Griffin

Milk by the gallon

Milk by the gallon

Milk has been on sale at our local gas station/convenience store. Griffin and I walked up there the other day to buy some milk. Two percent milk for the kids and me; skim for Mommy. Me: Griff, the milk we just bought was $5.50 for two gallons. How much was each...

The meanings of division

The meanings of division

I was talking with Griffin one day when he was in third grade. Me: Do you know what $latex 12\div 2$ is?Griffin (8 years old): 6Me: How do you know that's right?G: 2 times 6 is 12. Me: What about $latex 26 \div 2$?G: 13Me: How do you know...

M&Ms

M&Ms

Dessert is a good time to get the children’s attention for a little math talk. A few weeks back, a smallish serving of M&Ms was about to be given to each child, from a large one-pound bag. In keeping with my assertion that a day should never pass without asking...

Sharing pears

Sharing pears

I took the kids camping this weekend. Jay Cooke State Park is lovely. I recommend a visit if you have never been. We had the following conversation at the campsite on Saturday evening. Me: Griff, we have two pears and three people. What should we do about...

Five small pumpkins
The Pumpkin Patch

The Pumpkin Patch

On a family trip to a farm from which we have bought a tremendous amount of produce this year, Griffin and I were heading to the pumpkin patch. We had already taken the wagon ride to the other pumpkin patch; where the pie pumpkins were grown. We had helped with the...

City names

City names

We were driving home recently. Griffin was in the back seat reading his book about U.S. Presidents. Griffin (9 years old): Who was the capital of Wisconsin named for?Me: Is this a quiz or a question? This is an important distinction with Griffin. He has both in his...

Summer project (3 of 3)

Summer project (3 of 3)

We went to the State Fair last week. Having wondered about the height of the Giant Slide, and having developed a technique for measuring things, we needed to collect the information required to answer our original question. The only problem? No one but me wanted to...