Archive | April 2014

Family Nights

Apr28

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We had Family Nights at our house when the boys were growing up. These were one night a week (or every few weeks).  I think our boys enjoyed these events and they were something to look forward to throughout the week. I tried to look for activities that wouldn’t require a lot of money as that was always a consideration with a single income.

Some of the things we did were:

Short devotions We used a book that was called, Devotions for Families that Can’t Sit Still and it was fantastic! I just checked Amazon and saw you can get the book for a penny! (plus s&h) There is not only a devotion, but a scripture reading and then a fun activity to follow, such as Bible charades, darts, playdoh, and games.

Game Night Board Games, cards, checkers, and Twister were some things we enjoyed. The kids especially liked to see us get all twisted around like a pretzel. We nearly always lost to them since they were more limber than us!

Wii Sports  Some of our favorites were bowling, ping-pong, and sword fighting. (touché)

Movies We took turns on who got to pick the movie and Dad made the best popcorn ever. This is a tradition we still carry on when the family comes to visit.

Dessert Night We would either go out for ice cream or have a create your own sundae bar at the house. You can make your own ice cream, or you can buy your favorite flavor and add a variety of toppings. If you make your own ice cream, it would be a great science experiment to discuss and observe the changes that occur when a liquid becomes a solid. I found a recipe for you to use from How things Work . I added some additional comments and details that I discovered worked well when we have made it.

Home Made Ice Cream

Items Needed:

1 tablespoon sugar

½ cup heavy whipping cream or half and half

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract (or other flavoring)

6 tablespoons salt (kosher or rock salt if possible)

Enough crushed ice to fill the gallon-sized bag halfway

1 glass mixing cup or a bowl

Duct tape (optional)

1 gallon-sized Ziploc bag

1 pint-sized Ziploc bag

 Fill the gallon-sized bag halfway with crushed ice. Add the salt.

Ordinary table salt will work, but salt that has larger crystals, such as kosher salt or rock salt, will work with better results. Mix the salt in with the ice and set aside.

Meanwhile, pour the milk, sugar, and vanilla extract into a glass mixing cup or bowl and stir.
Carefully pour the mixture into the pint sized bag.

Close the bag, making sure it is completely sealed. Seal with duct tape for reinforcement.

Put the pint bag into the gallon bag. 

Make sure the pint sized bag gets buried in the ice. Seal the gallon bag. (Get out as much of the air as possible before closing the bag.)  Seal this bag with duct tape as well. Shake the bags vigorously or roll them on the counter for five minutes. Be sure that the liquid is being surrounded with the salt/ice mixture since this is needed in order for the fat in the cream to solidify. You will want to use a towel and/or gloves to hold them, since they will be very cold and slippery from condensation. If you have several family members who will be joining in this activity, take turns as it is more fun and “many hands make light the work.”

Remove the pint sized bag, open it up, grab a spoon, divide the yummy treat between two bowls and enjoy!  

You can add your favorite toppings to your ice cream. Eat it quickly as it isn’t as hard as the ice cream purchased in stores.

 

 

 

Teacher Resources: Electronic Lessons and More!

Apr21

womanEDSITEment! 

edsitement.neh.gov—This site is so much fun to visit! A project of the National Endowment for the Humanities,  also funded in part by Verizon’s Thinkfinity, I recommend this resource for developing a social studies curriculum. The topics seem virtually limitless, and each lesson plan includes guiding questions, learning objectives, instructions for how to prepare to teach the topic, assessments of student progress, and even tips on how to expand the lesson with additional reading or activities. Everything you need is contained in one clear, concise package of information. This is a tremendous resource, whether for school or simply for personal enrichment.

 Discovery Education 

www.discoveryeducation.com—With the same quality and commitment to respecting the wonder of nature as other Discovery mediums, Discovery Education has to be experienced to be believed. Their website explains their offerings as “award-winning digital content, interactive lessons, real-time assessment, virtual experiences with some of Discovery’s greatest talent, classroom contests & challenges, professional development and more.” And indeed it is so much more! There is an opportunity to subscribe to unlock additional resources, but with such an incredible amount of information available for free, I don’t feel like I’ve missed a thing by not being a subscriber.

Find access on the go to all of Discovery’s fantastic resources at www.discovery.com/mobile. Apps, games, mobile video, mobile web, and more can be accessed at this page.

 FREE 

free.ed.gov—Not only is it the name of the website, but it’s also the price tag on more than 1,500 learning resources from dozens of federal agencies all brought together in one easy to navigate website. FREE is actually the acronym for Federal Resources for Educational Excellence. The homepage is far less flashy than the other websites featured here, but don’t let its simplicity fool you. It is a straightforward portal into a vast array of information broken down by subject. It gives you a brief synopsis of the resource itself before you click through to the next website. This feature is particularly beneficial if you are exploring or brainstorming lesson plan topics.

 

 The Old Schoolhouse® Magazinetechnology resources 

www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com—If you are reading this article, chances are you are already a fan of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine and its auxiliary products. Their former online resource, Teacher’s Toolbox, has recently undergone a transformation. It has blossomed intowww.SchoolhouseTeachers.com, one of the most comprehensive web-based resources for homeschoolers available. As part of your subscription to the now completely digital monthly magazine (an extremely valuable resource in itself), you also will have access to the website and all its content, including printables, website links, devotions, a free E-Book each month, access to back issues of the magazine, webquests, units of study, and more. The site even has recipes! Plan dinner while delivering a quality education to your children, or incorporate cooking into your lesson plans and address math, science, international culture, and more (yes, there are suggestions for this too!).

