Tuesday, June 21

Teaching Math to Visual Learners

When it comes to learning styles, my boys couldn't be more different! We span from one who eschews structured teaching, but picks up things quickly (even things we didn't want him to), to the traditional classroom-style learner, to the one who really just prefers to float through life, a la uber-type-B. It is this baby of the family who has challenged mom most through the homeschooling years....

What is a Visual Learner?

Most people have a combination of learning styles, but tend more toward one than the others. Students who are predominantly visual learners will learn by seeing new information (think charts, graphics, and pictures). Auditory learners prefer hearing information (think presentations and audiobooks), and kinesthetic learners need that hands-on element (think 'learning by doing').

Visual learners tend to be drawn toward photos and illustrations, movies, and graphic novels. This last was one of our biggest clues to our son's learning style. He was disinterested in reading until he discovered his first graphic novel. Today, he reads thick chapter books and his textbooks, but still prefers the graphic collections best.

If your child prefers to draw pictures with his word problems...he might be a visual learner. Color-coding positives and negatives on a number line (and when adding negative numbers) can help visual children, too. Many of our students also NEED to know how these concepts are being used in a real world application. It's also worth noting that visual learners do NOT do so well with rote memorization and math drills.

Making Math Visual

Most people initially think to just draw a picture for word problems, and that's a start, but visual learners really need more than that. They need pictures to help illustrate new concepts and walk them through the application. They need less abstract and more concrete.

Math manipulatives are a fantastic, concrete tool for visual learners...just as for kinesthetic ones. They're not just for littles, either. Hands-on learning can help break down algebraic concepts for older learners, too! Some that you'll want to add for your upper grades toolbox include:

Base ten blocks
Gridded white board
Coin & Dollar set
Fraction circles & Percentage bars
Abacus (this is a nice model for teens)

Some of the manipulatives from this Occupational Therapy post are also helpful for visual learners

Simply Good & Beautiful Math 6

Until last year, when we made the switch to Simply Good & Beautiful Math, we had always used Saxon Math - and it is a fantastic course all on its own. It definitely prepared my boys for higher learning, using a spiral method of mastery that included DIVE videos, and providing a great foundation for math skills. It's an older program, but it works well.

But we needed something different. Something more visual. Saxon is a black and white program - all the way around - and it just wasn't working as well for our youngest. As we bridge into advanced concepts and look toward algebra, it has become very important to make sure he masters the foundational skills in a way that works for him.

The Math 6 course includes two course books, the answer key, and access to course videos. The student has the option of reading a mini-lesson or watching the course videos, but I find he does best by doing both. We start each lesson by watching the video, completing a couple of problems alongside the video, and then we complete the mental math together. Last year, for the first time ever, math class was something he looked forward to! I thought it was because we got to work together on the mental math mysteries, but he said he enjoyed the video lessons.

The video lessons really bring the material to life in a real-world application way...exactly what he needs to answer that "why should I care?" question I'm always fielding. But that's not to say that it's not a comprehensive, well-rounded book. There are also pre-algebraic lessons, graphing exercises, multiplication tables, geometric formulas, and all the things that a good math course needs.

The course book features simple daily lessons, with a format including enjoyable activities and games. Basic statistics, geometry, graphing, measurement, probabilities, and so much more are all taught, along with continuing calculations. This book serves as both the teacher’s guide and the student book, and it guides parents and students through each engaging lesson. The course also includes logic puzzles, math strategies, and has world cultures and geography incorporated into the lessons. Poetry and literature bits are also scattered throughout the book, breaking up longer lessons with a bit of change.

While there is no Mental Math Mysteries book as part of this set, that piece is still incorporated into the course. It's just included in each of the daily lessons within the book. This is to foster more independence for the student, though I must admit that I liked the older format as it ensured at least five minutes of face-to-face check in time during math. My son was also a bit disappointed to not have a story at the end of this course to look forward to, but these are our only downsides. Overall, we're both very pleased at this course and look forward to continuing on with TGTB Math. As long as they stay on schedule for course releases, we will be able to stay with them through at least level eight.

The course is so visually appealing, colorful, and engaging through multiple games and teaching methods, and it was exactly what our son was needing. Even the answer key is beautiful! For a kid who already strongly dislikes math, changing the format to something that at least seems like fun has already made a big difference. He enjoyed Math 5 so much last year that his biggest concern about starting school this year was whether he would have to go back to Saxon or not...

