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Archive for the ‘Resources, Tips, How-To’s’ Category

Lego Camp

Posted in Elementary, Preschool, Middle School, Resources, Tips, How-To's, tagged , on May 13, 2013 | 2 Comments »

A vehicle using the new pieces without studs.

I thought I’d share a great opportunity for any of your children who like Legos. Lizz is a fellow homeschooler and I do her portfolio reviews. :) What a great way to kick off the summer!

Bricks 4 Kidz, a small LEGO education business, is running a pre-summer camp for homeschoolers on May 20-23 at The River Church in Liberty Township, Ohio.  The theme this year is “Brick Olympics” and will include learning about the history of the Olympic Games dating back to the ancient world; sports themed models including a gymnast, swim races, skier; and building games and challenges. Most of the models are motorized “machines” using LEGO Technic pieces.

The cost is $100 per student ($10 discount for siblings).  This includes a camp shirt and custom mini-figure that the kids will use during the week and take home.   On Monday and Tuesday the camp classes will meet from 9:30-2:30 and  on Wednesday and Thursday they’ll meet from 9:30-12:30.  The last day will include a showcase of all the models built during the week that your student will proudly show off to you!

If you would like to participate, please email the following information:

Student’s Name:

Student’s Birthday:

Your Name:

Email Address:

Contact Phone:

Payment will not be due until the first day of camp.

Lizz Mele

Bricks 4 Kidz of North Cincinnati

513-716-KIDZ (5439)

lmele@bricks4kidz.com

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Music Education Apps

Posted in Elementary, Preschool, Resources, Tips, How-To's on April 29, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

Jazzy Music

Jazzy Music

One of the areas that we are to teach when homeschooling is fine arts, which includes music. I found some apps from The Melody Book that look like so much fun for young students to learn musical instruments.

A Jazzy Day (4.99) is an award-winning ebook that:

  • can be played to be read aloud (great for non-readers or beginning readers)
  • can be read independently
  • learn about different instruments
  • a child can play different instruments

Jazzy ABC (1.99) is a music app that teaches children the alphabet and musical instruments. Children can play each of the instruments too!

Jazzy 123:  Learn to Count Music (1.99) How about not only learning how to count time, but also counting in 10 different languages!

If you want to learn more about the jazzy adventures of this cat duo, click here

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Ninth Grade:Preparing for College

Posted in Junior, Senior High, Resources, Tips, How-To's, tagged , on April 29, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

imagesTwo weeks ago I mentioned preparing for college in the freshman year of high school. Besides planning the academic year there are two more areas you can prepare your student by first,  beginning a reading list and second, planning volunteer opportunities. Universities like to see books students have read that provide background for composition, literature, and history. Admissions counselors are interested in what type of volunteering your scholar has done throughout their high school years and homeschooling provides a great opportunity to do that.

Begin a reading list. Many colleges have a list of books they recommend for high school students to read. Check several colleges that your student is interested in attending or look at various websites. Be discriminating and read summaries of the books. If you are unfamiliar with high school level books or where to begin here are a few websites to help you:

The Great Books This site has several categories to choose from: Ancients, Medieval, Reformation, and Modernity, all from a Christian worldview. There are over 70 free discussion guides and schedules to go along with the recommended books.

Literature recommendations for high school There are more books on this list than your student has time to read. :)

pinkmonkey is a website that I have used frequently when teaching junior and senior high school students. Not only does it provide a summary of each chapter, but also has quizzes and essay questions.

Decide on volunteer opportunities. Colleges are looking to see that a student is able to handle more than just schoolwork. Now is the time to investigate areas your student is considering majoring in college. Do you have a budding teacher? How about volunteering as a Sunday School teacher for the younger students or helping with child care during church? Are they interested in a medical field? Contact a hospital about being a hospital volunteer (candy striper). Do you have a student curious in being a vet tech? There are animal shelters that need volunteers to walk dogs and play with cats.

Remember, enjoy the journey! If you have any questions, please ask and I will be glad to help.  I have successfully graduated two young men. One is a college grad and has a degree in the field in which he majored. My other son chose to go in missions for almost three years and successfully helped with the majority of the work in opening a coffee shop.

NEXT WEEK: TRANSCRIPTS

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Homeschool Conferences/Conventions 2013

Posted in Elementary, Preschool, Junior, Senior High, Middle School, Resources, Tips, How-To's, tagged on April 16, 2013 | 2 Comments »

Nothing invigorates me more about homeschooling that being around a bunch of other homeschool moms. I have found a few conferences that perhaps you would like to attend this year that can give you a boost. I posted this blog earlier, but have updated it for 2013. You will find the conventions and conferences according to the dates in which they will be held.

MACHE Homeschool Conference, St.Paul, Minnesota, April 19-20, 2013

Eastern (Tulsa) Oklahoma Homeschool Convention, Tulsa, Oklahoma, April 30-May 1, 2013

Ultimate Homeschool Expo another online option with several events throughout the year. The Ultimate Transformation Expo, May 13-17, 2013.

Tampa Bay Homeschool Conference, Tampa, Florida, May 23-26, 2013

Can’t get away, but would like to attend a home school conference? What about an online option? Schoolhouse Expo , May 28, 2013 will be about homeschooling through high school.

Indiana Home School Convention  May 31-June 1, 2013

Arizona Home Education Convention & Curriculum Fair, Phoenix, Arizona, June 14-15, 2013

CHEO Convention There are some great speakers lined up for this summer. June 20-22, 2013 This will be its 29th year! Akron, Ohio

So, you decided you are going to go. Great, but before you go there are some things you can do in order to make your convention experience worthwhile and enjoyable.

Some Conventions Tips:

Be sure and pre-register so you can save on the admission price.

