Learn To Skip Count By Twos, Fives, and Tens

For kindergarten, Caitlin really only needs to be able to count by twos to 20, but we are starting to learn all three. It is not a concept she enjoys, so I think these fun videos will help. It has been a crazy week here at my house. The puppy got fixed on Tuesday, and we had to keep the two of the dogs separate, so she could not wrestle around. It has been a real pain in the you know what, and I will be glad on Tuesday when things can go back to normal every day craziness. If you did not hear on the news yesterday, Chile suffered a huge earthquake, so be sure to include them all in your thoughts, and prayers.

Lesson Plans For 03/01/10:

DJ:
Reading: Perronik the Fool with summary
Art: See last Monday
Writing: The Royal Gramma fish
Sign Language: Numbers 1-20
Math: Adding fractions
Language Arts: Root words
Cursive Writing

Caitlin:
Beginning skip counting
Animal Book: Jungle Animals- monkeys
Reading: HOP Pom Pom
Arts and Crafts: My dinosaur
Site Words
Flash Cards
Graph Practice
Math: Number words
Phonics: Beginning sounds of fruits
Printing Practice

Bicycle Safety For Children, Simple Summer Salad

Thursday for Health class, we were supposed to cover bicycle safety. I forgot to post the video, because we weren't having classes that day due to illness. So for your personal viewing pleasure, I have added it now, enjoy.

My mother used to make this really gross looking salad in the summer months. It was green from the food coloring she added, you could probably make it orange if you liked. While it looked gross, it was fabulously good, and easy to make. I love anything that is easy to make. It was always a hit, at picnics, and such. The video tells you how to make it. Give it a try, and let me know if you love it. Summer will be here soon, I hope.

Fun Friday The Letter S: The Sun

Today is Fun Friday, at our Blogging For Fun group. It is a Yahoo group, and you can join by using the sign up box, in the side bar of this blog. Today I have to do a quicky post, so I apologize in advance. I am doing the Sun. I love the sun, I really do. I am one of those lucky people who tan very easy, and get a nice summer glow. Though I look rather putrid in the winter. Come March I start sitting in the sun, and building my base tan, so when the real hot stuff gets here, I won't burn as easy. I was going to do the lovely Springs that we have here in Florida, but I have covered them before, and you can see all the beautiful videos, by paying a visit to my archives, on the sidebar. The two videos below are cool, and will help explain the Sun, much better than I ever could. There is basic sun info, how to made a sundial, and how to make your own solar panels, very hot if you ask me. Now I am going to get some sun, since it has been freezing here yet again.

Who Likes To Dust?

Well Caitlin doesn't feel good today, and does not want to do school. As punishment I am making her dust. Got your attention? I am just kidding, obviously. That is a slam aimed at someone on another forum that I frequent, who again insinuates that home schoolers somehow neglect, abuse, or other wise hide their children from society. When will people realize we home school because we enjoy being with our children, and teaching them, not so we can abuse them. Gosh!!!

Caitlin really is not feeling well today. Lessons will be made up over the weekend. Of course DJ immediately demands to have the day off too, he would be too distracted by her constant nose blowing. Back to my reference to dusting. Do you like to dust? I hate to dust. My children really do like to dust. Maybe I should have them seen by a shrink LOL. I read recently in a magazine, I would tell you which one, but my memory is not functioning properly, that if you have lots of indoor green plants the leaves actually absorb the dust, and you will not have to dust as often. Why has no one ever told me this before. Here I am putting all my green plants outside, totally neglecting them of their daily dose of my dust. The nerve of me. It also said you will get less colds, as well. So now I have to either buy more nice green plants, are start digging up the ones I have outside. I think these types of things should be shared more often. What do you think?

Well I guess that is all the fun you get to have at my blog today. Tomorrow is test day, reading, and writing for DJ. Have a great, dust free day!

What Do You Consider A Hero?

