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Online Courses and Schools

Aug13


As your students get older and study more difficult subject matter, you may think you have to enroll your student in school because you cannot teach upper level courses. I understand how you feel, but there are a variety of options now that you can feel confident that your teen can get a great education from top quality teachers and programs.

Not to the junior high/high school level yet, but need options? Some of you may have circumstances where you need some help with classes. There are several programs that offer distance learning throughout a child’s academic career.

Here is a sampling of what is available. There are many more classes and programs from which to choose. I hope at least one of them I listed will meet your needs.

Online Classes

Mathematics, Science I just found out about Think Well.  A mom who I know had her two daughters complete courses in mathematics. She said the girls enjoyed the classes and  both of them are in college now. To preview, click here

Composition Write at Home provides writing coaches for middle school and high school students. Online writing courses are offered or you can pay for individual papers to be graded. Teachers provide helpful feedback for your student. Click here to view the demo.

Latin, Greek, Ancient History, Art and Architecture I had the privilege to be in a co-op with Regan and Amy Barr several years ago. They have been  teaching interactive online classes since 2005 and my son and I took the Imperial Murder Mystery eons ago. (Sorry for the bad joke, I couldn’t help it!) Class offerings are for students ages 10 and older. Lukeion Project

Free College Online Courses There are over 500 courses here!  I saw several I would like to take myself. 🙂 Open Culture

Kahn Academy Here is the mission statement of Kahn Academy: “With over 3,200 videos on everything from arithmetic to physics, finance, and history and hundreds of skills to practice, they are there to help you learn what you want, when you want, at your own pace.”

The Potter’s School “integrates academic scholarship and biblical worldview to prepare students for college, career, and life.” I know two of the tutors that are on staff and they are excellent. If you look at the list of tutors you will see they are an international group and have interesting fields of expertise. Your student can take honors classes and receive a diploma that is accredited. tps

Bob Jones Distance Learning You can choose several options for the courses you take through Bob Jones: online; hard drive, or DVD. I know several families who chose this option for their students and many have enjoyed using the program. bjuonline

ABeka Academy is a distance leaning program for gradesK-12. I have a friend whose first grade daughter LOVED her teacher. She sent her a Christmas card and the teacher sent her a thank you note. They are planning on taking a vacation this year to Pensacola, Florida where the school is located in order for her to meet her teacher. What a huge endorsement for this program! ABeka

K12 is a program that your student is enrolled in and you are not actually “homeschooling”. Families sometimes find themselves in a situation where they cannot teach the classes themselves, but sending your student is not an option either. This program offers a viable option for that type of circumstance. Online classes are for students grades K-12 and you can choose from public, private schools  or individual classes. click here

If you have found a program you have used and like please post a comment for others to investigate. Have you used one of the programs that I have written about and would like to share about your experience? Please do so as your insight can help others make a better informed decision. Have a great day!

~Lisa

Teaching with Toddlers and Preschoolers: Ideas and Activities

Jul23

imagesTeaching at home with younger children who are not yet in school requires a little bit of  planning, creativity (whether yours or someone else’s), some scheduling, and a whole lot of  patience. But, the good news is that is can be done and you don’t have to come up with all of the ideas yourself.  Consider the following when planning a great year for your preschoolers.

Have “school only” activities. Toddlers and preschoolers like to be involved in what is going on and want to do school just like your older students. Select activities that can only be done in order to keep their attention and have them be in the mind frame of “school time”. Fill up a container (plastic bin, box, drawer, etc.,) with activities that can only be done when your other students are are in class.

Begin your school day exclusively with them. A little one-on-one time is well worth it because in my experience, the younger children will be interrupting and performing attention-getting tricks until you pay attention to them. At that point, this is not the best time to try and start a school activity because you are most likely having to take care of a mess or something of that matter. Get them started on an activity after cuddling, hugging, and kissing. 🙂

Make a big deal out of them being in school.  Your preschooler should be close by to where you are doing school with your older students. This could be at the table with all of your scholars, in the high chair or at a workstation . If you don’t place importance on them being included and train them that they are “in school” then it is difficult for them to see that school is nothing more than time that is not spent with them.

