Evan-Moor Daily Word Problems Math Grade ~Review

 

This is my first review as a member of the Timberdoodle Blogger Review Team. I was very excited to have the opportunity to review a math book from Evan-Moor. I really like Evan-Moor but have never tried any of their math products.

Daily Word Problems Math Grade 3

This workbook contains 111 pages (including the answer key).  You will find the following included in this book:

• 5 problems a week
• One and two-step problems
• Charts and graphs
• Scope & sequence chart
• Answer key

Math skills practice include:

• addition and subtraction facts
• multiplication and division facts
• multidigit addition and subtraction with and without regrouping
• multiplication with and without regrouping
• division with and without remainders
• telling time
• money
• fractions
• reading and interpreting graphs and charts
• geometry logic problems

Topics include fun themes such as camping, ice cream party, newspaper route, cats and football.

There are 36 weekly sections. Each week’s problems center on a theme. Monday through Thursday contain a one-or two-step word problem. Friday’s format is more extensive and includes multiple steps and may involve a chart or graph.

The workbook is consumable and reproducible.

Our thoughts

I was excited to try this book because Justin loves math word problems. I was hoping it was something he would enjoy. We were not disappointed.

In the very front of the book there is a scope and sequence that lists all of the math areas covered and in which lesson they are covered.

There is one word problem to do for each day of the week. Each week is based on a theme. For example the first week’s theme is candle making. Each day there is a word problem related to making candles. You can look through the first 24 pages of here.

 

The problems from Monday through Thursday are short taking about 5-10 minutes to complete. For each of these problems there is a work space provided opposite the problem for the child to workout the answer.  Friday’s lesson is a longer lesson that goes more in depth taking 10-20 minutes to complete.

I like that each lesson is not overly long and yet long enough to require some thought  to  solve each problem. I found the questions challenging and interesting and they held Justin’s attention.

These lessons go over many different areas of math not just the typical addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The fractions,geometry, money, graphing and charts are a wonderful addition to this workbook. 

In addition to solving math problems using word problems gives Justin the added benefit of practicing his reading while working on math. I love that we can incorporate two subjects at the same time.

Justin loves using this book and asks to do it each day.

I mentioned above that the book is consumable and reproducible. Another great feature is that the pages are perforated. So we can just remove a page at a time if we choose to.

You can find some great thinking skills items at Timberdoodle.

disclosure: I was given this product as a member of Timberdoodle’s Blogger Review team in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to give a positive review.  All opinions in this post and on this blog are my own.

Lego Creation Thursday~March 31

 

Welcome to the final March edition of Lego Creation Thursday! Can you believe tomorrow is April first? I need to think of an April fool’s Day prank to play on my family!

This weeks Lego question of the week is:

Do your kids love the Lego mini figures?

My boys love them! Especially Justin. He has quite a collection. One of these Thursdays maybe we will do a post on those? Myself I think the Lego figures are very cool!  I was excited to find the mini figure key rings so cheap and we were able to remove the key ring and use them as regular mini figures.

Onto the creations!

This week Justin is up first with yet another architecture series. This week he is sharing the Willis Tower.  It was built in 1974 and it is the  currently the tallest building in the US. Most of us know it as the Sears Tower. It had a name change a few years ago.  Oh and I learned something else from Justin. Aerial's do not count when measuring the height of a building! I had no idea! Justin is just a wealth of information. I tell you the boy is a sponge!

Kaden’s creations this week are more of the birthday gifts that he received last week. A police truck and a police helicopter.  Again, Justin gave him a hand with these creations.

I feel much safer knowing the police are here and patrolling the area!

Even if they are miniature police!

What Lego creations have your kid’s come up with this week? Please join us! We would love to see their creations! You can link up below using Mr. Linky! I would appreciate it if you would link this post in your post or share our Lego Creation Thursday button in your post. Be sure to join us each week!

Practicing the days of the week and months of the year.

This week Kaden has been working on memorizing the days of the week and the months of the year. He knows them fairly well and we do use our daily calendar.  I wanted something to reinforce his memory.

I remembered that I had these whale printables from Childcareland. I believe I got these as one of their freebies when they offered them.

While I could not find those exact ones. I did find these that are currently free. Click on days of the week….months of the year link. If you scroll through near the bottom of the file you will find printable days of the week/months of the year.

I laminated ours and just have Kaden put them in order and we sing a couple of songs as he works on them.

 

Tutorial: Removing the key ring from a Lego mini figure

Last week I shared with you Kaden’s Lego birthday party. If you missed it you can find that post here. You can find the resources we used for the party here.

One of the items in the goodie bags were Lego mini figure key rings. They were so inexpensive that I bought them with the thought of removing the key ring and then the kids could use them to play with. My boys love Lego mini figures here and they can be pricey.

It was not as difficult as I thought it would be.

You will need

• adjustable pliers
• needle nose pliers
• a paper clip
• a mini figure key ring
• a bit of strength

(your adjustable pliers need not be rusty like mine are)

I started out with R4-P44 (do not confuse R4 with R2D2 and call him by the wrong name you will be corrected!)

