A visit to the U.S.?

Tammy's family might visit the U.S. in June. Even if they don't go, planning for it, is great fun and gives us lots of scope for learning themes.
The past week we spent quite a bit of time on converting U.S.D to South African Rand. The average currency last week was $1= R10. 50. How much is $6? Multiply with 10 and add 1/2 of the dollar value. Then check the answer on the calculator! What bliss! The exercise meant revising

• what to do when you multiply with 10 (add a zero or move the decimal point)
• odd and even numbers. 1/2 of an odd number means there must be a half (a .5), but even numbers divide cleanly - no half.
  
• adding e.g. 70 + 3. (For a while she was a bit confused and would say 100 i.e. she mixed the ones and tens, but she soon caught up again.)

By Friday she was able to convert $1 - $10 to ZAR mentally - no more adding on paper! She was very proud of herself and I am curious to see how well she fares on Monday. "How much is $5?" "R52.50!" Without hesitation! Hurrah!

Reading exercises were found in the Disney World website. She searched for the website and then clicked on "animal world". We copied the text onto word and now she did comprehension on sections she chose e.g. discovery. (As I write this, I haven't got the info in front of me - it's on their computer, but I hope you get the drift.)

Other work was discussing (and watching) cricket and checking live scores. How much must S.A. score to beat Australia? (Subtraction) How does the coach indicate it was a four / a six?

For rugby (the Super 14 tournament is well underway and the Blue Bulls of Pretoria are doing very well so far), we checked where the different teams come from and how many points are awarded for a try, the conversion kick, and a penalty.

School is fun!