Sometimes something irks me so much, I could just scream. What is the definition of a Hero? According the the dictionary a hero is a person noted for feats of courage, or nobility of purpose. Last Friday in Austin, TX a man slammed his personally owned airplane into the IRS building. This man had a website, with lots of ranting about paying taxes, tax codes, and how the IRS was bleeding him dry, and violence was the only answer. So he set his home on fire, possibly with his wife, and step daughter inside, then drove to his plane, got in his plane, and took a nose dive into the IRS building. As if that was not bad enough, and thank goodness only one person was killed, besides this less than stable man, his adult daughter got on national TV, and professed to how her father was a hero, and now maybe something would be done. She also professed that she had these same anti government sentiments, as her father. So how does taking your plane, and slamming it into a public building, where absolutely not one person in that building has anything to do with how the tax laws are written, or enforced? They are doing a job, just like we all do jobs. Why do these people live here? If you don't like to pay taxes, that badly, why not just leave. You would live as a king in a third world country. By the way if you paid your taxes to begin with, you wouldn't be being bled dry, and how exactly can you afford a plane, if you are being bled dry? They aren't exactly cheap, try like 35,000 dollars, at the low end. Yeah he sounds like a real poor dude. Now, the family of the victim is suing Mr Stacks estate, or family, and so deserved too. So yeah he is a real hero. He acts like a terrorist, may have attempted to kill his current wife, and step child, and now is getting them sued for whatever little bit of estate there may have been. Wow, I am so impressed, with this HERO!! There I feel better now. If you don't like the way the government does things, exercise your right to vote, and get the flunkies out of office. Believe it or not, they really do like the power they get from being in power, and ass kissing is their favorite thing to do. If enough people , with a proper voice, and means to their voice, speak eventually you will be heard. Ranting, and acting like a crazy person, really does not get you anywhere. If for some reason you have not seen the handy work of this man, you can watch the video below.


Lesson Plans For 02/25/10:

DJ:
Health: Bicycle safety
Language Arts: Root words, question busters, rhyming words
Math: Fractions, division, addition
Vocabulary
Cursive Writing
Sign Language: Numbers 1-20

Caitlin:
Health: Bicycle safety
Counting objects worksheet
Reading: HOP Sam and the Mitt week two
Site Words
Flash Cards
Math: Addition to five
Printing Practice
Animal Book: Animal pets- hamsters
Phonics: Ending sounds
Sign Language: Numbers 1-20

Presidents: Thomas Jefferson

Last year we covered George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln a bit. Tomorrow for history class, we are doing Presidents again. There are two cute president videos in the archives, that your kids will love. Today I am adding Thomas Jefferson, which is just a short video about the former president. But it covers the highlights of his life, which for younger learners is plenty to know. I Tivo'd three episodes of The Presidents, off of the History channel last week. We will be watching them tomorrow. They only cover the presidents up to 1845, which is strange, but it will work for us. I have purchased the curriculum The Story of the World part one Ancient Times, for next year. It is a full year curriculum, that Ms Laura from my playgroup introduced me too. I like it because I can use it for both children, as it can be for grades 1-6, and it did not cost me a small fortune. There are four parts all together, covering 4 full years of History curriculum. DJ is excited, and has already started browsing through the reading book. Thanks Ms Laura, for the tip.


Lesson Plans For 02/24/10:

DJ:
Social Studies: Presidents
Language Arts: Root words, question busters
Math: Fractions, multiplication, subtraction
Vocabulary
Cursive Writing
Sign Language: Numbers 1-20

Caitlin:
Chronological Order
Reading: HOP Sam and the Mitt week two
Site Words
Flash Cards
Math: Adding to five
Printing Practice
Animal Book: Pet animals- goldfish
Phonics: Ending sounds
Sign Language: Numbers 1-20

Electricity, Electricity, and Bird Feeders Your Kids Can Make

To make this craft, you have to click the picture, so it enlarges, and then print it. These are nifty little bird feeders your kids can make using tongue blades, peanut butter, and bird seed. My kids love to feed the birds, watch them, identify them, etc. It can be a great learning experience, plus help nature out a little too. We will be doing these probably next week, after I get all the supplies.

Tomorrow for Science class we are studying electricity. Those of you who are as old as me, ahem 40, will remember these catchy School House Rock songs. The one posted is Electricity, Electricity.

Lesson Plans For 02/23/10:

DJ:
Science: Electricity
Math: Fractions, division, addition
Vocabulary
Cursive Writing
Sign Language: Numbers 1-20
Language Arts: Root words, question busters, multiple meanings

Caitlin:
Reading: HOP Sam and the Mitt week two
Site Words
Flash Cards
Math: Addition to five
Printing Practice
Animal Book: Animal Pets dogs
Baby animals and mothers worksheet
Phonics: Ending Sounds
Sign Language: Numbers 1-20

