Archive by Author | Lisa McAfee

Minecraft Online Classes

Jun1

imgresDo you have a child who is interested in Minecraft? Did you know there are online classes that your student can enroll in that would correlate with your school? Minecraft Homeschool has classes that are related to history, language arts, math, and science. Classes do not have a set time so they can be taken when it is convenient for your schedule.

Here is the website to see if anything interests your student. Chances are that you will have to limit the amount of classes s/he will want to take! Game Academy

Memorial Day

May25

It‘s time for a History lesson!

For many Americans Memorial Day is the beginning of Summer with BBQ’s and camping trips, and a vague idea of something being celebrated because it is a national holiday. So, what are we celebrating and how did it begin? It is an occasion to honor the men and women who died in all wars that America has participated in.

The holiday was first observed on May 30, 1868, when Union General John A. Logan declared the day an occasion to decorate the graves of Civil War soldiers. Twenty years later, the name was changed to Memorial Day. On May 11, 1950, Congress passed a resolution requesting that the President issue a proclamation calling on Americans to observe each Memorial Day as a day of prayer for permanent peace and designating a period on that day when the people of the United States might unite in prayer. President Richard M. Nixon declared Memorial Day a federal holiday in 1971. Memorial Day is now observed on the last Monday of May.

How should it be observed? 

It is customary to mark Memorial Day by visiting graveyards and war monuments. One of the biggest Memorial Day traditions is for the President or Vice President to give a speech and lay a wreath on soldiers’ graves in the largest national cemetery, Arlington National Cemetery, in Virginia. Most towns have local Memorial Day celebrations. Here are some ways you can honor the men and women who serve our country:

  • Put flags or flowers on the graves of men and women who served in wars.
  • Fly the U.S. flag at half-staff until noon.
  • Visit monuments dedicated to soldiers, sailors and marines.
  • Participate in a National Moment of Remembrance at 3 p.m. local time.
  • Attend a Memorial Day parade.
  • If you know someone who has fought in a war or served in the military, show you appreciation by thanking them or making a card.

Source of information: http://www.timeforkids.com

 

Online Art Lesson

May18

I am all about getting help in areas that I don’t feel confident in teaching or don’t have expertise. Art is one of the biggies that I needed help. Never mind that I come from a family of artists! 🙂

One of the homeschool moms that I know just sent me a recommendation for a website that teaches you how to use chalk pastels and acrylics. I have been told that the more you practice, the better you will become…

Hodgepodge has over 100 free lessons to try. Her ideas are simple and clear. This gives hope to even someone like me who has two left thumbs. Why not look into it and see what you think? I’d love to have you post a picture of your creations…

100-FREE-Chalk-Art-Lessons-You-ARE-an-Artist-547x730

Here are Daneale’s and her family’s art projects. They look great! Thank you for letting me share your artwork.

Pastels

3 Elementary and Senior High Chemistry Curriculums

May8

Don’t you hate it when you perform an experiment and it fails? My first two years of teaching 6th grade science were a horrible failure when it came to doing them [experiments]. I didn’t have the necessary equipment to perform the activities and when I did, they failed. Eventually, we just read about what the experiments were supposed to do and discussed the process. How interesting is that? 😦

I had much better success when I began homeschooling my sons. I used Janice Van Cleave‘s books and I was thankful that not only did the experiments work, but they were fun and the explanations that were written in the book made sense! Oh, happy day! I heartily recommend that series of books because we used them for several years and had very little failure.(I created links to each of the products- just click on them.)

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Science For Kids is a website that has experiments and lesson plans. It is FREE and has games to play too!

If you are looking for a  more traditional curriculum I have some suggestions listed here.

NOEO Science has a terrific Chemistry curriculum with the trade books that you need included. I have used the Chemistry Level 1 for 1-3rd grade and enjoyed the books and experiments. Although at first glance it appears to be a bit pricey, you have the convenience of all the books being at your disposal and there is no time spent on finding the books that you will need for the class. The science kits are included, which is a huge time-saver! If you have several students you will be instructing, you may want to purchase an additional kit. There are several levels so it will go all the way through high school.

Chemistry 1

Chemistry 1

Are you in need of Chemistry for your senior high student? I just finished looking at a video series called Chemistry 101. It also has workbooks and tests. I didn’t see any actual labs for your student to do, but that isn’t such a bad thing because of housing chemicals in your home. Weird things happen to them after a period of time… After watching the video and reading the reviews, this would be worth checking into for your student.

101-375-2TI have heard good things from homeschool moms about Spectrum Chemistry, although we didn’t use personally.  “Fulfill all your requirements for a lab-based chemistry course while exercising your student’s practical-problem-solving skills and scientific reasoning. This one-year chemistry course is done three days a week, one of which is a lab day. It is the equivalent of an honors chemistry for college-bound students.”- beginningspublishing.com

Personal Finance for Students of All Ages

May4
Money

Image by AMagill via Flickr

Beginning with the graduating class of 2014, personal finance is a required subject for Ohio public school students. Given the state of economic affairs, I think this is a credit that will benefit all students. It’s never too early to begin showing and discussing money affairs with our children. I have some resources that you can incorporate into your math curriculum or teach as a separate topic.

My Family Counts workbook is free and can be downloaded and used to introduce and discuss with your elementary students ideas such as needs versus wants,saving, spending, giving, setting goals, budgeting, and banking transactions. There is also a free online game called Nicklesberg that you can register your student and is designed for students 3rd to 5th grade.

Looking for a homeschool curriculum? Many people recommend Dave Ramsey’s course.

Dave Ramsey Financial Peace The Foundations in Personal Finance for Homeschool Student Text is a comprehensive, 288-page student soft-cover consumable. It provides students an opportunity to learn, practice, and apply important personal finance knowledge and skills. The 12 chapters are aligned with the National Standards for Financial Literacy.

Here are several online courses for your high school student if you’d like to have your scholar do it this way.

Practical Money Skills for Life has a FREE downloadable course for your 9-12 grade student.

This dynamic financial literacy curriculum for 9 – 12 graders features engaging design, student-centered activities, research projects, discussion points, and tools and resources–all designed to engage students in learning the personal finance skills they need to succeed in life after high school.

Time4Learning is affordable if you have a student that can move through the coursework  fairly quickly. It is $30.00 per month and you may quit at any time. I have copied the description from the website

High School Personal Finance

The high school Personal Finance curriculum is organized into thirteen exercises that cover topics such as balancing a checkbook, avoiding debt, saving for home ownership, preparing for retirement, and performing investments using a program designed to simulate real stock market transactions. This course is designed to help students understand economics as a whole, and the importance of financial responsibility, both in college and beyond.