The Pros and Cons of Getting Your Degree Online

This is a guest post, so please show Anna some love.

The Pros and Cons of Earning Your Degree Online

Technology has made a huge difference in the way we learn today, and you can’t argue the fact that online education has revamped the education system as we knew it. It’s a classic case of the mountain going to Mohammed because Mohammed is limited by various constraints and cannot go to the mountain; thanks to the Internet and other related technology, you’re able to earn a degree from the comfort of your home and also balance it with your work and other commitments. There’s no doubting that online education is here to stay and grow, but before you go down this road, you need to be aware of both the pros and cons of earning your degree online.

On the plus side:

· You don’t have to take time off from your work or your life in general to enroll in a degree and complete it. This allows you to balance both work and study if you’re a professional or family and study if you have kids at home, without neglecting or putting one on hold in order to pursue the other.

· You don’t have to relocate to another place or even attend classes on a daily basis as you would when earning a traditional degree. This not only saves you time, but also money.

· You have a limited amount of flexibility of setting your own schedule because it is not as rigid as those that traditional students have to follow.

· Most online degrees are much cheaper than similar offerings by traditional colleges. Also, since your course material is sent over the Internet, you may not have to shell out money to buy expensive text books.

· If you put your mind to it and are willing to take extra classes and work harder, you can complete your degree in less than four years.

On the down side:

· Perhaps the biggest drawback of online education is that it is not valued on par with the degrees offered by traditional institutions. Employers may not consider you seriously when they know you’ve graduated from an online school.

· You must be very careful to ensure that your degree and school are accredited by the right agencies. If not, your degree is not worth the paper it is printed on.

· If you want to make the most of your online education and achieve success, you must be willing to work hard and set aside time in your busy schedule for your coursework and exams.

· You may not find it easy to cope with the lack of social and personal interaction with other students and your professors.

· Also, you will have to do most of the studying through your own efforts because your teachers and professors will be available for online discussions only at certain scheduled times.

· Balancing your education and work or a family could become stressful and drain your energy; so unless you’re organized, dedicated, and determined, you could end up failing or making mistakes in one or more of the many activities on your plate.

In spite of all its drawbacks, online education is still a good option for those who wish to continue working even as they earn a degree for professional or personal reasons.

By-line:

This guest post is contributed by Anna Miller, who writes on the topic of online degree . She welcomes your comments at her email id: anna.miller009@gmail.com

How To Make A Solar Oven With Pringles Cans

If you ever need an oven in a pinch, you can make your own solar oven. Of course using a Pringles Can won't get you a very big oven, but you can always make bigger ones using the same concepts they teach you. I think this is really cool, and is a Science project for next year. You will be seeing a lot of these as I go through the experiment book for next year, and make lists to be sure we have everything we need. Give it a try.

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, and there is no school. Half day lessons will resume on Tues-Fri, for DJ only for tidbit things that need to be finished. Caitlin has completed her lessons.

Fun Friday: Banana Trees

I don't have any banana trees, but I really want one. We eat a lot of bananas, and it would be great to just go pick one in my yard, rather than the grocery store. It is on my long list of things I want, and need. OK maybe not need, just want LOL. Sorry for the short post but we are off to Chuck E Cheese today, and I have a ton to do before we go. I hope everyone has a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend. Ta Ta for now.

End Of School Diplomas, Commas

Today is our official last full day of school. We have no school Monday, and DJ will be just finishing up math, and vocabulary workbooks next week. That is it, and now I have to put portfolios together for our evaluations. It has been a great school year, and over the summer months I will be posting videos, and websites I have found for various topics, most I will actually be using for next year. I will start with commas. DJ has learned about commas in a series. But there are so many other reasons to put commas. Next year his grammar lessons will be more advanced than he has already learned. I will be posting great videos to help him, me, and even you learn the very complicated grammar rules.

If you homeschool and you want to treat your child to a nice graduating diploma from kindergarten, high school, or any other grade I have found some nice free ones you can print, and use as you wish. You can click right here, to see the variety of ones available. My kids like these, and they make them feel they have accomplished something great.

Florida History For Kids, Types Of Rocks

If DJ were in public school for fourth grade, he would have spent much of fourth grade history learning about the history of Florida. We did read Seeds of A Nation: Florida, way at the beginning of the year. Now we are in review mode, and I had no idea there was this very cool website that has Florida's history all in one great place http://www.flheritage.com/kids/
So I have bookmarked this site for review, and continued learning of Florida's history. Check it out it is actually on My Florida, which has other great resources I didn't know about.

