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Friday, May 13, 2011

Probability...no problem

I got so far behind with my blogging that I missed a devotion somewhere between last week and this week. We did do a devotion today but I posted it under 12 May. I need to do a better job of blogging daily and not weekly.

Even though today was the scary day of Friday the 13th, we had a good school day.

The first math lesson was called “Using probability.” It gave us the formula for the number of ways the event can occur to the # of equally likely outcome. The dice rolling a 1 would be 1/6. Then we learned the compliment to probability. That is the opposite of the ways the event can occur. The dice rolling something other than a 1 would be the compliment and that # is 5/6. Then, we had to take to event like flipping a coin and rolling a dice and figure out the formula for (example) getting a heads and a 1 would be ½ times 1/6 = 1/12 of a chance. Confusing I know. But we finally got it today! JD scored a 100% on this quiz. The second math lesson was call “dependent and independent” events. Bottom line: Dependent means it does not affect the outcome and Independent means it does affect the outcome or you don’t replace a name from a hat or you eat the jelly bean. JD scored a 90% on this quiz. There are only two more math lessons left for the year! We’re having a Math party soon!

The language arts lesson today was the Author’s Purpose quiz. He only scored a 67%. I will have to spend a bit more time with him reviewing Author’s Purpose lessons with him. As a matter of facts I will review all of those comprehension lessons before the assessment.

Thursday, May 12, 2011
A tough math day
We had a good school day but the math lesson were terribly difficult.  The language arts lesson also threw JD for a loop.

The devotion was about Villains. It listed: Cruella De Vil, Jafar, Captain Hook, and Shere Khan among others. These were all characters that were mean and had murderous intents. A lot of people today claim that right and wrong don’t exist. However, right and wrong is not up to you and me, it’s decided by God. He has listed right and wrong for us in the 10 Commandments. God said we are to be self-controlled, “kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”

The first math lesson of the day was called fair games and probability. It taught us how to use the formula to figure out favorable outcomes. Take a spinner numbered 1-6. The chances of spinning and even # is 3/6th or ½ simplified. Then the lesson taught us about fair and unfair events. A fair event would be as likely as unlikely. Like a coin toss. There’s a 50/50 chance of getting either heads or tails. A spinner with the numbers 1-7 would be unfair if we needed an even # because there are more odd #‘s than even. We missed two questions on the quiz and I still don’t understand how to get the answer. (Just like some fraction lessons…oh well.) So JD scored an 80% on this quiz. The second math lesson was extremely difficult. It was called “probability a compliment.” First, we learned that the outcome of a event can be written as a fraction, decimal, or a percentage. It can also be labeled as impossible, unlikely, half as likely as unlikely, likely, and certain. We learned about independent events and their outcome as well as their compliments. A compliment is the opposite of the way the event can occur. A dice rolling something other than a 1 would be the compliment and that # is 5/6. This was a tough lesson for JD and I to figure out. We only got a 64% together on the lesson. We pushed on through the quiz and scored an 80%. This is one of those lessons I end with saying, “I hope we don’t see that on the assessment this year.”

The language arts lesson today was the Author’s Purpose. The first thing he did was read stories and passages with an interactive guided lesson. He will take the quiz tomorrow. 
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
A busy errands day
I counted today as a school day even though we did not do any computer lessons because…I can! We did not do any school work because the day was filled with multiple errands. It started by taking Daniel to an interview in Fayetteville. Turns out there were about eight people in the waiting room with no interviewer there. I had so much more to do today than to wait for hours for someone to interview all those backed up people first and then Daniel. Daniel made the decision himself to walk out on the interview. (I was very thankful, because I also had to entertain the grand girls in the back of my Ford.

The next thing JD and I did after we dropped off Daniel and the babies was go to the church to set up the displays I made last night at midnight. Then, I had a small meeting with the pastor about the ministry fair.

We left the church for a bite to eat at Sonic before JD‘s afternoon appointment with his pediatrician for a Zertec refill. He grew ½ inch and kept off those three pounds from the last doctors appointment at Womack.

