.

In our homeschool week...

Bible
I have found that the kids really enjoy our prayer times, but they are also getting "silly" with it. So before we prayed this week, I reminded them to Whom they are praying... the Creator of the Universe! And the manner in which we pray that shows Him reference.

We're also learning more and more of 1 Corinthians 13. This week the favorite verse was 7 because they had to shout the words in bold "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance."

Language Arts
We had all sorts of fun here... I'll just share the highlights;) Anna is reading a series of fictional diaries from colonial Jamestown called My America. She's really enjoyed what she has read. On Wednesday we ventured to meet grandparents traveling through and Anna read for at least 30 minutes of our 45 minute drive, so we all got to "read" some of the book, too;)

Anna has also started working on cursive again....
( I really do not stress handwriting with my crowd, they get practice with their handwriting during the toddler and preschool years and then doing copywork and assignments once they start "school". I think it's important that they recognize and can write neatly, but we don't stress about perfectly formed letters and I don't even purchase handwriting curriculum, just cheap workbooks that I photocopy for them to practice with. All that said.... I feel like the kids need to know cursive in order to read it!!! If someone (usually Grandma) writes them a letter in cursive, it's very important that my kids can read it!! )

and she loves it!! I'm not sure how many letters she has written to people this week... but I am finding them everywhere. She's been through one simple cursive letter workbook last year and this year I have a harder workbook I got for a $1 at a book sale. She is hoping to review 2 letters a week... but with all the letter writing she's been getting a TON of practice and has almost convinced Chris to start learning cursive with her next week:)

This week as I did reading with Lydia, I was soo surprised at how well she is sounding out words. It took the older 2 much longer to get to the stage where they would sound out words on their own... but Lydia is seeing that she can already read soo much independently.... gotta love the homeschool learning curve for younger siblings, I definitely read less to Lydia in my lap,one-on-one than I did for Anna and Chris!! No guilt trip there, right!?

Chris, Lydia and I enjoyed our Grammar lessons this week. Learning about the state we live in and naming states of the United States. Our last lesson on Friday was writing our address... I felt a little silly teaching them our current address just because we know it will be changing in a few months... oh well...

We made an activity though with our address writing (see there is hidden handwriting in Grammar!!). We made index card driver's licenses using an extra Christmas Cards from last year:)

They glued their picture on, wrote their address at the top and then filled in some personal information (like eye color, hair color, weight, height,etc).

Math
Each child did at least 4 lessons;) Yay:) My lefty at work!

During her down time one morning, Lydia followed an activity from Math Mastermind all by herself and came to show it off;)

Lydia also had a BIG milestone in math this week!! She finally got to do a fact sheet, like Anna and Chris!! She was soo excited she did her first one a day early:) With the Time Timer at her side... set at 5 minutes, although she completed it in record time :)

History
We studied King James and Jamestown. I love how much British history we are learning and to see how it ties into American history soo much... especially these early years:) We read, colored and mapped;) And I totally gave in and let them watch Pocahontas .... i know it's not historically accurate :( Anyway, it's a good picture though of the tension and the mindset that did exsist. To balance the Disney indoctronation (LOL!!!.. joking!) we did read some fabulous books from our library.... Who's Saying What in Jamestown, Thomas Savage? by Jean Fritz, The True Story of Pocahontas by Lucille Penner, and In Their Own Words: Pocahontas by George Sullivan.

Science
This week we got back on track with the "other" gas experiment. It resembled the soda experiment from two weeks ago, but we used kitchen ingredients to make gas. The kids measured and poured the ingredients.

The 1st concoction was baking soda and vinegar.... LOL, Chris took a big wiff of the vinegar and made the funniest face. We put the balloon and the kids shook up the bottle making the ingredients mix and the gas form filling the balloon:)

The 2nd concoction was orange juice and baking soda. It made a little bit of gas... I wonder if it was because it made gas or I just didn't rinse the bottle out well enough???

And Lydia was my fearless little chemist.... she also helped me mix 2 other concoctions..... water/baking soda and salt/vinegar to make gas. Neither of those made gas :(



Other
Before soccer practice we made a community fall event! We basically made an appearance, dressed like this....

And then headed to soccer;)

And this evening we attended a Rodeo.... and that is another post :)