My Thoughts On Purex 3 in 1 Laundry Soap

This is not a paid post. Not that I don't do them, I do, but they are clearly marked. A couple of weeks ago I visited a blog, that allowed me to sign up for a free sample of Purex 3 in 1 laundry soap. Well I didn't wait for the sample. I bought some on my next visit to Walmart. At my Walmart it was $5.94, for about a 24 loads. I think that is a very fair price considering you get soap, fabric softener, and static remover for your dryer, all in one nifty little pad. I must say I love them. I do not have a dryer, so the third step does not work for me. The soap is obviously the first. I make sure the whole pad is covered before putting in my laundry, so no fabric softener can get on them. I like the price, and the convenience of not having to watch for the rinse cycle. If I had one complaint it would be that it does not make enough soap bubbles for my liking, so I add just a little extra detergent, still saves me money. I will definitely continue to use them. One other laundry tidbit. I hate laundry, but what I hate more is stains on laundry. I thought to myself one day, self if Dawn original dish detergent takes grease off my dishes, will it take it off my laundry? Amazingly I find it does. I squirt one good sized squirt in the laundry water, before putting in clothes, that have heavy dirt, or stains, and poof they came out. I love it, and thank goodness my experiment did not eat my clothes or something. Now I am going out to get some much needed warmth, and sunshine. The new pool is up, and filled, though we can't use it for a few weeks. Sorry Anne, I had to put that in just for you.

Lesson Plans For 02-22-10:

DJ:
Reading: The Knight of the Gwan with summary
Writing: The cardinal fish
Language Arts: Root words
Math: Fractions, multiplication
Vocabulary
Cursive Writing
Art: Art Lesson on Color, adding highlights and shadows, video below
Sign Language: Numbers 1-20 week two

Caitlin:
Arts and Crafts: Put together her alphabet book
Reading: HOP Sam and the Mitt week 2
Site Words
Flash Cards
Math: Addition to five
Animal Book: Pet animals- cat
What happens next worksheet
Animal Identification: Two feet, four feet
Phonics: Ending sounds
Sign Language: Numbers 1-20

Puppies, Friends, and Changes

Ms Kristy, from our playgroup, had a belated Valentines Day Party at her home, on Thursday. I took this photo with my cell camera. It is David, DJ, Caitlin, and Sumo the puppy. Sumo is only six weeks old, and weighs ten pounds. Hence the name Sumo. You should have seen her playing with the cat LOL. The mother is pit bull, but she does not look anything like a pitbull. They are unsure of the daddy, as mom is nine, and never ever bred, surprise, surprise. She looks to be Boxer, or even Mastiff which means she is going to be huge. They love her, and are so happy she entered their lives. Our other playgroup friends were suffering from some kind of virus, and were unable to attend.


Have you ever reached a point in your life where you absolutely must make a change, or go crazy? I think we all have, and that time has come for me. Anyone who has been reading my blog for any length of time, knows I am a nurse, moved here from NY, and have basically disliked my job since I got here. I have worked for the same company, since we got here, nearly five years ago. It is the worst job I have ever had. I stuck it out for a lot of different reasons. I needed the job, I don't believe in quitting, or giving up, and I became attached to my patients. But now the straw that breaks the camel's back, has been broken, and it is time to move to something else. While I have cut back to only one night a week, even that has become unbearable. So now I search for something more stress free, respectful, and enjoyable. Wish me luck, I have not made a resume in many years. I am not even sure I want to do nursing at this point in time, at least for a while maybe. It is hard when you have done nothing else but nursing, and you get used to the income, to switch to something else. I am not even sure that is an option.

Fun Friday The Letter R: Roses, and Respiratory System

Today is Fun Friday, at our Blogging For Fun Group. We are doing an A-Z meme, and are up to the letter R. So I thought I would share one educational, and one fun for the letter R. First is a 3D animation of the Respiratory System. They had some real technical ones, but since my kids enjoy them, I looked for cool, and simple. The video is 3D enhanced, and very informative, for a short video. Check it out, and learn why you breath. Next is a personal favorite of mine, Roses. I love roses, and can actually get them to grow. I really love all flowers, but roses seem especially easy for me to grow. When we lived 10 miles from here, in Levy County, I could not get anything to grow, not even my roses. Here in this town, the roses grow like crazy. I am not sure what the difference is in the soil, but whatever it is, it works. The video below are some of the most beautiful rose gardens. None of them are mine, but maybe someday. I have yellow, pink, and red roses. I try to buy a new one every year, in a different color. The largest is by far the yellow, which my children gave me for Mothers Day, two years ago. It is huge, and it was quite expensive, so I am happy it has lived all these years. Meanings of the colors of roses are unique to each color. Yellow: joy, gladness, and friendship, Red: Love, beauty, courage and respect, Pink: appreciation, admiration, gentleness. I hope everyone has a Fun Friday, and if you want to join our little group just use the sign up box, right above my Blogging For Fun blogroll.

