About this time of year, many homeschoolers are beginning to plan for summer studies or the next school year. Our co-op is already beginning to form the 2010-2011 class schedules based on student interest and teacher availability. As you decide the subjects you want your children to study, you might consider sharing your own skills with others – and allowing them to share with you.
If you have a skill, a hobby, an interest, or a subject you enjoy, you can teach other children along with your own. You don’t even need to be in a co-op to get started. You can offer the class to your homeschooling friends — it can be a casual class, meeting in your living room or at a park, or a more formal class, meeting in a library or community building. You might charge a small fee for your time, or you could barter for other classes or services.
Need some ideas? Here are some topics to get you started:
- Foreign languages – Are you fluent in a foreign language? These are a must for college-bound high school students
- Sciences – Biology, Chemistry, Physics: These lab sciences can be harder to fit in the family’s schedule when there are lots of little ones around.
- Math — Teaching upper level math classes can be difficult, so if you’re good in math, you would be able to fill this need.
- P.E. — Are you athletic? You can organize exercise activities and team sports.
- Literature — Do you love to read? Do you appreciate good literature? Form a group to read and discuss the books you choose.
- Chorus – Are you a good singer? Consider directing a children’s choir.
- Personal Finance – If you manage money well, you could teach this topic to teens.
- Art – Do you draw or paint? Do you like to do crafts? You could start an art class working with your favorite medium.
- Photography – Are you an amateur photographer? A professional one? Share your enthusiasm with students as they learn the basics of taking a good picture.
- Scrapbooking/Stamping – If your creativity flows in this area, show the students how to preserve memories by creating their own personal scrapbook.
- Home Economics/Cooking – Does your family rave about your cooking? Consider starting a class for budding chefs and teach about kitchen safety, nutrition, and preparing meals.
The list of possibilities could go on and on…just take what you know, and share it!
Guest Blogger: Samantha Bell
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For the past few years, some of my youngest child’s favorite books have been the ones where he has to search for certain images within the picture. Usborne has created some of these fun books for children ages four to eight with their 1001 Things to Spot series and Great Search series.
Open one of these books, and you’ll find a scene that spans two pages. Around the edges of the full illustration are smaller pictures of the things the child will be searching for, along with a number clue as to how many there are to find. For example, in 1001 Things to Spot in the Sea, the page featuring creatures “Deep Down” in the ocean shows a small picture of a gulper eel with the number “5.” The child knows, then, that there are 5 gulper eels to find in the picture.
The 1001 Things to Spot series is geared more toward younger children; the illustrations are friendly and colorful. There are quite a few titles in this series, some titles even including Spanish editions. Some of the other titles are:
- 1001 Things to Spot on the Farm
- 1001 Things to Spot in Fairyland
- 1001 Things to Spot in the Town
- 1001 Things to Spot Long Ago
- 1001 Pirate Things to Spot
- 1001 Animals to Spot
- 1001 Things to Spot at Christmas
- 1001 Knights and Castle Things to Spot
- 1001 Bugs to Spot
The Great Search series is ideal for older children, as the illustrations are more realistic and the items harder to find. Beside each picture you’ll find information about the object or animal, and instead of the actual number written beside each picture, the number word is given. Titles in this series include:
- The Big Bug Search
- The Great Dinosaur Search
- The Great Planet Earth Search
- The Great Animal Search
- The Great Castle Search
- The Great Undersea Search
- The Great Wildlife Search
- The Great World Search
- The Great History Search
If your child likes puzzle books or finding items in a story, give these books a try. They’re great for car rides, long trips, quiet time, together time – or anytime!
Guest Blogger: Samantha Bell
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If your children like spending time on the computer, you may find yourself searching the Internet for sites that are not only enjoyable for them to visit but educational as well. Storyline Online (www.storylineonline.net) is just such a site.
Created by the Screen Actors Guild Foundation, this site features videos of well-known actors reading favorite picture books out loud. For example, the first story on the list is To Be a Drum by Evelyn Coleman, read by James Earl Jones. Just click on the image of the book, and then choose your Internet connection speed. The story will load, and you’ll see the actor introduce the story. As he begins to read, the illustrations are displayed on the screen in a way that’s sure to capture a child’s attention.