Tomorrow is our swim playdate here at my home. We are looking forward to relaxing, and hanging out with our friends. The video below is for review of rocks, and the rock cycle, which should have been viewed today, but we ran out of time, and will be viewed later this week.

Lesson Plans For 05/26/10:

DJ:
Swim Playdate 1-3
Cursive Writing
Social Studies: History of Florida review, Susan B Anthony review
Math: Subtract and check
Vocabulary

Caitlin:
Printing Practice
Math: Number to word identification
Flash Cards
Site Words
Phonics: Ending sounds
Reading: Pick one book from the reading list

Learn To Draw A Dog

Today is DJ's official last day of Art class for the fourth grade. So I let him pick he what he would like to draw. He picked a dog. Below you will see a video to learn how to draw a cartoon dog. Let your kids, or yourself, give it a try. That is the beauty if you want to learn to draw, you can use all the videos too.

So I have been going through next years lessons, and books. Naturally I thought math was going to be the hardest, and wanted to get a jump start, so I didn't catch a surprise. Ha the math was no big deal, the Language Arts will be my nemesis. All the rules of grammar are exhausting to try to remember, and teach them all. Ugh I think I might cry. Calgon take me away!!!!

Lesson Plans For 05/24/10:

DJ:
Cursive Writing
Science: Rocks, and rock formations, review
Vocabulary
Math: Subtract and check, milliliters, division

Caitlin:
Printing Practice
Reading: Pick one book from reading list
Flash Cards
Site Words
Math: Number to word identification
Phonics: Ending Sounds

School Calendar For 2010/2011 Calendar

This is the time of the year when I prepare for evaluations, and start next year planning. So I have already done next years calendar. I post this for my own personal record keeping, and also for anyone who homeschools, and wants to have an idea of how to make their own calendar. I do try to have our holidays the same as the public schools, so if the kids want to have friends over the days off coincide. Of course the calendar can be flexible to fit any needs you may have. You will also see that I have grading periods much like public schools. I do this because DJ went to public school for two years, and is used to the grading system so we just continued it. Not all homeschoolers grade their kids work though. I did change the calendar quite a bit this year. I took a lot of the days we had off this year, and made them half days, so that we actually do get something done. As DJ moves into harder and harder class work, we need all the classroom hours we can get, without having to do homework. This calendar does not include playdates, or field trip which are not planned this far in advance.

Calendar For 2010/2011 School Year:

September 7, 2010: First day of school.
September 30, 2010: Half day of school
October 11, 2010: No school Columbus Day obsv
October 15, 2010: End of first grading period
October 18, 2010: No school
October 19, 2010: Half day of school
November 4, 2010: No school
November 11, 2010: No school
November 18, 2010: Half day of school, Fire Drill day
November 24-26, 2010: Thanksgiving holiday, no school
December 22, 2010: End of second grading period
December 23-January 6, 2011: Christmas break, no school
January 6, 2011: Safety awareness day
January 17, 2011: No school
January 24, 2011: Half day of school
February 14, 2011: No school Presidents Day obsv
February 21, 2011: Safety awareness day
March 10, 2011: No school
March 11, 2011: End of third grading period
March 14-18, 2011: No school Spring Break
March 31, 2011: No school
April 1-2, 2011: Half days of school
April Easter Break dates to be decided
May 9, 2011: No school
May 27-30: No school
June 6-9, 2011: Half days of school
June 10, 2011: Last day of school year.

Fun Friday: Crape Myrtle Tree

Today is Fun Friday at my Blogging For Fun group. We are on week four of or tree meme, and I have been focusing on trees that grow in Florida. When we first moved to Florida I would see the most peculiar looking tree. It was very tall growing well above roof tops, with beautiful pink flowers only at the very top. Very odd looking indeed. So when I saw some planted at my place of employment I asked what they were. I was told they were Crape Myrtles. So I had to know why do they grow so tall, and only flower at the top. There are different kinds, like any tree. With proper pruning you can encourage the tree to grow out like a more normal flowering tree, with flowers on the whole tree. Crape Myrtles can bloom almost 50% of the year in some spots, until very cold weather comes in. They are a hardy tree, and is one of the most widely planted tree in the US, for decorative purposes. When we bought our home the previous owners had done an amazing job with the landscaping. We have at least three Crape Myrtle trees on our property. They grow the most beautiful pink flowers you can see.

