Fun with Math

I love to save money. I take advantage of sales, promotions, coupons, and whatever else I can to buy the best food for the least amount of money.

 

We also have a really great math teacher at our K-8 school. She hosted a "Family Math" 6-week class a few months back. The idea was to get the kids and parents to work together on fun math puzzles and problems. Kids got to see how cool math is, with some practical applications, and math skills were reinforced with the family.

 

Thus I decided to write our math teacher about my most recent shopping trip with the kids.

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Dear Mrs. Math Teacher,

 

I thought you would appreciate these two grocery math stories from my shopping trip yesterday.

 

1. Least Common Factor sale problem.

One of Princess Imagination's favorite treats, Sparkling Grape Juice, was on sale at 2 bottles for $4. It usually retails for $3.99 each bottle. As I was picking up the bottles, I noticed a coupon on the bottle that said "Save $1 on any 3 bottles." I told Princess Imagination I wanted to plan my purchases so I took advantage of both sales.

 

I got 6 bottles for $12, less $2 in coupons, which is $10 for 6 bottles, or $1.67 per bottle.

 

2. Is "Buy 1 Get 1 Free" Sale the best deal?

There was a "Buy 1 Get 1 Free" sale on frozen shrimp. A two-pound bag of large, raw, white shrimp was $24.99, the second one was free. Nearby was a two-pound bag of medium, raw, white shrimp, on sale for $10.99, $5 off from the usual $15.99. A lady next to me was all excited to save $25. I said that is great, but I'm going to get my shrimp even cheaper than that. The "Buy 1 Get 1 Free" shrimp comes out to $6.25 per pound, but the other shrimp on sale comes to just $5.49 per pound. I don't care how big my shrimp is, but how little it costs per pound! (When I left her, she was still trying to decide whether to get the bigger shrimp or the smaller unit price.)

 

Also, yesterday was Tuesday, with a running store promotion of 5% off an entire order over $30 for seniors. I've discovered that if I have certain cashiers, they give me the 5% discount because I'm a loyal customer. So the additional 5% discount my grape juice was just $1.59 per bottle (only 40% retail) and my shrimp was just $5.22 per pound.

 

Oh, yeah, I love math.

 

Best regards,

The Mominator

Time is relative

Pink  Ballerina, Princess Imagination & I were discussing something that happened in the past. To me, it was just a little while ago, a few months maybe. To Princess Imagination, it was "years and years ago." We finally figured out that it was in April.

So why did it feel fairly recent for me, and so far away for Princess Imagination? Pink Ballerina felt that Princess Imagination was just exaggerating. "Actually," I said, "it's because of your age."

I then explained that if we round off our ages, I am about 50, and Princess Imagination is about 10. That means, every year of my life is only about 2% of my life, my memory. It just wasn't that long ago. But since Princess Imagination is about 10, every year of her life has been about 10% of her life, her memory. Actually, even more, since children don't remember much of their first few years. So what happened in April is relatively so much closer to me in my memory, than it is in yours.

By the way, what happened back in April? We got a puppy!!!

Bumblebee status update

Bumblebee’s case manager called recently to say that the state-required 3-year evaluation would be due this year, but “he spoke with the school, things are going well, and they all agree that they don’t need an evaluation on Bumblebee.” I called back and said that we don’t think things are going well and we would evaluations in several areas.

Academic

Bumblebee’s grades in his four main subjects are C’s and D’s, and even those classes are watered down not as challenging as mainstream courses. We would like an Academic Evaluation of his strengths and weaknesses with suggestions for improvement. For example, should we be working more on Basic Skills, functional academics, and life skills?

Occupational

Bumblebee’s handwriting is very poor. We are not concerned whether his handwriting is print or script, but it should be functional and legible.

Bumblebee spends much of each day in repetitive self-stimming activities (clapping, leg jiggling, echoing, singing, shouting out, etc.). Bumblebee’s Developmental Pediatrician has suggested that Bumblebee would benefit from a sensory diet. What kinds of things can we do at home and at school to calm him down?

Speech

Bumblebee’s speech is still hard to understand, and he still doesn’t understand many of the pragmatics of speech. Unfortunately, Bumblebee’s speech deteriorates quickly when he is frustrated, just when we need to understand him the most. We would like a Speech Evaluation with suggestions and exercises for improvement.

Emotional

Bumblebee is easily frustrated, and his frustration quickly escalates to violence. Bumblebee has broken many things at home, including punching holes in walls. We would like an Emotional Evaluation with suggestions and techniques for improvement.

Social

Bumblebee is so far behind his age peers that he can not make friends. His age peers do not return his phone calls, and younger friends are now outgrowing him. We would like a Social Evaluation of his strengths and weaknesses with suggestions and techniques for improvement.

Future

Do we need an IQ Evaluation to help plan his future?
What is available to Bumblebee at his school, or otherwise, post-12^th grade?