Ideas for Activities:

play doh

chenille rods or straws and a plastic colander or plastic lids with holes punched out to insert (or thread) through the holes

stickers and sticker books

color with water books

heavy-duty board books

magnetic letters to use on a cookie sheet or the refrigerator

foam or wooden puzzles

plastic food, old cereal boxes that the ends are taped  to play store

tennis ball (roll on floor to a fellow sibling)

pompoms to count, or sort by color (You can include plastic tweezers and a muffin tin for the pompoms. Color code by adding a colored sticker to the bottom of the tin.)

plastic bowls to nest

Do you have any suggestions? Please post so others can enjoy your ideas.

Feeling a Little Spacey? Resources for Space Science

Jul9

Put on your space suits and get ready for a tour of the galaxy! We are going to be looking at some great websites today. I have used every one of these sites (except for the water rocket) with my 8th grade Earth/Space class, but activities can be adapted for all aged children.

Answers in Genesis has a large video on demand collection that you can watch to introduce, develop, or review concepts on topics you are studying. This particular video discusses the flaws in the Big Bang Theory and is directed toward middle school age and older.

Are you ready for your tour of space? First things first, how does a space suit actually work? Here is a great site that explains how that bulky suit actually works. space suit

Budding scientists (and their teachers too) can explore how a rocket works by making your own low tech one with film canisters and Alka-Seltzer tablets. This was a favorite of my class. rockets

Need film canisters? Film canister launcher? Steve Spangler has all you need for the above-mentioned experiment and more. If you want to get your student(s) interested and excited about science check out his videos. Your child(ren) will be saying, “Can we do that experiment?” after each one you watch. stevespangler

Do you have a family member who would love to build a water rocket? This looks like a lot of fun. I never did build this for my class, but I am sure we would have thoroughly enjoyed it. click here

If you are not familiar with the website from NASA you will want to look at this amazing resource! There is a gallery of pictures for your studies that is perfect for every topic of space. You can see a new picture each day! Our universe is so incredible and NASA has been able to capture a fragment of it for us to enjoy. This picture is a solar flare of the sun that occurred on July 4, 2012. No wonder it’s so hot this year.  For you to see more spectacular images click here.

Planets, asteroids, stars, and our moon are a few topics this free astronomy network has to offer. Planets for Kids

Do you remember all the order of planets? Chances are that if you do, you had some type of mnemonic to help you recall. Here are several sayings to help your space explorer remember their order. click here

Poor Pluto! It’s no longer considered a planet but, you can read all about its discovery and why it is no longer classified as one. Read all about it.

When teaching students, I find it beneficial to provide additional resources and explanations if possible since many of these concepts are difficult to grasp. It’s one thing to “see” a solar eclipse, but another to actually understand what is occurring. Here is a website that explains what happens during an eclipse: click here. Lunar eclipses are explained on this site too.

Can you explain the phases of the moon to your student? How about using a styrofoam ball and a light? Here is a great hands-on activity that provides an “Ah-ha!” moment..  NOTE**  As mentioned previously, the activity calls for a styrofoam ball, but I found it to be beneficial to use one that is smooth and can reflect the light source you are using. This allows the student to have a more accurate representation of the moon’s surface. Ask your child before beginning the activity to tell you what causes the phases of the moon. Review what occurred after completing this activity. moon phases

Did you know each crater on the moon’s surface that we can see is named? Did you know that ancient people thought the craters looked like a rabbit? Of course you did! Crater Crazy is an article about the creation of the craters and how you can make your own. crazy Here’s another moon crater activity for further explanation or exploration. NASA

Did you know from our perspective on earth it looks like the planets move forwards and backwards? This is called retrograde motion and here is a website to explain what we “see”. motion