Do your research before you go! Read what speakers are going to be at the conference, when they are speaking, and what topic are they addressing.  Read reviews of curriculum to find out what you’d like to look at when you attend. Create a list of must-have curriculum and books and a list of would-be-nice-to-have books. Write these items in a notebook and give each one a few lines so you can write comparison prices. Don’t forget art and writing supplies! Estimate how much you can afford to spend.

Don’t become overwhelmed. The curriculum hall at the conventions are monstrously  HUGE! Avoid the urge to buy the first thing you see. Use the notebook of the list you complied of items you are wanting to purchase before you went to the convention. Compare the prices of  vendors of the curriculum. Be sure to note the name of the booth and their location in the vendor hall. For instance: Bravewriter Aisle A next to Rainbow Resource, near the end on the right. I need a landmark, maybe you don’t.

Stick to your estimated budget! I know it is tempting to buy, buy, buy! Only purchase those items you know you will use. If you go home and find that you really needed that skid of construction paper order it online! It would have been difficult to fit it in your vehicle any way.

Wear comfortable shoes and clothes. You are going to be doing a lot of standing and sitting so wear what looks nice and provides maximum comfort.

Pack bottles of water and  healthy snacks. Food and drinks can be expensive and food lines can be long. You want to keep up your energy and brain power for the vendor hall and lectures!

Take a rolling cart, suitcase, or a backpack that you can unload if it gets heavy. The car is probably parked a distance that you are only going to make one or two trips maximum to the car, so be sure and take something that you know can handle the load of a lot of books and supplies. It is also going to be crowded so keep that in mind as you think about maneuverability of you and your burden carrier. :)

Consider asking your husband to attend. Dale accompanied me a few times and I appreciated his input about curriculum choices and viewpoint of the speakers we heard. If he can’t go, ask a homeschool friend to accompany you. Make it a fun time to be out and get rejuvenated.

Purchase the CD’s Couldn’t make it to hear all the amazing speakers? Why not buy the CD’s and ask a few friends to share the cost with you? This way you can listen to them whenever you like. If you think they would benefit more homeschool families, perhaps you can ask your local support group to purchase them for your lending library.

NOTE: These have already occurred, but I thought that you could keep them in mind for the future as they are well established conventions. Next year I will remember to update this in January instead of April. Sorry about that!

Great Home School Convention (Southeast), Greenville, South Carolina, March 14-16, 2013

Great Home School Convention  (Midwest) This is right here in Cincinnati, Ohio where I live. :) April 4-6, 2013

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Using Glyphs

Posted in Elementary, Preschool, Resources, Tips, How-To's, tagged , on April 9, 2013 | 1 Comment »

I posted this yesterday and thought more explaining was needed in order for you to try and incorporate this idea into your homeschool classroom. Have fun! :)

“Glyphs? What are they?” you ask.  If you thought it sounded similar to hieroglyphics you would be right as that form of written language is associated with pictures. Glyphs are a nonstandard way of collecting data through either coloring or creating pictures. I have found them to be helpful with students for a variety of reasons. Each glyph ask questions about a certain topic and the reader then follows the directions based upon the response they gave. You can have your student do a glyph involving general questions or you can pick a specific subject. Students then either create a picture or color one that you have chosen. This happens by answering a series of questions you have written or you can find ones already done for you. Some questions could include, “ If it is Spring, draw a tulip and color it red. If it is Summer, draw a daisy and color it pink.” Another choice could be, “If birds build nests in the spring, draw and color the nest  grey. If birds build nests in the fall, draw and color the nest  brown.”

You can create your own glyph activity using free coloring pages found on the internet. I created a Spring glyph that you can download and this one does not include cutting, but rather coloring. Here are the directions. You can download them and the coloring page that I used for this glyph with the links I have provided following the directions.

  • If you like ice cream, color the ice cream cone brown.
  • If you do not like ice cream, color the ice cream cone red.
  • If it is Summer, color the sun orange.
  • If it is Spring, color the sun yellow.
  • If you like to go to the beach color the pail blue.
  • If you do not like to go to the beach color the pail green.
  • If you have planted seeds for your garden, color the seed packet purple.
  • If you have not planted seeds for your garden, color the seed packet pink.
  • If you like science color the balloons orange.
  • If you do not like science color the balloons black.
  • If you like to swim instead of ride a bike, color the flowers pink and purple.
  • If you like to ride a bike instead of swim, color the flowers orange and red.

Spring Glyph directions, coloring page

How about a space glyph?  You can check comprehension of a topic by the color chosen for each object. If you were studying space travel students color a rocket based upon the responses given. You can download my glyph or  you can make up your own questions, depending upon your need.Space Glyph, Count Down coloring sheet

In early March I used a snowman glyph with a student I am teaching where he had to make the mouth of the snowman based upon what type of activity he’d rather do on a winter day. I decided that he would create and cut out the shapes for the snowman instead of drawing them as this helps with small motor skills and creativity. You can find the glyph instructions by clicking here. Here is what the snowman looked like when it was finished. I think it turned out well. :)

IMG_0088

So, why use glyphs?

  • Glyphs help students with decision-making and critical thinking.
  • Students practice following directions.
  • The glyph can be used as a language arts activity about the subject. A paragraph can be written about the topic of the glyph. This can help a student with paragraph writing since they could just take the data they have already been working with and make it into a paragraph.
  • Graphs can be made from the glyphs if you have more than one person participating. For instance if you had a glyph that pertained to summer activities you could graph one of the responses such as, “How many people like to go to the beach?”
  • Independent work can be encouraged through this activity. If you need to work with your preschooler and your second grader is waiting for you, have them complete a glyph.
  • You can tailor glyphs to fit your needs. Use this as an assessment tool in order to see if the topic was understood.
  • Students can create their own glyphs, which is a higher thinking process.

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