Using both pair of pliers grasp the jump ring at the bottom of the chain. Twist until the ring opens. (excuse the blurry photo my assistant was a bit unsteady with the camera)

You can see in this picture that the jump ring is twisted open.

remove the key ring and chain. You are left with a little knob/ring at the top of R4. Take the adjustable pliers and smash it together and then you can just wiggle it back and forth and it will break off clean. I did this with both boys R4 and there were no sharp edges.

R4 key ring free!

Next up: Kit Fisto. Once again I removed the key ring using the above method.

This time though instead of smashing that little ring at the top of his head I was able to pull it out. Thread a paper clip through the ring. Grip the paperclip with the adjustable pliers. Now pull. Hard! You really have to pull and have a good grip on the paperclip.

You will feel it loosen and you will be able to pull it completely out.

I tried and tried to get the R4 screw out this way.   I could not remove it so I just broke it off.

Ahhh we feel much better!

I love that I was able to buy these for $1.29 each instead of paying $12+ for a mini figure! It pays to watch for a good sale!

The Homeschool Mother’s Journal~March 27

In my life this week...

This past week has been a quiet one here at our house. I spent part of the week working on the boys bedroom specifically their closet. One side holds mostly games and toys and we are working on weeding those out.  I have several books on my nightstand waiting to be read and reviews will be coming soon.

In our homeschool this week...

We spent last week working on some units that needed completing. School is going well for the most part. I am still working on tweaking a few things. I started Kaden on AAS this week and so far that is going well.

Places we're going and people we're seeing...

We were home from Monday to Saturday. We did not go anywhere all week! That rarely happens.  Saturday we did venture out to the thrift store to drop off donations and of course see what treasures we could come home with. We did come home with a couple bags of items, a star finder, a couple of games, a puzzle and a few shirts for Justin.  I also came home with two bags of books. I love finding wonderful books at the thrift store! You cannot beat a quarter for a book! Thankfully we brought home less than we donated. That is always a good thing.   One of the bags of books is going to my niece. She loves to read and I love to encourage her. On a sad note yesterday I was out yesterday for the funeral of my cousin’s wife who passed away from a brain tumor at the age of 46.  Such a sad time. My prayers are with the family. One positive was I got to see many of my cousins and extended family. I have been very blessed with many cousins and all of them are wonderful and I am very thankful for them!

 
My favorite thing this week was...

Listening to my boys talk in bed. They have bunk beds. Justin is on the top and Kaden below.  The other night Justin invited Kaden to a sleepover in the top bunk.  It was so cute. Justin read to Kaden and they talked for an hour. My only concern was Kaden being in the top bunk. He is such a dare devil and has no fear.  I woke up in the night and went and checked on them. I could not find Kaden in the top bunk. Justin had kicked him out at 1am because he said Kaden was making him feel cramped! So Kade was back in his own bed. They have decided that future sleepovers will be on the pull out sofa in the living room!

What's working/not working for us...

Right now everything is working pretty well for us. I am happy for the most part with everything we are doing school wise. I am resisting looking at what everyone else is doing this time of the year with planning for the new school year and such. There is just so many curriculum choices out there it is mind boggling!  One thing I am giving some serious consideration is to school 4 weeks and then take a week off to catch up whatever needs catching up and taking time to freezer cook, deep cleaning and do lots of reading. It would give me the time I need to get some additional things done and also give the boys a bit of a break. Still thinking this one though.

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have...

Do you school year round or take a break for summer. We tend to school year round and then take time off when we want. Justin wants to not do school over the summer. The problem is he gets bored. TV and video games take up enough time here and I don’t want them just sitting around complaining there is nothing to do. So we will continue to school year round. We usually plan lots of fun outdoor type of school activities and we still do all of our summer fun things but they just get bored doing nothing all summer. We also go a little lighter in the summer.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share...

I’m still thinking about summer….or at least spring…..where are you spring?

Bring The Rain

One of my favorite songs……

Fried Ravioli

 

Last night I made fried ravioli for supper. My friend Jodi posted this on her blog last month and I have been wanting to try it. Lets just say we will be having these again! They were so good!

 

Lego Birthday Party Resources

Kaden decided he wanted a Lego birthday party back in January. When I started researching Lego parties I had no clue there were so many neat ideas out there!  I try to keep all of our birthday party expenses as low as possible. I had a hard time deciding which ones to use! (I wanted to use them all but restrained myself)

Decorations

I am a dollar store shopper especially when it comes to disposable items however the plates, napkins, table cover and plastic ware came from Walmart. I had seen these square plates back in January and I thought they would be perfect for our party! The red cups came from the dollar store.

The Cake 

I  always make my own cake and my own icing to keep costs down. My favorite buttercream icing.

I knew I wanted to do some form of Lego brick but I had no idea they would be so tedious to make. I used two 8 x 8 pans and put half a cake mix in each. We had both yellow and chocolate cake. I made cupcakes with the remaining batter.  I used directions from the Betty Crocker website. 

