Maths and more.

When I came downstairs this morning (not particularly early) I found K on the sofa reading a Maths Quest book.  She couldn't tear herself away from it, so since M was already having breakfast whilst listening to a Roald Dahl story cd, which meant that K wasn't able to concentrate on the book, I suggested she have her breakfast in the playroom, which she did.  By lunchtime, she still wasn't dressed, but she was on her third Maths Quest book by this time!

I think she read The Mansion of Mazes first, which calls itself 'A mathematical mystery of Shape, Space and Measures'.  Then she moved onto The Planet of Puzzles, which is about 'Data Handling' and is at least half way through The Cavern of Clues, which is on 'Calculations'.  I've since read The Mansion of Mazes, and thought it was rather good.  The variety of topics it covers is quite impressive, including symmetry, angles (acute, obtuse), points of the compass, lines (perpendicular and parallel), polygons and polyhedra (edges, faces and nets), weight, volume, time, area, radius and diameter and coordinates.  As you read through the story, you turn to different pages depending on the answers you choose.  If you get the answer wrong, there is narrow escape from something and you are send back to try again, and there is an explanation of the problem you were trying to solve.  At the end of the book there is a summary of all of the maths encountered.

K told me that she'd got most of the puzzles right first time, although she wasn't sure about the data handling one, as she didn't know what that was.  However, that didn't seem to stop her from reading the book in its entirety!  There is a section on data handling in the Basher Maths book that we've been working through, but we haven't got to that part yet.  I've asked if she'd like to go through the books with me some time and she said she would so we can decide what she is interested in looking at further and I can explain parts that she's not clear about.

While K was doing this, M was busy too.  She made a ferry out of lego.  Her first version was very simple looking, but had a removable roof and she told me that the space below was where the cabins were.  I reminded her about the ferry we'd been on and how the cars had been below and then there were shops and cabins above that with a deck and so she went away and eventually came up with this.

The whole thing.

Cabins and shop (selling toy weapons!)

Car deck.

This afternoon we went to the park, where there was an event including various sports to try out, a very mini fun fair and later on our Prom in the Park for Armed Forces Day and there was also a Craft Fair that comes every few months.  K & M both took some of their money with them and K spent a pound on a little felt ladybird brooch and M £2 on a little mirror.  We went to see the korfballers and both girls had a go there, K and I also had a go on the rowing machines and M had a go at tennis with her friend A.

We have also finished off our Tudor costumes.  There wasn't that much left to do, just a couple of cup strings, and the bodices for K & me.  As I'd used an old duvet cover to make the bodices, and the idea is to lace them up the front, in order to reduce the very real threat of fraying to the point of disaster, I had decided to cheat and glued a little square of felt on the back where I snipped a little cross to allow the lacing.  It seems to have worked quite well!  Both K & M put on the whole of their costumes for a photo and really didn't want to take them off again.  They went to see if A, who childsits occasionally (*not* babysits, because they're not babies!) was in, to show her their costumes, but she wasn't, so they went down the road to show other friends, who were duely impressed.  They also went to the park for a short time, still in costume, while I cooked tea for them.  After tea we went back to the park (changed back into modern dress, in M's case all inside out), to see what was going on at the Prom and saw quite a few people, including friends who we've been trying and failing to get together with for a while.

So the costumes are done, and here they are:

K's.

M's

And mine.

K plaiting her cup string.

I still haven't tried all of mine on in one go, but will do and will post a photo when I'm done.  However, here are my Tudor children (please excuse the crocs and dinosaur socks on the boy - I can't imagine where (s)he got such things!)

My Tudor girl.

And my Tudor boy.