Free Movies With Regal Cinemas All Summer

I knew about this last year too, but we never did get to go. The days we could attend were movies we already saw, or no one was interested in. This year we should definitely get to at least one. So who doesn't love FREE? I love free, or even close to free.

Regal Cinema Theaters is offering free movies over the summer months. They have been doing this for many, many years. Did you know that? I didn't that is for sure. Of course if you want popcorn, soda, etc, that is not part of the free. You will have to spend your own cash on that. But it does cover the ticket price. Click this link to find a Regal Cinemas in your area, they are all over, and the dates and times available, then go enjoy a free movie.

Helping Kids Deal With Death

My kids have been fortunate enough not to have had to deal with a serious death, yet. The most we have had was a dead fish, that we flushed down the toilet, and led Caitlin to ask if God was in the toilet. She thought because she learned at church that when you die you go to heaven, that God must be in the toilet if that is where we sent the fish. While we can laugh at this because it sounds cute, death is serious, and kids can have a very hard time dealing with it. Yesterday, DJ's penpal friend had a very sad death occur, that she witnessed. Her neighbors puppy was ran over right in front of her. DJ was not sure what he should tell her to make her feel better, so he sent her some virtual flowers, hopefully they helped. Even I sometimes, being a nurse and have dealt with all kinds of death, and dying still sometimes am not sure exactly what to say. Hugs, and support seem to work the best, with little or no words. A few tears never hurt either.

Professionals agree that children need to learn about death, as much as life. It is a circle of life, and unfortunately nothing lives forever. If you are religious you may have already discussed this, or not depending on your childs age. If not you need to tell them in ways they can understand, without big complicated words. Be honest, and don't try to make it sound like no big deal. Most importantly, I think, is to let them communicate how death makes them feel, whether you agree with their emotions or not. Some people are angry, hostile, or withdrawn when dealing with death. While others seem to be distant, or even cold from it. Everyone reacts in their own way, and there is no real right or wrong way to feel. One of my absolute favorite sights for anything that has to do with kids, health, emotions, drugs, choices, whatever is http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/talk/death.html If you have never checked out their site it is very helpful, and kids love it. It is not just for homeschoolers, and it is free.

Learn To Tie Your Shoes

Have you ever taught a child to tie their shoes? If you have you know how frustrating it is trying to explain how to do it. The video below is actually from the school of the blind, and it teaches you how to teach your child to tie their shoes. I never had to teach DJ, he actually learned it in public school, but Caitlin is learning, and finding the correct terminology to tell he what I want her to do is not the easiest. Who knew something so easy as tying shoes could be so complicated? It doesn't help that she despises shoes with ties, so she never really had to worry about tying them before. Tomorrow is review of Davey Crockett, and basically the same as the other lessons listed for the week. The end is almost near, for the homeschooled year I mean.

Weather And Seasons Some Of My Favorites

Tomorrow for Science class we are reviewing both what we learned about seasons, and clouds. I am always looking for new, and interesting sites to add to my favorite education sites at the bottom of this blog. I update it as often as I can, but sometimes they just sit in my favorites. Here are some favorite websites I use for teaching weather, and the seasons. The scholastic link is awesome, and if you don't already use it you should. The others are newer to me, and I have not had a chance to fully explore their whole sites. These too will be added to the bottom of this site for easy access to anyone who cares to use them. Over summer vacation I will be updating, and deleting any that are no longer working, or I have found to not be useful.

http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/k_2theme/seasons.htm
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/
http://illiniweather.com/pages/kids_weather_links.htm
http://www.theweatherchannelkids.com/


Lesson Plans For 05/18/10:

DJ:
Vocabulary
Math: Units of length
Cursive Writing
Science: Review of seasons, and clouds

Caitlin:
Tracing Practice
Printing Practice
Skip Counting
Math: Count and color
Phonics: Beginning sounds
Site Words
Reading: Choose one book from reading list
Science: The seasons and clouds

Daddy and Me Photo Contest, Painted Sand Dollars

Woman's Day, one of my favorite magazines is having a Daddy and Me photo contest. The winning picture will win a brand new camcorder. Simply send a picture of your husband, brother, father, whomever is a dad in your family doing something touching with a child to http://www.womansday.com/daddy The best picture wins the camcorder. I already own a camcorder so I won't enter. I wish the prize was something else because I have some really cool daddy pictures. Good luck to any of you who enter.

