Learning With Flashcards

Yes, flashcards are monotonous and can be boring. But, I find for the best way to remember things, repetition is best. That is how I learned to spell, multiplication and division tables, muscles and bones of the body. Through repetition and memorization. We have some of the Hot Dot things shown below. My kids seem to like them, but I find them kind of expensive and not necessary to have such fancy flashcards. I did find a website that I love, and it is FREE, braineos. I did the ones for the Periodic Table, and even today at age 43, I only got a couple wrong. I still remember them after all these years, and no I am not a Chemist. Repetition works even if others don't like it or want to use it.

Last Day of School

Well another school year has come to an end. I can't believe it already. The kids have their evaluations in July, and DJ has a 4H scrapbook to create. So, don't worry I will still be sharing and writing. I wouldn't want anyone to miss me too much.

I return to work tomorrow night. As much as I love being home, I am ready to go back. You don't realize how much you need money until it is not coming in anymore. Of course we still have my husband's pay, but my pay covered some pretty hefty bills. Plus it allowed us some breathing room for play and fun things as well. Because I am basically a contract worker, there are no benefits as in sick pay and such. The benefit is that I make my own hours. I am not usually sick so this has never been an issue. Anyway enough about all that. The wound is healing and can easily be covered and managed without risk of infection. So I shall return.

I thought I would share the pictures from the farm the other day. I only didn't share two. One of a chicken, and one of the foal. DJ wants to use those two in some photography contests. So, until I get a watermark on them, they won't be shared. It is a shame you have to worry about people borrowing your images. I keep all my Picasa albums private as well. Google images does offer a wide variety of images available supposedly for people to use. But beware because you can still get scolded if you use one and the owner did not intend for that purpose. Trust me. My kids love cats and kittens. Unfortunately I am highly allergic so there will be no cats or kittens at my house. That is probably why they like them so much, LOL!

I have already started working on next years curriculum and lessons. I am trying to avoid textbook learning as much as possible. Plus, I am trying all the free resources I can. There are some fabulous resources now, and not just for homeschoolers. If you visit my Pinterest board, that is where I have been sharing all the new ones I find. They save space on my blog and my computer.

Well that is it for now.  Have an awesome weekend, everyone!  I have given DJ a writing assignment for his evaluation.  It is a poem, so be on the watch for that.  Are your kids on Summer Vacation yet?

5 Resources For Homeschoolers

This is a guest post, and I am so happy to put it up for all my readers. These sights are ones I have never heard of, and can not wait to use them myself. Show some love for Sarah's article.

5 Resources for Home-Schoolers

Sarah Fudin currently works in community relations for the University of Southern California's online Masters in Teaching program, which provides students the opportunity to earn a teacher certification online. Outside of work Sarah enjoys running (she is currently training for the NYC Marathon), reading and Pinkberry frozen yogurt.

In today’s world we are very lucky to have access to great educational resources on the web and we are even luckier to have access to most of these resources for free! Here are five extraordinarily useful resources being used across subject areas that should be implemented in homes across the country:

1. Books Should Be Free
Books Should Be Free is a website dedicated to offering thousands of audiobooks for free! Books are downloadable in a few file format types: MP3, iTunes, and iPod. On booksshouldbefree.com you can find thousands of free audio books of all genres and types – you’ll want to bookmark this site! Happy reading!

2. Braineos
Braineos is a great site for both students and teachers promoting creative problem solving, inspiration and idea generation. Braineos makes studying fun and fast by allowing users to create decks of flashcards (or use already created decks by the community) and learning them by using a selection of games. Braineos is most effective in quick and dirty learning of vocabulary and facts for exams.

3. Google Body Browser
Google Body Browser is a 3D model of a human body, both male and female, available in Beta. You can “peel back” different layers of the human body to learn about the different human systems: muscular, vascular and nervous. You are also able to identify and search different muscles, organs, nerves and bones as you click through the 3D model. This great resource is free, but requires the newest versions of either Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.

4. Game Classroom
Game Classroom is an enormous collection of the best and most trustworthy educational games to provide students, parents and teachers with the best interactive homework help on the web! Games are for students in grades K-6 and are sorted by grade level as well as content area. You’ll find this site easy to navigate! Have fun!

5. 21st Century Lit
21^st Century Literacy is a site that provides students with the skills necessary to succeed in school and the workplace in today’s world. They focus on reading and writing skills that teenagers need and can be taught using journalistic methods and state of the art digital tools. 21^st Century Lit focuses on text – it’s a great resource for both Middle and High School level homeschool teachers to explore!

