VLOG 1

Math brains need good food to power them...not processed sugarfied cereal dowsed in artificial food coloring.

Oatmeal is always good but black rice is even better.

Simple: cook black rice.
Put it in bowls.
Handful of raisins.
Two tablespoons of coconut milk.

I use a Vita Mix to make rice oat and cashew milk.
A teaspoon or two of honey and mix it up...

"Just a spoonful of black rice bran contains more health promoting anthocyanin antioxidants than are found in a spoonful of blueberries, but with less sugar and more fiber and vitamin E antioxidants," said Zhimin Xu, Associate Professor at the Department of Food Science at Louisiana State University Agricultural Center in Baton Rouge.

"If berries are used to boost health, why not black rice and black rice bran? Especially, black rice bran would be a unique and economical material to increase consumption of health promoting antioxidants," added Dr Xu.

Coconuts are seen by some as a miracle food, helping protect and cure the body of internal and external ailments. Coconut milk has many uses, most of which build up the immune system and the body's defenses. You can find coconut milk in the ethnic foods section of a local grocery store.

Nutrients
1. Coconut milk contains many vitamins, minerals and electrolytes, including potassium, calcium and chloride.
Saturated Fat
2. The saturated fat in coconut is made up of short-chain and medium-chain fatty acids the body quickly turns into energy instead of storing as fat. Therefore, even though it's high in saturated fat, coconut can aid in weight loss.
Lauric Acid
3. Half the medium-chain fatty acids in coconut milk are composed of lauric acid, which is anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-microbial and anti-fungal. Coconut milk can help boost the immune system.
Dairy-Free
4. Coconut milk is a dairy-free alternative for those who are lactose intolerant or allergic to animal milk. This vegan drink is also soy-free, gluten-free and nut-free.
Relief of Ailments
5. Coconut milk is known to relieve the symptoms of sore throats and ulcers.



Here is a blog post about the Elenco Snap Circuits SC-500 kit we have. As you can see they REALLY, really like playing with it.

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Go to the House of Math.

School Lunch. The importance of food for healthy kids and healthy minds:



Speaking at the 2007 EG conference, "renegade lunch lady" Ann Cooper talks about the coming revolution in the way kids eat at school -- local, sustainable, seasonal and even educational food.

Some Math Lessons for the 5 and Under Crowd

A sample of a lesson with a 4 and 5 year old. You can see their progress with skip counting. Soon you will also be able to see their progress with Algebra...over all their understanding of math concepts increases weekly.

The point is not to just teach little kids little math with little numbers...play and have fun and all kinds of math concepts can be discovered.



Always tell them what they have and make them count it, if they give you a wrong answer. Remove the "no" from the lesson and remember they don't get it wrong they just get more information...

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Go to the House of Math.

Learn more Algebra for a buck.

Higher Powers of X

Math is just counting. Here we count a bigger rectangle than just "x squared".

60 seconds ought to give you an inkling of how cool this is...note I say "x-squared" but I meant "x-cubed" or "x to the third."

The students are 4 and 5 years old.

Here we factor x³ + 6x² + 12x + 16!



Here is a longer explanation/demonstration:



At the end they look like geniuses


Here we play with

x³ + 7x² + 14x + 8



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Go to the House of Math.

Learn more Algebra for a buck.

Playing with the Quadratic

Here are a few vids on the Quadratic Equation itself. How to derive it and why it looks like it does. There will be a couple of more short vids on this topic, but for now here are three.

This first vid really needs redoing because you can't always see the symbols and I left off the x in the middle term when I copied it at one point...but good enough for now...




The second EASIER way:


The third and hardest way:



Look for more shortly. Here is a webpage on the quadratic formula at the house of math...

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Go to the House of Math.

Learn more Algebra for a buck.

Headed for the Quadratic

Math is counting. Algebra is counting. See the little boys count. Count little boys count.







From x² to the Quadratic all we are doing is making rectangles and counting so we can figure out what x is...

Find us on FaceBook

Go to the House of Math.

Learn more Algebra for a buck.

Playing With Addends

Playing with addends. A lesson on combining. If you listen carefully you will hear addition and subtraction together.

Here the younger boy is loading up the tray so we can play with it. He is building tens and seeing and touching the pairs, complements or in mathematical nomenclature: addends for TEN.

This is an "Addition Subtraction kit" from Mortensen Math. Very useful for putting a child in a situation where they cannot fail, they build ten and learn all 45 addends. They can't help but learn some subtraction too. Do you need this kit? It's nice but if you have a combo kit you don't really need it...some parents want to have everything and it is nice to have. Meantime you have everything you need in a combo kit.

