Math in every day life

The other day, H and I were watching some sort of Gymnastics competition on TV.

This led to a discussion of decimals, since H was wondering what it meant for one girl to get a 9.825 and one to get a 9.850.

It was a great example of how basic arithmetic concepts come up naturally in the regular course of living our lives.

LepreCon 2008

We just got back, yesterday, from LepreCon 2008. We stayed at the hotel during the convention, which was S's most fervent wish. M spent much of his time working on recording some of his music so he can put out a live album. I mostly hung out with the kids.

I was too busy just being with the kids to get many photos taken, but S requested I get pictures of all the fountains at the hotel. She wants to look at them later and decide which she likes the most and will put into her photo album. ( Click here if you want to see the fountains. )

The kids went swimming five times in three days. I went swimming with them on each day during the day, then watched while they went swimming at night. They split their time between the not too hot hot tub (which C called the hot pool) and the slightly too cold baseball shaped pool.



I like LepreCon, it has lots of hands on panels, since it is an Art Con. So, even though I made the kids my focus instead of worrying about getting to attend convention events, we still got to do stuff. S made a mask. We made bracelets; the patient lady at the panel even helped C make one. H, S and C got to finger paint. And, of course, we spent plenty of time at the Con suite. I even managed to sing one song at the filk Friday night.

We went regency dancing one night and modern dancing the next. H had such a good time at the modern dancing, with the moving colored lights, she told me she didn't need a 19th birthday party, this was so much fun, it counted.

All in all, a pleasant con.

Next stop CopperCon.

Why not?

A funny thing about the modern dance party we attended at LepreCon. It was supposed to be a costume party, so at first I didn't want to take the girls to it (as I did not have a costume).

Finally, I had the good sense to ask myself, "Why not?". The girls really wanted to go, it was a Con for goodness sakes - so what if I looked silly going to an event I wasn't prepared for.

So we went and H, S and C had a blast.

By the time we got there, there were only a few people dancing, swirling colored lights, and plenty of room for the kids to run around and dance. They were so cute to watch. I marveled at their energy levels. They had already spent three hours in the pool/hot tub that day and they still had it in them to chase each other around in circles and dance.

Plus, as mentioned in my previous entry, H had so much fun she decided it was better than any 19th Birthday party she could imagine.

I am thankful for the unschooling groups and forums I have read - that is where I can recall having first encountered the idea to live well *today* with my kids and to mindfully consider my responses to their requests. To ask "Why not?" when I come up against a knee jerk "No."

We could have skipped that dance by giving in to my worries about looking foolish. Instead, I faced my fears, the kids had fun, and I believe we have a stronger relationship because of it.

Regency Dancing

H wanted me to mention, that she spent half the time at the Regency dance, dancing with me, and half the time dancing with her new buddy.