Watch a Video Lesson Try Sample Lessons Here!

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Exploring Government & Finance with the Tuttle Twins

In our home, we watch several channels for the news, encompassing both left and right. It's important to discuss the biases of media, as well as to acknowledge that the truth usually lies somewhere in the middle of all that is being said....

When we first learned about a new series that featured government and economics for kids, I'll admit to being skeptical. Aren't they getting enough exposure already? I mean, when I was a kid, we didn't know anything about this stuff! Then again, the news wasn't blaring from multiple channels and online services constantly either....it just came on at 6pm. Ah, the good ol' days....

However, after much consideration and discussion, hubby and I agreed to check it out and give it a whirl. What we found was a libertarian perspective on political and economical trends, not only in America, but that were applicable worldwide. The creators of the Tuttle Twins make no secret about their goals. They want to counterbalance (what its creators see as) the left-leaning propaganda found in schools and children's programming. In the words of the founders:

“Our books recognize that the world is full of companies, people, and politicians who want to expose your children to ideas you do not support. This includes school teachers who see their job as ‘activism’ to spread leftist ideas and encourage children to think like they do.”

Check out the Tuttle Twins!

Elementary Series

There are twelve books in the elementary series. These are written around a 3rd grade level, so most children can read them independently, but I find that they make great read aloud material. We read the stories together as a family, stopping along the way to discuss what is happening and how it applies to the world around us. With my older kids, we discuss current events and the lessons we can apply to them from these stories.

The twelve books include:

The Law

What are individual rights, and where do they come from? Should the government help people, or should we? Ethan and Emily explore these and more questions as they learn about the law and help your kids do the same. Full of bright, engaging illustrations, this unique book introduces your child to fundamental principles that schools no longer teach.

Miraculous Pencil

What is the free market and why is it so important? Ethan and Emily embark on a fun field trip to learn how pencils are made using parts from all over the world—and how in an economy, people work together in harmony to produce helpful products that improve our lives. Leonard Read’s classic essay “I, Pencil” comes to life in this engaging adventure featuring amazing illustrations to help children become immersed in the story.

Creature from Jekyll Island

Markets come to life in the third installment of the Tuttle Twins series, with Ethan and Emily exploring a farmer’s market and county fair to understand just how controlling the Creature from Jekyll Island can be. But what is the creature—and why can it raise prices and steal people’s money? And what exactly is money, anyway? Your children will discover the answers to these and other questions in this engaging and energetic book! Monetary policy, central banking, inflation, and other important topics need not be boring—let Ethan and Emily make these ideas accessible and exciting for your children.

Food Truck Fiasco

Disruptive businesses must fight against their crony competitors—the ones with friends in government who try and protect them from innovative upstarts. Ethan and Emily Tuttle witness this battle firsthand with their food truck friends as they embark on a campaign to win public support and overturn the laws that shut them down. Incorporating key concepts from the classic Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt, this book helps young readers learn about business, regulations, economics, protectionism, competition, and other basic market principles. Learn alongside the Tuttle Twins how government harms the economy, and what one person—or two!—can do about it.

Road to Surfdom

History abounds with examples of government officials making decisions, well-intentioned or otherwise, that harm others. Unfortunately, these unintended consequences are never anticipated, and rarely considered once they occur. As the Tuttle Twins find in their latest adventure, central planning can ruin people’s lives. Nobel prize winning economist F.A. Hayek’s famous book The Road to Serfdom comes to life in this edition, showing that people get what they wish for, they often get much more than they bargained. Read along as Ethan and Emily investigate a new road built to take travelers to a beach named Surfdom—and the disruption it brings to the entire community.

Golden Rule

People throughout the world strongly disagree on many things, yet there is one universal principle—a “Golden Rule” as it’s often called— upon which many people do agree: we should treat others the way we want them to treat us. Ethan and Emily Tuttle embark on their first summer camp adventure where they learn this lesson firsthand. Competing teams turn into fighting rivals, but Chief Ron and his camp counselors help the twins and their teammates learn the dangers of aggression, revenge, and blowback—and why peace and friendship are important!

Search for Atlas

In a world filled with consumers, what happens if the producers give up and leave? And how can people better practice personal responsibility and not have a sense of entitlement about the things they think they deserve? Ethan and Emily Tuttle tackle these questions in their latest adventure, this time as clowns in the visiting circus. Incorporating ideas from Ayn Rand’s hit novel Atlas Shrugged, this book shows how things begin falling apart when socialism creeps in. Join the clown twins as they try to figure out where Atlas went—and more importantly, why he left.

