And I feel good about it.   My daughter gets a homework pack every Monday that contains all of her homework for the week.  She gets to do it at the pace she wants and then turns it all in on Friday.  Well, this week included a brain teaser challenged that was marked as optional.  Before she even looked at it she told me that it was optional and she was not doing it.  That is definitely not what I like to hear.

Well, it is now Wednesday and she has completely all of the required homework.  I did not want to push her about doing the challenge because she was adamant that she did not want to do it.  But, I got her to do it any way and she doesn’t even know it yet!

Here was the problem:
Nicki’s phone number begins with the numbers 5, 3, and 7 – but, Nicki forgotwhat order the numbers are in.  Arrange the numbers 5, 3 and 7 in as many different ways as you can and write them below.

To get her to attempt the problem I had her try it with unifix cubes.  I gave her three different colors and asked her to perform the same task as was asked in the challenge question.  She figure out her strategy, did a great job and we had fun together while doing it.  Now tomorrow I will show her the challenge problem and I hope that she will be able to make the connection that it is already something that she figured out how to do.

I know, I’m tricky.  But, I was able to challenge my daughers mathematical thinking and avoided the homework struggle that I saw coming.

Intertia is a fun topic to explore with children.  These girls explain inertia by playing at the park.  It is definitely something that you can do with your own kids.

If you think you will have a hard time explaining this concept to your child here is a great book that you can read with them.  It is all about forces and explains enertia. Sometimes it is difficult to find the right words. I have found that this book helped me a lot.

Aurelia, at Real Life Solutions, is giving away  Real Life Guidance to Finding More Family Time this Thursday to one lucky mom.

At the beginning of September my kids started back to school.  Ever since then I feel like I am playing one big game of catch up.  Between school meetings, fundraisers, soccer practice, gymnastics and practicing the violin I feel like a chicken with its head cut off many days.

My kids are young and go to bed fairly early.  By the time my daughter gets off the bus it is close to 4 o’clock.  The kids play outside for 30 minutes then I get started on dinner.  We eat at about 5:30, clean up, and then my daughter gets her homework done.  The kids take baths and then go to bed at 7:30.  The day is over and then we start again the next morning. 

With gymnastics or a soccer practice thrown into the mix it gets crazier and seems like I don’t spend any time at all with them.  It definitely seems like it is all rush, rush, rush.  Learning to find more family time would be great for our family.

You can check out Aurelia contest here: http://reallifesolutions.net/blog/tuesday-freebie-for-one-lucky-mom/

Well, it was curriculum night all over again, but this time for my daughter.  Basically, second grade seems a lot like first grade, just with more advanced materials.  They gave examples of what they should be able to read by the end of the school year and I think that she is pretty much there.  That little girl loves to read.

They are going to do a science unit this year where they are going to do some composting.  That should be really cool.  I think it will be interesting for the kids to see food scraps and worms create a rich compost. 

I really wish they did more science, but since there is no standardized testing in that area it seems to be neglected.  The biggest focus is reading, then math and then everything else is done if there is time.

Well, last night was curriculum night for my son, who is in kindergarten.  There was nothing new to learn about the curriculum, my daughter had been through it 2 years ago.  I really went to talk to his teacher and see how is was making out in his first few weeks.  He is your stereotypical boy and I wanted to be sure that he had his overabundance of energy in check. 

I am happy to say that he is doing well.  His teacher did have a could of interesting comments though.  First is that he can make friends with a brick wall.  LOL  I will take that as a good thing. 

The second was about an incident on the playground.  A little background info.  There is a little girl that lives across the street who is Eli’s best friend.  They say the are going to get married.  So, on day on the playground this little girl hurts her hand and goes to the nurse.  When she came back outside Eli walks around the playground with her, holding her arm up by the elbow.  He was taking good care of his future wife.  It looks like she already has him well trained!

The beginning of autumn is the perfect time to plan some outdoor activities with your child.  The weather is beginning to cool and, unlike those scorching summer days, you can easily spend a lot of time outside.

Probably one of the most popular things to do in the fall months is leaf peeping.  They probably don’t call it that everywhere, but I am sure you can figure out what that means.    I love going for a drive in the fall with my kids just to look at the changing colors of the leaves.    I’m not sure if there is a nicer place than New England for watching the change in leaves.

Leaves change colors because of the amount of chlorophyll in the leaves. In the spring and summer, there is a lot of chlorophyll, making the leaves green. In the fall, the chlorophyll moves into the rest of the tree. This movement, along with the amount of rain, sugar in the leaves, and the temperatures during the summer also helps determine what color the leaves will turn.   

The color that leaves change to is determined by the tree type.  I found this great article that explains more about what color different trees will turn. http://forestry.about.com/od/fallcolor/a/fall_leaf_color.htm

Fall Means Time for Apples!

The beginning of fall is the perfect time to teach your children about John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed.  Wikipedia has a good amount of information on Johnny Appleseed and his life:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Appleseed.

A few years ago I learned that you can actually make apple sauce in the microwave!  Just peel and slice up your apples, put them in a microwave safe bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put a few small holes in the plastic.  Microwave on high until the apples are soft enough to mash with a fork.  So easy!

Making apple cinnamon ornaments is a fun and unique way to celebrate autumn and the smell great!  It is really a unique craft because not only is it hands on, but it also includes the sense of smell.  Enjoy this recipe.

Apple Cinnamon Ornaments 

Ingredients
3/4 cup ground cinnamon         
2 tablespoons ground cloves
1 cup applesauce         
1 tablespoon ground allspice
1 tablespoon nutmeg    

1/8 or 1/4 inch ribbon 

1. In a small bowl, mix all of the ingredients, stirring until the mixture makes a dough. 
2. Roll the dough out between sheets of wax paper. 
3. Use a cookie cutter or create your ornaments by sculpting the dough, and then set them aside. 
4. Roll out the leftovers and cut out and create until all of the dough is gone. 
5. Poke a hole in the shape to accept the ribbon if neccessary. 
6. Let the ornaments dry four to five days, uncovered, and undisturbed. 
7. Place the ribbon through the hole and then hang the ornament to leave a pleasant scent.  Store the ornaments in a zip-top bag.