By Melissa Mc
I’ve been in and out of MMW over the past few months — primarily because my PTA responsibilities have superseded EVERYTHING in my life (and when I have been back, I’ve just made everyone mad, so I had to hide out anyway!).
Well, I’m glad to report that my fundraiser is OVER. Did you hear that? OVER! Part of me feels like Rocky on the stairs of the Philadelphia court house – another part of me feels like road kill left to rot on a hot Arkansas day. For some of you, I’m sure planning a major fundraiser is as easy as fixing a batch of funeral potatoes for a church pot luck – but for me, it was like learning nuclear science (is there such thing?). I hated every minute of it and was ready to quit at least a dozen times. But with the help of a superb committee and my beloved husband, I did it! My one and only fundraiser was a HUGE success!! Did I say HUGE? I mean COLOSSAL! I’ve had so many people come up to me and say stuff like, “Wow! Melissa you rocked in so many ways!” I promise, people don’t say things like that about me. So, it is with, gratitude, humility and an enormous sigh of relief that this experience in my life is done. I still have one more year as PTA president, but surely I can manage.
But the question is: What do I do now?
I’m not even sure what to write about anymore?
Do I write about how I ate my way through the last few months? That my panic attacks about the viability of said fundraiser were made infinitely better by consuming boxes of Girl Scout cookies?
Or how crazy it makes me when I read newspaper articles that refer to Marie Osmond’s son as her “adopted son.” As an adoptee – I don’t think of my parents as my “adoptive parents” – they are my PARENTS! And they don’t think of me as their “adopted daughter.” He was her son and she grieves mightily for him.
Or how my third grader just doesn’t get multiplication tables? I mean DOESN”T GET IT. We have done flash cards and extra work sheets and after school tutoring and it just doesn’t compute and I’m not sure what to do?
Or that my one true joy, reading a book, has been zapped into oblivion by the stress of the past 4 months? That my eyes glaze over every time a crack the cover of a book?
Or do I write that my best friend and walking buddy moved away three weeks ago and I miss her terribly?
Yeah, I’ve got nothing…




There is a game called Times Attack that was a life saver when my son was in 3rd grade. Best of all? It’s free!
Comment #1 by MandieMarch 9th, 2010 at 8:15 pmMultiplication - ahh yes we have struggled with that too. Here is what helped us.
I first used Memorize in Minutes: The Times Tables. But it was still a struggle, had to think tree=three and four = door elf=twelve. It worked, but it took him time to remember the story, etc. (available at multiplication.com Would maybe be great for another child with quicker processing speed than my son.)
Then I found Times Tales. In this the Numbers are pictures. So 8 is a snowman. And the answer is in nunmbers, so instead of elf=twelve. The answer in the story is actually a twelve.
For instance 3×7 is Mrs Week (shape of 7) caught 20 butterflies(shape of 3) and 1 landed on her head. So 3×7 = 21. It is at www.timestales.com This worked and he could process it much more quickly because of the pictures and the answer was a number. I do have the division one and like that aspect.
He still is slower than other kids with his facts, but he actually knows them, which I really thought would never happen!
I do have the other program as well, Times Tables for Fun, which was good too, but I still felt that Times Tales was easier to remember, faster to recall.
Sheridan
Comment #2 by SheridanMarch 9th, 2010 at 8:54 pmCongrats on a successful fundraiser. You are a much better woman than me. I was once asked to do it, and my plan was to send letters to everyone saying, “We need x amount of money. If you send in x amount today, we won’t have a fundraiser.” They found somebody else. Dodged a bullet there.
Multiplication. Does your third grader get addition? I swear this works with every kid I’ve tutored, which is only about 30, but still. Have him/her count by twos, threes, fours, whatever, until those patterns are memorized. Visual learners will do this kind of thing on paper: 4, 8, 12, 16, etc. Aural learners like to do it out loud. Whatever works. Tactile learners can use beans or skittles.
This is simple, I know. But usually when they just don’t get it, they’re missing the very simple concept that multiplation is just addition. They often think it’s somehow magical.
Comment #3 by AhnaMarch 9th, 2010 at 9:14 pmHere’s another recommendation for Times Tales. Brilliant, I tell you!
Comment #4 by GabrielleMarch 9th, 2010 at 9:16 pmYahtzee taught my kid multiplication. At least up to the sizes. Totally not kidding.
And YAY YOU for finishing the fundraiser!!! Are you back to the power of yes? Or should I give you more time until you get there again….
Comment #5 by The WizMarch 9th, 2010 at 9:30 pmIf you ever read notesfromthetrenches, she just bribed her son with ice cream sundaes. Every week if he learns the appropriate times tables, every sibling gets an ice cream sundae with the same number of scoops (the 3X tables, 3 scoops).
Sounded brilliant to me.
Comment #6 by Emily CMarch 9th, 2010 at 9:30 pmOh, and the “adopted son” thing drives me nutso too. They do it with the Brangelina kids too. Hello!! ALL THEIR CHILDREN ARE THEIR CHILDREN!!
Comment #7 by The WizMarch 9th, 2010 at 9:30 pmNot important, but I have to point out that Rocky was running up the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum, not courthouse
.
