Happy Father's Day!! As I shared a poem and article on Mother's Day, I thought I would share a poem and a fun learning time that Dads ( and Moms) can do with the child. This time, it is for students as young as first grade through fifth grade.

I hope all Fathers enjoyed the beautiful Father's Day; we thought it was going to be a rainy one, however, it turned out to be a beautiful and lovely day. The blessings that we get….surprising and multiplied...

Practice Makes Great!!!

Unscramble These Words...

The words below aren’t appropriately arranged; would you be able to help me arranging them so they make sense?

s i c e n e c _____________________________________

h t a e                            _____________________________________

c d i u f l f i t                  _____________________________________

t n o g h i n                    _____________________________________

p s c e l i a                     _____________________________________

e r s h r e c a                ______________________________________

After you unscramble those words, please complete each sentence with the appropriate word from the list above.

1. The number zero is equal with ___________________________

1. I love learning about nature and space; in school, we learn those when we study _____________________________
2. I know I have to do my best, especially when the math problems are quite _____________________________
3. My Dad is a  ______________________________ person to me.
4. When we try to find out some information, we are doing 

________________________________________. 

1. How does microwave work to warm up or cook our food? It agitates water molecules at a certain frequency of radio waves. The agitation vibrates the atomic level and generates  ____________________________

INFERENCE

What is inferencing? It is using our experiences  or knowledge to create meaning or understanding. There is a huge difference between “guess” and “educated guess.” Educated guess carries itself a certain level of thoughtfulness and uses a certain level of previous knowledge or information that we have; or, we can also say educated guess involves LOGIC. 

Below are several quotes from some people, and I would encourage you to put your “educated guess hat on”, and write down the meaning of these quotes. 

 “Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud”

(Maya Angelou)

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”

(Albert Einstein)

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“ The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”

(Lao Tzu)

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say,  and what you do are in harmony.”

(Mahatma Gandhi)

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Mathematics and Logic

The relationship between Additions and Multiplications

So, in my “mathematical dictionary”, if a student can add, a student can multiply. One similar characteristic between additions and multiplications is: MORE. The reason we would want to instill the simplicity of mathematics is the fact that mathematics could cause anxiety to some students, and anxiety creates doubts, which does not create a good learning time. To understand the simplicity of an equation boosts one’s self esteem and enhances one’s performance. Einstein said, “If you can’t explain it simply, then you don’t understand it well enough.” At the level of 3rd, 4th, 5th grade level of education, to create a discipline of understanding with substance ( to understand the fundamental of a concept) is very important as the subject will become more complex; when we understand with substance ( understand the fundamental of concepts), simplicity appears and excellence is just the next step to be.

9 + 9 =

It means that we add 9 two times, therefore:

9 x 2 =                                   (hint: the same answer with 9+9)

8 + 8 + 8 =

It means that we add 8 three times, therefore:

8 x 3

12 + 12 +12 + 12 =

It means that we add 12 four times, therefore:

12 x 4 =

15 + 15 + 15 + 15 + 15 =

It means that we add 15 five times, therefore:

15 x 5 =

Would you agree that adding and multiplying means MORE?

Grand Finale

The last part of the exercise is to show how one math problem could be expanded and deepened according to the grade level a student is in. Please stop whenever you feel that the problem is too challenging. 

For First, Second, (beginning Third grade):

I have 24 chalks; my friend, Esmeralda, has twice as many chalks than I do.  Sean has 16 more chalks than Esmeralda and I combined together. My questions are:

How many chalks does Esmeralda have?

How many chalks does Sean have?

How many more chalks should I buy if I want to have the same amount of chalks as Sean does?

For Third, Fourth, and Beginning Fifth Grade:

If 1/3 of Esmeralda’s chalks are yellow, and out of the rests, 1/2 of them are blue, how many yellow chalks does Esmeralda have? How many blue chalks does she have?

Let us figure out the total of all chalks, meaning mine, Esmeralda’s, and Sean’s. After we figure out the total, we will know: 

 Esmeralda has _________________________________________% of the total chalks.

 I have ___________________________________________________% of the total chalks.

If 40% of the total chalks are orange, 20% of them are yellow, and 10% of them are blue, then how many chalks are red?

If a dozen of chalk is $15.99, then how much do we have to pay for the total number of chalks?

If Esmeralda, Sean, and I have $125.50, how much change did we get after we paid for the total number of chalks?

If we were going to put those chalks in a box--- let us pretend that the box is a cube, which means all sides equal.

If the side is 8 inches, what is the volume of the box?

If we can put 22 chalks in each box, how many boxes do we need?

The End

I hope your family will have a great fun with the practice; the last part of the package was to provide an example how fascinating mathematics could be, as it is analogous with life: as we understand the fundamental of values in life, simplicity appears and fascination begins.

As I shared a poem on Mother’s Day, I am sharing one for Father’s Day as well. I hope Dads enjoyed their special day, to be a Father, to share one self with the precious individuals in life.

My relationship with my Father is complex ( who doesn’t?); it started as a child and a father, and as I grew, I thought of the memories in more of the perspective of I as a woman, which made me writing this poem...would I share this poem with my Dad? Honestly, I am not sure...

Elegy of A Daughter and A Father, A Woman and A Man, Myself and My Father

So, whose hand is it against mine? 

A strong and gentle, yet it is not smooth...

it feels like it has worked for a while...

it feels like it has touched million of things...

it feels like it has fought for its tiredness...

despite of all, 

it feels just right to me...

My Father is a man with few words...

My Father is a man with generosity to others, yet, is a man who’s afraid of love...

My Father is not a man who is trusting others, not a man who is praising others...

My Father is a man with few words...however..... for me, he learned to say more words,

he learned to step out of fear of love, he learned to trust, and he learned to praise...

He WAS a man who told me that “You looked good in jeans, but not in skirts”...

He IS a man who was dumbfounded with my tears and finally said, “ I didn’t know...You have always been enough”...

I love my Father deeply, confusingly, wholeheartedly...

I figure when one can love the other in such a deep and in such a whole, confusion will always be a part of it...after all, this love that I have for my Father is not a MUST, it is a choice...that I hold dearly and respectfully...

Chandra Budi

an individual, a woman, a daughter... respectively....