Spectacular Show Business

While most people prefer the relative safety of working at a job for somebody else, others are more interested in the independence, excitement, and creative problem solving that are all part of starting your own business and being an entrepreneur. But as Ethan and Emily Tuttle learn in their latest adventure, being an entrepreneur isn’t easy—especially when you’re up against some tough competition. Join the twins as they dive into the ins and outs of becoming business owners, solving the many problems that pop up along the way!

Fate of the Future

The history of the world is a tale of some people bossing others around, but brave thinkers have always offered ideas for a better future where people use persuasion instead. And after Ethan and Emily watch a dystopian film portraying a future full of coercion, they realize that they need to learn how to avoid it. Enter Murray Rothbard, author of Anatomy of the State, whose book teaches the Tuttle Twins that the fate of the future—and all of humanity—depends on thinking of ways we can work together peacefully, to build a better society without relying on coercion.

Education Vacation

Ethan and Emily Tuttle have spent several years in school being graded on the quality of their work. But after hearing an award-winning teacher discuss some problems with schooling and share a vision for how children are best educated, the Tuttle family decides to embark on a new learning adventure. Long-time educator John Taylor Gatto shares ideas with the Tuttle family from his book The Underground History of American Education. As they soon learn, education works best when we have the freedom to discover our interests and develop our abilities, rather than being shaped into what somebody else wants.

Messed Up Market

Now that they’ve made some money, Ethan and Emily Tuttle begin to wonder how they can put it to good use and earn even more. So the idea of a Children’s Entrepreneur Market is born, which can help them find other kids who might want to borrow their money to build their small business. But as the twins soon learn—thanks to the ideas from Human Action by Ludwig von Mises—this is risky business. People have different incentives for why they make the choices they do, and certain choices can cause their market to become messed up!

Leviathan Crisis

The Tuttle twins and their team of heroes tackle a new quest in an adventure game that they soon begin to realize is closer to reality than they might have guessed. A magical battle against the forces of Leviathan and its Idol turns out to be packed with lessons for what’s happening in the world around them. Based on the book Crisis and Leviathan by Robert Higgs, this story finds the twins learning the power of truth in a world filled with fearmongering, ignorance, Trojan horses, and demagogues—a message with substantial relevance to our lives today.

If you know you want the entire series, you can save BIG when you buy all 12 children’s books at once! Plus, get each of our PDF activity workbooks for free — a $60 value.

Parent Guides

Each of the twelve books in the series has an accompanying parent guide. These workbooks include introductory and background information, historic connections, coloring pages, writing practice, word searches, decode the messages, crosswords, mazes, bingo cards, discussion questions, mad libs games, writing assignments, cooking projects, and opportunities for application of the material.

Graphics

Currently, there are three graphic novels available for kids who prefer that medium, with another three in the works to come out soon. Both the graphic novels and the cartoon videos have a Magic School Bus or Magic Treehouse vibe, which is not to say that they incorporate magic, per se, unless you count a time-travelling wheelchair. But the kids travel through time with their Grandma Gabby, learning from different people in history, including economist Adam Smith, activist Rosa Parks, and iconic figures such as Gandhi.

As a caveat, some parents may want to know that the jokes incorporated into the videos tend to lean toward the immature, with gags predicated on everything from flatulence to body odor. That said, they aren't inappropriate, and as a parent, while I may have rolled my eyes, I wouldn't stop my children from watching this because of said jokes. Currently there are nine episodes of the Tuttle Twins Show available. The cartoons are free to stream online, so there's no loss in checking one out ahead of time!

Things We Haven't Tried Yet...have you?

Books for Toddlers

These ABC and 123 series each feature colorful, simple introductions to economics and liberty principles for fun, early learning.

Choose Your Own Consequences series

These story books for teens feature a series of adventures where the readers control the story! With 33 total story endings between the four books, kids will be able to observe the outcomes of different economic and political situations that Ethan and Emily—age 15 in this new book series—encounter and have to figure out.

Guidebook Set

This illustrated, hardback series of books for pre-teens and teenagers (and adults!) introduces all kinds of important topics: critical thinking, logic, entrepreneurship, hard work, standing up for what is right, and much more! A whopping 806 pages of content will fill your child’s mind with the essential information they need to become well-rounded.

