Math

On Friday afternoon I spent an hour and a half in Owen's class. It was fun getting to meet the kids. The class is a K-1, and the kindergarteners go home at 11:45, so the only ones there were the 11 first graders. They are a fidgety little bunch. They were doing a math project. I was supposed to write down numbers and they were then supposed to go get items from what they call the "45 layout"(see an image of a similar layout here) which is a set of beads, wires, and blocks representing numbers from 1 to 1000. Some of the kids clearly got it and others didn't, including Owen. Apparently they used these same items last year and most of the kids were in the Montessori kindergarten, which Owen wasn't, so he was a little behind, although most of the kids actually didn't seem to get it, so he wasn't alone. I spent a few minutes this weekend trying to explain the "units", tens, hundreds, and thousands places and I think he is now starting to understand it. Hmm. I wonder what the teacher told them about the places before that activity; am suspecting little to nothing.

Saturday we went to Berkeley for Duncan's pirate birthday party. Arrr, matey! Poor Liam was sad that the big kids were getting all the "booty" in the treasure hunt. He burst into tears and wailed, "I want booty!" Dan suggested it was a booty call.

Did nothing much yesterday. Actually, we should have gone to Home Depot to check out the Hardiplank and Hardishingle, which are cement fiber board and might be a possible siding option. Maybe next weekend.