Does your child really struggle with multiplication tables? Mary has struggled ever since we started trying to teach her when she was in the 3rd grade. No matter what we have tried or what programs we have used, she really does have a hard time remembering them. But it's not just multiplication tables. She needs a calculator to do a lot of basic math like me. We weren't really sure what the problem was as the years went by and she still struggled but after we found out she has Asperger's like me, it became a lot more clear. Mary is also a very visual learner so trying to teach her math from a book is pretty much useless. So that's why we started using Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Multiplication with a Bridge to Division from Math-U-See. 

Math-U-See is a great program because it really is a visual way to learn math with flashcards and bricks. This is an instructor guided program that is designed for ages 10+ who are struggling with their multiplication facts. What is neat about Math-U-See is that they use a 3 step way to teach kids math: 

The Accelerated step helps students move quickly through a skill they haven't mastered yet.

The Individualized step recognizes that all students learn differently and helps kids learn at their own pace.

The Mastery step is when the student can remember their math facts with little difficulty.

Not being able to remember your times tables from a young age will definitely put you behind as math progresses. For some problems in later math, you can use a calculator, but for others, you just need to know it from memory. When you can't memorize times tables at a young age, it will put your further behind and then it becomes a gradual slope. Personally I did well in math in school up until around 5th grade. During that time, something just stopped clicking and even though I was confused, the class still moved on. From then on, I was never able to catch up, even with extra tutoring because I couldn't understand the basics everything else would be founded on.

So what did we think of Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Multiplication with a Bridge to Division? Since Mary is so visual and she loves color coded things, it was a perfect fit. You don't really use it for more than 15 minutes each day since you integrate it with your normal math. But after you start using the manipulatives, you will see a difference. I highly suggest checking them out if you have a child that is struggling with multiplication facts. Watching the videos and doing the worksheets from the digital kit really does help you understand how to use everything too. Eventually you won't need the blocks at all and will be able to remember everything you have practiced.

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Getting away from your daily routine, work, and the general business of everyday life should be a period of relaxation, that is, unless you’re going on an adventure trip. For most of us, relaxing is not as simple as a change of scenery. It can take a considerable amount of time and effort to unwind genuinely, but these tips will help you on your way to finding peace and tranquillity.

Plan a relaxing trip

The first and perhaps most obvious step is to organise a getaway where you will be able to put your feet up. Preparation is key. Plan your transport, accommodation and budget to avoid worrying about the little details once you are there. As well as scheduling sightseeing trips or activities, make sure to plan some free time where you can just do nothing. These whirlpool suites VA are the perfect example of a place where you can simply do nothing.

Unplug from work

The next and perhaps most crucial step is to leave your work at home. Work includes your laptop, work phone, and work brain! If you feel there are loose ends at work to tie up before your vacation, explain to your boss the situation and suggest a colleague take over while you are away, or offer to finish the job when you return. Whatever solution you come to, definitely don’t be taking business calls or sending emails poolside – it will prevent you from switching off. Besides, taking a dip in a pool in these New York hotels will be plenty of distraction.

Let yourself live

Try to break from usual routines and listen to your body. If you are used to getting up at 6 am for a morning workout, see what it feels like to rest in bed for a couple more hours. If sleep isn’t an option, you could use that time for reading or watching a favourite film. Likewise, any strict diets or prepped meals should be foregone on vacation. If there is a cuisine you are desperate to try, or you fancy splashing out on a fancy restaurant, treat yourself. For example, it may be home to health gurus, but LA has countless delicious street food vendors for you to experiment with your taste buds.

Try something new

Suppose you are someone that has a reasonably consistent lifestyle—stretching out of your comfort zone while on vacation can be an excellent way to boost your confidence and show your inner-critic who’s boss. The world offers endless opportunities if you are willing to explore it, like seeing the Grand Canyon from a boat tour.

Ease yourself back into everyday life

Avoid planning a trip to end on the weekend, as the Sunday scaries will be 10x worse. Instead, schedule your return so that you have a couple of days back at work before the weekend. When the weekend comes, you could spend time organising vacation photos in a scrapbook to savour the memories of your trip and decide on your highlights; this will help you compartmentalise your time away, too.

A garden can be a thing of beauty, especially when properly cared for. Sadly, not everyone has the time, resources or even inclination to keep their gardens well kempt. This means that, what could be a beautiful and colorful backdrop to your home, is instead a wild and unruly mess that causes naught but issues. However, there is hope! A number of products exist to help reduce the work required to maintain a gorgeous garden and this article is here to suggest some of the best potential options to remove the work. 

The Automatic Watering Oya

An incessant and often irksome requirement of maintaining a luscious garden lies in proper watering practices for your plants, especially if you live somewhere like California where the sun is hot, and the rain is rare. This usually means that you have to spend a good portion of your days trekking across your garden, delivering water to your plants and checking them to make sure they seem properly hydrated. However, there is an alternative in the form of a ceramic watering device called an Oya.

These pots are simply buried deep in the soil near plants that need consistent watering, with the neck of the Oya sticking out. The Oya can then be filled with water which it will slowly release into the soil around the plants, watering them far more effectively than surface watering is capable of. This could even help to keep more sensitive plants well-watered.

