Life of Fred

(Cross post from Maureen Wittmann)

While at the Colorado Catholic homeschooling conference, my teen daughter was very excited to show me a new series of books. I assumed that it was some fun girl literature that she was dragging me to see. Imagine my surprise when we got to the vending table and I saw math books.

It was the new series, Life of Fred by Stanley F. Schmidt, Ph.D. The lessons are taught through the story of a 6-year-old genius boy named Fred Gauss. (Heart and Mind did a review of the series and gave it the thumbs up.)

I bought the algebra book and Teen Daughter got right to work. In fact, she worked through several lessons as we drove home to Michigan. If this continues through the school year, this will be my new favorite textbook series. If you can get kids to enjoy the learning process, most of the work is done for you.

Dr. Schmidt gave a couple of talks at the conference and I heard that they were great. Last I checked tapes were not up at the CO website. I'm dying to hear them. I'll let you all know when they're available for sale.

PS If you have questions about the textbooks and answer keys, Dr. Schmidt's phone number is at his website. He's very nice about answering questions and helping you with concerns.

Climate Change - a little data

This is an interesting article on climate, primarily because of the 2
graphs included, which show the temperature trends both US and worldwide
for the 20th century.

The Supposed Papal Prohibition on Dissection

Dr. Thursday has posted an interesting chapter on the history of Catholic teaching regarding the study of anatomy and some very pervasive urban legends regarding this issue. See the post here.

The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics by Norton Juster

1963/2001, Sea Star Books, 70 pages, hardcover

The Dot and the Line is a funny little picture book for kids and adults. It's a humorous allegory about a straight line who falls in love with a dot. Unfortunately the dot loves the more free-spirited squiggle and the straight line nears despair. He tries to rejoice in his wonderful uses (illustrated in creative and humorous ways) but is still frustrated by his lack of creativity and spontaneity. He finally discovers...

Well, I don't want to spoil it for you, but it's a fun little book that packs quite a bit of philosophical punch. Though it's not quite as involved, expect some of the same word plays and humor as the author's most famous book: The Phantom Tollbooth.

Of course this is a about a lot more than just mathematics, but it should delight the hearts of math lovers everywhere.

Available from Chronicle Books

Darwin Catholic

For any and all Darwin Catholics out there, check out this blog: Darwin Catholic. Evolution isn't the only topic though. It's a blog written by a young married couple who not only homeschool their littles, but were homeschooled themselves.

Relative Size of the Earth

This is a really neat pictorial demonstration of the relative size of the Earth to other planets, the sun and some very large stars.

hat-tip the Lilting House

The Perils of Lavender & Tea Tree Oils

It is now well-known that man-made compounds can present challenges to the normal functioning of the endocrine systems of vertebrates. However, the ability of herbal extracts to be endocrine disruptors is not common knowledge.

Science News (01JUL2006, vol. 170, p. 6) reports that lavender oil and tea tree oil contain compounds that mimic female sex hormones and thus can interfering with male hormones, especially in pre-pubescent boys. Repeated exposure to these compounds through skin-care products produced enlarged male breasts (gynecomastia) in boys age 10 and younger, a very rare condition for that age group. While such a symptom in boys is an obvious indicator that something is amiss, early breast development in girls may also be linked to topical exposure to plant products. Link: http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20060701/fob8ref.asp