Archives

Pete the Cat

Jun2

Jade-web-300x300Three cheers for Pete the Cat! If you have never seen this series, I think you are going to love this. I do!

Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses, Pete is having a bad day. His friend shares his magic sunglasses that help him see things in a whole new way. Of course, Pete encounters several of his friends that are having problems as well. When he shares his magic sunglasses with them, they see things differently too. All is going well until… his glasses break! The wise owl has to help Pete see that he doesn’t need those glasses to see things differently. This is a great book for beginning readers because it has repeating phrases and older students will like Pete the Cat because the story is fun. I found a video for Pete the Cat too! click here

I got a kick out of the UTube videos I saw about Pete the Cat’s other adventures. There are several with catchy songs that are sung throughout. Pete the Cat and His White Shoes not only helps readers realize that it is fine if your new shoes get dirty, (one of my pet peeves!) but the text allows children to make predictions about what color Pete’s shoes are going to be next! My favorite video is Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons. Buttons keep popping off of Pete’s shirt, but Pete keeps on going. Subtraction is incorporated into the story, which i love!

I also discovered early readers at the library this week! Pete at the Beach, and Pete’s Big Lunch would both be excellent books to discuss safety and health, both required topics of study for homeschoolers in Ohio. They also have good morals to them. There are many more stories for your book-worm to read. Oh happy day! 🙂

~Lisa

 

Maisy Mouse

May26

imagesI want to do a series of blogs for preschoolers and beginning readers so that all of the skills that were learned over the school year are continuing throughout the summer. So, here is the first one. I am sure your child will enjoy this little mouse.

Maisy Mouse is a book series that is appealing to preschoolers through early elementary. If your child is just beginning to read, then this is a good collection to have your child enjoy getting to know. The difficult words are repeated and there are pictures to help give “clues” too. The characters are cute and the pages are bright and colorful.

Maisy Mouse and her friends have all sorts of adventures such as going to the grocery store; going on a camping excursion; taking a trip to the library; and  visiting the museum. There are even other books in the series that children might experience such as going to the hospital. The hospital isn’t such a frightening place after seeing Maisy getting her broken leg set, sharing toys with a fellow patient, and spending the night.

If your child is enjoying Masiy and her friends there are UTube videos and a fan club too! To find out more about the club, click here. I hope your early reader enjoys these books. 🙂

Cafe Co-op

May19

classroom-pupil-image-1-150x150Here is information for a co-op in the Mt. Healthy/Springfield Township area. They would love to have high school students be a part, so if you have an older student consider joining them this fall. They have a great schedule lined up for the fall and registration is going on right now.

CAFE Christian Co-op
Just like a cafe is a place to relax, fellowship and enjoy the company of friends, CAFE Christian Co-op is a place for homeschool families to find help, support and encouragement. CAFE stands for a Community of Academics, Fine arts and Encouragement.
We are a medium-sized group of families meeting in the Mt. Healthy area. The co-op has both paid tutors and mom-taught classes, ranging from biology to ballet, art to American history, flute ensemble to First Lego League teams. Our Fine Arts Recital at the end of the year showcases the more performance-oriented classes and we finish the evening with a reception and art gallery. Classes are “a la carte”– some families stay all day and some just come for a class or two. Teachers set their own prices, and are paid directly, although there is a family fee to offset administrative costs. We do ask that families join with us and help in some capacity–teaching, being a classroom helper, taking charge of a cleaning job.
 
This year we have expanded to include full high school level classes, as well as additional junior high classes. We are excited to be able to offer a program to help families find the upper level classes that they need, and we are thrilled with the level of knowledge, passion and experience that God has provided in our upper level tutors. We look forward to watching our upper form students grow and blossom! 
 
Please check out our website for the specific list of classes, policies and schedule (http://www.cafecoop.weebly.com/) and feel free to contact me with any additional questions. Several of our elementary classes are nearing capacity, but we do not have a waiting list. 
Join us at the CAFE!

First Aid, Safety and Fire Safety: Requirements in Ohio

May5

We are headed toward the end of the year and portfolio reviews have begun for many families.  Each year I have someone who asks me about the First Aid, Safety and Fire Safety portion on the notification  form. Yes, we are required to teach this in one form or fashion.  You don’t need to have a textbook to study these topics so I am including some ideas for you to consider.

First Aid

Prepare a first aid kit to put in your car. Include the following items: various sizes of  band aids, antiseptic wipes, antibiotic cream, sunscreen, Q-tips, and cotton swabs. Keep an extra set of clothes in the car for each member of the family. You never know when you might need them! Maybe someone will ask your kids to spend the night on the spur of the moment… Keep trail mix and bottles of water for those days when the kids and you are famished after swimming or hiking or need a quick burst of energy.

Safety There are so many different ways to meet this requirement! Some topics to discuss with your children are:

Household– hot stoves, knives, curling irons, kitchen cleaners, electrical outlets, not leaving things on the floor or the steps, etc. are all important topics to include.

Stranger safety– Discuss having a family code in case someone would need to pick up your children in an emergency. Discuss who is a stranger and when can you talk to them (or not).

Internet Safety– Consider investing in a family internet blocking software. There are quite a number to choose from and each one is a little different. There will be times, however, when your children are away from the house and may be on a computer. Review sites they are allowed to visit and ones they are not.

Bicycle and Road Safety– This is an opportune time to discuss the rules for bike riding since the weather is getting nice. Discuss wearing helmets; what side of the road to ride your bike if there are no sidewalks; and rules for being on the street if you are biking (hand signals, stopping at stop signs, being a defensive driver). Have your children try on their helmets to see if they still fit and check to see if there are any cracks in the helmets. One time the boys and I went for a bike ride and my oldest son was always one to go as fast as he could and put as much distance as he possibly could between him and us. Where we live is hilly and so you are either going up a hill or coming down one to get to our street. Ian tore down the hill with Malcolm pedaling as fast as his little legs could go. Malcolm was out of control as he tried to catch up to his big brother. and all I could “Watch out!” I screamed as I saw Malcolm head straight for the metal transformer box cover.

Boom! Malcolm went flying off the bike and his head hit the big green box. Malcolm was lying in the grass and not moving as I skidded to halt and looked down at him. All I could think of was a brain or neck injury because there is no give with those covers. The good news is that he was wearing his helmet and he was okay after lying still for a minute. That helmet really did protect Malcolm from serious head trauma because when I looked at the helmet, it had split in half!  I am so glad I had insisted that everyone wear their helmets.

Fire Safety I have covered this before, but just a quick reminder to have a home fire drill. Talk about different ways to escape, where to meet in case there would be a fire, and no going back in the house- no matter what! Practice stop, drop, and roll, and how to dial 9-1-1 and what to say to the dispatcher.

Be safe!
~Lisa

 

 

 

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.