As our online community of teachers continues to grow, resources will only continue to grow with them! For a one-stop-shop for great resources, check out eduTecher, a site created to track the growing number of web tools available for classroom use (whether your classroom is in your home or at a physical school)!

Why I Homeschool

Welcome to Why I Homeschool Wednesday. This is a weekly meme sponsored by Miss Moe. Since we have been doing this since the end of last year, I might actually run out of reasons, but as of right now I still have lots of reasons to love homeschooling.

One of the reasons I love to homeschool, is because I get to appreciate this beautiful Florida weather whenever I want, on my own schedule, not someone elses. Yesterday we went to one of the local parks for a playdate with friends. I had mentioned before that our small homeschool group was beginning to fizzle out due to families placing their kids in public school. Yesterday we met up with one of our old homeschool friends, and met some new homeschool friends. Another playdate is set for two weeks at another park. The weather is glorious this time of year, and I love it. Since DJ takes most of the pictures now that we share, he hardly ever gets to get in any. I do have a tripod but I have to find it, so his happy face can appear too. Be sure to hop over to Miss Moe's blog to see why she homeschools her children. As promised here is part two of The Middle Ages. I have actually watched this on the History Channel, and I find the period fascinating. We did full lesson plans today, and had a great day.

Homeschool Meme

Before I get into the meme, we had a playdate at the park today, which was awesome. We met some new homeschool friends, and some old ones too. The weather was lovely, though still quite warm by noon time. We did no lessons when we got home, but that is typical for park day. We make it up don't worry.

I was tagged in a homeschool meme by Adventures in Mama Land. I am supposed to send it on to five homeschool bloggers, but I don't think I know that many. At any rate, here are the questions and my answers. If you would like to play along you are more than welcome. Some of you may be surprised, some not so much.

1. One homeschooling book you have enjoyed: Hmm I am probably weird but I don't actually read a whole lot of homeschool books. Gasp I know it is true. I did just read, What About College, and found it very helpful and knowledgeable.

2. One resource you wouldn't be without: I guess I will go with my computer. Though I am think we would do fine without it, there is such a thing as the library after all, it is more quick and convenient to have a computer in the house. My kids use it, and DJ is very good at doing research.

3. One resource you wish you had never bought: Since I don't really believe in a bad resource, or wasting them, I use everything I buy or am given. I might not like it, but with supplemental stuff on the web I can make it work. I really did not like Spectrum math or their language arts and would probably never use them again.

4. One resource you enjoyed last year: I discovered Head of the Class, last year, and it helped Caitlin with phonics, spelling and reading immensely. She is using it again this year for second grade along with all the other resources I use.

5. One resource you will be using next year: Saxon Math. Though I can not say anyone in my house actually enjoys math, Saxon works for all of us. We have tried others and it just never suits our needs.

6. One resource you would like to buy: I might consider buying the Teaching Textbooks if math gets to the point where I just can not teach it anymore. So far I have been lucky. They are a little pricey for my taste too. Also Apologia Science. My kids saw this at our evaluators home and really want me to purchase for next year. I probably will.

7. One resource you wish existed: Hmm I am not sure. I really can find anything I want with a little time and searching. It is hard finding homeschool groups in a very rural community, that suit our needs, but it gets better every year.

8. One homeschool catalogue you enjoy reading: I love them all, I really do. Rainbow, Timberdoodle, Christian Books, and so many more I can not even remember them all. Even since I started homeschooling, five years ago, the resources for homeschoolers continues to grow in leaps and bounds.

9. One homeschooling website you use regularly: Homeschool.com love it, love it, love it. I also frequent Head of the Class, Edhelper, Dositey, Scholastic and so many more. We use our computer a lot, in case I didn't mention that.

Do You Have A Child That Needs To Learn To Type?

The BBC is one of my favorite educational websites. They have tons of great resources and games, all for free. We have used their site for several different things. Now I just found a free typing course. It is fun and entertaining, and covers all 12 steps of typing. If you have a child that needs to learn to type, this is free, or an adult even check out BBC Typing.