A few weeks ago for art class, DJ and Caitlin, painted on some sand dollars. Here are the end results. We used paint pens. I think they are new because I don't recall ever seeing them before. They are less messy than a paint brush, and easier to control than a paint brush.

We only have two full weeks of school left, and we will continue to review what we have learned this year. I continue to work on next years curriculum, and lessons. One of the things I have had the hardest time with was choosing a reading set for Caitlin. She did awesome with Hooked on Phonics, but really only like 1/4 of the program that was included. So I don't want to purchase another whole set. I think I finally decided on a set from Evan Moore. I have never purchased from them but they have a lot of interesting, and unique programs, and work books. Kinderdoodle is another one that I really like.

Lesson Plans For 05/17/10:

DJ:
Art: See previous weeks assignment
Vocabulary
Math: Subtraction review, adding fractions
Writing: Blue Assessor Baslett fish
Language Arts: Matching the parts of speech
Cursive Writing

Caitlin:
Tracing Practice
Nursery Rhymes
Math: Count and color, skip counting
Phonics: Beginning sounds
Site Words
Reading: Choose one book from reading list
Flash Cards
Printing Practice

Caitlin and the Butterfly, Spongebob Cake

Last Sunday was Caitlin's birthday. That is her Spongebob cake, that I did not make. I wanted to make her cake, and she said no she wanted the bakery to do it. I was a little disappointed but it was really hot, so my heart was not completely broken. I will make my own Spongebob cake yet, maybe for my birthday LOL.

Caitlin loves butterflies, and apparently they are fond of her too. She caught this cute little butterfly, and it promptly sat on her forehead. It stayed there until she took it down, just lightly fluttering its wings. I tried to get a picture with its wings open, it looks like a monarch on the inside, but is obviously black not white. We must have a flower it likes, because it keeps coming back every day. Don't worry all that dirt on the floor is the outside porch, not the inside of my house. I say that and I was like gross. My dogs drag in more dirt. I vacuum it up and dump it back in the sand pit, otherwise we would have none left.

Fun Friday: The Cherry Tree

I love the cherry tree, and their beautiful blossoms. The Cherry Tree Festival is a big deal in this country, in Washington, DC. There is actually a history to the US cherry tree, and the Cherry Tree Festival. The video below will explain it to you. I do not believe cherry trees will grow in Florida, apple trees don't either. Well apple trees will grow, but they do not produce any fruit, it is too warm.

Double Digit Division

My post is late, because we had a crazy day. Play date at the park was awesome. It did get a bit warm towards the end. We will have to start having swim play dates, it is just too hot in Florida this time of year. We had a leak under our kitchen sink that ruined part of my nice new floor. So a good friend of ours helped my husband fix it today, and their kids, and my kids swam, and then pizza. So I am just getting online now. As I stated I have introduced DJ to double digit division, and he picked it up so easy, I almost keeled over. The video below will help any child learning double digit division to understand it. It is completely black when it starts but don't worry it is working, it is kind of a blackboard. Our evaluations have been set for June 8th, and thank goodness my evaluator has no puppies this year LOL. That is the day before our scheduled last day of school, so it is perfect.

Lesson Plans For 05/13/10:

DJ:
Cursive Writing
Health: Nutrition review
What State Am I: Parts three, and four, computer research
Math: Adding fractions, meters and kilometers, mixed math review
Vocabulary
Language Arts: Nouns

Caitlin:
Printing Practice
Math: See, say, write, and count
Phonics: Match the opposite words
Reading: Choose one book from the list
Site Words
Flash Cards

Summer Vacation, Teaching From Religious Aspect

Tomorrow is our play date in the park from 10-12. There will be no formal lessons tomorrow, as we need to head to Walmart after to pick up a birthday card for the kids friend's birthday party this Saturday.