Zhu Zhu Pets Toy Of The Year!!!

OK, first I can not say how ridiculous I think that is, that these toy hamsters were voted toy of the year, for 2009. Anyone who has been following my blog since Christmas, knows how difficult it was to get one of these critters, for the 9 dollar asking price. People were buying, and selling them for four times that on Ebay, and Amazon. You could not even get them in Target, or Walmart, because they were never in stock. We did get two, both the last week before Christmas, and did not pay more than 10 dollars for them. I will tell you these toys are stupid. They eat batteries like no tomorrow. So if you paid the 9 dollar asking price, you are paying way more in batteries, to keep the thing running. It talks non stop, and makes annoying noises, that are cute for about five minutes, then it borders on making you psychotic. Now they have come up with mini ZhuZhu pets, and outfits, and other nonsense. Now if they made these so you could somehow plug them in to charge them up, I would consider them a half way decent toy. However, in the current condition, I find them to be a hunk of junk, and believe me when I say I will not be spending countless hours arguing with my local Walmart this year. If you got a Zhu Zhu pet, what is your evaluation of the toy? Please share your thoughts. I can not be the only parent, who felt they were a complete waste of time, and money. Now I am off to a Valentines Day Party with our playgroup, to stuff myself full of yummy cupcakes, and candy. Have a great day, everyone.

Learning About Vitamins For Kids, Ocean Animals

Caitlin has started studying ocean animals. While there are millions of them in the ocean, we have been focusing on a few. The cute video below explains what makes a fish, a fish. They have other ones available, and I will post another tomorrow. DJ is learning about vitamins, tomorrow for Health class. Finding a video that explains the vitamins, rather than why you should take them, or not take them, was not easy. The cute video below will help your young learner identify the various vitamins their bodies need to survive, in simple uncomplicated format.

Lesson Plans For 02/18/10:

Valentines Day Party at Ms Kristy's house from 10-12

DJ:
Health: All about vitamins
Cursive Writing
Math: Fractions, division
Language Arts: Root words, antonyms, question busters
Vocabulary
Sign Language: Numbers 1-20

Caitlin:
Picture Story
Printing Practice
Sign Language: Numbers 1-20
Reading: HOP Sam and the Mitt
Math: Recognizing numbers
Site Words
Flash card work
Animal Book: Ocean animals
Phonics: Beginning sounds

The Universe Living In Space Part 2, Phonics A-Z Sounds

Today, you will notice my blogs are all green, for St Patrick's Day. I love green, and it makes me think of spring. This has been a very cold winter, here in Florida. The state of Florida has had two days, with measurable snow, once in the north, and once in central Florida ugh, I hate snow. Anyway last week I shared part one of the Universe living in space video, here is part two below. Plus a cute phonics video, for all your kiddos learning to read, and sound out words. We also have Scientific Method in Science today, and there is a kids video in my archives, that makes it easy for young learners to understand.

Lesson Plans For 02/17/10:

DJ:
Social Studies: Ellis Island, presidents
Cursive Writing
Math: Multiplication, word problems, fractions, add and subtract decimals
Language Arts: Antonyms, root words, question busters
Vocabulary
Sign Language: Numbers 1-20

Caitlin:
Printing Practice
Animal Book: Ocean animals
Sign Language
Following a pattern
Math: Recognizing numbers
Flash Card Work
Site Words
Reading: HOP Sam and the Mitt
Phonics: Beginning sounds

All The Presidents In Less Than Five Minutes

Today is Presidents Day. Need to know them all from Washington to Obama? Check out the video below, they are all there. The Animaniacs one is cuter, but not as up to date. We have no school today, but will resume tomorrow.