Homeschool Calendar For 2011/2012 School Year

I had six children today, my two, and four friends. We had an awesome day, and everyone got along with no issues. Last night I finished our homeschool calendar for next school year. This is posted mostly for record keeping, but also so anyone else who wants a homeschool calendar can use it. I changed it a bit this year, without all the early release days, rather choosing to take a few more days around the holidays. Our playgroup will have a few changes next year as well. One of our longest friends is going to be placing her kids in charter schools so she can finish her graduate degree. This means they won't be able to come to playdates during the week, so we will have to adjust to all of that. It is a big adjustment period for them, so we have to be sure to be patient and supportive. I have been contemplating a lot how I want to work DJ's writing curriculum next year. He really enjoys the blogging, so I will still use that platform. I will share my thoughts about his writing tomorrow. Here is the calendar.


September 6, 2011: First day of school,
October 10: No school Columbus Day,
October 21: End of first grading period,
October 22: No school report cards,
November 11: No school Veteran's Day,
November 22-24: No school Thanksgiving break,
December 23: End of second grading period,
December 24- January 6 2012: No school Christmas break,
February 13: No school President's Day,
March 9: No school,
March 16: End of third grading period,
March 16-23: No school Spring Break,
April 9-13: No school Easter break,
May 26-29: No school Memorial Day break,
June 9, 2012: Last day of 2011/2012 school year.

Free Lessons With Classroom Zoom

I have purchased workbooks from Teacher Created Resources several times. I knew they had an online option for lessons, but never paid much attention to it. It is called Classroom Zoom and I finally took the time to check it out. Though I can not pay for another website for school purposes, I already have two for next year, they do offer a section of free choices. I have browsed through them, and they offer a variety of topics for a variety of ages. I have saved a few that I really like, and will check back with their online program next year, when I am once again planning for the following school year. Check it out and see if there is anything you can use over the summer, or to supplement your child's school lessons.

How To Draw Ears

Keeping with the theme of drawing, here is the next segment how to draw ears. All that is left is the hair, and different shapes of the face. I look forward to how DJ does with the end product. I might even give it a try. I used to love to draw and just kind of got away from it. Have a wonderful weekend, and Fathers Day to all!

Caves and The Great Plains Planet Earth

DJ has finished his lessons on biomes. I was surprised caves were not included as a biome. Caves have their own ecosystem, and structure of life. The two videos below are portions of the award winning Planet Earth series. You can view the whole hour episode for each on Youtube. I tivoed these before Christmas, and DJ will be watching them today. As beautiful as the caves episode was, I couldn't watch it all. Too many bugs and icky critters for me. The Great Plains was very good and I enjoyed it very much.

Lesson Plans For 01/24/11:

DJ:
Art: Google Doodle contest entry
Writing: Fishy Monday: Moon Wrasse
Planet Earth videos
Math: Saxon 54
Spelling: Chapter 14, write each word three times each

Caitlin:
Planet Earth
Sight words game
Math: Addition
Art: Google doodle contest entry
Rabbit care
Clock work, calendar work, skip counting

Report Cards, and Birds Fall From The Sky

Did you see this recent incident in Arkansas? It is reported that thousands of birds literally fell dead from the sky on New Years Eve 2010. View the video below to see and hear more. Very creepy if you ask me. CNN also reported that not long after the birds fell from the sky, 125 miles away there was a huge amount of fish that floated up dead. Wow!

It is time for second quarter report cards. Caitlin does not get a graded report card, but more of a progress report. She is doing well and can now skip count by twos to twenty with no prompts or manipulatives needed. She will begin going to 40 in quarter 3. She has mastered riding her bike without training wheels, and can almost completely tie her shoes on her own. She has almost completed her addition math book, and will begin subtraction in the next quarter. Reading phonetically continues to improve. I have tried to encourage her to spell phonetically but she does not want to. She wants to memorize the spelling words so they are correct. Oh to be such a perfectionist. I am overall pleased with her progress, with no real concerns at this time.

DJ's report card is as follows:

Reading Comprehension: 88, 89 last quarter.
Language Arts: 86, 92 last quarter. Mainly due to new information and needing to memorize all the things he has learned.
Spelling: 98, 100 last quarter.
Math: 86, 86 last quarter. This was a huge relief for both of us.
History: 97, 94 last quarter. He is really enjoying the Ancient Times curriculum.
Science: 91, 92 last quarter. Continues to work on giving more complete scientific answers.
Blog Writing, Art, and Sign Language: All very good with no major concerns at this time.
Handwriting remains satisfactory, but can always be improved for both children.

