Whimsy Wednesday: Halloween Minute to Win It Games

We are kind of big game fans in this house.  Well, at least 3 out of 4 of us are, lol.  When we were still in 4H each week the kids would play a new Minute to Win It game as a sort of Ice Breaker.  The kids really loved these games and it really helped them learn teamwork and getting to know each other.  Click the link to go to the source of the games, let me know which ones you tried and if you loved them or not.  The image is from the source link.



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ABCYA for Basic Math Practice

I forgot about this wonderful website ABCya.com.  My daughter has been struggling with remembering all the rules that go with Math.  So, I have added 30 min of homework each week night, to help.  Mostly through games on ABCya,  I tried Adapted Math, and I liked it, but she did not find them remotely enjoyable.  I mean if you have to play a Math game, might as well be somewhat fun.  Fractions have been especially a pain, so playing the  multiplication, and fractions games, have been especially helpful.  I have also resorted to forced note taking.  I hated to do this, but if she has to write down the rule, for each lesson each day, then she can just look back in her notebook and find how to do it.  Me telling her all the time, is not helping her to remember.  I am seeing slow, but good results so far.  We will continue this as long as is needed.  There are other great Math websites, but I tend to stick with what works until it no longer works.  There is also Language Arts games, we just don't currently use those.  

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

Learning the States the Fun Way

I saw on Pinterest where another homeschool mom made a sight word game using popsicle sticks. I was just talking to a friend the other day about Geography, the states, capitals and other generalized topics. I had stated how I felt we were ignoring learning the states and capitals, mainly because it is so boring. I have tons of popsicle sticks lying around. Mostly because we do a lot of crafts. I was going to throw them away, but then I decided to make a stick game with them. So, today, and this was way more time consuming than I expected, I took on the task of writing on 50 popsicle sticks. On one side I wrote the state and the abbv. for that state. On the other side, I wrote the year it became a state and the capital. Then I placed them in a clean pizza sauce jar with 50 states written on it. You can see the results in the image. Since we have a states wall map they will have to find the state and the capital. We probably won't start this until after the Christmas holiday. If I can squeeze it in sooner I will. You could do this daily, or weekly, however you want. It is a great memorization tool. You could do this for multiplication, skip counting, sight words, spelling, etc. Be creative with it. If your child is having a hard time learning something, or is just bored to death, try something different and new. That is the beauty of homeschooling. And popsicle sticks are cheap and you could recycle the container. Matter of fact you could go into a lesson about recycling at the beginning of using your new jar game. Huh think of that.

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

First Grade Homeschool Supplemental Curriculum

This is a post for a friend who is just beginning to homeschool.  Since I remember how overwhelming it was, when I began, I decided to help her on her way.  I titled this as supplemental because she already has some books, and workbooks, and needed some fun ways to teach.  I have to say the younger years, up to say grade 5, are fun to teach and fun for the kids to learn.  Or at least it should be.  The new Common Core standards, which I am not saying I am against, really put a lot of strain on kids to learn harder material a lot younger.  I think this is going to be a failed process, because not all kids can learn harder material at such a young age. 

Renee, when you look at the first link, it is just a basic curriculum for first grade.  Click on each subject to see what Eric would generally learn for that grade. Don't worry about all the other stuff on the page, for now.    You can add or delete as you see fit.  The links provided are some of the best, and I have used myself.  There are tons more, but can be overwhelming to decide.  History and Science, in first grade, is not as important as say Reading, Writing and Math, but can add some fun to the school day.  If you have Netflix, Liberty Kids, and The Magic School Bus can both be viewed on there.  Kids love these series, and learn so much from just watching the show.

http://homeschooling.about.com/cs/learning/p/course1.htm
http://www.a-z-worksheets.com/first-grade-writing.html
http://www.greatschools.org/worksheets/first-grade/writing/
http://www.funbrain.com/FBSearch.php?Grade=1
http://www.columbia.k12.fl.us/TechLab/roll/online_games1.htm
http://www.jumpstart.com/parents/activities/grade-based-activities/1st-grade-activities
http://www.abcya.com/first_grade_computers.htm
http://www.libertyskids.com/parentsteachers.html

2013/2014 Language Arts Curriculum

This is the Language Arts curriculum for my 8th grader and 4th grader, for the 2013/2014 school year.  Extra resources are listed at the bottom.  Caitlin will be using Easy Peasy for most of her Reading and Grammar, while DJ will be doing 8th grade FLVS Language Arts.