Beware Your Bias
Courageous Heroes
Inspiring Entrepreneurs
Logical Fallacies

Tuttle Times Monthly Magazine

These printed magazines are shipped to your home each month! They are filled with fun information, fully illustrated explainers, projects, interviews, and more. This monthly cadence is important to help keep the minds of children engaged in the ideas of freedom, providing them with new perspectives and questions to think about as they go throughout their daily life.

Check out the Tuttle Twins!

If you have older kids, you may also be interested in...

Co-op Classes

Sparks Academy offers two versions of the US Constitution & Government class as part of their online courses. One is a single-semester government course, while the other is a year-long course that also includes a semester of economics and entrepreneurship.

For a peer group setting and /or more structured needs (available for language arts, science, and history), Sparks Academy provides blended classes. These are classes hosted online that include textbook and video elements, discussion feeds with peers, and live, virtual meetings. Each week, the students are interacting through facilitated discussion in a private forum. Classes “meet” weekly via shared assignments and moderated discussion during the school year (August 15,2022 – May 5, 2023 for the ’22-’23 school year).

Tuesday, June 7

Studying Central America with The Good & the Beautiful

Once home to the Mayan civilization, one of the greatest historic civilizations of the Americas, Central America is a narrow isthmus connecting North and South America...

Seven countries are considered part of Central America: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. By population, Guatemala is the largest of these. Central America was home to many Native Americans prior to Europe colonization. The majority of the area was colonized by Spain, and along with native tongues, Spanish is the most common language in the region today.

Most of Central America is mountainous, including some volcanic regions. Earthquakes and volcanic action are regular occurrences here, with the lava helping to create a fertile soil that makes for good agricultural practice. While the region is in a tropical climate, the differing elevations bring a variety of climates -- from humid and warm in the coastal areas to drier and cooler in the higher mountains. The eastern coast receives considerably more rain than the western side.

Through history, the region's economy has been agriculturally-based. Coffee, bananas, sugar, and cotton are major exports, while corn, beans, and squash are grown for local consumption. During the 1960s, as the world economy grew, so did that of Central America. In the 1980s and 90s, however, there was an outbreak of civil wars, high inflation, and a deteriorating social system. This led to many migrants seeking refuge in other countries.

At the approach of the new millennium, the economy rebounded. NAFTA helped Central Americans to get fair economic trades, and companies in the region began diversifying. As part of NAFTA, many new factories were built, leading to better employment opportunities. Today, agriculture employs the largest proportion of workers in Central America, except in Panama, where more people are employed in the service industry, particularly related to the Panama Canal. In recent years, tourism has increased in Belize, Guatemala, and Costa Rica.

In the Central American box, we introduced the subject of Central America through illustrations and non-fiction text. We practiced geography and country placement with the roll-a-map game, and we created some recipes and crafts from the region. We also read two short stories about young people living in this region, including their struggles and triumphs. For younger students, this is a relaxed method of covering the region. For older students, it's a way to introduce the subject for further study.

The non-fiction book in the Central American box features geographic features, an introduction to each country, and the plants and animals of the region. It's fully-illustrated, with kid-friendly text, and perfect for showing the kids photographs when various foods, plants, or animals are mentioned in the stories. The company also has a blog post with introductory information about Central America, and some gorgeous watercolor map options to download for free, to complement the box. (You can get the maps without the box.)

You may also enjoy taking a Journey Through the Continents!

Read

Watch

Make / Do

Cook

Think

How are the countries in Central America different? How are they similar?
Why do you think there is a mass migration north from the Central American countries?

Wednesday, June 1

Family-Friendly Forensic Science Unit

Everybody loves a good mystery! Figuring out “who dun it” in the sixty or ninety minute time frame can be good family fun, but in reality it takes much longer to solve a crime. Have you ever wondered how forensic scientists use observation, evidence, and data to solve these crimes?

Forensics is the combination of different fields of science which work together to answer the questions a lawyer might ask in court. Usually these questions are about proving how a crime was committed and whether a suspect was present at the crime scene. Where serious crimes, like murder, are committed, the forensics of proving a suspect’s innocence can decide whether they go free. If a forensics team makes a mistake, the wrong person could be jailed, or worse. So you can see, science matters a lot in criminal investigations!

Diagnosing a Crime Scene

When a crime has been reported, detectives are sent to find evidence so they can begin solving it. The first thing they have to do is “seal the scene,” or preserve as much of the evidence as possible. When they get there, that have to figure out what happened, which isn’t always easy! Was it a robbery, a murder, or both? Witnesses are often scared and may not always know exactly what happened either. Detectives have to try and establish a sequence of events that happened before and after the crime was committed.