Lesson Plans For 02/16/10:

DJ:
Science: Solar system and universe part 2, scientific method
Arts and Crafts: Lion Valentines craft, see post from Saturday
Math: Reducing fractions, division, word problems
Language Arts: Synonyms, root words, question busters
Vocabulary
Cursive Writing
Sign Language: Numbers 1-20

Caitlin:
Arts and Crafts: Lion Valentines craft
Animal Book: Ocean animals
Printing Practice
Sign Language: Numbers 1-20
Math: Recognizing numbers, vs letters
Flash Card work
Site Words
Reading: HOP Sam and the Mitt
Phonics: Beginning sounds
Find the one that doesn't math worksheet

Happy Valentines Day

Comments and Graphics - Valentines Day Layouts - Photobucket

History of Valentines Day, Lion Heart Craft

Tomorrow is Valentines Day, and Monday is Presidents Day, so we have no school Monday. This fun little craft, we will do on Tuesday. The lion head was originally a cutting skill, for my kindergartener. If you click, it will enlarge, and you can print it, to do the cutting exercise, then print another, and the hearts template, and you can make a cool heart mane, all around his head. Just glue it all to construction paper, and hang it up. You can use flowers, shamrocks, hands, or any other template, for different holidays, and seasons. Caitlin loves this one, and I am sure we will be using it many times. I am not a huge Valentines Day person. I think it is really just a waste of money, and serves no purpose. Why show someone you love them only one day a year. I like spontaneous flowers, or kind, loving words, not a scheduled day for it. Just another reason to spend a ridiculous amount of money. Below you will see the history of Valentines Day, in the short video. I am still not convinced, it is necessary. Be sure to go over to Small Town Mommy's tomorrow, it is her birthday, and wish her a Happy Birthday.

Fun Friday Letter Q: Quarters

It is Fun Friday, at our Blogging For Fun group, and we are up to the letter Q. This is a hard one, with not many words that start with Q, at least that you can make a post about. So I am doing the 50 state quarters. DJ has been collecting them for sometime now, and only needs one more. For Christmas he got the book holder, and a whole collection of uncirculated quarters, the whole set. So now he will have two, when he completes the one he has been doing on his own. The video below shows all 50 of them, and what they look like. It is a fun little hobby for him, and he has taken a great interest in collecting other coins as well.


So what do you think you can buy for one quarter, in 2010? Here are the only ones I could find.

1- A gumball from the machine at the local store. I am surprised this is still so.
2- One token at Chuck E Cheese will put you out a quarter.
3- One bouncy ball from the same machine as the gumball machine.
4- Air for your car tires, though I am not sure it is not two quarters now.


That is about it, unless you know of some more. Please feel free to share, if you know of anything you can get for one quarter, in this day, and age. Happy blogging, everyone.

Save 20 Dollars A Month, Fun Post

So I was thinking, I do that sometimes, and thought we could do a fun little post together. I have been discussing with my children ways to save money. Mostly just to see what they would say, and really they aren't willing to give up much to save money, imagine that. So I thought we could see what everyone can come up with. The goal is to save 20 dollars a month. Come up with two ways, and add it to the list. Try not to repeat what others have already put up. It is meant to be fun, and get us all thinking.

Here are mine, I have three, because DJ came up with one.

1- DJ said he could do his chores for free, rather than two dollars a week. I was pleased he was willing to offer this, though I am sure a revolt would come eventually.

2- Wash your clothes, and dishes in cold water, rather than hot water. This really does work. If you can't do the cold water in dishes, just go for the clothes.

3- If you eat out a lot, cut it down to only once a week. You will be surprised how much eating out really costs. We like to eat out, because I really hate to cook, but we have cut it back to once a week, or once every other week.

OK now it is your turn. Share your thoughts. I can not be the only frugal, or cheap as my husband calls me, woman in the world.

Teeth Brushing, Kids Music

Well Caitlin has decided in the past week, that she does not care if her teeth ever get brushed again GRR. She says it is boring, and a bother. Great, don't you think? So I found this cute video from Crawford the Cat, in my archives, and will be sharing it with her until she decides to brush her teeth again. I hope to find a nasty decayed tooth to share with her too. Our playdate Valentines Day party, for tomorrow, was changed to next week due to Strep throat. So I didn't make a full day of activities, so tomorrow we will be moving rooms around. Since we bought this house, my kids have shared a bedroom, and had a playroom. This sleeping arrangement is no longer working. DJ does not want his sister in his room, and Caitlin refuses to fall asleep in a timely manner at night. I remember when DJ did that too, but his memory is short, and his sister is annoying him, when he wants to read, or go to sleep. So that will be the bulk of our day tomorrow, oh joy. I also included a cute music video for your younger learner to enjoy.

Lesson Plans For 02/11/10:

DJ:
Math: Equivalent fractions, division review
Language Arts: Synonyms, root words
Cursive Writing
Sign Language: Essentials
Vocabulary
Electricity

Caitlin:
Reading: Kim Kangaroo
Printing Practice
Math: Addition to ten
Animal Book: Desert animals

Grand Canyon, Book of Knights, Free Medical Care

Every week the History Channel sends me shows, and curriculum links that I can use in my homeschooling adventures. Tonight at 8PM is How the Earth was made: Grand Canyon. I already have it set to record. If you go to their website History.com and sign up they will send you curriculum links, and upcoming programs. America the History of Us, the one I really want, will be airing April 25th, and it is a new series. So you will have to record multiple shows to get them all.

