Let's Go Shopping

We did an educational board game tonight, one we borrowed from the school last week to help us with math and money.  We spent quite a bit of time on this game, but it was fun and it was of course a learning process for Madison.  The one thing we should have noted, however, was that the age bracket for the game was a little older than her current math skills.  With that in mind, we still set out to play the game, only with math problems that we made up on our own.

The game involves going to the mall with a shopping list, and one by one, getting each item at stores scattered throughout the mall.  You earn money for the items by correctly answering the math problems presented.

So the three of us went to the mall, and the questions commenced.  We had so much fun with them that I thought I'd write a few down here:

1.  The Lone Ranger went to the arcade at the mall.  Each game costs a quarter to play, and he has $2.00 in his pocket.  How many games can he play?

2.  Queen Elsa went to the Bazaar, because they had twelve rocks there that she thought were actually trolls.  When she got home, she realized only seven of them were trolls.  How many of them were just plain old rocks?

3.  Maleficent went to the ice cream shop to get her favorite ice cream, a mint flavor.  It costs $1.25.  How many quarters does she need to give the salesperson?

4.  The Incredibles went shopping at the mall, and left Jack-Jack at home.  The four of them had a great time, and wanted a smoothie.  Each smoothie cost $3.00, so how much would it cost for Violet, Dash, Elastigirl, and Mr. Incredible to all have a smoothie?

5.  Jack Sparrow had a shopping list.  He had to get a treasure chest for $15.00, a pirate patch for $3.00, a compass for $5.00, and a treasure map for $7.00.  How much does he need to spend to get all of that?

6.  Merida needed to fix her bow and arrow.  She took it to the repair shop at the mall.  It cost $23.00 to fix, and she handed the repair person $30.00.  How much change does she get back?

7.  Vanellope Von Schweetz asked the bakery for a cake that had seventeen layers!  They though she was kidding and made her one with only four layers.  When she got there, she said, NO!  I want seventeen layers!  How many more layers does the bakery have to add?

8.  Indiana Jones bought a bullwhip from the Bazaar.  It was supposed to be six feet long, but they made it eleven feet long.  How much do they have to cut off to make it six feet long?

9.  Apple Jack had 40 apples for sale, and sold 29 of them by day's end.  How many apples does she have left?

10.  WyldStyle wants to build a LEGO motorcycle that needs 35 pieces.  The Bazaar sells packs of LEGOS with 5 pieces in them each.  How many packs does she need to buy in order to build a motorcycle?

And so this went on.  The challenge became less about winning the game and more about Mommy and Daddy making up a creative question!

But it was fun in the end, and of course the important thing is that Madison was practicing some of her math skills. Some things she got right away, but others had her scribbling away on a pad as she heard the questions being asked.  Her little notepad was filled with calculations!

In the end, Mommy won the game, and Madison came in second place with Daddy trailing in at third.  It was a fun game though, one we might try a little later.  But there are a few other games we'll try out that we borrowed from the resource room at the school.  Updates and reviews on those games will follow!

So what else did we do today?  We started our next official season of piano classes, for one.  Right after school, we went over to piano to start another year.  There's the same piano assignment sheet with new songs, including "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho," which was fun to sing and talk about.  Madison will be playing that one soon, as well as another Hungarian Gypsy Song.  Which is called, appropriately enough, "Hungarian Gypsy Song."

It was good to see everyone in class.  Nearly everyone - I think we may have lost one.  But we gained a new student, who was too grown-up for the rest of the kids, I think.  He was a little reserved, while the other kids, I'm afraid to say, were a little hyper.  But that first week of school is like that.  Things will certainly settle down as the weeks go by.

School was good, and so was work.  Daddy is busy working towards the weekend, and working towards Wednesday.  Madison was working towards getting her latest homework done tonight, something she had absolutely no problem with.  There were placement graphs, and she handled it like a pro, no problem.  This Thursday and Friday, there will be assessment tests to determine the progress of the new year - we'll see how she does there.

We had about a half-hour before bed, so we decided to watch another "Under the Sea"-themed special, a DVD we just picked up from the library.  Princess Sophia was swimming with mermaids, and of course she ran into Ariel a few times while under the sea.  This was a fun little special, a nice short thing to watch before bedtime.  Madison enjoyed it very much, and went to bed happily afterwards.  We did our usual readings upstairs, sharing a Bible story (about Elizabeth and John), and then reading some more of "A Dandelion Wish."  We prayed again afterwards, praying for peace in the world and praying for good health for everyone.  Mommy's sore throat is getting better, although the sniffly noses still exist:  Mommy rubbed her chest with vapor rub, and we set up the vaporizer nearby the bed.

Which is a funny name when you think about it.  I had to look it up.  I mean, the purpose of it is to provide steam vapors to help with congestion.  But the word vaporizer makes me think of some sort of alien weaponry.  "Don't move or we'll vaporize you!"