Try DI

Destination ImagiNation is a creative problem-solving program for students, from kindergarten through grade 12. At the beginning of each school year, student groups of up to seven are offered a variety of challenges, from theatrical to technical, and they spend months working on a solution to these challenges--without adult interference--to present to appraisers at a tournament in the spring. The program teaches students to work cooperatively and creatively to tackle a seemingly insurmountable challenge by breaking it down into manageable pieces. In addition, they learn to solve problems under pressure through “instant challenges.” I coached DI teams for three years and served as an appraiser for two tournaments. DI is everything education should be. In DI, kids rise to the challenge in amazing ways. Usually offered through the public schools, Destination ImagiNation is also open to homeschoolers, 4-H groups and others. Check it out at http://www.idodi.org/.

Here’s an example of an Instant Challenge:

Destination ImagiNation
Instant Challenge
CRAXCLUSTER

Challenge: Your TASK is to create a model for a group-invented item of technology. You must also provide an original name for the finished creation.

Time: You will have up to 15 minutes to use your IMAGINATION to create a model for a group-invented item of technology and to think up an original name for the item. You will have up to one minute to present your creation to the appraisers.

Details: Using the materials provided, you are to work together to create a model for a group-invented item of technology and to think up an original name for the item.

Materials:

6 toothpicks
1 paper bag
1 roll of tape
6 pipe cleaners
6 paper clips
1 black marker
3 rubber bands
1 pair of scissors
2 twelve-inch pieces of string
1 empty box
3 sheets of construction paper

Scoring: You will receive

Up to 60 points for the creativity of the model
Up to 20 points for the creativity of the name
Up to 20 points for how well your team worked together

Math is money

To borrow from Food Network celebrity Guy Fieri, math is money, as you'll discover when you calculate simple interest:

Interest = principal x rate x time or I = prt

If you haven’t already done so, now is a great time to open a savings account for your child. Use this to highlight studies of calculating interest. Compare interest accrued by keeping money in a regular savings account versus a certificate of deposit. As a result of this exercise, Allegra decided to move money from her passbook savings into a 48-month CD. The difference in interest earned at the end of four years is about $100 at current rates.

This is also a good time to explain how credit cards and loans work. You might develop some exercises demonstrating how much more something costs when interest is factored in. The 100+ Series Standards-Based Math book for grades 7-8 by Harold Torrance offers great exercises in calculating interest, along with other exercises related to national math content standards.
Our main math text is School Specialty Publishing’s Spectrum Math. This text offers brief explanations of mathematical concepts and provides problems for students to solve. Unit tests and answer keys are included. For a more in-depth explanation of math concepts and for historical background on, say, algebra or the Pythagorean theorem, consult Torrance’s 100+ Series Standards-Based Math. These texts will get you through middle school math.

I also love Sue O’Connell’s Math the Write Way, which asks students to verbalize math concepts. O’Connell provides fun exercises requiring students to think, talk and write about math: explaining how they arrive at their answers, justifying their thinking and describing math terms and processes. Good for any student, this approach is especially beneficial to students who believe they are stronger in Language Arts than in math.

Another great book is Creative Problem Solving: Multiple Strategies for the Same Answer by Cindy Barden. As a student, I often arrived at a solution via a different route than the teacher. Unfortunately, most of my teachers seemed to think only one way existed for arriving at a mathematical answer. Consequently, I hated math, even though my ability placed me in the top math classes. And now, déjà vu all over again, as Yogi Berra would say, my daughter began experiencing the same problem in public school. I chalk this up to teachers who don't fully grasp math concepts but who are adept at following formulae and problem-solving strategies outlined in teaching manuals. Fortunately, at our homeschool have the added benefit of tapping into the amazing mathematical abilities of my husband, the engineer, who can see every side of a problem. He enjoys Creative Problem Solving. With fun puzzles and brain teasers, this book demonstrates that while there may be only one answer to a problem, there are multiple ways to find it.

Allegra's take: I find our main math text, Spectrum Math, to be rather dull. Its lessons are almost invariably made up of bare-bones equations and conversions, with the occasional page of word problems thrown in. It usually provides only one formula for finding the answer.

I much prefer Creative Problem Solving: Multiple Strategies for the Same Answer. It has fun activities, often presented in “math story” format, that allow students to explore different strategies and find their own personal strengths. The brainteasers offer an entertaining challenge.

Math the Write Way is well thought out and gives a good opportunity to blend subjects. It is very challenging and really makes you think, a quality that most mainstream math texts lack.