A Grateful Heart: Week 9

My life is still a little crazy. After over a month, I finally received my last paycheck from the lost full time job... And much to my dismay, it was declined when I tried to deposit it in the bank. So there were tears and lots of trying to get in touch with anyone that could help me. I had to make an hour long drive to talk in person with someone that might help, and on the drive I found a lovely sewing table and old Singer 237, much like the one pictured above. (I should take a picture and share minetoo....). And when I got home, I plugged it in and it still works. It was just sitting in someone's garbage pile. (Yep, I totally picked this out of the garbage on the side of the road for free. And. I. love. it.


So I spent some time playing around with it last night and learning how to use it. It is nice to have a machine again while mine is very deep in the storage area for the  next few weeks. :)

I also want to share two verses that were sent my way. As everything continues to go wrong here, I was very encouraged by God's words:

"You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people."     Genesis 50:20

"We remember the fish we used to eat for free in Egypt. And we had all the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic we wanted. But now our appetites are gone. All we ever see is this manna!"

Numbers I 1:5-6

(This second verse was the Israelites complaining, but what they don't mention in that list of yummy food is that at the time they were also slaves. God provided them with a miracle, freeing them and providing some sort of food as they wandered the desert and they were pretty much forgetting that little fact. Sometimes I think God might be freeing me, and I might be wandering the desert right now. I need to remember to thank Him for everything! He will provide!!! He is working miracles.)

Some Mathy Goodness for Your Home Classroom

 

photo source

I know a lot of people out there are hating on math. I have heard from parents, students, even some teachers, that they just don't want to do math, teach math, think about math.....

This makes me really sad. Math is actually really beautiful. Math is often there in the background and you just don't see it. I have been spending time studying quilting because I so desperately want to be making quilts all the time. And you know what? There is a ton of math involved. And if you stop and think about anything that we do, there really is math some where in there.

So math is everywhere, but no one wants to talk about it or teach it or think about the mathy goodness that is part of everything. Maybe that is because we have been looking at math all wrong.

So what's my point in all of this? Well, I want to start to share some different ways of incorporating math into your life. Maybe you homeschool, maybe you have a child that hates math, maybe you hate math. Let's try and work on this and help you find the beauty that is in math. And in finding the beauty and purpose in math, maybe we can build math skills and math sense.

To get you started, I want to share a website with you. (This doesn't cost anything. I won't bring you through a thousand screens and say that it is about to give you the answer to all your life long questions.... It is not some scary scheme to make money or anything like that.) This website was started by Dan Meyer and it includes lots of "Three Act" math lessons that really get you excited and interested in learning the math topic that it is about. And for those of you doing homeschooling or teaching in a classroom, the Common Core standards that are associated with each lesson are listed right on the website with links to each lesson as well.

I have to warn you though. These are not your standard math lessons. Be ready to think, discuss, question and sometimes even laugh. These will really get you asking deep questions, creating plans of action for solving, and (wait for it....) DOing Math!!!

If you happen to like these, I also encourage you to check out Dan Meyer's 101 questions.

Please note: I am in no way affliated with Dan Meyer. I chose to share this with you because I find it interesting. I try to post on things that I love and feel passionate about. This is one of them. :)

Earning Amazon Giftcards: Part 1 Swagbucks

Ordering special high quality items can get pricey! Are you looking for einkorn flour, or colloidal silver? Maybe you want that bottle of vitamin C... the real stuff, or new books for homeschooling, or , or, or..... All of these great items are on Amazon and are just a click away. But.... they can really add up fast!

So to offset some of my costs, I spend a minimal amount of time earning swagbucks. You can use swagbucks as a search engine and earn for searching. You can watch videos, take polls, even purchase items through them to earn more. There is a section for surveys too. You'll want to watch for swag codes during the day in the swagbucks blog for a few extra bucks too. And when you get your friends to join, you can earn more as well. Everytime you earn 450 swagbucks, this turns into a $5 Amazon giftcard. And you can earn fairly quickly. I don't spend a ton of time on the site (less than 5 minutes a day), but I usually earn at least one gift card each month... most of the time more.

Are you ready to give it a try? Sign up here!



This post contains my referral link. I do not earn money for you signing up, but I will earn swagbucks when you earn swagbucks. It will not take away from the swagbucks that you will earn. And when you sign up, share your link with your friends to earn even more as well.