Month: November 2014

Words Not To Say In Front Of My Kids

Posted on by kmdupl

I so enjoyed reading this now, especially since he says: “Remember, always blame the schools. And the teachers too.” Hehe
I really laughed about the #1 and #2 scenarios. And I learned that “booty” meant “treasure” in previous times.
At least his daughters are laughing… that’s always good 🙂

Dysfunctional Literacy

I tell my kids they can think anything they want, but there are some things they'd better not say. (image via wikimedia) I tell my kids they can think anything they want, but there are some things they’d better not say. (image via wikimedia)

I told my daughters this morning that they’d need to take a sack lunch to school tomorrow, and they laughed at me.  I wasn’t expecting them to laugh.

It took me a moment to realize why they thought sack lunch was funny.  When I was their age (around 35 years ago), sack lunch wasn’t funny.  I carried a sack lunch to school every day, and nobody laughed.  I think I even called it a sack lunch.  Everybody called it that.  But somewhere along the way, kids picked up on the word sack, and a new source of humor was created.

Now I can’t say sack in front of my daughters; I have to say “brown paper bag.”  If I had two sons, maybe it wouldn’t matter much.  But…

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A Great App to use in Class :-)

Posted on by kmdupl

King of Math by Troubi Entertainment

“A professional brain trainer. One that is both efficient and fun to use.”

Some screenshots of how it looks on your cellphone:

King of Math

This app was rated no. 1 App on Google Play

It has more than 1,000,000 downloads

How it works:

First you create a profile/username and the home screen shows your Level, Total score and Total stars.

 

Then you choose from the list with different types of calculations which include:

  • Addition
  • Subtraction
  • Multiplication
  • Division
  • Powers & Roots
  • Average & Median
  • Equations
  • Fractions
  • Smallest & Largest

 

Each calculation has it’s own chapters up to chapter 9 which is like levels in a game.

The clock or your score starts at 100 000 and runs out. You have to correctly answer 10 calculations by selecting the correct answer out of four supplied. It won’t go on to the next calculation until you have selected the correct answer and you only get

3 mistakes per chapter. It will then tell you, “You Failed!” or if you  realy struggle and the score has run out, to zero it will say: “Time is up!  By completing chapters, you unlock the next ones or if you want to jump ahead you can do an in-app purchase @ R29,99.

 

What ages/grades would benefit from using the app?

This app is for ages 9+, but there is a junior version for 6+ years. It depends on the own learners level of number concept.

 

The benefits of using this app:

This app will definitely help to develop learners number concept. It motivates them  to do  calculations in their heads and not use their fingers to count or work out the answer. There is also the drive to improve as it has the feel of a game and competing against yourself. Learners try to earn as many stars as possible, beat their own score and advance to a next chapter all the while doing MATH.

 

Potential challenges it could pose:

From a teaching perspective, the multiple choice answer option could unfortunately give learners the opportunity to just guess and then their nuber concept and math skills won’t develop.

 

Another bothering aspect, as with most downloaded apps, is the constant advertisement pop-ups. It is impossible to say what the children can be exposed to and they can click on it by accident.

 

Overall I really enjoyed the app and found it user friendly! Might even do some math myself and keep on playing.