See me stomp on a rocket (plus a free science resource)

I have something a bit different to share with you today.
Supercharged Science (the science curriculum by Aurora Lipper) is giving away a neat product for free this week.

You can get a free copy here.

It's really good stuff. My daughter and me just looked at it today (Wednesday) afternoon, and we decided to do the first experiment in it (Stomp Rocket). Daddy got excited too, so we got it done in record time.

It was fun! We all stomped on the bottle, and up went the blue rocket, maybe 40-50 feet high. It was just really cool. The girls stomped on it many, many times to make it go. In fact, here are a few pictures...

OK I'm looking at my rocket & launcher and soon ready to stomp:


I stomped on it!


It went up!


Rocket up on the sky:



It's just awesome how Aurora Lipper (the founder of this science program) gives back to the community with her free products, teleclasses, and such. And my readers know how I try to do the same with my math stuff... provide free math worksheets, articles, videos, etc. for everyone to use.

Anyway, be sure to get your free copy of this science education program before the offer goes away. Get it from here:

www.sciencelearningspace.com/members/go.php?r=3095&i=l38



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Article: education in Finland

I'm not writing about this to lift myself up, no. It was an interesting read to me, of course, since I grew up in Finland, and I thought maybe some of you find it interesting as well. I never knew back then that the educational system was one of the top-notch in the whole world, but of course I am thankful!

Anyhow, the article mentions how there is no nation-wide testing. Well, there are national "matriculation" exams in the end of high school and for 9th grade, at the end of comprehensive school.

And it's true that teaching is a highly respected occupation there, which in turn attracts top-notch students to become teachers. BTW I have always felt that the MAIN problem with mathematics education in the U.S. goes back to the teachers, and not to the curriculum.

How Finland became an education leader

Another one on similar lines: West Virginia learns Finland's "most honorable profession": Teacher

I also found this article on CNN, that kind of ties in:
Why one good teacher quit. A high school math teacher is quitting and going into nursing because she can't make a living, and nurses make $20,000 more a year than she does.

How Khan Academy is changing education

My hubby found this article about Khan Academy, and I think you'll find it interesting. It features this certain teacher's 5th grade classroom that is "flipped" or "inverted" -- kids listen to the teaching videos from Khan Academy at home, and do "homework" (math problems) at school.

How Khan Academy Is Changing the Rules of Education

Carnival time...

Math Teachers at Play carnival is posted at Math Mama Writes blog. And it's not just for "math teachers" -- the carnival has lots of posts for elementary math, puzzles, teaching ideas, free downloads, etc. which are of interest for ALL homeschoolers and for parents who are helping children in math.

See, if you teach math at your house, you need to see yourself as a "math teacher!"

Using Math Mammoth in California

I have prepared a document to help Californian parents and teachers who want to use Math Mammoth:

How to use Math Mammoth to meet California standards. As it turns out, Math Mammoth actually fares fairly well against California's mathematics standards. The table in the article lists the topics that are missing from each grade level in Math Mammoth, and resources to cover those topics.