I have been asked by a few people, in the last couple of weeks, if we take summer vacation. Absolutely yes!! I need that time to catch up on everything else I don't get to all year LOL. Because I make my own curriculum using various sources I need the summer to get it all together, and get organized for the next year. Plus I finish grading, and organizing from the current year. We start school the day after Labor Day, and usually end the first week of June. We take days off for holidays, and other days that public schools take off. Because there is no set time of hours you must accumulate in Florida, to home school this is very flexible. Your child does have to pass their evaluation at the end of the year, so too much time off can be a very bad thing. Over the summer I do review things that I do not want them to forget. For example Caitlin will read, and DJ will do math. These are both things that can be easily forgotten over the summer. There are homeschoolers who do it all year, with very little breaks in between, and there are others who do very little work, and end up in trouble at the end of the year. Usually on our playdate days, which are usually every other week, we either do no lessons, or make up the lessons on the next school days. I am an organized type personality so having a set, organized schedule works best for me. All homeschoolers are different both in the way they teach, and what they teach. That is what makes us all unique in our own ways. There are some that frown upon those who don't teach religion, or are not what they consider strict enough in both lessons taught, and child behavior. They don't want people who are different in their groups, or their children even playing with them. This is not my philosophy. I like diversity, and I want my children to understand there is nothing wrong with people being different from you.

I have had several people ask me recently if I basically am a religious weirdo, and that is why I homeschool. First of all that is an extremely negative, and rude way to perceive anyone. When my answer is no, then I get other negative responses from people who choose to teach from a religious aspect. So this is my thoughts on this. I am a religious person. I believe in God, pray, and try to live my life to the standards he would wish me to. I have even read the Bible. I was forced to go to church as a child, and I always resented that, even though I enjoyed church. I am a free thinker, and have some issues with religion in general. I find all religions fascinating, and love to learn about them. I am mostly fascinated by the human behaviors associated with either believing in God, or not believing in God. I have very strong opinions on religion, and all things in life. I can almost always see both sides of a story. Now with all that said I do not teach religion in my homeschool lessons. If religion comes up in a particular lesson that is fine, but I do not choose curriculum or lessons based on religion. I do not feel I am qualified to teach religion, based on my own thoughts, and opinions on it. I want my children to learn, and make their own opinions on everything in life, not be a clone of myself, and that includes religion. My children attend church, and enjoy it, if they decided they did not want to go I would respect that. I do teach from a moral aspect. I have rules about things I consider immoral, and expect respectful, and kind behavior. I believe in the 10 commandments, and use them as a guide when raising my children. I do not believe in corporal punishment, it does not suit my parenting needs. That does not mean my children have not gotten a spanking ever in their lives. I do not take into account my children playing with your children based on your religion, or beliefs, though that does not mean I would necessarily leave my children alone with you. I have expectations for anyone who would keep my children for any length of time. Safety, rules, and observation are my top priorities. Likewise if your child were to stay at my home I would respect whatever rules you follow in your home. A lot of people hate this, and think my standards are way too high, or even crazy. That is OK it doesn't bother me. You have to have very thick skin to home school your children. You will be judged from everyone including family, friends, neighbors, church members, and mostly from other homeschoolers. You have to keep your focus on the end result having your children grow up to be whole individuals, with an education you know was a good one.

The Food Chain or Food Web

We continue in our review of lessons we have learned through the year. Tomorrow we will be reviewing food chains, some call them food webs, same thing basically. The video below is one of the simplest I could find for young learners. DJ started double division last week, and already has picked it up, Yay! I am posting two days of lesson plans, because I didn't put today's up yesterday.

Lesson Plans For 05/10/10:

DJ:
What state am I: Computer research part one
Cursive Writing
Writing: Fishy Monday, the blue box fish
Math: Adding fractions, measuring in cm, mixed math review
Vocabulary
Language Arts: Nouns
Art: Draw palm trees

Caitlin:
Nursery Rhymes: Jack and Jill
Printing Practice
Math: See, say, write, and count
Phonics: Match the opposite words
Reading: Pick one book from reading list
Site Words
Flash Cards
Computer work

Lesson Plans For 05/11/10:

DJ:
Cursive Writing
Science: Review of food chains
What state am I: Computer research part two
Math: Adding fractions, measuring in mm, mixed math review
Vocabulary
Language Arts: Nouns

Caitlin:
Printing Practice
Math: Skip counting, see, say write, and count
Phonics: Match the opposite words
Reading: Pick one book from reading list
Site Words
Flash Cards
Computer Work
Music: I can play piano

Through The Years!

Caitlin is six years old today. It was indeed Mother's Day the year she was born. Who does not want to spend their Mother's Day in labor? In fact I was in labor for several days, before she made her grand entrance, via c section. It is a great story, but I don't think I will gross every one out with the details. I got a new printer for Mother's Day, yay, and I scanned pictures of Caitlin through the years. Since this one is new to me, they came out sideways LOL. If you click the images they will get bigger.