Free, Free, Free

If you are like me, then you love free stuff. Matter of fact so many people like free stuff, that the word FREE was one of the top keywords of 2010. Keywords are words that people type into a search engine when looking for information. One of the many reasons I started this blog, was to share all the free education resources I find on the internet. There really are a lot of them, it just takes some time to find them. I then add them to the bottom of this blog, or feature them in a post if I especially like them. That way I don't have to search all the time over and over, and my readers get the benefit of not having to search for them either. I actually enjoy searching for free things. It is kind of a challenge getting the right keywords to get the best results. I actually have many more free educational and resource sites to add, but I just haven't had time yet. There are a ton there already.

One really cool free website that I love is the HGTV Dream Home giveaway. This year the home is being built in Stowe, VT. While I would love to live in such a beautiful place, I really dislike snow. If you love the snow and you want a chance to win this home for FREE go to the HGTV Dream Home 2011 website for all the rules.

The Wetlands Biomes and Lunar Eclipse

Did you get to see the Lunar Eclipse overnight? If not you can go to http://www.nasa.gov to see it. I woke the kids up at 2 AM so they could watch some of it. It was cold so we only stayed out about 30 minutes.

You still have time to enter my giveaway for icaughtsanta free photo. I have four to giveaway, and only one person has entered, so you still have time. It is the post right below this one.

Even though we are doing school this week, it is relaxed. DJ is finishing up his biomes with the Wetlands, and Caitlin has African animals to add to her animal book. Over Christmas break DJ will have to do math each day, and Caitlin will have to read. Either through their regular books, or online games and activities. I do this on purpose.

The Immune System Week 1

Today for Health class DJ will be learning about the Immune System. He has learned in previous years about hand washing, covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze, things like that. Now he is going into the nitty gritty of it. The short video below will accompany a reading assignment. This is only part one, with the next two parts to be finished on consecutive Thursdays before Christmas break. Tomorrow DJ and Caitlin will learn about addressing envelopes, as we are sending out Christmas cards. With the use of online email and social networks I am afraid this will be lost in the shuffle, so we are going to get it done.

Lesson Plans For 12/09/10:

DJ:
Health: As above
Math: Fractions
Sign Language
Writing
Language Arts: Adjectives
Art: Draw a winter scene from a famous painting, Caitlin already did hers and it went in her weahter/seasons lapbook.
Reading Comprehension with WS

Caitlin:
Health: Motion, and the Immune System
Math: Addition
Language Arts: Blends, syllables
Read Sentences to Color the Picture WS
Spelling List 10
Printing Practice
Following Directions WS

Travel In Mexico City and Ancient Egypt

Yesterday was a sort of free day. We had a play date at the park, and library trip planned. But some members were sick, and it was so cold with the wind chill, that we postponed both until next week. My children still enjoy the trip to the library and reading books hands on. I can assume at some point ebooks will enter our lives. Because we didn't do either of those things, DJ played Neopets puzzles on the Wii, a challenging puzzle game he got last year for Christmas but has refused to play, until yesterday when I made him. Now he finds it quite entertaining, and challenging. Caitlin played it a bit as well. Caitlin spent a great deal of time playing educational games online at Nickjr, GirlsGo, and watching animal videos on NatGeo Kids.

Today is Social Studies, and DJ and Caitlin partially is still doing Ancient Times. Today is about Egypt. They have a cool craft for Friday, to go along with this chapter, and one from last week, that I will share on Friday. We are still traveling to Mexico, and will be learning about Mexico City, the largest city in Mexico. Next week we start Brazil.

Lesson Plans For 12/8/10:

DJ:
Social Studies: As above, and map skills
Math: Fractions, and mixed math
Sign Language
Spelling: Chapter 10 write each word three times each

Caitlin:
Social Studies: As above, and parts of a bicycle
Math: Addition
Language Arts: Blends, contractions
Read sentences to color the picture WS
Spelling: List 10
Printing Practice
Following directions WS
Calendar work, clock work, sight words, skip counting

100 iPhone Apps For Homeschoolers

This is a link to a guest blogger article that I was offered to share with all of you. If you have an iPhone, which I do not, then you know all about apps. Those handy, fun, and cool tools you can download to your iPhone. Well Paula has put together 100 apps that are awesome for homeschoolers, or anyone interested in education. I have looked at them all, and now I want an iPhone LOL. To check them out for yourself go to http://phdonlinedegree.com/100-iphone-apps-that-are-awesome-for-homeschoolers/

Thank you to Paula, for offering this to me so I can share it with all of you.

