Writing

The following is an assignment that I wrote for IEW class last week.  Mom thought I should share it.  It is a three paragraph story on the Israelites and the Exodus.

I hope you enjoy it.

Moses the Emancipator

Egypt was a blazingly hot and arid land. Blistering sunlight descended upon the Israelite slaves as they labored in despair, fashioning colossal, towering monuments under Pharaoh’s ruthless regime. It seemed they would be devoured by the baking sun and the Egyptians’ bellowing commands. After four hundred years, they felt their pleadings would go on indefinitely and God would neglect them forever. Eventually, their wailing was heard by the Lord. God chose Moses, who was mild-mannered and meek, to demand their freedom from Pharaoh. Quaking in his sandals, Moses ascended to Pharaoh’s radiant, fanciful palace to seek their release. The corrupt pharaoh protested repeatedly. Contrary to Moses’ instructions, he refused to let the Israelite’s go. He would not obey. Because of Pharaoh’s wickedness, God sent baffling plagues and devastating enigmas to torment the Egyptians. Finally, Pharaoh’s will was depleted. He gave in. He set them free!

The Israelites joyfully followed Moses toward the Promised Land, which was flowing with delicious milk and sweet, delectable honey. At long last, they were out of bondage. Unfortunately, they didn’t get far. Pharaoh became irate and ordered his army to track them down. As they approached the Red Sea, they discovered they were trapped! Pharaoh’s army descended upon them from one side. The Sea lay on the other side. Fearfully, the Israelites turned to Moses in despair and wailed, “Have you taken us here to die?” Moses validated their feelings of terror, but he had a stronger faith in God. Courageously, Moses stretched out his gnarled rod and prayed.

As Moses pleaded with the Lord and extended his trembling hand, unbelievable events began to take place. “Stand back and watch the Lord at work,” bellowed Moses. At that moment, God took charge. The angel of the Lord and a fiery, flaming pillar of cloud went behind the people and obscured the way for Pharaoh’s army. Next, the Lord sent a mighty wind streaking and whipping though the night to split the waters of the sea. A dry path appeared. The Israelites traveled safely across the squishy, murky sea bed. Towering walls of water encased them, but they refused to give up. When Pharaoh and his army relentlessly followed, the Lord caused the wheels of their chariots to become stuck in the spongy mud and fall off. On the other side, Moses again stretched out his hand. Suddenly, the sea crashed down and devoured the Egyptians. Pharaoh’s army was destroyed. In awe, the people of Israel beheld the wondrous works of the Lord. God’s servant, Moses, had become the deliverer. Emancipation at last!

Life of Fred

Ever since elementary school, I’ve always struggled with math. Math just does not come easily to me. Most days I had trouble understanding what the teacher was talking about and a lot of times I wasn’t able to finish all of my work during class. I’d have to bring it home for homework, and that meant hours at the kitchen table with Mom explaining things again.




Since we began home school math has become a lot easier. At the beginning of sixth grade, my mom set me up on something called Teaching Textbooks. This is a program that you do completely on a computer. There are four disks of math that last for the whole year. The teacher teaches you the math lessons on the computer every day. You work out the problems in your notebook or on scratch paper and then enter the answers into the computer. The program automatically grades every answer that you put in, so you always know how many you’ve missed and you can either rework the problem or have the solution shown to you (but then you’re marked incorrect.) Every nine or ten lessons, there is a quiz. This is basically how Teaching Textbooks works. After most of the year on this math program, I felt like I had really learned a lot and made progress. My mom was happy with my grades, but not as happy with the program. She thought that we would get bored with math on the computer every year.



After much research, my mom found this new math program called “Life of Fred.”This is a math book about a five year old boy named Fred Gauss.  His last name rhymes with house.  (Friedrich Gauss was a mathematician back in the 1800's  He was also a child genius...just keep reading and you'll see why this is important.) Now, I know what you’re thinking “What does a math textbook have to do with a five year old boy?” Well, the “Life of Fred” books are much different than your average textbooks. These books teach math in a story. Let me explain.

Fred is a college professor. Yes, you heard me right; a five year old boy is a college professor. (Because he is a genius...ah!) He also lives in his office and eats most of his meals out of a vending machine, but that doesn't have anything to do with math. Throughout the story of Fred’s life, he comes across everyday situations where he needs to figure out some kind of math problem. So, while the author is telling you about Fred’s life, he also adds math to the story. You, the reader, have to figure out the answers at the end of each chapter before you can move on with the story. For example, during one part of the story, Fred dropped a large knife on his foot! He had to be rushed to the hospital and the doctor had to determine how much blood Fred had lost. The reader (you) then figured out how much blood an average five year old would have, how much Fred had lost, and how much he needs to have replaced in order to live. Sound exciting?
It is. 


After a few chapters, the reader comes to “The Bridge.” This is basically a nice way of saying “You will now take a quiz on what you’ve been learning.” You are given five attempts to pass over the bridge. Each attempt has ten questions. You have to get at least nine of them right to pass to the next chapter. Yes. You heard me right. You have to make a 90 to move on! Talk about pressure! If you don’t get a 90, you have to do attempt number two…another bridge, another ten questions! There are five tries, like I said. I have never had to do more than the first try so far, but if I did fail all five bridges, I would have to go back and redo all the chapters before that bridge to see what I missed.



The point of “Fred” books is to teach a kid to learn by reading on their own. Supposedly this is mostly how we will be learning once we get to college. So it’s a good idea to get used to it now.



“Life of Fred” books go from Fractions all the way up through two years of college Calculus. (My sister is going to be taking Calculus at college this year, and my mom will be ordering a “Fred” book for her as a back-up.) I find the “Life of Fred” books to be a fun and entertaining way to learn math. I will begin with the Pre-Algebra book for seventh grade. These books have definitely given me more of an interest in math and shown me ways that people actually use the math they have to learn. I would recommend these books to anyone whether you are home schooled or just needing a little extra help!

~Zach~