I hope everyone is having a beautiful, and wonderful Happy Mothers Day.

Happy Mother's Day

Don't worry I am not crazy. I know today is not actually Mother's Day, tomorrow is. But tomorrow is also Caitlin's birthday, so instead of one huge post, I figured I would do two smaller posts. Being a mother is the most interesting job in the world. It is stressful, and rewarding all rolled up into one beautiful little package called your child. I didn't have my first child until I was 31. I actually didn't prefer to ever be a mother. I was raised with a lot of responsibility, and I just wanted to have fun. Then when I hit 30 it like slapped me, you need to start thinking about being a mom. Trust me if you don't want children don't think about it, because thinking about it seems to be a trigger LOL. One of our family friends asked me after I had DJ, how did it feel to be a mom? My answer was, different. They all laughed, but I was serious it was the most different thing I had ever done.

If you are reading this I would love if you would share a story from your childhood, that drove your mother crazy. Mine is funny. My mother tells this story every now and then. Seems I was not a perfect child, I know it is a surprise to me too. I was independent, determined, and really did not like to be told what to do. I could be aggressive if it suited my needs. I was a cute little child though LOL. Anyway my mother always put my long blonde hair in braided pigtails for school. It was first grade, and a little boy liked to yank said pigtails. One day a gentleman knocked on my mothers door. She didn't know who he was, and he said standing there with a small boy with a black eye, your son punched my son. My mother didn't say she didn't have a son, and just called me to the door. She said to me did you punch this little boy in the face? I said yes I did. The man looked at me, and said to his son did this GIRL give you the black eye? He said yes that is her. I think he was more mad that a girl gave him the black eye, because he huffed off with his son, without another word. My mother said to me why would you do that? I said because I told him to stop pulling my pigtails, and he wouldn't, so I gave him a knuckle sandwich. I did get punished, and was made to say the dreaded sorry word, he did after all pull my hair several times, and did not stop when I asked. I did not see the justice in this at all, so unfair. I don't recall ever doing that again, so my punishment must have been pretty good. My mother claims I was a terrible child, I don't believe it for one minute LOL.

Comments and Graphics - Layouts - Photobucket

Fun Friday: For The Love Of Palm Trees

It is Friday again, and that means Fun Friday at my Blogging For Fun Group. We are doing an eight Friday set on trees. Today I am talking about Palm Trees. Below are two awesome videos one has pictures of all different kinds of palm trees, and the other is a learn to draw palm tree video. Of course DJ will be doing it on Monday.

Palm trees pretty much grow only in the tropics. It must be very warm, and humid, and they will thrive. When we moved to Florida from NY, we knew we were close when we got to southern Georgia, and started seeing the Palm Trees. There are many different varieties of palm trees. Some grow very tall, and their palms stick out only at the top kind of in a ball shape. Then there are the shorter ones that are more poufy. We have the short ones, and only one tall one. I am not fond of the tall variety, but a woodpecker family has decided to call it home, so I could never take it down. It is my understanding that Date trees are a variety of palm trees. Here in the south very few decorated lawns would go without at least one palm tree. We have some other birds such as the cardinal that also like to use the short poufy palms to make their nests.

Free First Aide For Kids, and Just For Fun

How about some fun pictures for today. The one with DJ wearing glasses, are actually mine, and he said he was attempting to look mean LOL. He is a jokester so mean does not come easy to him.

Next year for health classes, I have decided not to purchase any books, or curriculum. Rather I want both Caitlin, and DJ to start learning about basic First Aide. DJ says he wants to be a lifeguard someday, and he actually is the one who taught his sister to swim so well. After scouring the internet I found two great sources that all of you can also use to teach your kids First Aide. The first one is actually an online First Aide Course. Your child must be at least ten to do it, its free, and only thirty minutes of your time. Since DJ is not ten until July, it will be perfect for the start of next year. The other is actually on Ehow, and has learning videos, and tips to teach, and learn First Aide. I love this site as well, and again it is free. Kids Health is another free website that offers free resources to teach safety, and First Aide. Just click the respective links above, and save them to your favorites for later use. Because this will be the basis for our whole school year of Health, I will be looking for more websites as resources.

