Living with Sjogren's Syndrome

Due to limited time, today I am sharing a video with tons of info on living with Sjogren's Syndrome. The speaker does have a little bit of an accent, but this video is worth watching.

Tips To Help Teach Spelling, Birthday Wishes

Today is my moms birthday, so Happy Birthday Mom. Today is also National Bird Watching Day, which is fitting because my Mom loves birds. My children love to watch the birds too. We always make sure they have food, and they try to look up what kind of birds they are. This time of year we get tons of birds, so there is plenty of watching to do.

Here are some great Spelling Activities, to help your child learn to spell. I have been using various ones of these, for 2 years.

1- Write each word, and circle the vowel. I use this one, it not only helps with spelling, but grammar as well

2- Write each word, and circle the consonants, same as above

3- Make flash cards for studying your words. I have not used this one, as my son picks up spelling very easily. I will see for my daughter

4- Write the words and a synonym, for each word. This is great for both spelling, and grammar.

5- Write the words, and an antonym, for each word. Same as above

6- Draw a picture and hide the words in the picture. I have not tried this one.

7- Write a story using most of your words. This is great for spelling, and writing skills.

8- Make a spelling rainbow. I have not tried this one.

9- Write spelling definitions. From each spelling list, I pick 10 words to be the weekly vocabulary words. He looks them up in his dictionary. I will post tips for teaching vocabulary tomorrow.

10- Write your words, and write if they are a noun, verb, adjective, pronoun, adverb, or compound word. I have not tried this one yet, but probably will for fourth grade.

11- Make a cartoon using the spelling words. I have not tried this one.

I hope this can be helpful to anyone, who needs to help teach their child to spell.

Annual Homeschool Evaluation Form

Here in Florida, you must submit a yearly evaluation form, to the public school in your county. The evaluation must be performed by a certified teacher, take the FCAT given by a certified teacher, or have evaluation done by a Psychologist. Our evaluation, is Friday. I am a little nervous, and it was not an easy job finding someone able to do the evaluation. This is a copy of the form, that needs to be filled out and submitted to the school. Keep a copy for yourself, just in case the school loses it. If you take the standardized exam, instead, the wording can be changed a little to reflect that. Please feel free to copy and use this as you need it.

Annual Homeschool Evaluation

Child's Name:_______ _________ _____ Birthdate:__ _________ ____

Parent's Name:_______ _________ _________ __

Mailing Address:____ _________ ________

____________ _________

Date of Evaluation: ____________ _________ __

As the parent of the above-named child, and according to Florida
Statute FS 1002.41, this is to inform you that my child has been
evaluated by a teacher holding a valid regular Florida certificate to
teach academic subjects at the elementary or secondary level. The
teacher we have chosen has conducted a review of the portfolio and
discussed this review with the pupil.

The teacher named below
__accepts
__does not accept
the portfolio as demonstrating that the child has shown educational
progress at a level commensurate with his or her ability during the
past year as stated in the statute.

Parent's signature:__ _________ _________ _________ __

Florida Certified Teacher's Name: ____________ ___
Professional Educator's Certificate DOE#: ____________
Florida Certificate' s Expiration Date: ____________ _

Teacher's signature:__ _________ _________ _________ _

Waiting for Fay Plus Math Teaching Ideas

Well we are still waiting for Fay, and it is starting to get nerve racking. It appears we will miss a direct hit, and it never got stronger than a Tropical Storm. It is maintaining its 60 mile an hr winds, however, despite being over land. We will most likely get heavy rain, and need to watch for tornadoes. We are currently under flood watches, but no tornado watches yet. South Florida, is just getting hammered by this storm, and I wish them all the best. I hope they are all safe, and heading the watches and warnings.

Now on to some Homeschool information. DJ will be learning Division this year, and I am just a little nervous about it. I am very good at math, but teaching it is a bit different. I found this great site, that has great ideas for teaching math. Multiplication, and Division are the main topics with teaching tips. It has games, tips, information, free worksheets to print, and teaching ideas. Go to http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/maths/contents07multiplicationdivision.htm to check it out. I will be using some of their teaching ideas, for sure.

Homeschool Freebie Of The Day

This is a great site, and each week they send you a homeschool freebie, for everyday of the week, except sat and sun. You can view their website here www.homeschoolfreebieOfTheDay.com and check out the freebies for this week. Sign up for their newsletter, and you will get extra special freebies each week, only for members. I have been a member, only a few weeks, and have found at least three of the freebies, each week, are something I will use.

Teacher Created Resources

I received this catalog, in the mail yesterday, for Teacher Created Resources. I have no idea how I got on their mailing list, but I am sure glad I did. They have tons of great learning, and creative teaching options. Their prices are very reasonable, and quite low compared to others I have seen. If you want to check out their website, and possibly get a catalog for yourself, go to http://www.teachercreated.com Another very good website, I would like to tell you about is Busy Teachers Cafe. I found their site, while looking for writing tips, for young children. Their site is geared for k-6, and they offer a free monthly calendar, of writing ideas. They have other great things, as well, but the writing ideas is what I use the most. Check them out at http://www.busyteacherscafe.com