Artificial Turf

Like watering, one of the biggest and most consistent hassles of keeping a garden looking good is the seemingly constant need to mow the grass. This problem only increases the larger your garden is and is one of the most time-consuming and least satisfying aspects of gardening. Fortunately, companies such as US Turf offer artificial turf installation services that allow you to keep ideal looking grass year-round with no need for constant maintenance. This kind of service helps to cut down the busy work of gardening and allows you to spend the little time saved on the projects that interest you.

Online Garden Planner

If you want to enjoy the looks of a garden bursting with life but you don’t want to have to sink hours getting into the nitty-gritty technical gardening knowledge, then an online gardening planner might be useful to you. These sites allow you to plan out your garden in advance, and one of their more useful functions is that they often have preplanned gardens for all kinds of conditions, meaning you can simply pick out a garden plan that you like the look of and get planting.

Alternatively, they offer a variety of options for planning out your garden in detail so that you can get it right the first time. You don’t have to spend nearly as much time in trial-and-error situations with your plants and you can get your garden looking the way that you want it to. There, you’ve just grown a set of green fingers!

Community life can feel wonderful to be part of, especially if it relates to your particular neighborhood or area of interest. When you move into a new house, many of us can feel somewhat isolated until we meet the neighbors, and it’s true that in the last year, meeting the neighbors hasn’t been that good of an idea.

So - how can we become more integrated in our local community as the world slowly returns to normal? Asking questions such as these can help us more readily feel connected and collaborative in our neighborhoods, and this goes even if you live in a large apartment block, or if you live in a rural area where the houses are quite far apart from one another.

Furthermore, it’s worth considering why you wish to become more integrated. Are you looking for a social life, or to support a cause more appropriate to your needs? Do you wish to feel safer on your street? Or, are you just taking part in it because you enjoy doing so? All of this is totally valid - let’s see how it’s achievable.

Consider Community Programs

Community programs that help bind a community together can be really helpful, even if that means supporting local charity initiatives to help you raise money for a local cause. It may also be that promoting choosesolar.com to your local council meeting, or to push forward neighborhood watch efforts, can truly help you not only connect with your community but help you all live at a higher, better and more ethical standard. A cause like this can certainly bring people together and help you become prouder of where you live.

Contribute To Local Events

Local events may look quite humble and sometimes ineffectual, but they really do bring people together and the more people attend, the more people will come. This may simply mean heading to local celebrations in your community, volunteering for fundraising events, or spending some time helping out a local charity store or small business events. This can not only help your area seem more appealing on the surface for newcomers, but it adds to the fellow feeling and production capacity of those running such affairs.

Knock & Meets

When the world returns to normal, simply introducing yourself to your neighbors can be helpful. At the very least, speaking to those either side of your house, or saying hi to those you usually see in the parking lot can all be a helpful idea. At the very least, this way you can see who is friendly and who would rather just be avoided or waved to, but nothing more. This may help you in a time of difficulty, or it may allow you to report issues or protect people if necessary (such as by spotting suspicious behavior outside of their household).  Being integrated in your community often means having even a simple awareness of those who live their lives near you. It can’t hurt to try.

With this advice, we hope you can become more integrated in your local community. We’re sure they’re lucky to have you.

Playing games as a family is a wonderful opportunity for everyone to bond while having fun together. However, as a parent, you might sometimes want to include more learning-based games. Learning-based games are a great way to encourage your children to develop their skills in a fun and relaxed environment. The list below offers a range of fun learning games the whole family can enjoy.

1. Scrabble

It’s an old-timer, but scrabble is an iconic family game for a reason. One of the reasons the game continues to be enjoyed by so many people is because it challenges players of all ages. The competitive nature of Scrabble encourages children to learn spelling and word skills. Scrabble also helps children to build and broaden their vocabulary. A great way of helping your children learn more words and develop the skills that are used in scrabble is to use a word tool. This tool can also prove very useful when it comes to settling any scrabble disputes.

2. Mario Typing

Are your children constantly asking to play video games? If the answer is yes, then Mario Typing might be your ideal solution. This learning video game allows your children to play a game that features their favorite characters from the Mario Bros. franchise. As the name suggests, this is a video game that is played on the computer and helps your children learn how to touch type. The gameplay consists of a letter being featured on the screen, and players then have to type in the correct letters to move Mario, Peach or Luigi across the screen. Best of all, this game is completely free to play.

3. Jeopardy!

If you love watching Jeopardy! as a family, then why not take things up a level and play the video game together? The game functions across a wide range of consoles, such as Nintendo, PlayStation and Xbox. What is particularly fun about this game is that it is challenging for all the family. It is a great way to help your children learn more general knowledge and develop their problem-solving skills.

4. Top Trumps

Top Trumps is a fun card game that can help children learn more about a specific topic. There are so many different varieties of Top Trumps to choose from, making it a fun way for your child to play a game while learning about their favorite topic. To win a game of Top Trumps, a player needs to win the most cards. Cards are won when the data of one player’s card is higher than any other card selected for that round. Each pack of cards has a theme, such as books, dinosaurs, movie characters, or cars.

5. Articulate!

Articulate! is a board game the whole family can enjoy. Players are split into teams of two, and the players take turns being the guesser and the explainer. The team with the most correctly guessed cards wins the round. Aside from the time pressure, the challenge of Articulate! is explaining what is on your card without using any language written on your card. There are six different categories: object, nature, random, person, action, and world. The game is great for helping develop language and communication skills.