Once the doctor’s appointment was over JD and I rested at home for about an hour and headed back to the church for a skit rehearsal and a small party for JD and the rest of the kids that recently did a short play at church. (I have a closet actor here you know.) While JD was occupied I ran around the church politicking to fill those remaining ministry positions in the church. It’s tiring asking the same people over and over again to hand in their forms. I still have 21 people to corner, I mean to gently talk to them and coax them into handing me their filled out forms.

We had another baseball game tonight. You guessed it we lost again. It’s our lack of a good pitcher or pitchers.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

A busy day

It was a busy day of double lessons and ministry boards. 

The devotion today was about self-control. It started out with a list of things that could make you lose your self-control. Even though some things get on our last nerve we all have the choice to ignore it and press on. That’s a tough choice to make for some people. Self-control is a fruit of the spirit. And Psalm 4:4 say, “Don’t sin by letting anger gain control over you. Think about it overnight and remain silent.”

The first math lesson today was about drawing conclusions and justifying our answers. It taught JD the term prediction. Basically that is making an educated guess and being able to justify why. Then we had to test his answer with reasonableness by asking ourselves, “Is the answer reasonable?” or “Does it make sense?” One example was 2n+5=13. First we did 13-5=8 and predicted that 2 x’s something equaled 8. So 2x4=8. The “n” in the problem equaled 4. Then we learned that distance on a grid always has to be a positive #. Example: -15 miles x 6 miles = 90 square miles. JD scored a 90% on this quiz. The second math lesson was called limited possibilities. It taught us how to use a sample space or listing all of the possible outcomes to an event. While that is effective it’s much quicker just to do the math. If you have 4 pairs of socks, 2 shorts, and 8 shirts you just times all of them together. Example: 4x2=8, 8x8=64 possible outfits. (time to go shopping now…) JD scored a 100% on this quiz. He was all over this lesson.

The language arts lesson was about Cause and Effect. It was an interactive guided lesson where JD read stories and passages to figure out the cause and effect of the situations presented. He scored an 80% on the quiz.

I was working on some Nominating Committee Ministry Fair displays for church. I finished an AWANA board, a Finance board, and a Baptism and Usher board to display tomorrow as example for the rest of the committees to follow. We’re hoping to sign more that 46 people up for all the various ministry positions around the church.

Monday, May 9, 2011
A doubly good day
It was a busy weekend and a doubly good school day.

The Pirates had a games Saturday. We lost but not by much; the final score was 8-6. Jeff had a prior golf appointment so I told the team, “Let’s win this for Coach Jeff.”  JD got a double at bat.  Yippee!

I hope all of the Mother’s out there had a Good Mother’s day. I know I did. I wish Mother’s day could last six months, but JD disagrees.

I received another FedEx package this morning before school even started. I have looked and looked and I don’t know what I have to drive to Raleigh for, other than a possible psychological appointment. I was already seen for PTSD about six months after retirement.

I decided this is crunch time for Faith Christian Academy. JD will only be doing math lessons and reading comprehension lessons until his assessment shows up. We will double up on both subjects until then.

The devotion was about breaking your usual way of thinking. There was an exercise with 9 dots arrange in row of three under one another. The object of the lesson was to connect all of the dots using four straight lines, without lifting your pencil. There really is a way of doing it you just have to literally think outside of the box. It’s just like getting to know God and His ways. The more you know the more you will begin to think in ways others just can’t understand. Accepting God as your authority allows you to know right and wrong and our thought and attitudes will change. With God’s limitless thinking, the possibilities are endless.

This first math lesson we did today was about distance on a line. We relearned the quadrants on a graph and plotting points. We used those plotting points to figure out the difference between the two points. The second lesson was about the terms horizontal and vertical lines on a graph. Then we learned the distance on a graph must be in “absolute value” or always a positive #. JD scored a 80% on the quiz.

The language arts lesson was on Interpreting Charts and Graphs. It was an interactive guided lesson where he read stories or passages that include some pretty tough charts, maps, and graphs. I actually sat down for one of the maps and I couldn’t figure it out. JD also took the related quiz and scored an 80%.

We had a long baseball practice tonight. Maybe the boys will remember all that they were taught and use it during our next games.