Origami Math

I've had a lot of people ask me about my approach to homeschooling. I thought today I'd walk you through how we approach a topic. I'm writing this as I do it, popping back and forth between tabs on my laptop.

Yesterday at a song circle, a friend was talking about a great PBS show she saw. I forget what it was called, but I remember it had origami, math, a young prof from MIT .... Enter google. (I LOVE the web!) I google some key words and find this "The Independent Lens, Between the Folds". This looks like what she was talking about, so I make a note of when I might find it airing on our local PBS station. Hmm.... wonder if the library has it? Check. Nope. Shrug.

Got some interesting hits with my initial search. I'll go check them out.
Oooh! Here's a cool TED talk with Robert Lang. The kids will love that. Here's a follow up video. Amazing. I don't know what I liked better, the blind folded guy doing the intricate origami, or the cellist with the custom 5 string electric cello.

Well, actually I do know. Cello. Hands down. What was that!?! I see if the library has any of his CDs. Checking. No, they don't. Hmm, usually I have better luck getting stuff at the library... I'll think about inter-library loan. I will have to spend some time find his stuff later. OK, back to the origami math.

Tons of hits, pictures, blogs, ideas, more ideas, when I google "origami math". I look at a few, and bookmark any that look promising. (Using folders under "homeschool/ideas/resources/math, it's important to bookmark things into sorted folders if you're me, otherwise you'll never find them again in the pile of unsorted bookmarks that represent my online life)

OK, now I need to go to bed. Tomorrow we have an at home day and I'll show the kids the video. Note to self, be prepared to find the origami paper and books, maybe explore how exactly one would program a computer to help you design the folds, and if any of the programming and math are within the reach of a bright 8-11 year old.

How to start with First LEGO League (LEGO robotics)

My oldest has been on an FLL team for the last 3 seasons (10 weeks, Sept. - Nov.). It's been a wonderful experience for him. I coached his team this last year, and was assistant coach the year before that. I can tell you that coaching is a lot of work, especially as a homeschooling parent with 2 kids too young to be on the team. With the help of the other parents on the team though, we were able to make it work.

It was so worth the effort! FLL teaches so much. I could rave on, but I'll save that for another post. :-) For now, here are some places to gather your own info.

First, just get some information about the First Lego League. Poke around their website.
Check out the "start a team" link.
Check out this year's challenge.
If it's tournament season, check out some local events.
If you have just a day to spare and want to see what a tournament is really about, volunteer to help at a local tournament.
If nothing else, check out some of the great FLL and LEGO robotic videos on youtube.

February's Books

• Ranger's Apprentice Books 1-6, by John Flanagan
• Dirt Cheap Gardening, by Rhonda Massingham Hart
• The Backyard Orchardist, by Stella Otto
• The Gate to Women's Country, by Sheri Tepper
• The End of Overeating, by David Kessler
• Farm City the Education of an Urban Farmer, by Novella Carpenter
• People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks
• The City & the City, by China Mieville

Living in a creative society

We live in a consumer society, yet what I want with my family is a creative society. It's important to understand the difference and realize that with our daily actions we not only choose, we create, the life we life.

A person in a consumer culture looks outside of the individual for entertainment, education and survival. A person in a creative culture looks to each individual for the entertainment, education and survival.

Today as I write this, my husband is showing a friend and his brother how to use his table saw to cut the wood they need to build a small sail boat. The friend's children are here playing with our children. The older two are on an ancient laptop, programming in python. They are laughing manically - it must be a funny program! The younger 4 kids are outside burying and then digging up treasure, occasionally throwing a ball for our big mutt. I sit here typing up posts in advance, having just discovered that I have the power to pre-schedule blog posts. (Yea me!)

We are making our own entertainment. We are creating our own community.

Games!

At the request of a friend I'm posting today about games.

As we started homeschooling I began to realize how great games were with kids. Games teach turn taking, rule following, math, probability, reading, planning, consequences, sportsmanship, and so much more. Perhaps most importantly games give kids and adults a place to meet and play together. Any time spent enjoying each others company is a win/win, add to that the possibility of kids beating adults and you've got a carrot that few kids can resist.

I remember playing Monopoly, Scrabble, and a board game called "Dungeon" growing up. Go Fish, Old Maid and Uno were the extent of my card game experiences. Now we've embraced many difference games. From those that included all ages, to those that enjoyed by mostly adults and older kids, we are constantly finding new (to us) great games.

We've got a closet full of games. Maybe someday I'll review them all. Or not. Until then Gameboard Geek is a great site for game reviews.