Comment #8 by MeganMarch 9th, 2010 at 9:38 pmMegan:
As soon as I typed that I knew I was wrong, but I couldn’t remember what it was??!!! So much for my fact checking! Thanks for clarifying.
Emily C: I start bribing tomorrow!
Comment #9 by Melissa McMarch 9th, 2010 at 9:43 pmSOOOOooooo…What WAS your awesome fundraiser???
Congratulations on being able to breathe again! Welcome back to life!
Comment #10 by StrollerbladerMarch 9th, 2010 at 10:31 pmOther suggestions for times tables: get his body more involved. He can ’sign’ the facts with his fingers/hands, yell them out while jumping on the trampoline or jump-roping, etc.
Comment #11 by dangermomMarch 9th, 2010 at 11:24 pmyay for fundraiser success!!!
something that is also available for multiplication is touch math…it’s a way to make math more visual…touch points on numbers. i use it to teach addition and subtraction, but they have an entire curriculum for teaching multiplication using touch points. i have access to some materials if you’re interested–it doesn’t take long at all to learn. just e-mail me and i’ll e-mail you back some stuff.
Comment #12 by candaceMarch 10th, 2010 at 5:16 amCongrats on finishing the fundraiser!
Boxes of cookies are how I’ve been dealing with having an infant to take care of.
I had a hard time with multiplication tables as a child. For years for certain numbers that I couldn’t seem to memorize, I would add instead. 7×3, for example, I would add seven plus seven, get the result, then add seven again. It worked, but was horribly slow since I also struggled with addition and had to count with my fingers. Eventually I got some of the tables memorized and that made it a bit faster. So, if I remembered that eight times five was forty, then for eight times seven, I just had to add forty plus eight plus eight.
Years and years later, I finally have most of the single digit tables memorized. A few tricks that helped:
1’s are easy, the answer is always just the other number.
2’s are easy, it’s all the even numbers. Sometimes I would recite even numbers in my head, counting each one with my fingers until I got to the number I was multiplying.
5’s always give you nice 5 or 0 ending answers. I did the same recite the sequence (5 10 15 20, etc) in my head while ticking them off with my fingers until I got to the number I needed (at eight fingers I would be to forty in my head, for example).
9 times any number less than eleven can be figured out quickly using your fingers. Hold both hands up in front of you. Fold down the finger (counting from the left) that you’re multiplying by. So for 9×7, you would fold over the second finger from the left on your right hand (ring finger if your palms are facing you, pointer if your palms are away). For your answer, the first digit is the number of unfolded fingers on the left of the folded one, and the second digit is the number of fingers on the right (so 9×7 would have 6 fingers on the left and 3 on the right so the answer is 63).
10’s are easy, you just stick a zero after the other number.
11’s are easy, too. For a single digit number, it’s just that number repeated (11×7 is 77). For double digit numbers (up to 18) times eleven there is also a trick. The answer will always have three digits. The first digit is the first digit of the multiplied number. The last digit is the last digit of the multiplied number. For the middle digit you add together the first and last digits. So 11×17, 1 goes to the left, 7 goes to the right, and 1+7 gives you 8 which goes in the middle. So the answer is 187.
I hope you find something that works for your child so they have an easier time than I did!
Also, ditto about “adopted son”…my husband was adopted and if anybody referred to him as “your adopted son” to his mom, she would get rather upset. He is her son, she is his mom, the bond is no different than that in any other parent/child relationship.
Comment #13 by kaduseyMarch 10th, 2010 at 8:09 amStrollerblader:
Comment #14 by Melissa McMarch 10th, 2010 at 8:16 amMy fundraiser was a huge silent/live auction, live entertainment, food, at for our elementary school PTA at a woo-woo location in town. So over my head! And if I hadn’t been in charge — probably wouldn’t have attended!
Silent auctions are SO much work! Good for you getting through it all.
Comment #15 by JenMarch 10th, 2010 at 10:55 amTimes Tables!! I was beginning to think I was the ONLY Mom who’s child stuggles with them! Thank you for letting me know I am NOT the only one! And Thank you kadusey for the AWESOME hints!! I can’t wait to show these ideas to my son - he loves tricks and if there is a trick to learn, he will learn it…so THANK YOU!! I’ve also bought the Times Tales thanks to Sheridan’s recommendations…looks interesting, can’t wait to try it out with my sons!
Comment #16 by JenMarch 10th, 2010 at 12:46 pmI am so happy for you that the fundraiser is over and doubly happy that it went great. A fundraiser that went well is quite the accomplishment right now. I hope you have lots of pictures of the event and that you have the time to make yourself a little memento of the project.
I have found in life that it is important for me to celebrate my own successes, and having a visual reminder of your awesome greatest is never a bad thing.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!! YOU DID IT!!!!!!!!!!
Comment #17 by living in zionMarch 10th, 2010 at 1:41 pmJust saw this board game today:
Equate
It’s like Scrabble but with math equations instead of words. I thought it looked interesting, and like it might be good for general math practice for kids (or for me).
Comment #18 by kaduseyMarch 11th, 2010 at 5:54 pmOur kids’ school tries to stay away from fundraising as much as possible. At the beginning of the year they ask for $20 a kid, or $50 a family. So much easier in my book!
lol
Comment #19 by OliveMarch 12th, 2010 at 6:34 am