Icing the cakes was relatively easy but I wanted a smoother look then the video showed (and I do not care for fondant). I used the paper towel technique to smooth down the cakes. The connectors on top of the cake are marshmallows and they were a pain to icing! A real pain! Looking back I think it would have been much easier to dip them in candy melts and just put them on top of the cake. I did not think of that until after I was done!

The piñata

I cannot remember where I saw this idea. I have searched all of my links and cannot find it. I am thinking it must have been in a magazine as I distinctly remember seeing a photo.  Anyway it was very easy to make.  The directions stated to use a shirt box. I decided to use a deeper gift box that was square. I found a set of 2 in Walmart. (you know a back up in case I mess up! lol)

I filled the box and wrapped it in blue gift wrap. You could do this in any color. I gave Kaden the choice of blue, red or green. He chose blue.  I used some red ribbon for the handle and attached it with packing tape. Make sure you use a lot of packing tape. I thought I had it secure enough but it broke before the kids ever had a chance to give it one whack! For the connector parts of the Lego I used clear disposable plastic cup bottoms.(dollar store)I just cut the bottoms off. I attached them with glue dots. For the word Lego I used the Lego Logo that are used around the forks from this blog Shower of Roses. There are  a lot of great Lego printables and I used many of them.  For the logos I just reduced them before printing to make them small enough.

 

Games

All of the games we played did not cost me any money other then the straws I bought for the Lego transfer game. They were reusable straws from the $1 store and each child got to keep their straw. You could just use disposable straws.

The straw toppers you can find here. I also printed out some extras of these and the Lego logo (in normal size) cut them out and taped them to the table cover for added decoration.

Lego Transfer

You will need a straw, small Lego pieces and a cup. The first one to transfer all of their Legos into the cup wins. This idea came from my friend Kendra over at Aussie Pumpkin Patch. She has a wonderful Lego printable party pack you can find here. 

 Legos on a spoon relay

All you need are two teams, Lego pieces and a container. Each team gets an equal amount of Legos in a small cup and a spoon. They fill their spoon with as many Legos as will fit on the spoon and race to a container on the opposite side of the room. The first team to empty their cup into the container without spilling any is the winner.

Lego Tower

I found this idea here. The time allotted for this game was 20 minutes. I changed it up a bit and we decided that 2 minutes would be more fun.  I just spread out a bunch of Legos on the table and we had them start. Whoever had the tallest tower when time was up was the winner.

Guess How Many?

We filled a jar with Legos and asked everyone to guess how many there were.  In this jar there were 150. We had everyone play this game adults and children and chose two winners. I found this idea here along with the printable for the guests to write their guess on.

I had prizes for all the games. Just small items from the dollar store. Mini ant farm, silly bands and a few candy bars.

 Cupcake Toppers

These are just printed on the computer and attached to a toothpick. From here and here.

Goodie Bags

Lego Brick Hershey bars~I  took Hershey bars and wrapped them in blue gift wrap and used office supply stickers (dollar store) as the connectors.

Lego Pencils~these are just sparkly pencils from the dollar store with those same Lego logos taped on.

Lego mini figure coloring books~ These are from Kendra.

Lego Bubbles~another item from the dollar store. The printables are from Kendra.

Lego mini figures~These were my best bargain! I paid $1.29 each for them when Lego had an online sale! These are actual mini figures that can be played with. The key chains can be removed with a bit of effort.

The bag toppers also came from Kendra.

 

Here are some additional Lego resources I found that might be helpful. There are so many more wonderful ideas that I did not post. Just search Lego parties and you will come up with a plethora of ideas!

Lego Party Games~I love the Lego Bingo game on this page. We did not play it at the party but we will be using it at home.

Lego Kirigami Mini figures~I love these and did not get a chance to do them.

Lego Bubble Wrap board~There are other ideas here as well but I love making a Lego board backdrop out of painted bubble wrap!

Roots and Wings Co~There are some very cool ideas here. One of my favorites is the Lego soap! 

Items for Sale!

Come over and take a peek at my sale blog. I have several items for sale and will be adding more over the next week!

 

Blast from the Past~March 25

Every year we go to the Jersey shore and one of our favorite places to go is Wildwood! These pictures were taken back in 2007.  I remember dressing the boys in these denim jackets. Aren’t they such cute boys!

 

We love the Wildwood boardwalk and if you have been a long time reader you know we spend a lot of time walking the boards. The Wildwood boardwalk is 2 miles long. (it is much longer when you are carrying a small child let me tell you!)

One of my very favorite things about the boardwalk is the Ferris wheel! In Wildwood it is called The Giant Wheel and it is just that Giant! You can see all over Wildwood and the beach when you are riding the Giant Wheel! I love watching it at night. It is all lit up with neon lights that change colors. This is one of the boys favorite rides too!  We look forward to going each year!

 

If you would like to participate in blast from the past click on the button at the top of this post.