Whether you homeschool, are actively seeking summer bridge activities, or just want something to do with the kids every now and then, math is something that can be really nice to do together as a family. Especially if you’re not that into math yourself.
We all know the many benefits, for parents and children, of family-centered activities. But family-centered activities that are also learning-centered have additional benefits–they model good learning habits, and they make learning fun. They can also, if you, yourself, are a little dicey about a certain subject, go a long way towards NOT passing down that same leeriness in your children (It took my partner and I several minutes, and a paper and pencil, to figure out the per-comic price in a Classifieds ad in which a guy was selling 1400 comic books for $99–we do NOT want our daughters to grow up that fundamentally math-stupid).
Here are some of my favorite books that present fun math activities for young and old, for math novices and math experts:
I’m a hugger. I hug my children; I hug my friends. Some cultures greet people with kisses on the cheek; some with handshakes.
Teenage culture across America is embracing the hug!
Hugging is not just for romantic relationships. According to the New York Times, teenagers have broken down hugs by type:
There is the basic friend hug, probably the most popular, and the bear hug, of course. But now there is also the bear claw, when a boy embraces a girl awkwardly with his elbows poking out.
There is the hug that starts with a high-five, then moves into a fist bump, followed by a slap on the back and an embrace.
There’s the shake and lean; the hug from behind; and, the newest addition, the triple — any combination of three girls and boys hugging at once.
Every wonder how the mystery fish sticks or tater tots ended up in your school’s lunch program: think politics, think lobbyists. $10 billion is spent each year on the National School Lunch Program, which is renewed every five years. According to the USDA:
The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is the Nation’s second largest food and nutrition assistance program. In 2007, it operated in over 95,000 public and nonprofit private schools (grades K-12) and provided low-cost or free lunches to over 30 million children daily.
Editor’s note: The following post was originally published on Green and Clean Mom. “Green & Clean Mom can inspire you to try a little harder, be a catalyst for change and to offer you some new tips and news on how to be the green, sexy and sassy mom…I know you are!”
Back to school time means, healthy breakfasts are a must but there isn’t much time to make that happen. We’ve heard it over and over, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. This may be the case but I don’t believe every child or person is the “breakfast type”. Personally, I just want some coffee and maybe a piece of toast. I’m just not hungry or in the mood to eat in the morning. My husband loves breakfast food, my son nibbles and my daughter devourers her food and wants breakfast the minutes she wakes up. Every person is different but that doesn’t change the fact that we all should eat something healthy to start our day. With very little time in the morning how can parents have a healthy and nutritious meal and not rely on the frozen waffles and sugary cereal?
Here are my back to school, start the day off healthy tips:
1. Make a breakfast casserole the night before and pop it in the oven. I make quiches and call them breakfast pies, my son thinks he’s eating something special. It is packed with protein and I’m controlling the ingredients (organic eggs, whole grain breads, organic milk, fresh broccoli, organic chicken or hormone free sausage).
Project H has completed a Learning Landscape design, putting reclaimed tires to uses of exponential value: educating youth at the Kutamba School for AIDS Orphans in southern Uganda.
The tires are used in various math lessons, teaching the kids addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. When the sandbox grid of tires is not being used for math games, wooden benches are placed atop the precisely spaced tires, serving as [...]
Like many states, Oregonians can opt out of school required vaccinations by claiming religious exemption. Statewide, 3.7 percent of kindergartners were exempt in 2007; however in Ashland, 28.1 percent of kindergartners were not vaccinated making it the least vaccinated city in the US. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) wants to know why.
So now that you have everything you need to send your child off to school with a greener lunch, what do you put into that eco friendly lunchbox? There are cookbooks out there focusing entirely on kids lunches. (Try Vegan Lunch Box.) Or, you can come up with fun ideas on your own. Here are a few suggestions and recipes to get you started…
Wraps- If you kids are getting tired of the same old sandwiches, try layering their favorite sandwich fillings onto a whole wheat tortilla. Roll it up and cut into bite size pinwheels.
Soup- During the winter months heat soup and pour it into a thermos, don’t forget to include a spoon!
Remember the school lunches from back in the days of your youth? Playing the guessing game was a daily occurrence. Was that mound of goop macaroni and cheese? Or maybe tater tot casserole? You would think that by now things have changed in the lunchroom, but have they?
In public schools all over the United States children are at the mercy of the National School Lunch Program. The NSLP was started back in 1946, with the purpose of providing affordable nutritious meals to kids. Don’t get me wrong, it’s wonderful that this program provides lunches to children no matter what their family’s financial situation is, but the quality of the food being served is very questionable. (In the 1980’s the Reagan Administration declared ketchup a vegetable for use in school lunches.) According to a 1993 survey, the USDA found the nutritional quality of most school lunches to be mediocre at best. In this day and age, with childhood obesity at an all time high, and overly processed foods being the norm, is “mediocre” good enough for our children?
Taking effect on February 10, 2009, the CPSIA will require all products for children under 12 be tested for lead, including books. That means in order for a library to admit children under 12, they must test all of their children’s books or ban children from the library.
From Z Recommends to the Vegan Lunch Box, I’ve read about Laptop Lunches for quite awhile. When my daughter’s best friends showed up with them after their birthdays, a trend had begun at her school. Not that I think children need to buy what their friends’ have to fit in, but I felt the Laptop Lunch would be a good addition to her home lunches.
Although I avoid plastic in general, Laptop Lunches are made from BPA-free plastic, are reusable, recyclable, and dishwasher safe. It even comes with a book full of nutritious lunch ideas.
The following quote is from my seven-year-old daughter. This is her perspective on her Laptop Lunch System:
Every day, half a million school buses safely carry 24 million American children to school, field trips and athletic events.
Unfortunately, most buses are powered by diesel engines that actually pollute the air inside the bus. Studies show the pollution gets trapped inside the bus, where kids breathe it in.
Q: I don’t see billowing clouds of black smoke behind the school bus. Does that mean the bus exhaust is clean?
Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Even clean-looking exhaust from tailpipes, and from the engine itself, can contain small particles and other toxic pollutants that can get inside the school bus, and in children’s lungs.
Q: How does diesel pollution get inside a school bus?
Diesel pollution can enter a school bus from both the tailpipe and the engine. In school buses, the engine is in the front, right near the door, so every time the door opens, engine and tailpipe exhaust get sucked inside.
Whether you homeschool, are actively seeking summer bridge activities, or just want something to do with the kids every now and then, math is something that can be really nice to do together as a family. Especially if you’re not that into math yourself.
