Fractions are Fun

If I tell myself that "Fractions are fun." enough times will it become true? I would really like it to be true. Mister B is feeling about mixed number fractions the same way he felt about long division last year. I agree with him. I have an intense dislike of fractions. It goes all the way back to 2nd grade. I didn't understand them then and I still struggle with them now. Oh, I had a fraction epiphany in my 20's when I was doubling a recipe and I was loving fractions for awhile. But, now I am back in my intense dislike of them. Converting an improper fraction to a mixed number fraction is really not that hard and yet.....Mister B is struggling with it a bit. Oh, not the easy ones like converting 5/3. It is the big ones such as 174/126. The same concept but he is being thrown by the large number. I think today it finally clicked. I just hope it sticks. He also tends to skip reducing his fractions. "Why do I have reduce them?" He asks. "The answer is still right. It is an equivalent fraction." I explain it all comes down to the ruler. He wants to skip reducing. I make him do it. "Fractions are fun. Fractions are fun. Fractions are fun."

Little Miss M on the other hand is still loving division. I believe she will be hitting double digit division in the next lesson or two. Let us hope the love remains.

Language Arts - Mister B is now working on past and present participles and helping verbs. Little Miss M - still mastering proper capitalization and reviewing the possessive - 's or - s'. She did not enjoy having to go back and review the chapter on what she forgot. That is life. Sometimes we forget stuff and have to go back and review.

History - I read aloud about the Viking conquering England. We did some map work on where the Vikings came from, where Normandy is, and where Britain is in relation to Normandy. We talked about Alfred the Great from Wessex who managed to keep the Vikings at bay. We then briefly discussed how the reason they were able to conquer Britain was because they were a divided country. They did not have a strong king like France (Charlemagne).

Science - We finished up our paper chromatography experiment. Separating ink into its' different colors. Is black ink really black or is it a mixture of colors? We all thought it was pretty cool the way the colors from the black ink separated as they traveled up the piece of paper.

This afternoon Little Miss will be attending the first meeting of the American Girl club that her friend has organized. They will all be bringing their favorite book and discussing them. A fun way to learn a little history.

Tomorrow just may be another snow day. The kids are hopeful. I am hoping for rain.