Don Tai (Canada) Blog

Fear not the monster Shrek, for he is not to blame. But if not Shrek then whom? The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) warned consumers early Friday to immediately stop using the glasses available for purchase from McDonalds, on concerns about toxic levels of cadmium. Twelve million glasses are recalled. Who is to blame? There are at least three parties involved: McDonalds, ARC International, of Millville, NJ, and presumably the Chinese factory that produced the glasses. So common is the fact that China makes most of our products and the fact that so many toxic products have been traced back to China in the past makes this a very good educated guess.

These are math word problems for kids in grade 2-4. I collect them as I find them. I think that kids should be able to think about the situation and figure out the math question to solve. This is not as easy as it sounds, and kids can easily get confused. Practice makes perfect. I find that reading math problems in workbooks is not as effective as real life situations.

1. I bought a Singer sewing machine, which was made in August 1958. How old is it?
2. Bag one is 15 lb of potatoes and costs $1.99. Bag two is 10 lb of potatoes and costs $1.33. Which bag is cheaper per pound and why? Show your work.
3. A 5 lb bag of tangerines costs $3.77. A 12 lb box of oranges costs $4.99. Which one is cheaper per pound and why? Show your work.
4. You want to borrow the book “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”, vol 2 from the library, so you place a hold on it. You are 473d out of a total of 701 holds. Each hold can be borrowed for one week. How long do you have to wait? Answer in years, months and weeks. You are 8 years old. How old will you be when you can borrow this book.
5. Your Big Sister sells Girl Guide cookies. She has 2 cases. Each case has 12 boxes. Each box has 12 cookies. How many total cookies does she have? She then sells 4 boxes. How many cookies does she have left? Show your work.
6. Heinz ketchup in a fancy bottle is on sale at $2.99 for 1.25L. No Name ketchup costs $1.99 for 1L. Which ketchup brand do you get more ketchup for you money. Do not base your answer on which ketchup tastes better. Show your work.
7. I bought 3 bottles of Gummy vitamins that contain 190 vitamins in each box. There are two kids in the family that take one vitamin each day. How long will the three vitamin bottles last?

Our local Toronto Public Library branch has been closed for renovations for a couple of months but reopened on Wednesday. The main change was the absence of the checkout counters, as well as the people that worked behind them. Like at Home Despot they now have a self-serve touch screen checkout system, which gave me a lot of trouble.

Neither difficult nor excessively long, the walk to school has always been an excellent way to start learning for the day. In a way I am thankful I am able to participate and guide. We neither rush nor dally, allocating sufficient time to allow for the mind to wander at will. The environment, grass, trees, the weather and sky are our teaching aids. There is the important skill of safely crossing the street to learn, one which needs to be learned well. Handling vehicular traffic is also covered. There is the final wave. I then return, thinking of how to plan my day.

We live in Toronto, Canada, so do not have the luxury of going to our backyard, picking fresh oranges and juicing them. Still we love to drink orange juice, a call which is answered by a trip to the local big box grocery store. Orange Juice can be expensive, so I have done several blind taste tests on the family to see if they can tell the difference between types. In summary, there is no difference in taste between concentrate and “not from concentrate” (NFC) types. Canada Grade “A” No Name brands taste the same as good as the name brands. Added calcium does not change the taste of OJ. Chinese orange juice is discernibly tarter and therefore easy to identify. If you can buy orange juice for $1CAD/litre, this is good economy.

Question: Hi Don, I was trying to find a contact us link on your blog, but I was unsuccessful.

Anyway, I was searching Google Images for a specific Hot Wheels car. I stumbled across your photo on your old blog and saw that you had it. I am really interested in trying to find the name of the car. I am looking to purchase it for a friend.

That’s the image, from the left it is 8th car down, 4th column over. Futuristic orange/red/chrome one. Any help would be greatly greatly appreciated! :-)

Justin

I have never been a fan of Dollar Store* toys for my kids. They return home with plastic toys of very low quality, even by Chinese standards. The recent Toronto city garbage strike brings home the need to reduce our consumption because the city, temporarily, will not pick up our trash. I continue to press my case to both my parents and my kids that Dollar Store quality is false economy.

Freezies are a staple treat for kids, summer or otherwise. Recent use of a newly acquired juicer has allowed us to buy fresh pineapples, cut off the skin, remove the inedible eyes, core them, and juice the fruit. The leftover pulp can be used as freezie material, a great discovery. The freezies come out very fresh, tasty, 100% all natural, and very fiberous, providing excellent nutrition, vitamines, and a good source of fibre.