One of the many things I love about homeschooling, is that I can change curriculum, assignments, schedules, or anything else I think needs improving, or changing. DJ has been reading The Silver Skates, and he absolutely hates it. So I decided to change the remainder of our reading list, and exclude that one. I do not finish a book I do not finish, so I see no reason to make him. The remainder of our reading list will be:

The Barefoot Book of Knights: which includes 7 stories about Knights, from all over the world. If you would like to purchase this book for your child, you can go to my Barefoot store. It is on sale for only 5.99 and their books are award winning.

Black Beauty

Sword of the Rightful King, a novel of King Arthur.

If you need free medical care, it is now available every Monday, in Gainesville, FL at the Mobile Clinic. The details are every Monday from 6 PM to 9PM at the Tower Road Branch Library 3020 SW 75th Street, Gainesville, FL. The Mobile Clinic is a bus, and is volunteer for medical students, doctors, and undergraduates from UF College. It says your medical records will be computerized, and any doctor you may see after can have easy access to them. If you need free medical care, this is a great option for you. I am sure the lines will be long, so be sure to get there early.

Lesson Plans For 02/10/10:

DJ:
Social Studies: The Declaration of Independence reading, with questions, plus Grand Canyon
Math: Equivalent fractions, multiplication review
Language Arts: Root words, context clues
Cursive Writing
Sign Language
Vocabulary
Sign Language: Essentials


Caitlin:
Phonics: Worksheet
Reading: Kim Kangaroo
Printing Practice
Math: Addition to ten
Same/Different: Worksheet
Animal Book: Desert Animals
Flash Card Work
Site Words
Sign Language: Essentials

Superbowl, Living in Space, Solar System and Universe

Well the New Orleans Saints did it! They defeated the Colts, and are the new Superbowl Champs. Many congrats to them. It was a good game, the commercials stunk, and the first half was pretty near boring. The second half lit it up, and became a good game.

Last Tuesday DJ did a Science lesson where he had to pretend he was living on another planet, and sent an email home to Earth. Tomorrow we are expanding that with video one of a five parts called Living in Space. It is from the History channel, and I will share all five parts, over the coming weeks. There are two other videos covering the Solar System, and our Universe, also below. Include them in your lesson plans, or just for fun for your kids to enjoy. Be sure to check out the new learn to draw website I found.


Lesson Plans For Monday 02/08/10:

DJ:
Writing: You are going on vacation, leave directions for a caregiver to care for your pets.
Reading: Read chapters 7, and 8 of The Silver Skates, with summaries
Math: Equivalent fractions, expanded number reviews
Language Arts: Root Words, spelling
Art: Learn to draw, from pear shapes, new site I found here
Sign Language: Essentials video is in my archives
Vocabulary
Cursive Writing

Caitlin:
Printing Practice
Reading: HOP Kim Kangaroo
Arts and Crafts: Lion cutting craft
Math: Addition to ten
Animal Identification: Worksheet
Site Words
Flash Card Work
Animal Book: Desert animals
Sign Language: Essentials
Phonics: Worksheet

Lesson Plans For 02/09/10:

DJ:
Science: Living in Space part one, Solar system, and universe
Math: Equivalent fractions, subtraction, and addition review
Language Arts: Alphabetical order, root words
Sign Language: Essentials
Vocabulary
Cursive Writing

Caitlin:
Phonics: Worksheet
Reading: HOP Kim Kangaroo
Printing Practice
Math: Addition to ten
Beginning Graphs: Worksheet
Animal Book: Desert animals
Flash Card Work
Site Words
Sign Language: Essentials


Don't forget to visit my Barefoot Books store, and check out the award winning books for kids. I just got mine in, and I love them.

My Thoughts, Your Thoughts, Everybody's Thoughts

This is a review by me for Thoughts.com Thoughts is a social networking website, that uses blogs, various communication widgets, etc to communicate, and socialize with other members. I am doing a review of the website, and below are my thoughts.