8th Grade Language Arts:

Independent reading
Literal, inferential and evaluative reading skills
Literary terms
Novel, short story and narrative poetry
Nonfiction
Biographies of great americans
Listening and speech activities
Advanced dictionary work
Extended vocabulary
Figures of speech
Spelling
Kinds of sentences and their parts
Functions of sentence elements
Report writing skills
Improving skills in using basic reference sources
Inductive and deductive reasoning

4th Grade Language Arts:

Silent and oral reading
Listening skills
Telephone skills
Making and accepting simple social introductions
Summarizing simple information
Critical reading
Short stories, chapter books, poetry and plays
Spelling
Increasing dictionary skills
Writing letters and informal notes
Written and oral book reports
Developing skills in locating information
Developing encyclopedia skills by using internet
Utilizing parts of a newspaper

Extra Resources for Language Arts:

http://www/bbcskillswise.com
http://www.abcya.com
http://www.dailygrammar.com
http://www.roythezebra.com
http://www.gsc.amdsb.ca
http://www.AAAspell.com
http://www.ezschool.com
http://www.wordgames.com
http://www.funenglishgames.com
http://www.readwritethink.org
http://www.busyteacher.org

2013/2014 History Curriculum

Continuing with my curriculum posts.  We are now up to History.  DJ will be doing American History through FLVS for 8th grade.  Caitlin will be doing several different unit studies, 19 so far, plus using the extra homeschool resources at the end of this post. 

8th Grade History Curriculum

Exploration and Discovery
US History
Meaning of Democracy
Our American culture
US political system
US economic system
US government
US geography
Advanced map and globe skills

4th Grade History Curriculum

Types of community life
History and development of Florida
World cultures
Reasons for our laws
Regions of the world
Earth's resources
Climatic regions of the world
Map skills
Using a globe
Knowing my place in the world


Extra Resources To Be Used With History Curriculum:

http://www.mission-us.org
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu
http://www.seterra.net
http://www.mrnussbaum.com
http://www.funbrain.com
http://www.icivics.org
http://www.youtube.com
http://www.50states.com
http://www.nationalgeographic.com
http://www.ushistory.org
http://www.egsc.usgs.gov

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Did You Know?

Did you know that most lipsticks contain fish scales?  Yuck, I knew I didn't wear lipstick for a reason.  I am sure there is a good reason why.  Check out the links below to learn more about fish and their scales, with some fun games, books and websites.

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/stories/spacescience/facts-on-fish/
http://myfwc.com/fishing/freshwater/fishing-tips/scales/
http://www.ask.com/question/does-lipstick-contain-fish-scales
http://petgames.my-pet-care.com/pet-games/fish-games-for-kids
http://www.coloring.ws/fish.htm
http://www.allkidsnetwork.com/crafts/animals/fish/
http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r6/learning/kids/?cid=fsbdev2_027478

Are You The Ultimate Flirt?

Ok I do reviews, and posts, to make a little extra cash off my blog. My paid posts are always clearly marked. When I first saw this one I thought how silly. Then as I read more of it, it actually sounded kind of fun. The object is to be The Ultimate Flirting Champion. Yes this is an actual game. All you have to do to play the game is click on the widget provided in this post. You can put the widget, on your own web or blog, to have your members play the game.

We have all flirted, before, at some point in time in our lives. Some people are better at it than others. We have all heard them terrible one liners, meant to impress you, and make you want to go ooh I want to date you, right? So what is the very worst pick up line you have ever heard? Mine is actually funny, and I even almost fell for it. Was your dad a terrorist? I say no I dont think so. He says well your da bomb. Ha Ha that was a pretty good one.

Extreme Style by VO5

So click on the widget, and try your skills at flirting. See if you can be VO5's Ultimate Flirting Championship. The ultimate goal to win, is to get Victory Hair. What is Victory Hair? Well that I cant tell you. Play the game to see, and see if you get victory hair.

Victory Hair

Ultimate Flirting Championship

Education Place Home Activity Center

This website is sponsored by Houghton Mifflin Company. It is a great site, with all kinds of age related topics, games, printables etc. It is all free, and goes up to at least 5th grade. We love this site, and visit it frequently. Check it out at http://www.eduplace.com/hac/ this link will take you to the 2nd grade activities. But if you go to the very bottom of the page and click on their homepage it will transfer you to pick the topics and grades you need.