Tips For Learning Vocabulary

Yesterday I posted some tips for teaching spelling, here are some of the methods we use to learn vocabulary words.

Each week I pick 10 words from our spelling list. These are the vocabulary words for the week. As with spelling every day we go over the meaning of each vocabulary word. These are the other activities we do every day, for Vocabulary.

Monday- using a standard Websters Dictionary, look up the meaning for each word, and write it on your paper.

Tuesday- Use each vocabulary word in a complete sentence. Use each word only one time each.

Wednesday- Think of either a synonym, or an antonym for each vocabulary word. I generally alternate this from week, to week.

Thursday- Write each vocabulary word, and the meaning two times each.

Friday- Test to see how much was retained.

One other thing that I find to be very helpful is, if DJ finds a word during his readings that he does not know, I have him look it up in the dictionary rather than just telling him what it means.

I hope everyone is having a marvelous Tuesday.

Which Subject Is Hardest, Lesson Plan For 9/11/08

First please lets remember the victims of the terrible 9/11 attacks, on the Twin Towers. I will talk more about that tomorrow 9/11/08.

Todays Homeschool topic, is what is the hardest subject to teach, and or learn. When I was in school, many moons ago, I found Language Arts, to be the hardest to learn. Probably because I found it intensely boring. I loved to read, but grammar and writing were torture for me. Now that I am teaching my own children, I find phonics to be the hardest to teach. My son, did phonics, in public school, so I only had to supplement that. He reads, at a very high level now. My 4 yr old, is just starting to learn phonics, and I am finding it difficult to teach. Knowing how to read, and teaching it is not easy. There are several different techniques, we are using. She is a visual learner, so the Internet, books, and even DVD's are very helpful to her. So what subjects did you find hard to learn, and or teach?

This is the Lesson Plan, for 9/11/08

Reading- Read chapter 7 of Dinosaurs Before Dark
Health- Dental Health, plus go to this website for more on teeth
Writing- Tell a story about a magic car
PE
Math- Multiplication, addition, subtraction, estimate sums and differences
Language Arts- Phonics review, nouns, choose the right tool
Spelling lesson 2- put your words in alphabetical order
Vcabulary lesson 2- try to think of a synonym for each vocabulary word
Spanish- Parts of the body

How Much Time Do You Spend Homeschooling?

Dont forget to take my poll, on the side bar. Just a quick contest update for my other blog. If you havent read the contest, you could win a ss blue topaz ring. Just give me a good dog cake recipe. Go to http://www.melissasjewelryandgemstoneblog.blogspot.com for all the details. I have 4 entries so far.

How long is your homeschooling day? What time do you start? What time do you end? For us we start at 8:30 AM, and stop at 2:00 PM. The one thing I like about homeschooling, is that can be flexible. If you work during the day, you can homeschool in the evening. You can even homeschool, just on weekends, as long as you cover your material. We do PE twice a week, for 30 min each, and of course recess every day for 30 min. Dont forget lunch, that is 30 min. These are things that can take away from book time, but are necessary for your children.

Of course that does not end a homeschooling moms schedule. For me I grade the work, make the log, make the curriculum, and do all the research. So I spend a great deal of time working on homeschooling. I do most of it over the summer, so that by the start of school, I just have to do lesson planning each week.

So how about you, and your homeschool day?

Prehistoric Planet On Discovery Kids

With summer vacation still going on. I try to encourage my children to still learn, even through the summer. Anyone who has kids, knows this can be a challenge. Discovery Kids, an afternoon set of shows on The Discovery Channel, has a show called Prehistoric Planet. We spent a great deal of time, in second grade, learning all about Dinosaurs. This show reinforces what we learned, and teaches so much more than we did. It keeps my son, and even my daughter, enthralled, and not just wasting time lounging around. It is on every afternoon, during the week, at 2PM, on the Discovery Channel. Check it out.

Cool Preschool Websites

I have been looking for preschool websites, for my daughter. Caitlin will be starting preschool, in September, while her brother starts 3rd grade. I am not real agressive about preschool, and will probably only do 1-2 hrs a day with her. I found some sites that I really like, and I will be listing them below. I thought of doing them all singly, on different posts, it is a little slow in the summer for posting ideas lol. But then I decided to just put them all under this post. I use only free sites, some may only offer a free trial, so feel free to visit and check them out.

http://www.atozphonics.com/preschoolphonics.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/clusters/index.shtml

http://www.zoo-phonics.com/Free_Lesson.html

http://www.kinderplans.com/content.cfm?pageid=120

http://www.littlekidsgamesonline.com/preschool-online-games.html

http://www.littlekidsgamesonline.com/preschool-online-games.html