Jack and Jill Nursery Rhyme

I am very boring today. I don't have a whole lot to say. It seems to be a Wednesday thing LOL. Those of you who are teaching your kiddos nursery rhymes, Jack and Jill is in the video below. If you have Netflix, and a Wii you can watch certain instant videos through the Wii, on your TV. We will be utilizing this in the very near future for the Lewis and Clark educational video that Netflix offers. You do need a special disc, which cost us nothing to get. If you do not have a Wii, but have Netflix, you can watch the instant videos on your computer as well. We recorded from the History Channel, The Story of Us, and we will be watching that in the near future as well. We have completed almost all of our curriculum, and workbooks. So I am always looking for new educational sites, to fill in the spaces until June. I don't want to start next years workbooks yet.


Lesson Plans For 05/06/10:

DJ;
Music: I can play piano
Wii Sports for PE
Lewis and Clark video
Math: Metric System, division
Computer work
Review
Vocabulary

Caitlin:
Printing Practice
Computer work
Math: Subtraction with a number line
Jack and Jill nursery rhyme
Site words
Flash Cards
Reading: Choose one book from reading list

Teaching The Metric System

Yuck, who likes to learn the metric system? Not me, and it isn't much fun trying to teach it either. Thank goodness for all of you, I have scoured the internet to find free, and fun resources for you to teach, and or learn the metric system. The video below of course kids will find more fun, than just reading or working on problems. I also found a website with tons of metric system resources all in one convenient place. You can find it by clicking right here. Kids don't really get into the metric system too deeply until sixth grade. But I find, with any math, introducing it early, and working at it helps by the time you actually have to learn it.

Yesterday I told you about The American Boys Handybook, well today you can get the second part of this great book for boys. If you go to Homeschool Freebie of the Day, you can download it, and be sure to sign up for their free newsletter so you don't miss any of their free stuff. I only list some of them.

Lesson Plans For 05/05/10:

DJ:
Social Studies: Lewis and Clark review, How lakes form review
Math: Division, metric measurements
Language Arts: Reading test, this will complete the language arts workbook
Cursive Writing
Reading Comprehension: This will complete this workbook
Vocabulary

Caitlin:
Phonics: On computer
Reading: Pick one book from reading list
Flash Cards
Site Words
Math: Subtraction with number line
Printing Practice

Roses, American Boys Handybook Part 1, Phonics

I have quite a line up for all of you today.

First my rose bushes. I tried to get all the buds in the picture, but I am not sure it did so. The yellow one is actually quite large. The two red ones, and then there is another red one, that the flowers have fallen off, and will get new buds soon. The pink one is just budding now.

My good friends Ms Laura, and Ms Kristy told me about a book called the American Boys Handybook. I had looked at buying it, then forgot about it. Today, and tomorrow Homeschool Freebie of the Day, is offering it in PDF format, for free Yay I love free! Hurry and go to their website to sign up for the free newsletter, so you can get it too.

Since Caitlin has finished her workbooks for kindergarten, and my printer has died, she will be watching educational online videos, and playing educational games. She will start today with this phonics video.



Lesson Plans For 05/04/10:

DJ:
Science: Week #4 Rotten log experiment, reptiles review
Cursive Writing
Language Arts: Vocabulary review test
Vocabulary
Sign Language: Review
Math: Customary measurement, addition, subtraction

Caitlin:
Phonics: On computer
Reading: Pick one book from reading list
Flash Cards
Site Words
Math: Subtraction with number line
Printing Practice
Science: Reptiles

How To Draw The Beach, Drawing With Chalk

DJ, and Caitlin love to draw. For Easter they got a big tub of sidewalk chalk. Two weeks ago they did some chalk art, on our back pavement. Caitlin did the rainbow, and DJ did his rendition of Caitlin. I like chalk because it does not stain, and is not as messy as paint. I have had to buy a new toilet seat because they dumped brown paint water, in the toilet, and missed, and it looked like poop stains on the toilet seat LOL. Last week I did let them paint the sand dollars, and they came out nice. Unfortunately my camera is not cooperating with my computer, and I can not get them to download. I will share them when it decides to work properly. Tomorrow DJ is going to learn to draw the beach, as shown in the video below. Caitlin was supposed to make a train, but I ran out of construction paper so I will have to come up with something else for her. Caitlin loves to watch Sprout, which is put on by PBS kids. They have a website where you can get crafts, coloring pages, games, and great recipe ideas. Click here to go to the Sprout website, I am sure you kids will find something they love.