Who?  Well, our littlest one, of course, who just passed the 14 month old marker!  She’s not quite walking yet, but yesterday managed to climb up and back down a footstool by herself with a little assist from a nearby table.  The following sequence was taken discreetly, til the last frame:

With the way my boys store their clothes, it’s difficult to find a long sleeve shirt.  I decided to solve the problem by turning a short sleeve shirt that my son had outgrown into a long sleeve shirt.  I know. . . interesting way of solving the problem, but at least it’s more fun and interesting for me.  I’ll just have to teach them the right way of solving their laundry sorting problem some time in the future.

Here’s the original shirt that’s too small:

Now it’s a long sleeve shirt.  I added sleeves and lengthened the bottom:

My boy modeling his “new” shirt.  Once again he can show to the world that he still loves his daddy.

I’m really stoked that this actually worked and I didn’t even spend a penny!

My boys and I have been enjoying playing Set, a card game of visual perception.  Cards are categorized by color, shading, shape, and number.  A ‘Set’ consists of three cards in which each feature is EITHER the same on each card OR is different on each card.  Sounds a bit confusing, eh?  Well, fear not, here’s an online tutorial to get you started.

I secretly bought this game to help my kids work their brains, but as a result, my brain got a workout too.  I’m quite nerdy this way.  I only like games that make you think, but not too hard.  My 7-year-old is quite good at it and he’s beating me these days.  Even my five-year-old is catching up and beating me.  They have a knack for it.  They see things better than I can.  Maybe it’s because my brain is more clogged with other stuff than theirs.  At least my math skills are still better, but I wonder how long it’ll last.  I take comfort in that they feel sorry for me by encouraging me and praising me when I can’t find a ‘Set’.  Ahhhh. . . . my boys. . . I love them though it’s rather embarrassing at times, but I don’t mind.

A week ago, we offered a giveaway of a lovingly homemade cover for an ESV study bible.

We decided to do the old-fashion way of drawing a name from a bowl.  In spite of my husband’s urging of doing [fill-in-geek-talk-about-randomization-algorithm-implemented-in-an-Excel-spreadsheet].

The boys participated in this completely random drawing (overseen by a nationally recognized auditing firm) by pulling a name…

(Feeling the suspense building yet?)

And the winner is …

The winning entrant is invited to contact us by e-mail to let us know which fabric you’d prefer.

Thanks to all for participating!  Please come again for a future giveaway!

Lois is enjoying making more cute shoes for Bethany…

And just for kicks here are a few fun photos of the kids from today:

Recently I implemented “Right Answer Only” grading when correcting my son’s math tests.   Problems are graded as either right or wrong, and no partial credit is given even if the mistake is tiny.  For example, if the problem asks you to take a measurement in inches and you give the correct measurement but neglected to write down “inches,”  the problem is considered wrong.

After I grade the test, I give the test back to my son and tell him to rework all the missed problems WITHOUT my help.  He is to redo the problems on his own, and if he gets the problems correct, he earns half of the point back.  If he is not able to get the problems correct second time around, I step in and help him work through it.  In this case, no additional credit is given.

In my son’s last test, he got 16 correct out of 20 problems.  I circled the 4 wrong answers and gave it back to him to rework on his own.  He got 3 correct, but couldn’t figure one.  His final score was 17.5 out of 20, and how this was calculated was based on the original 16 problems he got correct plus the three problem he reworked, which was half point each:  16 + 0.5 + 0.5 + 0.5 = 17.5.  The percentage was 88% with a grade of B+.  As for the problem he couldn’t figure out, I worked with him and explained the steps.

I really like this grading approach because it forces my son to figure out where he went wrong.  He is more careful these days because he knows that he has to rework the problem if he gets it wrong the first time.  This method works so well that I decided to use the same approach for his regular homework assignments as well.

I got this “right answer only” grading from Ask Dr. Callahan, and you can read about it in the below links:

What is Right Answer Only? (A video explanation)

Why Grade Right Answer Only?

How do I Grade Right Answer Only?

Please note, Ask Dr. Callahan’s math program is targeted towards high schoolers and not elementary students.  However, I find the “right answer only” grading is beneficial for the elementary students as well.  I follow Dr. Callahan’s grading method mostly with the exception that I don’t have my student fill out a separate sheet explaining why he missed the problem.  I believe elementary math is simple enough that if he is able to get it right second time around, he has already figured out where he went wrong, thus eliminating the step to explain why he missed it the first time around.  I think it is beneficial to explain why when math gets more complex in the high school years.

Recently a friend pointed me to an organization call FabMo where they rescue discontinued designer fabrics.  Most of the fabrics are sofa and other home decor samples.  They hold monthly distributions where subscribers can take as much fabric as they need for FREE!  If you so desire, you can make donations so this volunteered based group can continue their effort.  If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area and can use fabrics for projects, you should definitely sign up.

I went for the first time this month and got many pieces of treasures for my sewing needs.  I came away with some wool, cotton, linen, and leather samples.  I was so excited and went to work right away to create clothing for my kids.

I made a pair of soft-soled shoes (Robeez-style) for my one-year-old using  floral linen/cotton blend fabric for the outer pieces and leather for the sole.

I also made a cape for the girls using two square pieces of wool fabrics.

My brain is swirling with ideas and things to make for my kiddos.  So much fun!