WFMW: Easy Math Practice

My daughter is in second grade this year.  Each month her teacher sends home two blank calendars- one for recording minutes spent reading, and one for recording minutes spent practicing simple addition & subtraction. The idea is that the faster they can recall the simple math facts, the easier it will be for them to do the more advanced math in class.

Here are the free or cheap ways we practice simple math facts:

• a dollar store workbook.  My daughter loves to use as she plays school with her younger brother- I think he's learning, too!
• as we're driving in the car, anywhere, we will quiz DD verbally.  Her younger brother gets into the act, too, although his answers (after he runs out of numbers he throws anything out there- "Chicken!"  "Blue!") don't necessarily fit the question.  :)   It makes it fun for everyone.
• use this free online math quiz-- very basic, just like flash cards
• a set of Princess flash cards, picked up for $1 at Target
• play this free online math pumpkin game-- kids have to solve the math problem to plant/ care for their pumpkins
• play this free online soccer math game- for each correct answer, kids get to aim and kick a ball into the net
• using free printable worksheets from Kidzone or any of the many homeschool sites 
• play the free math games on Gamequarium-- all kinds of themes, from Tom & Jerry to Outer Space
• and this last one won't apply unless you happen to have a child with Type I Diabetes.... but DD helps us add up the carbs she's eaten at each meal so we can figure out her insulin dose.  She can't always add the larger numbers in her head, but she'll help by using a calculator or piece of paper.  I'm pretty sure that if I had known back in school that one day my math skills would be needed to calculate the "medicine" that keeps my daughter alive, I'd have done much better in algebra!

Free and fun math practice works for us!  If you have any other math practice tips, I'd love to hear them.

Check out more Works for Me Wednesday tips at We Are That Family.

This post may contain sponsored reviews or affiliate links.  You can read my policy here. I always provide my honest opinions.

Menu Plan Monday 10/25

• MONDAY: just the kids & I: probably grilled cheese & soup
• TUESDAY: crockpot ravioli (I add a can of diced tomatoes), texas toast, steamed broccoli
• WEDNESDAY: sauted ham steaks, julienne potatoes, peas
• THURSDAY: crockpot Italian roast, potatoes, green beans
• FRIDAY: tarantula tostadas with all the fixings
• SATURDAY:  Mummy Pizzas, carrots, salad

The Diabetic Nightmare

A few days ago I read the horrible news... Type I Diabetes has taken another young life.  This time it was a  13 year-old girl who had good care and involved parents, but simply didn't wake up one morning.

For those outside of the D-world, you've probably never even heard of our worst nightmare.  There's something called "dead in bed" syndrome that sometimes happens without any warning.  Type I Diabetics sometimes simply pass away in the middle of the night, even though they had no apparent symptoms that anything was wrong.  

It is this nightmare of a possibility that causes me to wake up each and every morning praying that DD is OK.  It doesn't matter how many times I've checked her blood sugar during the night.  It doesn't matter if she's snuck into bed with me and is sleeping right next to me when I wake.  It is always, always, always the first thing I think about when I wake up.   I start each day with a prayer before my feet ever hit the floor.

Kerri posted at Six Until Me about the fears and the emotions that ripple through the diabetic community when something like this happens.  Kerri reminds us that "dead in bed" syndrome is the exception, not the rule, when it comes to Type I Diabetes.  I know that.... really, I do.  But I pray now, as I do every day, that there will soon be a cure so that no more families have to face this nightmare.

It's Not a Grade

So, today marks the first endo appointment that has brought me to tears since diagnosis a little over two years ago.  Was the doctor mean?  Were DD's numbers crazy?  Did they tell us we're messing things up?  No, no, and no.  No, instead the doctor sat directly in front of me and told me to stop worrying so much, we are good parents, we are doing everything right, and these numbers are not grades.   Yeah.... I lost it with that.  

Three weeks on the pump and *I* don't see any difference-- DD's still swinging from 300's down to the 50's on an almost daily basis.  The endo says that overall her blood sugars ARE improving, and that we're expecting too much, that with time things will get much better.  She even showed me how good her A1C would be if we just calculated it based on  just a couple of days since pumping.  I know that in the logical part of my brain, but I'm still frustrated.  I just want to FIX this stupid disease, and I can't. 

Today our endo taught me (DH had to leave to get our son from preschool) all about temporary basal settings and encouraged me to "play" with them as much as I want to.... but also told me to stop if I start feeling overwhelmed.  (Gee, what made her think I'd hit that point? The fresh tears? LOL!)  Reading up on them before we got them pump, I thought they sounded great- a quick setting to adjust for an expected low during sports, or a bump up when I know she's going to run high.  Today?  I'm not sure my brain fried self can be trusted to do those kinds of trial-and-error calculations.

Frustrated and sleep deprived and crying in the endo's office.... that's me.  Most days I am optimistic and ready to kick some d-butt, but today's not one of those days.  

This post may contain sponsored reviews or affiliate links.  You can read my policy here. I always provide my honest opinions.

Menu Plan 10/11

We wandered off the menu plan last week with some unplanned schedule changes-- wound up being out and about at mealtimes and picking up fast food twice.  That's not good for our budget OR our diets!  I'm trying to get back on track and stick to the plan this week.  I'm also looking at Weight Watchers points again, as noted below.

• MONDAY: Low-fat Italian Chicken Vegetable Packets (6pts) over pasta (3pts)
• TUESDAY:  Mexican Casserole- WW (7.5pts)
  
• WEDNESDAY: baked potato bar (broccoli, cheese, etc) and chili  (Stole this idea from someone else's menu from last week... but now I've forgotten whose it was!  My apologies!)
• THURSDAY:  Pesto Chicken and Penne, tossed salad, cherry tomatoes
  
• FRIDAY:WW Crock Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken (5pts)(with veggies) over rice
• SATURDAY: homemade pizza

Menu Plan Monday 10/4

I'm looking forward to trying this Restaurant-Style French Onion Soup today for lunch.  The cold, gray weather has hit my part of Ohio and made me crave warm soup.  Too bad the rest of my family won't eat soup every night for supper- I know I could!  :)

• MONDAY:*new recipe* breadmaker basic pizza dough  (turned into stromboli)
• TUESDAY: crockpot cube steak (I do mine about like THIS- but I also add dry gravy mix and sliced onions), mashed potatoes, green beans 
  
• WEDNESDAY: *new recipe* Cheese Potato and Kielbasa Hotdish, stewed tomatoes
• THURSDAY:  Pesto Chicken and Penne, tossed salad, cherry tomatoes
  
• FRIDAY: make your own beef tostada night  (ground beef, tostada shells, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes)
• SATURDAY: homemade pizza

We were gifted with a case of vanilla yogurt in individual cups on Saturday-- leftovers from the JDRF  walk.  (Walk update coming tomorrow!)  My kids love yogurt, but I'm afraid we won't use all of it quickly enough.   I'd love to hear your favorite smoothie or other recipes using vanilla yogurt!