Stay tuned.
Love, the Mominator

Apostles

A few weeks ago, Parish Council Woman asked us if Bumblebee could be an Apostle for Holy Thursday’s Washing of the Feet. I reminded her that Bumblebee has autism. She said that she knows that, and she was trying to get more diversity in our Apostles. Oh, and she forgot to mention that she would like Gadget Guy to be with him as another Apostle. She’s seen how well Gadget Guy gets Bumblebee.

We were extremely nervous very honored.

In the meantime, the Sacristan asked us if Pink Ballerina could be an Altar Server. I asked if he wanted Princess Imagination as well. He said no, he was recruiting senior servers only because Princess Imagination is really too small to be holding the heavy books or heavy candles for that length of time.  I also asked the Sacristan if he could warn remind tell every one who would be working with the Apostles that Bumblebee has autism. I gave him a few hints: Bumblebee works best with simple directions, no figures of speech, no rushing.

Thursday came. Bumblebee was having a tough day (maybe because school was on a half schedule?).  We had him take an early shower, and we had an early dinner. Gadget Guy took Bumblebee over to the church early. They had some guy time together while waiting.

The procession began. Bumblebee and Gadget Guy got separated by a pew. The prayers began. Bumblebee got fidgety. A lady Apostle worked with him. The readings began. Bumblebee got more fidgety. The other Apostles helped, some room was made, and Gadget Guy was able to slip over next to Bumblebee.


Finally it was time. The first half of the Apostles went up in pairs. One Apostle snuck out of order to make sure Bumblebee would later pair up with Gadget Guy. Feet were washed, Bumblebee watched.

The second half of the Apostles went up in pairs. Bumblebee and Gadget Guy were the first pair; Gadget Guy was seated right next to Bumblebee.

And then the miracle happened.
Bumblebee was just a regular Apostle who got his feet washed.

Got the results of Pink Ballerina’s most recent lab tests…m

The nurse reports that everything looks normal, throat culture was negative for Strep and Pink Ballerina seems to be recovering well from the Epstein-Barr virus.

Me: Epstein-Barr? You mean she had mono? When did she have mono?

Nurse: Sometime after the October 11, 2011 tests and before this round of tests. There's no treatment other than rest. The mono can still make her feel tired and it can reactivate when she gets run down.

Me: OK, then, good to know.

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So on top of everything else, Pink Ballerina had mono along the way. Maybe when her friend had mono? We’ll never know if one infected the other, or if both got it from another child. It doesn’t really matter.

And how did we miss mono? I guess it was just mixed in with all those dizzy and tired spells. We know that the Norovirus recently went through our school, and that may be what sent us to the doctor’s office last week.

Never a dull moment.

Love, the Mominator

Mommy pride for my empathetic daughter...m

Princess Imagination has been a very, very good friend to Orange, who was diagnosed with Asperger’s last spring. Princess Imagination helps Orange in social situations and includes Orange in everything. Princess Imagination really “gets” Orange, especially O’s (many!!) sensory issues, and helps her through them.


Yesterday we gave Orange a ride to a birthday party. Orange’s mom insisted on brushing Orange’s hair right before we left. Orange totally freaked out (running, screaming, arms flapping). Princess Imagination was able to calm her down.

Momma Bear lost her temper this morning...m

Each week, the fifth graders are required to read at least 75 minutes, log the time, write a long summary, and have their parents sign it.

I saw one of Princess Imagination’s reading logs from two weeks ago. She read 90 minutes. Her summary was very long. She forgot to have me sign it, but she handed it in on time. Her grade was only 90%, which is only a B.

I signed it this morning and sent it back with a BIG note right under the 90%: “Is this because it was not signed? Please explain this. Thank you, Mom.”

She certainly read beyond the required 75 minutes, and she wrote an excellent summary. Hello? This is 5th grade, and this is a just a simple homework, not a quiz or test on knowledge. It should have been an easy 100. Yet her grade is only a B because she forgot to have her parents sign it and there were a few spelling mistakes.


Since then, I have found a few more of Princess Imagination’s reading logs. All of the logs have at least 90 minutes, and long summaries. One has 95 minutes, a long summary, and 5 spelling mistakes. That one is graded 88%. Another had 165 minutes, a very long summary (half Princess wrote, and half she dictated to me (and I wroted "scribed by Mom, per 504)), and no spelling mistakes. That one is graded just 95%. So I wonder, what must she do to get 100%??

But it’s not just reading logs. It seems to be every homework, project, quiz or test. Princess Imagination is getting marked off for being messy, for forgetting things, for every little thing. In short, for having ADHD.

I have a meeting with her team of teachers next Wednesday. I will bring these reading logs and other work in as examples of how her ADHD is hurting her grades.

The Mominator becomes a Momma Bear when her cubs are threatened or hurt in any way.

And Momma Bear is NOT happy.