Do you want to add some history or have your student do a report? Here are some books that will help:

One Small Step: Celebrating the First Men on the Moon, Jerry Stone “This celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing is a collection of keepsakes and memories that bring that historic moment of pride an accomplishment to life for a new generation. A stunning lenticular cover animates man’s first steps on the moon; an embossed textured page inside reproduces footprints in lunar soil; stickers, replicas, mission patches, fold-out newspaper pages, collecting cards, removable novelties and more complete this spectacular commemorative book.” (amazon)

Look to the Stars, Buzz Aldrin “Written by one of the first astronauts to go to the moon, Mr. Aldrin recounts the history of space exploration as he discusses that man has always had a fascination with space and has looked to the stars.” (amazon)

One Giant Leap, Robert Burleigh “Commemorating the 40th anniversary of man’s first walk on the moon, this book for younger readers is a tribute that transports readers to the stars, where they will experience the moon landing just as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin did in 1969.” (publisher synopsis)

The sky’s the limit, so whatcha’ waiting for? Get out there and explore! Signing off from Jupiter (Court, that is). Have fun exploring our wonderful universe.   5-4-3-2-1… Lift-off!

Online Math Games

Jul2

Summer is a great time to review math facts so that your student doesn’t forget all of the knowledge that they worked so hard to gain throughout the year. How about using some fun online games to help?

Fun 4 the Brain This website has games that children review and learn addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

Math is Fun has tutorials on various math topics and practice for grades 1-6 and algebra too.

Math Play There are games on this website for grades 1-8!

Looking for math worksheets? Math-Aids creates worksheets and flashcards and you have several options from which to choose. There are so many topics to choose from that I think you will find something for each of your students since it is multi-age beginning at kindergarten and includes some geometry worksheets. click here

Math playground has games for a variety of math levels, including fractions, geometry, and algebra. check it out!

Looking for games that focus on fractions? How about math games?

Softschools has games and online practice for all mathematical operations.

Play Kids Games not only has games to play, but you can also have your student print out the results of the games. It’s a great way to track practice and improve skills.

Happy Playing!

~Lisa~

Bible Curriculum and Resources

Jun25

Some of the moms who come for portfolio reviews have asked if I can recommend some bible curriculums. I must say, that it is hard to find something beyond bible stories. I do have some ideas for you to check, but please add to my list if you have found a resource you like. I have not personally used these purchased curriculums, but they have come recommended to me.

Big Book of Bible Truths Book I These stories are from a Presbyterian minister and look interesting.

The Big Book of Bible Truths Book II These stories are by the same author as the previous listing.

Bible Truths, Bob Jones University Press This curriculum is for Pre-K through 12th grade and came highly recommended by the ladies in my bible study. 🙂 This is the description from the BJUP website for Bible Truths Grade 2: “A Servant’s Heart (4th edition) guides teachers as they help students understand God’s truth for practical living. Included are scripturally supported overviews of key biblical doctrines, a daily lesson plan, unit memory verse and hymn, supplemental read-aloud stories, unit review activity sheets, reproducible learning activity pages, instructions for one-on-one and group learning activities, a glossary of biblical terms, and a CD of corresponding reproducibles. Lessons also integrate a missionary story and an application novel.”

Looking for a bible reading plan? Here are several that would be easy for an older student to do or you to read aloud to your child(ren). click here

Your Story Hour has been around a very long time! I can actually recommend these because we owned several CD’s. They are interesting and   these stories are about Christians who did extraordinary things.  You will recognize quite a few of the people that are featured. I think you and your children will enjoy these. In addition, there are interfaith  bible lessons and quizzes that can be either downloaded, sent to your home, or done online.

Just in time for this post is a FREE Giveaway for 20 character books. Titles included in this series are: God I Need to Talk to You about Disrespect; God I Need to Talk to You about Sharing; and God I Need to Talk to You about Whining . Here are more details.  click If you don’t win, you can still buy the books for $2.00 each.