The next thing they do is begin to gather evidence. This isn’t easy either, and they need to get every single piece of evidence, no matter how small, and take samples away for further investigation. Items of evidence are stored in separate plastic bags and carefully labeled. Sometimes they have to take pictures, videos, and sketches, especially if it is in a public place that needs to be reopened. The really hard part here is knowing which evidence is important and which is just “other stuff.” They may find the robber’s fingerprints, but also the fingerprints of a hundred other people, and they have to decide who to follow up with and who is innocent.

If a death was involved, then the body may be sent to the medical examiner’s office for an autopsy. Our bodies are made of hard skeletons with soft tissues, which disintegrate quickly after death. If there is a question about the victim, the ME may use dental records or DNA to confirm who it is. If you are interested in pathology and autopsies, you can learn more about this at the links below.

Insert a link or something here to forensic pathology and autopsies in case don’t want to get gruesome

Evidence

When detectives arrive at a crime scene, they spend a long time searching for as many clues as possible. Evidence can be anything that suggests someone was at the crime scene, and may include:

Footprints
Hair
Handwriting
Fingerprints
Blood
Tire tracks
Bullets / Weapons
Gun residue
Glass shards
Material / fibers
Liquids
Chemicals
DNA
Soil

Interviewing a Witness

Have you ever seen a news story about a crime, and the anchor follows up asking folks to call in if they have any information about what happened? This is an appeal for witnesses. Witnesses can be a very important part of a criminal investigation because they report what they saw and heard just before, during, or after a crime occurred.

Witnesses are interviewed both at the crime scene and after the fact. Statements are collected, written down, and signed by the witness to confirm they are true. Sometimes, though, a witness may THINK the statement is true, when it is actually not. People don’t always remember events accurately, especially when they are shaken, scared, or confused by what is happening. Generally, the longer it has been between the crime and the questioning, the more likely for the memories to have been altered.

Additionally, sometimes when suspects (people the police think were actually involved with the crime…not just a witness) are interviewed, they don’t tell the truth. Suspects may be interviewed repeatedly over a period of weeks or months to see if their stories remain consistent. If there is more than one suspect, they may be separated and interviewed to see if their stories match. Maybe on a TV show or movies, you’ve seen detectives use the "good-cop, bad-cop" routine. This is one example of a psychological technique used to get answers.

Different Types of Forensics

We each have different talents and strengths, and forensic scientists are no different. There are several different departments, each which specializes in a specific piece of evidence, but each department has one thing in common – their desire to accurately complete the investigation.

Forensic accountants study and interpret of accounting (money) evidence
Computational forensics uses the development of algorithms and software to look for patterns and solve crimes
Criminalists answer questions related to biological evidence (such as DNA), fingerprints, footwear impressions, tire tracks, controlled substances, ballistics and firearms, and other evidence that is processed in a crime lab
Digital forensic specialists use scientific methods and techniques to recover data from electronic / digital media
Forensic document examiners look at a disputed document using a variety of scientific processes, including handwriting analysis, authorship, and a comparison of the questioned document, or components of the document, with a set of known standards
Forensic pathologists use medical methods, including autopsy, to determine a cause of death or injury
Forensic psychologists study the mind of an individual to determine the circumstances behind a criminal's behavior
Forensic toxicologists study the effect of drugs and poisons on/in the human body

Who Dun It?

If you are REALLY into forensics, check out 'Who Dun It?' This year-long language arts program lets you match your wits against the detective and see if you can discover who did it. Using stories, including Hercule Poirot, Miss Jane Marple, Sherlock Holmes, Father Brown, and Lord Peter Wimsey, you will create your own detective and write your own murder mystery! The first half of the year, students create their detectives, assistants, suspects, plot, setting, theme, clues, red herrings, and murderer, as well as write a short story.

Our 9th grader completed the Who Dun It? course this past year and absolutely loved it! As a parent, I was pleasantly surprised at the caliber of story he turned out by the end of the year, and he enjoyed reading literature and watching movies that interested him (more than the traditional classics presented in high school language arts). If you have a student who is looking for something a bit more engaging, this might be the perfect answer for you!

Download the Forensic Science unit for FREE on our Subscriber Freebies page! Not yet a subscriber? Sign up here!

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