Wolves In Yellowstone National Park

Because we have a playdate, and library activities on Tuesday, we are doing Science on Monday, this week. Caitlin will be learning about wolves and the importance of their presence in the ecosystem. Reading assignments with review questions, plus the three videos below. This is a several part video, 1-3 this week. This is actually a quite interesting lesson. They have learned that the predator is a very important part of the biome, or ecosystem to maintain balance of the habitat. They have brought the wolves back to Yellowstone National Park and their numbers are increasing.

Lesson Plans For 12/6/10:

DJ:
Science: Wolves in an ecosystem, and transferring heat
Math: Fractions, mixed math
Spelling: Chapter 10 write words three times each
Sign Language
Writing: Fishy Monday Sunshine Chromis blog post

Caitlin:
Math: Addition
Science: Wolves in an ecosystem, weather lapbook winter
Printing Practice
Spelling: List 10
Read sentences to color the picture WS
Language Arts: Contractions, blends
Following Directions: WS
Clock work, calendar work, sight words, skip counting

The Ancient Mayans, and Taxco Mexico

Tomorrow is Social Studies, and we are still studying Mexico in our journey around the world. Some of you may know the story of the Mayans, and some may not. It is very interesting, and the short video below highlights their journey. Taxco, Mexico is called the silver capital of the world. View the video to learn why. DJ is also still doing his Story of the World Ancient Times lessons, and Caitlin will pick up something that I have not decided yet. I think I might have her do some geography games. I can not believe at the end of December, we will be half way through our school year. It doesn't seem possible.

Lesson Plans For 12/1/10:

DJ:
Social Studies: As above plus map skills
Math: Fractions, mixed math
Spelling: List 9, put words in alphabetical order
Sign Language

Caitlin:
Social Studies: As above and possibly geography games
Printing Practice
Math: Addition
Spelling: List 9
Language Arts: Blends, compound words
Read sentences to color the picture WS

Nebulas, Galaxies and the Milky Way

Because we have a short week this week, DJ and Caitlin are doing Science today, and History on Wednesday. Tuesday is our play date in the park, so there are no lessons. No school Thursday or Friday.

Today DJ is continuing learning about space with nebulas, galaxies, and the Milky Way. The assignment in his book focuses on the Hubble telescope, so I have included a video below with pictures from the Hubble telescope of galaxies and nebulas. There is also a cool video of the Milky Way in 3D. Watch them and enjoy them, they are really cool.

Lesson Plans For 11/22/10:

DJ:
Science: As above, and About 4H
Reading Comprehension with worksheet
Reading: Viking Ships at Sunrise with book report
Writing: Bee poem, blog post
Math: Reducing fractions, mixed math

Caitlin:
Reading: Wet Legs, and Crab Trap
Math: Addition, beginning fractions
Moses coloring page
Phonics: Blends, same sounds
Printing Practice
Read sentences to color pictures correctly
Science: Dinosaur lapbook with art work, pond animals
Clock work, and calendar work

The Excretory System and Thanksgiving Activities

I saw somewhere to make a Thankful tree for Thanksgiving. I took that idea and tweaked it a bit and cut out large acorns for each person to write what they were thankful for, on them. Then I added them to our Fall themed door. I will take a picture of the door on Thanksgiving for record keeping. Another cute idea my children and I thought up is for them to dress like Native Americans for Thanksgiving Day. I will stop at the Dollar Tree on Friday to see if I kind find some nice beaded jewelry. To make the squaw dress and shirt we are taking an white T shirt and cutting fringe into the bottom and the sleeves. I am going to let them paint them too, they just don't know it yet. I have not decided on face paint yet. They should be cute. The feather band is very simple to make with a feather template and construction paper. Tomorrow for Health we are doing Fire Safety, and The Excretory System.

Lesson Plans For 11/18/10:

DJ:
Health: Excretory System, Fire Safety, About 4H smart shopping
Math: Mixed math, fractions
Proofreading
Reading Comprehension with worksheet
Sign Language
Spelling: Chapter 8
Reading: The Story of Monticello with BR, this was supposed to be done last week
Dragon Art

Caitlin:
Health: Fire Safety, About 4H smart shopping
Dinosaur Lapbook with art work
Language Arts: Same sounds, blends, long vowels
Spelling: List 8
Math: Addition
Read sentences to color the picture WS
Clock work, calendar work, sight words, skip counting