Alcatraz Smedry meets Percy Jackson

I found the Percy Jackson and the Olympians Hardcover Boxed Set (Percy Jackson & the Olympians) at a discount book store several years ago. Recently in my quest to find audio CD's to exercise with I borrowed The Lightning Thief: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Book 1 from the library. I am always looking for ways to distract myself from how much I dislike exercising. As I found myself getting lost in the reader's voice, I realized that listening to a good reader inspired some interesting thoughts. As I listened to the opening of a story I had previously read, I was making connections I had not made when I had just read the books.

One of the exercises I used to do when I used literature circles with my students was asking them to make connections with other books. How would the characters in this book relate to characters in other books they had read? It has been a while since I helped students create questions for literature circles. However, as the reader described Percy Jackson and his experience at school, my mind immediately made the connection to Alcatraz. I wondered how these two boys would have dealt with each other. What would a story be like if the two attended school together prior to setting off on their adventures? Would they have been friends? How would their powers have interacted? Would they have been allies or enemies? Would they have understood each other's worlds?

When I taught students, these were questions many did not have experience with answering. While they eventually got used to exploring these types of questions, in the beginning it was challenging to get students to think beyond traditional expectations. Sadly, many only are taught to read the book, answer the questions and move on to the next book. If reading a series of books by genre or author there might be some expected questions. However, most of my students had little experience thinking out of the box about literature.

It would be interesting to see what kids would say about Alcatraz and Percy. There is no right or wrong answer. There is enough supporting material to suggest they could be friends or that their issues would end up having them choose not to be united.

I will be exercising to Percy Jackson while reading Alcatraz Versus The Shattered Lens. I will have more time to think about how these two characters would have interacted. This is a great activity to try with your own children as you read to them. Choose age appropriate questions and this kind of reading comprehension practice can be started with even young readers. Children can find ways to compare and contrast their favorite characters learning valuable skills in a fun way.

Why is there a sea creature picture? Well those of you who have read Percy Jackson will know.

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Supplementing Your Child's Math Program Part 2: What Does Your Child Know

If you followed step one, you have researched what program the school district is using. You have some idea of the material that your child will be expected to master during the year.

Now I want you to work against your instincts. I do not wish you to focus on that curriculum, yet. I want you to look back and make sure the foundations are in place so these challenges will be met with success.

Please do not assume that because your child has always zoomed through every math challenge that he/she understand the process. Memorization and understanding are not the same practices. As children progress into upper elementary grades this difference starts to emerge. As they move through middle school and high school, the lack of understanding can create huge issues in math. On the other side of the coin if your child has always struggled, do not believe all is hopeless. This is a time to build foundations using different methods. However, first you need to discover what they know and what they do not know.

I always suggest starting with place value. When I work with kids who struggle with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division one of the primary reasons is a lack of understanding of how numbers work. When working with subtraction we have called it a number of things borrowing, regrouping, and other names to describe the process. Over the years, there has been a belief that if we change the name kids will understand the process in a more meaningful way. I have long believed vocabulary has never been the issue. The methods we use to teach kids why we "borrow" or "regroup" have far more to do with their ability to understand how to do the function than any vocabulary choice.

There are many ways to evaluate what your kids know. I do not recommend drill and kill. One way to make sure your kids rebel against improving their math skills at home is frustrating and boring them. There are practical life skill ways to see what math skills your children have mastered. Can they count change? When you are playing games that require addition to keep score, can they handle column addition? Have them help you work on real life problems that require the use of math. These will help you evaluate their math skills and provide them with the chance to see we do actually use math in "real life" not just in the classroom. If they can demonstrate an age appropriate knowledge of place value, addition, and subtraction, move on to other skills. In the beginning, your goal is to make sure the foundations are solid. Many parents push ahead without checking the foundations. As anyone who builds anything knows, without a solid foundation no structure is sound. Once you have given kids proper foundations you will be able to build higher level math skills.