Note they changed clothes for the video...

Here is a quick video showing two boys fooling around with addends. They have become camera aware and now ham it up a little for the camera by pretending they don't know the answers.

Years from now when shown these videos I'm going to be interested in their response. Anyhow, note there is no "no" in the lesson, they are simply told what they have and they are not wrong they just get more information...

Many people use these powerful tools to teach addition at this age and that's about it...and maybe some place value but they can learn so many more concepts.




Find us on FaceBook

Go to the House of Math.

Learn Algebra for a buck.

Playing: the best way to learn math.

Here are a few pics of the boys playing math.

Eights, kinda sound like fours when you count them, and you can see three eights is 24.

Reminds me of Eeyore's stick house, lots of math went on in his mind though as evidenced by his humming a song about fours as he built it...

Building ten at this age is a great part of every lesson.

Here is a screencast:







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Go to the House of Math.

Learn Algebra for a buck.

Fast Fractions Lesson.

This is a screencast of a fractions lesson I did with one of my students.

This is not a beginner lesson but more of an intermediate lesson, after a lot of introductory lessons have already been done.

I did the screencast in one take and obviously without editing...lol...as two of my younger students make a surprise appearance near the end.



I would hope that you can see how you could incorporate lessons on skip counting and multiplication into your fractions lesson with these blocks...the students don't need to have mastered multiplication first and indeed can use lessons like this to learn multiplication.


http://www.crewtonramoneshouseofmath.com/

Avoid Internet SCAMS

From: monica cynthia
To: serv-67faf-2032915272@craigslist.org
Sent: Sat, October 30, 2010 1:42:32 AM
Subject: Algebra HELP! (Makawao)

** CRAIGSLIST ADVISORY --- AVOID SCAMS BY DEALING LOCALLY
** Avoid: wiring money, cross-border deals, work-at-home
** Beware: cashier checks, money orders, escrow, shipping
** More Info: http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams.html

--
Hello,
I require your tutorial service for my son who needs tutorial in your
specialized field. I would like to make a tutoring arrangement between
you and my son for the month of Dec 2010 till dec 23rd, I would like
you to tutor him within a period of 1 month, on a schedule basis of 1
hr Daily, 3 times weekly, totaling 12 times in a month.
I am willing to pay your rates. Kindly get back to me with the total
cost of tutoring her for a month / 4 weeks.
Regards,

Hmmmm, which is it him or her? And two first names...okay I'll play along.

------------------------------------------------------------------
this message was remailed to you via: serv-67faf-2032915272@craigslist.org
------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Crewton Ramone
Subject: Re: Algebra HELP! (Makawao)
To: "monica cynthia"
Date: Saturday, October 30, 2010, 11:25 AM

Why not start in Nov so it's not all crammed into one month...better retention, better results. Then he only comes once or twice a week...
If you come for 11 classes in a row I'll give you the last on free....

11 @ 40 = 440.00 ÷ 12 = 36.67@...

Refer a student or two and I'll give you bonus classes...


Re: Algebra HELP! (Makawao)
...
From:
Monica Cynthia NOTE NEW ADDRESS [Chat now]
...
Add to Contacts
To: Crewton Ramone
Hello,
Thanks for getting back to me, my son is coming for an holiday in your area(City), His name is David and he is 15 years old.I want him to be busy during Holiday Period ,because am in England for business trip i will be back in 2 month Time that is why i want him to be lesson, I want you to calculate the cost of 2 hour per day for two days in week for the whole a Month of December end 23rd 2010 and E-mail me the total cost, and i have someone(Nanny) that will always drives him down to your lesson center. Kindly Respond with your information below to be on the Cashier check.....
FULL NAME to be On The Check And ADDRESS WITH ZIP CODE....(NO P.O Box) and Cell phone number
Thanks and hope to read from you soon.My son full name is David Chris
Best Regards
Monica


Looks like a form letter to me...JFSAG what will they say if I ask for cash?

--- On Sat, 10/30/10, Crewton Ramone wrote:


From: Crewton Ramone
Subject: Re: Algebra HELP! (Makawao)
To: "Monica Cynthia"
Date: Saturday, October 30, 2010, 7:09 PM

When he comes have him bring cash.


Same form letter not even any customizations or ad libs...amateur scammer. Not even any fun to play with.

