Funschool, Fall And Halloween, Lesson Plans

Yesterday, we had a little extra time at the end of the day, so DJ played games on Funschool. If you have never been to Funschool, it has tons of educational, learning games, for children. We have been using it for over a year. Caitlin plays preschool games, there as well, although she prefers Nick Jr. If you have young children, both of these sites are awesome add ons to your homeschooling, after school fun, or just plain fun.

With Fall here, the air is cooler, less humidity, the leaves are starting to fall off the trees, and of course we start thinking about Halloween. Here is a bit of trivia, that my husband told me. Gainesville, FL which is about 30 min from us, is the farthest point South where leaves fall off of trees. Points south of there, stay too warm for leaves to change, and fall off. What do your children want to be for Halloween? My son always has to pick something, that I cant just find at the local Walmart. This year, he wants to be some Yugi Oh character. I found one on ebay, and did win the bid, for a very reasonable price, so he is happy. My youngest, of course, can not decide. I have looked at several different costumes, for her, none of which she can decide on. She will be my last minute costume buyer. I still can not find any of my fall decorations, I can not imagine where they are. Over the next weeks, I will be posting some very cool Halloween recipes, craft ideas, etc. So be sure to watch for them. I will also be announcing a new contest. This time it will be for both blogs. This blog will win a free 2 month link, on the side bar. My jewelry blog, will win a ring made by me. I want it to be Fall themed, but also to increase my traffic, and readers. If anyone has any ideas, between now and Sept 30th please share.

Lesson Plans for 9/24/08

This is a half day, so the lesson plan is much shorter than usual.

Reading: Read chapter 3 of The Knight At Dawn
Spelling Lesson 4: Write each spelling word and circle the consonants
Vocabulary Lesson 4: Think of a synonym for each vocabulary word
Math: Multiplication, sums and differences

Learning Via Video Games?

We all know kids love to play games. Board games, outside games, card games, all kinds of games teach them various learning skills.

What about online games. Do you let your kids play games online? For me the answer is yes. There are so many great websites, that offer strictly educational games. Some of our favorites, are Funbrain and Funschool, plus Nick jr, and Noggin. There are many others, alot of which can be found in my archives, if you are interested.

So what about video games, do your kids play those? This was a tough one for me, but lets face it video games are fun. We played them when I was a kid, of course it was Atari then, lol. I wish playstation made educational games, then I would probably like it more. I have to say though, that since I have allowed my son to play a playstation 2, his dexterity, and hand eye coordination has improved. Some of the smaller kids games, like dora, and blues clues, are more educational than the older kids varieties. We also have a Leapster L-Max, which is a portable gaming system, that has only educational games. During the school year, my son plays only educational games on this, and playstation only on free time or weekends. My 4 yr old, has learned to play it, and is now doing preschool and kindergarten work. It is an absolutely wonderful system, in my opinion, and well worth the money we spent on it. It was a definate investment piece, and investment in education. You can play any leapster game on it, it doesnt have to be just L-Max, so that makes it very versatile too.

So in conclusion, yes I am a big advocate for playing games. Educational, age related, and that serve a purpose. Of course you have to monitor what your kids play, being sure they are age specific, and dont contain any subjects you may deem inappropriate, such as sex, drugs, violence.