Time

Sometimes it is good for me to remember that homeschooling's not a race. If I don't get through to the end of the work I've planned for the year, no homeschooling policeman is going to be standing at my front door, big stick in hand to take me away. Often I allow my stress to become Jemimah's stress too, and that makes life unpleasant for everybody.

That's why holidays are good. Everything is so much more relaxed on your return, and you're able to focus more clearly on the things that matter in life. Like having fun.

Maths had stopped being fun in our home before we went away. We were galloping through it, aiming to get through to the end of Year 2 in our MEP programme before we left, and it had become a drag. Both Jemimah and I dreaded our maths time each day, despite the fact that it is probably her best subject and she was doing way better than I could have dreamed she would.

Instead of jumping straight back in with Year 3 last week, I pulled out something that I had been meaning to try for a while but 'couldn't find the time' for: Math Mammoth: Clock.

Mine was a freebie from Currclick. You have all subscribed to their weekly newsletters, haven't you? If not, stop reading this and do it now...this instant. If you'd done it back in March this year, you'd have Math Mammoth: Clock as well. As it is, you'll have to shell out a whole AUD$4.30 (that's A$3.50) for a non free copy. Hah!

Click here to see their current newsletter and to sign up for your own copy.

If you do decide to purchase Math Mammoth: Clock - for a whole three-fifty, you'll find it a good purchase...well we've enjoyed it anyhow.

Math Mammoth Clock is a worksheet based book that covers telling time and reading the clock, telling time intervals, and understanding the calendar. It covers first grade to third grade levels, and we covered only the first grade level this past week. It was fun, it was interesting and Jemimah can now tell the time...pretty much.

So far we've covered "x o'clock" and "half past x"; the idea that there are two 12 hour periods each day divided into am and pm, the idea of dividing the time into five minute intervals - 4:55 or 3.23, for example. It's fun. That's what we wanted to be; that's what we got.

After a week off, we started back into MEP year 3 this week. We're enjoying it again. It is a fantastic programme. I'm more relaxed, and we're covering past stuff as a review, so Jemimah is enjoying a lazy few days. It'll soon get hard again, but by that time we'll have forgotten that maths had become a drudgery and we'll get on with mastering our new concepts with enthusiasm.

When it becomes a bore again, then we'll know that it's 'time for more time' as it were. I'm glad there's still 2/3 of Math Mammoth: Clock still to go!