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Supplementing Your Child’s Math Program: Step 1 Researching the Math Program

This issue is more of a concern for those who send their children to school than homeschooling parents. However, I have heard from homeschooling parents who purchase canned programs and then question the issue of how or when to supplement the program. I decided to write a few blogs about how parents can get information and use it to help their children.

Schools and teachers can be split on the issue of how parents can help their children with math. However, when parents see their children failing they do have a responsibility to be active in helping them to learn the material. Some publishers sell the schools on the idea that they are a complete package and interference by using outside materials will only confuse the students. This contradicts a foundation of modern education. Students learn differently and we should make sure our students receive instruction that meets their educational needs.

As a parent, you should be working with the child’s teacher to find the best methods to help your child. I do not challenge that idea at all. However, many students arrive to the upper elementary grades lacking math skills with assurances from teachers that students will eventually “get it” because these programs are designed to be cumulative. If they do not achieve mastery in this unit, it will be gained in the next visitation. Again, this works for some children. I would not suggest any parent run up to the school in a panic because a child does not master a math process immediately. However, diligence is required. What did your child not master and why? This series is not going to focus on the parent/school relationship. I have written a few articles to help with those issues. These articles are going to focus strictly on parents helping children learn math at home.

One thing all parents can and should know is something about the math program the school is using. This is not a deep dark secret. Some districts are much better than other school districts are about educating parents regarding the methods used in the district. If you are not in one of those districts, I have some suggestions.

Find the title, publisher, and date published of your child’s math book. Even if they use a workbook, this information is important. The date is only relevant in that it tells you how old the text is that your district is using. When researching, this may or may not be relevant. I recently looked at a program that is virtually the same program I used a decade ago. Only the format looks updated. However, programs can change so the information you find may not apply if you have an older version of the publisher’s text.

People often forget to give me the publisher when they ask me for information. The publisher is critical. There are a couple of math series with distinct titles. However, several are generic. After all, there are only so many exciting ways to talk about a math book and publishers repeat them frequently. Also, be aware that publishers do change names. I recently researched a program with a title that sounded like a series I knew, but I had never heard of the publisher. It was the same program, under new management. The title was no help because the title has hundreds of math books published under the same name.

Google and Yahoo are your friends when searching for information. Most of these textbooks have websites. They are designed for teachers, but smart parents can also access information about the programs, material covered, and goals by grade level. Some even offer sample pages to provide you with an experience of the program. Do not expect answer sheets. Yes, I have been asked that question.

My next article will focus on what to do with this information once you have gathered it.

Snow Treasure

I have been doing lots of book reviews lately, but one of the reasons I taught was I loved children's literature and introducing great books to kids. Snow Treasurewas a book that was handed down to me by my older brother. He originally got it for $.50 from a Scholastic Book Club order. The book has been in and out of print over the years. I have bought it new when I could for presents and given used copies when that was the only option available.

When I read it the story was printed as a factual story of children in Norway helping the adults remove gold from Norway's banks to boats for shipment before the Nazi's could seize it. Later research could not confirm the student's participation. The story was then labeled historical fiction. Either way it is an interesting read for children about facing challenges in a hostile environment. Children who have read more modern realistic fiction might wonder why the author is not more explicit about the physical and emotional challenges faced by the children, but I still find that a plus about the book. Those who understand the history of the time do realize the risks the children and their families are taking. Children with less exposure to the history of the time can enjoy an adventure story.

The story takes place as the Norwegians are preparing to move their gold out of the reach of Nazi Germany during the invasion of Norway. The Nazi's clearly have arrived quicker than the Norwegians had feared and now the plans must be altered. Here is where the children are employed. Adults would clearly be noticed and potentially treated as spies or saboteurs. Children out sledding could perhaps pull off a daring feat and transport gold bars to an area where the gold can be loaded on to a ship. Adults and children find clever uses for snowmen and must find ways to keep the children out of school long enough to finish the gold transport before the Nazi's discover the purpose of all this outdoor activity. Still one of my favorite WWII adventure books for kids.