Happy Pi Day!

Today we celebrated

3-14,

otherwise known as

Pi Day.

I set the scene with a homemade

"Pi to the 100th Digit"

banner...

 You can download the banner

(which you need to cut and past together)

by clicking HERE.

The clip art that decorate the banner

can be found HERE.

***

After the kiddos looked at the banner and I explained

to them what an irrational number is...

...we watched THIS video I found on You Tube.

(Richard Bew does an EXCELLENT job of

ENTERTAININGLY explaining the basics of Pi!)

***

After the video,

we put Pi into practice with...

...THIS worksheet provided by

Educating Laytons.

Little Wild Man

(since he has not done much with multiplication or division)

was in charge of measuring the diameter

of different objects.

After relaying that info to his sisters,

they used their calculators to determine the

radius and circumference

of the objects.

(Not only was this a good lesson in using Pi,

it also allowed the kiddos to use their

measuring and calculator skills too!) 

***

After finishing the work sheet,

we just had to get crafty

with our "Pi"

and make a few of THESE

Bottle Cap Pies

I saw over on

WhimsyLove...

 You have to have your tough face on

when you use the sharp scissors...

They were easy to pull together

and SO super cute!

My kiddos don't mind getting a little

Pi all over their faces...

***

To end our Pi Day fun,

we had to EAT some pie, of course!

I went super simple on these and bought

mini graham cracker crusts

and filled them with either

ice cream or pudding

(because my kiddos are sadly not really big

fruit pie fans!).

***

Q: What do you get if you divide the circumference of a jack-o-lantern

by its diameter?

A: Pumpkin Pi!

Happy Pi Day everybody!!!

***

Linking up with Math Monday

Despicable Me 2 Week: Minion Math

During our 

Despicable Me 2 Week,

I decided to "spice up"

Little Wild Man's math practice

with a little...

...Minion Math game.

Using THIS Minion dice download,

I printed out four copies,

cut the squares apart, and placed them in our

Photo Stacking Blocks

to create four Minion Dice.

I got the idea to use the photo blocks in this way

from Mama Jenn's Education Cubes website.

I am a member of this site,

and I HIGHLY recommend it if you want to bring in some 

physicality into your lessons-

which is especially nice for boys!  ;0)

After the dice were put together,

here is how we used them to practice

the mathematical concept of

regrouping:

1.  Roll one of the die.

2.  Write down the number rolled

in the units place

for the first number of your addition problem.

2. Roll another die

(and maybe make a goofy face while you do it).

3.  Write down that number in the tens place

for the first number of the addition problem.

4.  Continue to roll and write all the dice

until you have the second number

for your addition problem.

5.  Add the problem, and regroup if necessary.

Really,

all the dice provided was a way for 

Little Wild Man

to come up with his problem in an active manner.

He told me later that this was the 

"funnest Math ever."

Which is good,

since regrouping review

is not always fun!

100th Day of School Celebration...in Our PJ's...

We
F-I-N-A-L-L-Y
reached our...

...100th day of school
on Friday,
so we had a casual celebration...

(Yes, it was Pajama Day
in our house.
Some of us have the sniffles,
and staying in on a
cold, wintery day seemed like
the right thing to do...)

*********************************

We began the day with...

...a simple breakfast,
which involved counting to 100 by 20's.

(You can read more about the
breakfast by clicking HERE.)

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Later...

...we completed our Calendar Time,
which is always fun on this day,
since we get to add 100 to our
Calendar pages.

One activity we do during our Calendar Time...

...is the daily writing of the school days
on a roll of
register tape.

The kiddos enjoyed rolling out the tape to see
how long
100 days in school
looks like...

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In the afternoon...

...the kiddos had a simple
"Cheese and Chips"
snack...

...while I read the 100th Psalm aloud.

I also read...

...a couple of other books to the younger kiddos
while Jungle Girl
conducted her novel reading.

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I think the most fun we had
during the day involved...

..."Robot Races" down
the registrar tape number line.

(I purchased these little wind-up toys
at Wal-Mart
in the novelty section of the Toy aisle
for about $1.50 a piece.)

The kiddos wound up their toys...

...lined them up at the number one...

...and let 'em go!

They kept winding them up and letting them go
until they reached the number 100...

I think their fingers were a little tired by the end of the race...
(Hee! Hee!)

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Before I close,
please take a close look at...

 ...these pictures of my kiddos.

Notice what they are trying to make?

 If you said the number 100
with their finger and eyes,
you would be correct!

Aren't they creative?

(And a little kooky?)  ;0)

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Check out all the fun math links at
Math Monday
and below...

Math Monday: Firefly Numbers

One of the fun math activities

Little Wild Man

enjoyed during our Camping themed activites

was inspired by

Homeschool Creations'...

...Camping Preschool Pack.

In the pack was a firefly counting page,

complete with cute little firefly counters.

Instead of using the paper numbers

included in the pack,

I "spiced up" the "WOW" factor by

pulling out...

...Glow-in-the-Dark Magnet Numbers.

 I hid all the numbers

in our downstairs bathroom.

Little Wild Man would then...

 

...go into the bathroom 

and look for a number that I 

would call out to him.

He would bring the number out to me...

...and match it up with the number of fireflies

on the card.

Later, the fun progressed...

...to him staying in the bathroom

and sliding numbers out to me.

Who knew Glow-in-the-Dark numbers

could be so

CRAZY-FUN?

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Math Monday: Jewlery Sorting (otherwise known as Wonder Mom being lazy...)

In my hurry to get ready one morning last week,
I accidentally knocked over......my 20+ year old Caboodle.

(Oh yeah, a was into stylish organization
back in my '80's middle school years...)

My earrings were a H-U-G-E mess!

So, being the lazy mother that I am,
I took this opportunity
to put my younger kiddos to work undoing my mess,
which resulted in some Math sorting practice for them.

(A housekeeping task AND homeschooling lesson
all wrapped, (or should I "tangled")
up into one little activity- SCORE!)

Baby Girl enjoyed doing this activity for a while,
since she is an accessory junkie,
just like her Mama...

...but Little Wild found the task boring
after a bit.

(I do have to give him credit for sticking with
the chore for a good 20 minutes or so-
I mean, it WAS organizing jewelry
instead of Monster Trucks...)

They definitely got a lot accomplished for me,
which I am truly grateful for, and
HOPEFULLY
they even learned something in the process...

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Check out more fun math ideas
over at
Math Monday...

Math Monday: Ungle Wiggily

Board games, we all know, are a great way to reinforce
counting skills.

One of my FAVORITE board games as a child was...

...The Uncle Wiggily Game.

We played it so much that the game fell apart.

So, my father recently purchased the game again,
so he could share it with my kiddos...

The kiddos broke in the game the day my dad returned home
from the hospital after his knee surgery.

Basically a game of chance,
kiddos can practice counting backwards and forwards
to move...

...their Uncle Wiggily characters around the board.

Added bonuses to the game:
1. The board has 100 spaces, so this would be a great addition
to anyone's "100 Days of School" Celebration.

2. My dad
(known as "Grandalf" to the kiddos-
in honor of his affection for Gandalf the Wizard)
helped Baby Girl work on her reading skills with the cards she
pulled to move around the board.

3. The kiddos had a lot of FUN......playing this simple game!

*************************************************

(Side note:
APPARENTLY rubbing your belly during the game
can bring a person good luck...)

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For more math fun,
head on over to Math Monday...