From: Monica Cynthia
To: Crewton Ramone
Sent: Sat, October 30, 2010 4:58:13 AM
Subject: Re: Algebra HELP! (Makawao)

Hello,
Thanks for getting back to me, my son is coming for an holiday in your area(City), His name is David and he is 15 years old.I want him to be busy during Holiday Period ,because am in England for business trip i will be back in 2 month Time that is why i want him to be lesson, I want you to calculate the cost of 2 hour per day for two days in week for the whole a Month of December end 23rd 2010 and E-mail me the total cost, and i have someone(Nanny) that will always drives him down to your lesson center. Kindly Respond with your information below to be on the Cashier check.....
FULL NAME to be On The Check And ADDRESS WITH ZIP CODE....(NO P.O Box) and Cell phone number
Thanks and hope to read from you soon.My son full name is David Chris
Best Regards
Monica

People with two first names...who need my full name and cell phone and who don't ask for directions but wand adress and zip code and DON'T want a PO box. It blows me away that people fall for these scams in the first place...

--- On Sat, 10/30/10, Crewton Ramone wrote:

Ghana, Nigeria or Kenya?


It would have been fun to see how they tried to get my bank account info but I lost patience for it...if they reply I will post that here but somehow I doubt I'll get a response? Will be putting those to emails on spammers lists...lol...just reply to personal ads on craigslist or other questionable sites...but put their emails in instead of yours. Also if some hot young thing wants to be friends on FB or MySpace I'll give them those emails...

More Algebraic Story Problems: Boat Current etc

Soon on Crewton Ramone's House Of Math, there will be a password protected page that shows you how to do these kinds of problems and other story problems with the blocks! When you can see what you are doing solving these becomes child's play.

Start off easy…and work your way up. Easy means easy. No fractions nothing complex, that way the concept comes through. A few easy ones and your students will be solving these quickly and easily.

Boat and stream, boat and river, airplane and wind etc.

Two assumptions we are going to make the speeds remain constant for the boat and the river current. I always say average speed to make up for getting started at the beginning and slowing down and stopping at the end. Bright kids will always over think these at first. Note they are set up for children that are still learning to tell time as an added bonus.


Neb has canoe and a paddle. He paddles upstream against the current for 24 miles. It takes 6 hours. (He leaves at 8 and gets there at 2.) On the way back the same 24 mile trip only takes 4 hours with the current. (He leaves at 8 gets back at noon.)
How fast does Neb paddle in still water? What is the speed of the current?

Neb takes another trip this time the river is swifter so he gets a new motor for his boat. The trip is longer too. Neb heads downstream for 30 miles and it only takes 2 hours. (He leaves at 6 and gets there at 8.) On the way back he takes 6 hours. (He leaves at 7 and gets there at one.) He is carefully breaking in his new motor.
What is the speed of the boat in still water? What is the speed of the current?

Feeling confident about his boating abilities and his new motor, Neb, takes a longer trip and works his new motor a little harder by going faster. This time he travels 60 miles upstream against the current, to Camp Titikaka were there is a summer camp for belly dancing Swedish Stewardesses. Neb is delivering several cases of suntan oil. The trip takes 5 hours. (He leaves at 5am and gets there at 10, so he can spend as much time as possible there.) He ends up spending a week there. On the way back, with the current, the trip only takes 3 hours. (He leaves at 5 and gets back at 8.)
What is the speed of the boat in still water? What is the speed of the current?

Neb and his new friend Helga take a little trip in a canoe for a picnic, they go up a side stream and it takes 8 hours to cover 16 miles to the picnic grounds. Downstream the trip back only takes half the time for the same distance. What is the speed of the canoe in still water? What is the speed of the current? (Assume they have 16 hours of daylight and they leave at dawn and get back before dark, how much time did they have for their "picnic"?)

Neb is taking a trip to Sweden to visit Helga and her friends. Flying into the wind the 3000 km trip took 6 hours. A plane flying in the opposite direction at the same speed only took 5 hours. What is the average speed of the planes and what is the rate of the wind?

Helga takes Neb on boat trip while he is there. They travel up a beautiful fjord and take their time sightseeing. The trip is 12 km upstream and takes 6 hours. The trip back only takes 4 hours.
What is the speed of the boat in still water? What is the speed of the current?

The pass a tributary that has delicious Swedish Salmon in it. A salmon swims 100 meters in 8 minutes down stream, up stream the same fish would take 20 minutes to swim 100 meters. How fast is the salmon? How fast is the current?

Neb and Helga take pictures of a Swan flying by. The Swan can fly 2400 meters in 10 minutes with the wind. Against the wind the swan only flies two thirds of that distance before it decides to rest after 10 minutes. How fast would the swan fly if there was no wind? What is the rate of the wind? BONUS: What is the rate of the wind in kilometers per hour?

There will also be a few bonus problems not listed here like these but also video's about working together, percents, % solution problems, constant rate etc.