Still doing math

STILL loving the math! I laid out some number cards randomly and DJ placed the correct bead materials under them. This material is great for keeping little bodies moving rather than sitting calmly at a desk.


DJ is still struggling with learning the numbers 11-19 despite his great desire to count to twenty. We called on his cars to help keep the lesson interesting and practical. I mean, when you have as many cars as DJ does, it'd be nice to know how to count them!


Here he is doing the more standard Teens Board work which is not nearly as engaging. You can see that, despite knowing the proper order, he refused to put them in order. And he has the #2 upside down.


We moved onto some Golden Bead addition. We used our place value dice to come up with the equation 2,161 + 4,269. This problem requires some exchanging which means returning 10 of one category to the store in exchange for 1 of the next higher. DJ called on the services of his flat bed truck to help haul all those pieces back to the store.


This is some work DJ chose to do while I was doing my own work on the computer (I work from home part-time). He loves finding different ways to count to 10. I can tell that he gets a lot of pride out of being able to do it. And it is intrinsic pride, he's proud of himself rather than being happy to make me or a teacher proud. Encouraging that sort of self-worth in his work is a major goal of mine in his homeschooling.


I saw more of this pride when I came into a game of dominoes that DJ was playing with his grandma. He is so thrilled to be able to count the dots on his pieces and match them to the game board without needing any help. I could tell this makes him feel very big.


On another day while I was working again, I admit I wasn't paying much attention to him. Although he did largely trash the living room with endless piles of toys, I was shocked to catch him at one point using the Botany Cabinet to trace the pieces! Wow. He never pays that work any attention but here it is! He was talking his way through the steps, "I take this piece, my finger goes allll the way around, there! I did it. Now I take the next piece..."


Oh, he also peppered my feet with stickers while I was working. Hah.


On the weekends, DJ plays soccer. He has just moved up to the second level. In the first level a parent is on the field with each kid. He did level 1 for a year and a half before transitioning and we were really uncertain how it would go. But we had no reason to be concerned! He has been so engaged, keeping the ball with him, listening to the coach. I don't know why, but he looks SO grown up to me when he's playing soccer.


We also went to DJ's first ever parade and it was amazing. I also had never been to a big city parade before so I was pretty impressed as well. This Chinese Dragon was one of my favorites. DJ liked the parade somewhat but he was NOT a fan of the marching bands... just too loud. Next time we'll take his headphones.


It has been HOT again this week so more time in the pool. DJ has finally conquered the alligator! When we first got it, he did not trust to sit on it because it felt too wobbly and he was afraid to be dumped in the pool. Now, he not only likes riding the alligator, he LOVES when he gets dumped. And he loves sharing his pool with all his friends! Happy summer.