The Old Schoolhouse® also has an app for Android, Apple, and Kindle Fire devices so that you can access the support and encouragement of their publication from anywhere.

These resources put a world of information right at your fingertips. There is no reason to feel overwhelmed or alone in the homeschooling experience. The numbers are growing quickly, as are the resources to support you and your children in your quest for a world-class education delivered on your terms. I encourage you to explore, enjoy, and utilize these tools. I am confident that they will enrich your homeschooling experience and demonstrate the role that technology can play in the quality education of our students.

 

Teacher Resources: Phone and Tablet Apps

Apr14

UnknownWhere do you begin to look for good apps among the plethora of apps that are available? I have found a few sights that have apps from preschool all the way to high school. Best Apps for Kids has a review for each app and offers educational apps as well as ones to entertain. Family Education also has a list of educational apps, many that are free. Best Apps for Kids even have a Free App Friday! Speaking of free apps, here are a few to check out:

  • Kids ABC Letters Lite Preschoolers will enjoy this jigsaw puzzle approach to letters. The light version only has letters A to H, but you can download the complete version if you like it.
  • Play 123 This won a 2013 Editor’s Choice Award from Children’s Technology Review and teaches preschoolers their colors, numbers, and shapes.
  • Fun Brain Jr. Looks like so much fun as it teaches number sense, alphabetical order, and pattern sets.
  • Stack the States This app teaches and reinforces the location of the United States with a fun colorful game.
  • Word Ball The Electric Company from PBS has a game that teaches spelling for children ages 6 to 8.
  • Brain POP Movie This extremely popular app has a new educational movie to watch each day. Kids view a short documentary and there is a quiz afterwards and each movie can be archived to watch later.  It received a 5 star rating from Common Sense Media.

Enjoy your day and I hope you find an app that will benefit your student’s education. If you have found some apps that you like, please share. 🙂

 

 

 

Homeschool Convention Tips

Apr9

Homeschool Conventions are so much fun and are energizing! They are also just around the corner and it is wise to be prepared before you go. I have found some things to make convention experiences worthwhile and enjoyable.

UnknownTried- and -True Tips to Consider 

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

Do Your Research before you go! Planning, even if just a little, can help with your convention experience. It will help you concentrate on what you need or want to look at and will make your time at the convention a fun event.

Speakers: Read ahead of time their bios, find out when they are speaking, and what topic they will be addressing.  If you have friends who have been to the convention before, ask them who they thought were beneficial. Arrive early since rooms can fill up quickly. If you are taking an infant with you, sit toward the back and at the end in case you have to duck out. Surprisingly (or not), those seats fill up the fastest.

Curriculum: 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.

Vendor Hall: The curriculum hall at the conventions are monstrously HUGE! Take some time to look at the map and note any vendors that are of particular interest to you. If you highlight or circle the booths you don’t want to miss that will help you when you go inside. Stay focused and concentrate on what you need first. After you have purchased your materials you will be able to browse without feeling pressured or frantic. You can feel free to supplement your foundational curriculum with other items at this point. (If you have any money left!)

Don’t become overwhelmed. Avoid the urge to buy the first thing you see. Use the notebook with the list you complied of items you are wanting to purchase. 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: Math U See, 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! You also might not have much time in between lectures and you want to make use of the time you have.

Have some cash on hand. You will need money for parking and some vendors (Dave Ramsey) won’t take credit cards, although his booth does allow you to write a check or a debit card.

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 be able to make one or two trips maximum to the car, so be sure and take something that you know can handle the load. 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.

The Midwest Homeschool Convention is April 24-26, 2014 and held in Cincinnati, Ohio. Here is a schedule if you are interested in attending. SCHEDULE 

Most importantly, have a great time!

~Lisa

Homeschool Convention Planning Sheet  Here is a planning sheet for you. It is two sheets with all subjects listed on it.  Print off as many as you like for your family. The picture is in black and white, but the document is in color. It is editable so you can type inside the boxes. 🙂

PlanningSheet

Lapbooks

Apr6

Italy lapbook coverI like looking for new resources that enhance my teaching. There are a few websites that I have as a “go to” when looking for ideas, so over the next few weeks I will share with you some of my finds. Today I am featuring lapbooks.

Unit Studies/Lapbooking

Home School Share is one of my favorites because the authors of these lapbooks have background information, ideas, and activities to accompany each of the lapbooks. There are several levels, beginning with preschool all the way through independent learners. There is a book that goes along with the lapbook, but if I can’t find the book at the library I have either substituted the book or not used one at all. Lapbooks are versatile and multi-grade leveled, which is perfect when teaching children of various ages and academic levels. I have used them with young students who cannot read yet all the way up to junior high students. If you are teaching several students, you can adjust the level at which you have them write the information and cut out the mini books. You will probably want to cut them out for your younger students and be their scribe. This lapbook was made by a 7th grader so you can judge accordingly to what you think your student is capable of completing. If it looks like too much, then use fewer mini books.

Italy lapbook inside

The above picture is the inside of the lapbook about Italy. Each of these pieces of paper has information the student has written inside of the mini book. This teaches summarizing and research, plus it’s a great way to have students write a report without all the fuss from them on the length of the paper. 🙂

Italy lapbook back

This is the back cover that has vocabulary words the students had to find. The following website is helpful to translate; give the definition of the word if you need it ; and the audio pronunciation of the word. Click here

Another nice aspect of this particular website is that it is FREE! The only cost will be ink and paper you need to print the sheets and a file folder that acts as your lapbook. You can download as many or as few of the templates as you like. I have written about lapbooks before and have other websites to explore. Check out these too: