Travel on Tuesday: Virtual Tour of The Statue of Liberty

Hello, again!  This Summer we are going to NY to visit family and we decided to spend a night in NYC on the way up to our cabin.  There are 4 of us and with the limited time, I hope we can all agree as to what things to see and do.  If we decide not to visit the Statue of Liberty, Caitlin and I will view the video below.  It is a walking virtual tour of the Statue of Liberty.  There is no talking at least not in the first few minutes, except for people in the background.  There are so many cool places to visit in the USA, not to mention the rest of the world.  I could do a blog post every day just on this topic.

Visit my other blog Health Buddy Melissa. 

If you have not heard yet Microsoft is no longer servicing Windows 7.  I have a dinosaur PC, ten years or more old, and of course, it has Windows 7 on it.  I looked at buying Windows 10 but it was almost as expensive as a new laptop.  So, I am working on getting 10 years worth of data and images off the dinosaur PC, so it can be moved to the grave.  This could take a while, lol.

Travel on Tuesday: Virtual Field Trip to Africa

Have I mentioned that I love PBS?  I love PBS.  This short video below will take you on a virtual field trip to Africa, and there are teaching materials to go along with it.  All of these Travel on Tuesday posts serve a dual purpose.  1- for your personal use and 2- for when we do Geography and World History.  You need to click the link to go to the website with the video and other teaching information.  I hope you and the kiddos enjoy!  Let me know what you think.


https://florida.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/7015b3e1-64c1-411c-943b-743302a747c6/virtual-field-trip-africa/

My other website Health Buddy Melissa

Music On Monday

First off, Happy New Year!  I have been battling this cold.  I have kidney disease so I can't really take anything to make the symptoms better.  So, I just suffer from a cough which can be exhausting.  I am feeling much better now, though.  One of the things I absolutely love about homeschooling is the flexibility it affords me.  I have decided to take this week off as well since I didn't actually get anything accomplished.  I will just cut days from our spring break if I feel we need those days back.

Caitlin got a keyboard for Christmas a couple of years ago, and while she has played around with it I really would like her to learn something from it.  She now has an interest in a Ukelele, but right now that is not in the budget.  So, I will encourage learning the piano.  She also can sing quite well and I hope to get her to practice some singing lessons.  We love Youtube, use it all the time for all kinds of great resources.  Below, is a beginner lesson in learning to play the piano.  There are more in the series and you can just follow down the list.

DJ loves playing guitar and singing.  He is the leader of the Youth Praise Band.  I am hoping to foster her love of music a little more too.

Twitter Share Tuesday

Come join in.  You can use any blog post, from any platform you blog on.  No offensive, or violent content, please.  It does not have to be homeschool related.  See the rules below, and post your link.

1.  Post a blog post, not your whole blog, one post you would like others to share.  Share it in the comments.  If you share a blog post you must share the other blog posts in the comments.

2.  Along with your link to your blog post, share the link to your Twitter account where you will be sharing other blog posts to.

3.  Tweet all the blog posts shared in the comments.  Come back tomorrow to be sure you got them all.

4.  This post is active until midnight tonight Eastern Standard Time.

5.  If you miss this week, come back next Tuesday to try again.

6.  Have fun!

Supplemental Work or Homework Help for 3rd Grade

This is a post by request, for a friend of mine.  These should all be free, and either printable or online.  They have limited internet due to where they live, so if that is your situation as well, you might like some of these.  I will not share any apps, or purchased items for this post. 


Reading:

http://www.k12reader.com/subject/reading-skills/reading-comprehension/3rd-grade-reading-comprehension-worksheets/

http://www.smarttutor.com/free-resources/free-reading-lessons/third-grade-reading/

http://worksheetsplus.com/ReadingQuizGrade3.html

http://www.jumpstart.com/parents/activities/grade-based-activities/3rd-grade-activities


Math:

http://www.softschools.com/grades/3rd_grade/math/

http://www.mathblaster.com/parents/math-games/3rd-grade-math-games

http://www.homeschoolmath.net/worksheets/grade_3.php

http://www.k5learning.com/free-math-worksheets/third-grade-3

Science/History:

http://www.knowledgeadventure.com/subject/science-games/

http://www.knowledgeadventure.com/subject/science-games/


Arts and Crafts/Hands On  for Math/Reading:

http://www.happinessishomemade.net/2014/06/20/lego-learning-activities/#_a5y_p=1868496

http://www.teachingblogroundup.com/2014/01/its-1-4-14-its-time-for-snowmen-day-100.html

http://www.deepspacesparkle.com/2012/09/26/paul-klee-art-lesson/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/124552745919638125/

http://www.mamamiss.com/2014/10/31/science-art-math-learning-candy/

http://ourjourneywestward.com/nature-journals-important/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/201465783307378905/

http://www.teachingwithamountainview.com/2013/04/top-10-tips-for-building-fluent-readers.html
 

6th Grade Homeschool ELA Language Arts Curriculum Lesson Choices

I finally decided what I will be using for my 6th grader, next year, for ELA Language Arts.  There are actually a few websites I will be using.  I really like the K12 that follows the Common Core Standards.  I know, I can't believe I just said that either.  I just like the set up and the quality of the worksheets provided.  So, we will be using it.  She will continue to read books I choose, and some she chooses, with book reports for each. 

http://www.k12reader.com/grade-level/grades-k-12/grades-6-8/
http://www.scholastic.com/freebiecorner/
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plans/free-lesson-plans/search?subject[]=303
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/writerschoice/course/grade6/pt1_sr.shtml
http://www.cpalms.org/Public/Search/CriteriaSearch?search=Resources&subjectId=39&gradeId=11&resourceKind=Mea

Minecraft Homeschool, Sploder and Mardis Gras History

I am always looking for ways to make school more enjoyable, yet still educational.  I also like to let the kids pick some of their interests to learn about.  I would prefer they do them together, but they really have different interests now.  So, I asked them each to pick three things they would like to learn about.  DJ picked:  training the dogs, space and game making.  I kind of knew he would pick game making, lol.  So, I introduced him to Sploder, and he began making a game.  Sploder is free, but if he really loves it, I will look at other options for next year.  Once his game is live, he can play other games to earn power ups for his game, and updating it.  Kind of cool if you ask me.  Most likely both kids will get this free time on Tuesdays. 

I found on Educents, a Minecraft set on sale, for Writing and Math.  The math is all angles and Geometry, which makes sense considering the game.  She actually gets to play the game, then complete the assignments.  At only 5 dollars, I would say it is a great deal.  Educents also has a mod game for Minecraft, which if I understand correctly allows them to learn coding.  Not really sure about it, but might check into it for next year.  I have no affiliate with Educents, so I don't earn a thing for telling you about this. 

On Wednesdays, we usually do Art.  But, since I could not decided what I wanted us to do, I skipped it.  I have decided for next week though, lol.  DJ is reading about the Trail of Tears, a book I read first.  So, I think we will do some Native American Art.  Next on his list is 12 Years A Slave.  I also read that book.  We will watch the movie after, and maybe even dabble in some Art for that topic.   Not sure. 


Since Mardi Gras was this month, our first Geography lesson was a history of Mardi Gras in New Orleans.  We used the materials below, with some entertaining discussions.  For dinner we made some French Toast. 

http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/mardi-gras/videos?mkwid=e7x7VoYqi_pcrid_316322708_pkw_history%20of%20mardi%20gras_pmt_e&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=history%20of%20mardi%20gras&utm_campaign=M_Holidays&paidlink=1&cmpid=PaidSearch_bing_M_Holidays_history%20of%20mardi%20gras

http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/history.html

How To Draw the Nativity for Kids and Beginners

We are still on Christmas break, and I love to share extra things I find during this time period. Why not draw a nativity? Below you will find a video tutorial. After you get good at it, you could make an ornament. I hope all my readers had a wonderful Christmas, we did. I am thinking if I want to have my kids make a New Years Resolution this year, and see if they can stick to it. My son, and I, are doing a 30 day plank challenge, together, and it is a challenge. Do you have your kids make a New Years Resolution? Do they stick to it?

Mystic Jungle Education Facility at the Fizz Boom Read Library Program in Trenton

Today, was the first day of the Summer program at the Trenton Public Library, which is part of the Three Rivers Regional Library System. The educational facility, Mystic Jungle was the first of four weeks of fun. I did not see this last year, but some of the people I went with did. I thought they did an amazing job, and yes that is a snake on his hat. They had a Bobcat, lots of snakes, tarantula, lemur, and a lot of other really cool animals to share. They have a website, and their facility is located in Live Oak, FL. I was told they offer tours for free, for homeschoolers, so I might just have to check that out. DJ did not go, he thought he was too old, but he wishes he did now, lol. The library program runs for four weeks, on Thursday, and like I said today was week one. I intended to go next week, but forgot we have a prior commitment on that day, so we will have to miss that one.

Free or Frugal Friday Homeschool

 Happy Free or Frugal Friday!  I am late, I know.  It is almost 11 PM, and I am just getting to this now.  It has been a crazy week, and tomorrow, and Sunday are crazy busy too.  First, I want to share two of my favorite apps.  The first one, Distant Suns, is not free, it is $5.99.  But if your kids love to look at constellations, planets and stars you will love this app.  Plus, if you do not have a super powered telescope this is fabulous. It is very detailed and gives tons of info.  The second one Google Sky Viewer, is not as fancy, but it is easy to see the constellations, and find them in the sky.  Plus, this one you can zoom in on the planets and get an awesome up close view.  We look at the moon a lot with this one, and the details are amazing.  Google Sky Viewer is free.  I share only Android apps, because I have an Android phone.  I do not have an Iphone or Ipad, so no Itunes apps here.  We used the Distant Suns app last year, for the International Observe the Moon Night.  This year that same event is on Sept 6th.  So, I will have to decide if I want to do a group viewing again, or just a family viewing. 

Today, I was looking through my Eclectic Homeschooler Pinterest Board, trying to find all the websites I saved for testing.  I still did not find them all, so I will share those on another Friday, but I did find Turtle Diary.  Which is one of the newer websites I had discovered, and saved, for future reference.  Now, the only option for 4th grade is Math games.  5th grade is being created, so I will be watching for that.  There is no History option, which is kind of disappointing.  But, all the other subjects look awesome.  I signed up for the free version, and I can not wait to have Caitlin give it a try.  The 3rd grade Science, and Language Arts could still be applicable to her, so that is nice too.

Then I found Playing History, which could easily make up for the lack of History in the above website.  I have not tried this one yet, but it is free, and if you sign up as a member you can review the games they play.  Both of my kids can benefit from this website, and the both love games, so it will be a win win.

Well that is it for this Friday.  Be sure to check back next week, to see what goodies I find. 

My Favorite Frugal Homeschool Find For This Week

If I have not said it before, I will say it now, I love Pinterest.  I find so many cool and wonderful things on there, and not just for school.  My kids love to read, but finding young adult books for my son, that are free, and online, is not always easy.  Then, I found Free Children's Books.  They have kids, and young adult books.  You can either download them in pdf form, or read online.  I have a feeling I will be using this website a lot.  There is nothing fancy, or distracting about the website, either.  I like simple.  Check it out if you want to, and I will try to do one of these each Friday.  I love to share all the wonderful things I find.

Homeschool Lessons and Games for Free or Low Cost

I have been a member on Pinterest for at least two years now, maybe three, and I have compiled quite a list of things on my Homeschool Board. Some of them I have used many times, others I have completely forgotten about. We are nearing the end of our third quarter in this school year. That means it is time for me to start planning for next year. Since typically I make my own curriculum, it takes me a long time. For DJ, who will be in High School next year, I have decided to buy some curriculums rather than trying to make my own credits for those subjects. I still have to decide for American History, Language Arts, and any elective he wishes to take. I really wanted to buy My Father's World, for Caitlin next year, but my oh my it is way too expensive. I have no idea if it is worth what they charge, but I am not in the position to pay that much money for fifth grade lessons. So, in the next weeks, and maybe months, I will be sharing websites from my Pinterest board, that actually work or are good for what they say they do. Caitlin loves the Evan Moor books, so I probably will buy the one shown below for her next year. The Astronomy web page is for us to try to follow along in the night sky with major events. My kids really enjoy this, and in April you should be able to see Jupiter. Hopefully by putting it here I will remember.

http://americanhistory.mrdonn.org/index.html

http://www.seasky.org/astronomy/astronomy-calendar-2014.html

http://www.gameclassroom.com/4th-grade

http://www.multiplication.com/games

http://www.teachercreated.com/free/interactive-whiteboard-activities/

http://www.thestorystarter.com/jr.htm

Olympics and Yard Work

This week is a kind of fun week for us.  Because we are trying to be sure and watch our athletes in the Olympics, and activities outside of the house, we have decided to mix things up a bit.  There will be very little traditional style learning this week.  For example, today the kids made their valentines for their grandparents, and wrote their monthly letters.  In case you are wondering what I am talking about, I decided as a part of random acts of kindness, they would write their grandparents a letter each month.  This serves another purpose as well, practicing writing skills for my fourth grader.  I am really pushing the writing this year for her.  To me she still has a long way to go, but has improved so much.  She only has two more letters on her friend list, and then monthly letters to grandparents.  So, I will be looking for some new writing prompts for her.  On the plus side her spelling has improved immensely. 

Then we watched some Snowboarding and Freestyle Skiing.  Caitlin's skiier made it through, but we didn't get to see that yet, and DJ's snowboarders were not in the slope style, but we did get to watch a young man named Sage, from the USA take the gold in that event.  How exciting! 

Then, after lunch, we were outdoors doing yard work.  The lawnmower would not start, so I planted some of the flowers I bought last Friday.  My new tire garden is coming along, I need four more tires, and they need to be painted.  We got some raking done, and picking up sticks and garbage blown around from this nasty Winter.  A lot of my plants were damaged this Winter, it has been so cold.  They have been trimmed back and are already starting to come back, bigger and better I hope.  I planted Peonies, Bleeding Hearts, and some fruit bushes today. 

Caitlin, and I, painted the cabinet nobs in the kitchen black, added a nice touch, and I started working on her special birthday plates.  I will share those later.

Last week we started the Virtual Tour of the United States, with Alaska.  I need to find some info on the Exxon Valdez spill for them to ponder.  If you want to add the tour to your Geography lessons, you can follow along on my Pinterest board.  This is actually to go along with our popsicle stick game to learn the states and the capitols.  We continue our other History work as well.

I have not yet decided for tomorrow, but will probably be similar to today.

Like My Facebook Page and I Will Give Something Away

When my Facebook fan page hits 300 likes I will start a give away.  One lucky winner will get to choose an item from my new, shiny Ecrater store.  I am still adding items to it, but have over 40 items listed there.  To like my page, just click the highlighted link, then like the page.  Obviously you have to be on Facebook to like my page.  Come on now, don't dilly dally the sooner the better.  Also, starting on Black Friday, I will be doing 25 Days of Christmas, with a new deal every day.  You won't want to miss it. 

Quizlet

Next week is the last week of our first quarter of school.  That means review and test to see what was learned and what was not.  Of course I prefer online quizzes, if possible, to save on printing ink.  I hate buying ink all the time.  While I was browsing around looking for online quizzes, to suit what I need to test on, I came across Quizlet.  I actually think I had found this site before, but it was still in development and was not working real well.  I checked it out and it is quite an awesome little site.  Not just for quizzing but for learning and studying.  I like it, and plan on using it a lot in the future.  Check it out.

Halloween Books for Kids

We finished off another awesome week of homeschooling. The kids are racking up miles for the 5 Points of Life Relay for Kids, and should have the paper filled up soon. I work this weekend, and next week is another busy week with Archery, 4H, Earth Kids, Church and of course Run Club. Anyone who says homeschooled children are not socialized apparently do not know what they are talking about. We are plenty socialized, good socialization not nonsense socialization. Below are some Halloween theme books your kiddos might enjoy reading. The first one appears to be free, so enjoy it while it is. Be sure to check the price before you complete check out. I have been nailed a couple of times with posts that offer free books, but not all are free and I did not pay attention. Some are worth paying for too, though. We love The Berenstein Bears, well at least my youngest does. My son prefers the scary stories. Remember that at the bottom of this blog is my Amazon Homeschool Store.  Look there for all your textbook, workbook and craft needs.  I will be scouring around for Halloween apps this weekend to share.

Perfect Weather for Lawn Work

Even though we do mow all Summer, the weather yesterday and today, was perfect for raking leaves and doing some of the extras we don't do when it is too hot.  It was actually 59 last night, which kept the house cool most of the day, even though it got up to 85.  Tomorrow will be a repeat of the same.  So, we will be washing walls inside the house, and cleaning up the garage a bit. 

Since we have to also do school, I do a lot of this stuff during school hours by myself.  That is fine, the kids help when they can.  DJ learned to operate the riding mower today, so he is excited about that.  He has been using the push mower since the beginning of Summer.  Tomorrow will be Spelling, Vocabulary and Grammar tests.  DJ will be finishing up his Knight writing assignment, on his blog, and Caitlin will continue reading Dolphins at Sunrise with chapter reviews.  And of course Math.  Speaking of Math, DJ has been going along quite smoothly without any snags.  Until this week, lol.  He can not seem to catch on to Reciprocals.  No matter which way I explain it, he is still unsure.  He has been watching a video, but I think he might appreciate reading a bit more about it.  So, below are three resources that you can use, as well, when your kids get stuck on Reciprocals.  Last year, we used FLVS for Math, and it was awful.  Because, I believe that you should not move on to the next lesson when you do not understand the one you are on, which is what FLVS required, it just did not work for us.  This way he can go over it and over it until he gets it.  He almost got it all the way today.  We will see how it goes tomorrow.

http://www.icoachmath.com/math_dictionary/reciprocal.html
http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/58334.html
http://www.mathnstuff.com/math/spoken/here/1words/r/r13.htm

Teach Your Homeschool Child To Read

 One of the scariest things, for me, when I started to homeschool my youngest was I had to teach her to read.  I had no confidence that I would be able to do this.  Actually, it has gone very well and she loves to read now in the 4th grade.  We used Hooked on Phonics, in Kindergarten, and I loved it.  I also used the sight word/picture identification method.  I like this method more than just sounding the word out phonetically.  Seeing what the word looks like, and hearing what it sounds like, is so much more effective than just Phonics.  A friend of mine is just now teaching her daughter to read.  I found this very nice, Four Reading Methods, article and thought it was very much on point with good techniques and tips.  I also have to say, my kids learned very well in the younger years by playing games.  Both of them played online games a lot and it proved very effective.  Below are some free reading online games.  If you have a new learning reader Starfall is amazing.

 http://pbskids.org/games/reading/
http://www.primarygames.com/reading.php

Çastle Sketch, Bones and A Freebie

I forgot to share the Homeschool Freebie yesterday.  It was a good one too.  Hopefully they will repeat it.  If  you sign up at their website you can get notified of the freebie of the day.   Today's freebie is also a good one.  3 ebooks on learning to draw.  I took the nature one, and the one with the owl on the cover.  Because we paint, and my son prefers to draw, these are perfect for us.  Hop over to homeschool freebie of the day, and grab yours. 

Yesterday, DJ finished is castle sketch.  He took the virtual tour of Raglan Castle, then had to draw a sketch of it.  Today, he will continue learning about Knights, and how to become a Knight.  There is a whole, long, drawn out process you know.  Because he is older, I have to find more complicated projects for him to do, for each lesson.  He is not into Arts and Crafts anymore, at least not the ones his sister likes.  He will probably be doing a blog post on the process of becoming a knight, so watch for that to go up.

Caitlin has been studying different functions of the body, for Science.  Yesterday, she put together a boney skeleton, that is missing a foot, as you can see in the picture.  She asked if it was ok if it was a one footed skeleton?  LOL, I guess it doesn't much matter. You can find lots of free skeleton pages with a simple Bing search.  Today she is finishing up the Circulatory system, and visiting the Ocean on The Magic School Bus.  If you have Netflix, you can watch it right on there.  I love Netflix.  We use it all the time in our Homeschool Adventures.

Robinson Crusoe Audio Book

If you have children that like to listen to audio books, then today's freebie is perfect.  It is a Robinson Crusoe mp3 audio book.  My kids hate listening to books, so this is not one we will use.  I hope many others will find it very useful though.  Just click the link to visit the website, to obtain your freebie. 

Today is our Earth Kids meeting, and we continue studying Oceans and the creatures that live there.  I will post all the links, and pictures of the projects we do, after the meeting is completed.  I told the kids today, I am switching the meetings to only once a month, rather than twice.  They are not super happy about that, but there are several good reasons to do it.  As with all classes, done during school hours, there is a reading, math and geography lesson, centered around the Leafy Sea Dragon, oh and art too.  I am making a pizza in the shape of a Leafy Sea Dragon.  You will have to come back to see how it comes out.  I have never done one like this before.  I figure we are going to eat it anyways, so if I mess it up no big deal.  I found a cake also, but that looked way complicated.

I love all the Scholastic products, and am considering trying the book below with my daughter next year, for fifth grade. I do have the Saxon book I can use, that my son used, but will have to see.

Lesson Snips, a website I have used a lot in my years of homeschooling, is both a paid and free website. You sign up, and then pick if you want free, or paid. I recommend the free. I had the paid, but was not happy with it for many reasons. You get a lot of stuff for free. Check it out, and they have all subjects, and all grades.