And because the internet is still up: Homeschooling Paradise with “humorous” math. It does make Leilani beg for more math… the humor is exactly on target for the audience. I learned about the site because a teacher was fired over using the materials.
Free Math Word Problems – Challenging Singapore First Grade Math
Example? Wally the Killer Whale caught some jellyfish. He ate 5 of them and gave 7 to his daughter for acing her First Grade Math Worksheet. If Wally had 6 jellyfish in the end, how many did he catch in the beginning? (She solved that one)
Really bad example? Goomba Gorilla loved to collect bird droppings because his wife made delicious pies with them. He collected some and put them in 3 boxes. He put 4 bird droppings in box A. In Box B, he put 3 more than in Box A. And finally, he put 8 in Box C. How many bird droppings did hungry Goomba collect?
And there are worse, but I read them aloud, so I edit on the fly :-)
Update: Sadly, the owner of the website took it down because he was so distraught about the teacher getting fired. It angers me. I feel for the teacher, I oppose the system, but still, the teacher had no common sense. He used the 3rd grade worksheets, and their humor is even darker and geared to that age group. He or she should have known better, American schools want to sterilize content, (but Hollywood and Toys’R’Us produces so much worse and markets it to kids and then it’s OK) and there is always one parent who is offended…
Another update: I wrote an answer to the owner of the website.
Hi Kris,
I totally disagree with the taking down of the website. If you close it, you will be punishing 1000 kids, whose parents have been using your site in the past, plus a few new ones like me, in order to show support to the teacher. I am sorry for the teacher. I wish it was not so. If you want my ideas on how to support him/her in a more efficient way email me.
But your closing of the website will not help him/her. This teacher has made a choice – teach within the American school system. He/she should have known what the system expects, and that at least one parent is always offended (by potty humor, hunting, blood, using the name of a race, nation…). There are lots of super religious people in the US, and to them anything Harry Potter, Vampires… is of the devil. If the teacher has been teaching for a while he/she knew that. Using your worksheets is a poor choice to make, for someone working within and depending on that system. Most homeschoolers are different. I don’t care what the parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles of 35 classmates think. Your worksheets make my daughter laugh, and make her like math. That’s why I use them privately. Would I if I was teaching my friends kids? I’d show my friend first and ask. Would I if I was teaching a dozen or more kids? Absolutely not.
I just wish I had downloaded all the worksheets while I had a chance…
Anyway, however you decide, I’m grateful that you created the sheets, that the website was up for as long as it was, that I found it (and yes, I only found it because the teacher was fired) and that my daughter had 2 math lessons that were a lot more fun than her usual.
Thanks
Sonja
In other news: We did not drown when it rained 12 inches, but we caught a gallon worth of roof leak water…