First let me say, I do not usually do a review without trying the product first. So I signed up to be a member. It was easy enough, just add your email, user name, and password. Then a confirmation email is to come to you, to confirm your membership. I waited, and waited for the confirmation email to come, but it never did. Today, I attempted to log back onto the site, to see if I could have it resent, and it said I was deactivated. I never got an email to say why, and I checked all spam emails as well. This was actually annoying to me, and the site tech might want to look into it.

Since I could not actually use it, I have to review what I read, and saw. It does appear to be strictly for bloggers, so if you don't have a blog, it won't be useful to you. You can socialize with others bloggers using creative widgets, that allow you to communicate with each other, and post snippets of your blog posts. There is a forum for members to communicate amongst each other, and management of the site. There is a daily news section, where members can discuss breaking news, or news topics that are important to them. They have a, one love policy, and require all members to be respectful, and courteous to each other. They do not expect everyone to get along always, or even agree all the time, but nasty treatment of each other will not be tolerated. Thoughts is ultimately for people who love to write, socialize, and enlighten each other on the topics of today, and the future. If you want to get your blog noticed, your thoughts read, and even maybe a good intelligent argument, than Thoughts.com may just be the site for you. Hop on over, and check it out. If you join, let me know what you think of it, and what your experience is.


blog site

The Hangover, Avatar, and Chipmunks

We didn't get to go to the Medieval Fair yesterday, due to nasty weather, so we are taking the kids to the movies today. This is a treat for us, as we usually do Netflix, and watch at home. Last night my husband, and I watched The Hangover. It was very funny, but definitely not for kids, I don't think I would even let a teenager watch it, very mature content, in my opinion. DJ, and my husband want to see Avatar, so do I, but Caitlin has no interest at all. So her, and I will see Alvin and the Chipmunks 2, and Craig, and DJ will see Avatar. Avatar is quite a bit longer, so I will have to bring the hand held video game to keep Caitlin busy until their movie is over. The nasty weather that slammed us yesterday, is now dumping something like two feet of snow on Washington, DC. Stay inside if you can. Have a great Saturday, everyone.

Fun Friday The Letter P: Playing With Pictures

It is Fun Friday again, at our Blogging For Fun group. We are working on an A to Z meme, and we are up to the letter P. Again, I could not figure out what I wanted to do, so many choices. I was going to do Pollination, and Plant parts, but I already covered that for school. Check out the cool videos in the archives. So I decided on Playing with Pictures. These are some funny pictures we have taken over the past few months. I am going to tell you what all these crazy pictures are.

1- No, your eyes are not deceiving you. That is my five year old sleeping in my laundry basket. I have no idea why she thought that was fun, but she did.

2- My two year old crazy lab mix, male dog. He is not camera shy at all, get right up in there.

3- We can't afford a real pony, so Caitlin has to gallop around the house on a fake one. I don't know who thought these were a good idea, but I think they should be hung out to dry.

4- My six month old crazy puppy doing laps around the frozen pool, probably to keep warm. Crazy is popular at my house.

5- My very frozen pool, with lots of algae, that is no more, with a nice shiny new one to take its place any day now. This is for all you who didn't believe me that it was frozen. I wish I had a picture of the snow, they got south of us.

6- DJ decided he wanted to paint a masterpiece on his own face, thank goodness it was washable marker.

7- My husbands idea of a classy haircut. It didn't last long trust me.

8- Since we have no snow, the kids made sand angels where the pool used to be. It is kind of hard to see with DJ's shadow in the way.

That is it for now, with my playing with pictures. We had to cancel our trip to the Medieval Fair, due to high wind warnings, and rain will be here any time now. It stinks, but my husband and I have another plan. It is always to have a back up plan when you have disappointed kids.

Guest Post Incorporating Toys Into Your Curriculum

This is a guest post from Bekah. Please feel free to visit any of the links supplied, and her blog as well. As always please feel free to share any thoughts, on the subject.



Incorporating “toys” into the curriculum

Homeschooled parents may feel that they need to offer a lot of the things schools do. That can get pricey, especially with the neat things science labs and art rooms have. But you can get reasonable substitutions at a much lower price than schools pay just by checking out Amazon.com or Toys R Us (and keep an eye out for sales to really get a good deal).

Many of these toys are “not intended as an educational aid” - but could easily be used that way. For example, the EyeClops'>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PGRBGA?ie=UTF8&tag=mothemomen-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000PGRBGA">EyeClops Bionic Eye
uses a TV screen to magnify objects. It’s not as good as a “real” microscope and prepared slides, but could be used with early science work. High school ceramics classes have pottery wheels, and you can buy one like http://www.target.com/Faber-Castell-Do-Art-Pottery-Studio/dp/B001B61538/sr=1-1/qid=1265228860/ref=sr_1_1/176-0493408-4493844?ie=UTF8&search-alias=tgt-index&frombrowse=0&index=target&rh=k%3Apottery%20wheel&page=1”>this at Target or one of a dozen others found at Amazon or Toys R Us.

