Little Star Homeschool

Robert's got back to his swimming lessons now his tonsils are out, he felt a little nauseous because the changing room is exceptionally hot but he got changed quickly and got through it. He hasn't forgotten what he learnt last year which is good.

Its such a relief to be able to sleep at night without the fear of him vomiting and to go out for the day knowing he can travel alright without being sick. Its been quite a journey now I look back, something like that can dominate one's life so much it takes a long time to adjust to normality. I have only just began to relax when he coughs and not react by fetching a bucket. We are all so much calmer now. He eats better too, free to eat apple skin, strawberry seeds and yoghurts with balls without choking.

His reading is his greatest strength, we are sailing through Roald Dahl books having just finished James and the Giant PeachAt the moment Robert's working through the I Love Maths! CDRom

Robert's been under the weather for the past week with a chesty cough but he doesn't need to go to the doctors because (serious voice, stern look) "they have equipment I don't like." So I went out and got him a Geomag Deco Panels set to cheer him up. (He's been wanting one for ages.)

In geometry the net of a polyhedron is an arrangement of edge-joined polygons in the plane which can be folded (along edges) to become the faces of the polyhedron. Polyhedral nets are a useful aid to the study of polyhedra and solid geometry in general, as they allow for models of polyhedra to be constructed from material such as thin cardboard. Source Wikipedia

This morning we have been turning these printouts into 3D models and talking about shapes and their relationships. We looked at a screenshot from a PS2 game and tracked down the 3D shapes that make up animals, people and buildings. The models are simply made from printer paper but would be improved if the flat sheets were stuck onto thin card before being cut out. So the models in the photo are prototypes.

Robert would also like to colour the panels and add patterns on PhotoImpact before constructing the polyhedron on the next set we make.

Any Sunday morning peace and quiet was shattered this weekend when the workman came to fix our leaking bay window roof. It needed re-felting. Robert watched through the bedroom window directly above the bay.

Today he's been drawing and making his own jigsaws from paper plates.

Yesterday he spotted this:

If you look at the numbers 1234567890 you will see the numbers 12 34 56 78 and 90

12 + 22 = 34
34 + 22 = 56
56 + 22 = 78

but 78 + 12 = 90

How strange.

Robert's latest mathematical quest is to know the names of every 2 dimensional geometrical object. If you are curious too, here they are (courtesy of Dr Math):

1  monogon                  (Monogon and digon can only
   2  digon                     be used in rather special
   3  trigon, triangle          circumstances. Trigon and
   4  tetragon, quadrilateral   tetragon are alternatives to
   5  pentagon                  triangle and quadrilateral;
   6  hexagon                   the adjectival forms trigonal
   7  heptagon                  and tetragonal are more common.)
   8  octagon
   9  enneagon

  10  decagon
  11  hendecagon
  12  dodecagon
  13  triskaidecagon
  14  tetrakaidecagon, tetradecagon
  15  pentakaidecagon, pentadecagon
  16  hexakaidecagon, hexadecagon
  17  heptakaidecagon
  18  octakaidecagon
  19  enneakaidecagon

  20  icosagon
  21  icosikaihenagon, icosihenagon
  22  icosikaidigon
  23  icosikaitrigon
  24  icosikaitetragon
  25  icosikaipentagon
  26  icosikaihexagon
  27  icosikaiheptagon
  28  icosikaioctagon
  29  icosikaienneagon

  30  triacontagon
  31  triacontakaihenagon
  32  triacontakaidigon
  33  triacontakaitrigon
  34  triacontakaitetragon
  35  triacontakaipentagon
  36  triacontakaihexagon
  37  triacontakaiheptagon
  38  triacontakaioctagon
  39  triacontakaienneagon

  40  tetracontagon
  41  tetracontakaihenagon
  42  tetracontakaidigon
  43  tetracontakaitrigon
  44  tetracontakaitetragon
  45  tetracontakaipentagon
  46  tetracontakaihexagon
  47  tetracontakaiheptagon
  48  tetracontakaioctagon
  49  tetracontakaienneagon

  50  pentacontagon ...
  60  hexacontagon ...
  70  heptacontagon ...
  80  octacontagon ...
  90  enneacontagon ...
 100  hectogon, hecatontagon
1000  chiliagon
10000  myriagon