And be creative - kids can learn while playing. There are links to pages that use http://www.marshall.edu/lego/lessonplans/lessonplans.html”>Legos to teach math and science. A wide variety of science kits and art supplies can be bought at toy and craft stores. Puppets can be incorporated into language and literature classes. Balloons can teach about pressure and temperature. As a homeschooling parent, become aware of using teaching moments when your kids are being kids. Not every educational experience has to happen with textbooks or fancy equipment!

Bekah blogs at http://motherhood-moment.blogspot.com”>Motherhood Moment where she writes about family activities, eco-friendly living, money- and time-saving tricks, and more. She is a work-at-home mother of two girls, age 0 and 2, who teaches German and math at an online high school

Bekah
motherhood-moment.blogspot.com

Emotional Intelligence, Feelings and Emotions

Tomorrow for Health class we are covering feelings, and emotions. I tried to find a cool video, but none of them were really geared towards kids. I did however find the cool video below, about emotional intelligence. It is more for parents, and I found it very interesting. I use the Kids Health website, for lots of different subjects for kids. Check their site for tons of free educational resources, on all kinds of subjects related to kids.

Lesson Plans For 02/04/10:

DJ:
Heath: Feelings and needs
Math: Fractions, addition, subtraction, multiplication
Language Arts: Root words, question busters
Vocabulary
Spelling
Sign Language: Essentials
Simple Machines: Review worksheet

Caitlin:
Phonics: Beginning sounds worksheet x 2
Sign Language: Essentials
Reading: HOP Mutt and Pup
Health: Feelings Sesame Street game
Animal Book: Farm animals
Math: Count and color
Site words
Flash card work

Matter For Kids, The Matter Song

Today for Science class we are studying matter. Below is a song on matter, and a video with experiments for matter. Both of these are great, and are for different levels of learning. DJ is also considering what life would be like on another planet, and then will writing an email from that planet back home to earth. It is just a fun activity, that makes you think. Valentines Day is coming, and instead of giving candy, give your kids award winning books. Click the pink banner above to go to my Barefoot Store, and check out all the awesome books available.

Lesson Plans For 02/03/10:

DJ:
Social Studies: Medieval Times in prep for Medieval Fair
Math: Division, problem solving, multiplication
Language Arts: Root words, question busters, punctuation
Vocabulary
Sign Language: Essentials
Spelling

Caitlin:
Printing Test
Reading: HOP Mutt and Pup
Animal Book: Farm animals
Phonics: Beginning sounds x2 worksheets
Math: Count and color
Site Words
Flash Card work

Learn To Draw A Ferrari, Learn Sign Language Essentials

Today we are moving on to part three of our sign language learning. We have already done the alphabet, and colors, the videos can be found in my archives. Now we are moving on to essential words such as thank you, hello, etc. The video below will help you learn along. DJ is currently learning to learn to draw various cars. Today he is doing the Ferrari Spider. Check it out, and learn along. Yesterday, I took some time, and added a whole bunch of new education links. They are located at the bottom of this blog. If you need info, worksheets, or cool education sites, be sure to check them out.


Lesson Plans For 02/01/10:

DJ:
Reading: Chapters 5, and 6 of the Silver Skates, with summaries
Cursive Writing
Writing: Write a story about a baby cheetah
Art: Learn to draw cars
Sign Language: Basic essentials
Math: Problem solving, fractions, multiplication
Language Arts: Root words
Vocabulary

Caitlin:
Arts and Crafts: Valentine hearts
Printing Practice
Site Words
Flashcard work
Reading: HOP Mutt and Pup
Ispy: Worksheet
Animal Book: Farm animals
Phonics: Beginning sounds
Math: Count and color

Lesson Plans For 02/02/10:

DJ:
Science: Matter, and life on other planets
Sign Language: Basic essentials
Math: Division, fractions
Language Arts: Root words, conjunctions, spelling, question busters
Vocabulary

Caitlin:
Patterns: Worksheet
Printing Practice
Reading: HOP Mutt and Pup
Beginning money: Worksheet
Animal Book: Farm animals
Phonics: Beginning sounds
Math: Count and color
Site Words
Flashcard work