There are a number of other books currently available on the site, including:
- Guji Guji by Chih Yuan Chen, read by Robert Guillaume
- Sebastian’s Roller Skates by Joan De Due Prats, read by Caitlin Wachs
- Sophie’s Masterpiece by Eileen Spinelli, read by CCH Pounder
- Stallaluna by Janell Cannon, read by Pamela Reed
- Wilfird Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox, read by Bradley Whitford
- No Mirrors in My Nana’s House by Ysaye M. Barnwell, read by Tia and Tamera Mowry
- The Night I Followed the Dog by Nina Laden, read by Amanda Bynes
- Thank you, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco, read by Jane Kaczmarek
- My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother by Patricia Polacco, read by Melissa Gilbert
- Knots on a Counting Rope by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault, read by Bonnie Bartlett and William Daniels
- Brave Irene by William Steig, read by Al Gore
- A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon, read by Sean Astin
- Private I. Guana by Nina Laden, read by Esai Morales
- Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch by Eileen Spinelli, read by Hector Elizondo
- The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg, read by Lou Diamond Phillips
- Me and My Cat by Satoshi Kitamura, read by Elijah Wood
- Dad, Are You the Tooth Fairy? by Jason Alexander, read by Jason Alexander
- When Pigasso Met Mootisse by Nina Laden, read by Eric Close
- Romeow and Drooliet by Nina Laden, red by Haylie Duff
- Enemy Pie by Derek Munson, read by Camryn Manheim
But that’s not all. You’ll find links for related activities you can do with your students after they hear the story. The Activity Guide is a downloadable PDF file that not only includes the activities, but also features lists of related Internet sites and books, as well as information about the author and the actor — helpful resources for homeschoolers who like to supplement their curriculum or create their own unit studies.
So if your little one is looking for something new to do on the computer, visit Storyline Online. Listen to the story and try some of the activities. You can also find the same book in your library and then read it aloud together. Either way, the reading adventure continues!
Guest Blogger: Samantha Bell
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This past week, my oldest daughter had the opportunity to go traveling with relatives. As we were sorting through her clothes, I thought of how quickly the trip had come up and how easy it was for her to join in. Our flexible schedule provided enough time to get her packed and send her on the trip.
While we were preparing things to take along, I had her pack a few workbooks, reading books, and flashcards. “You’ll need to do some schoolwork while you’re gone,” I said. In my haste, I had forgotten what a hands-on learning experience a trip can be.
The plans involved traveling by car from South Carolina to Wisconsin — a 14-hour drive. During that time, my daughter kept track of the states they drove through, as well as the states represented on the license plates of the cars they passed. From the road she saw deer grazing in a field, a huge mansion, and a windmill. They stopped for breaks in cities she’s never been in before.
She spent the week in Madison, Wisconsin, visiting the capitol daily and listening in on classes in American government and the legislative process. She now understands just how a bill becomes a law, and how important it is to vote for good leaders for our nation.
She spent free time ice skating and sledding and walking through waist-deep snow — something we don’t ever see at home. On the way back, they plan to visit Chicago and the Sears Tower, as well as other sites if they have time. And she’s writing all about her adventures in a small notebook she took along.
Did my daughter need those workbooks? I’m sure she didn’t. She has learned so much this week by simply experiencing it — lessons I know she won’t soon forget.
Guest Blogger: Samantha Bell
Photo by Cimexus
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If you have a youngster who loves spending time with you in the kitchen, or if you have an older child who is beginning to focus on cooking skills, the website Kids-Cooking-Activities.com is one you’ll want to visit.
This cooking site is full of information to help you involve your children in meal planning and preparation. On the homepage, you’ll find a list of reasons why you should cook with your kids, including strengthening the bonds among family members, boosting your children’s self esteem, contributing to the family, and working together as a team, as well as lessons in science, math, language arts, and creativity. An added bonus is that children are more likely to eat what they make themselves, so if you have finicky eaters, having them help out with the meals may give them the boost they need to try new things.
At Kids Cooking Activities, you’ll find easy meal ideas for children, as well as recipes from around the world. There are links for themed suppers, cooking parties, and craft recipes. Both children and adults can enter the monthly recipe contest.
And there is even more here for teachers — whether you are teaching in the classroom or at home. If you have a younger child, the “Cook and Books” button sends you to a page linking cooking activities with favorite picture books. Another page presents science experiments you can do with food, while the “Food Facts” page provides basic nutrition information on various types of foods. And if you want to add a cooking class to your home curriculum or start one with your 4-H club, this site offers lesson plans for children from preschool age all the way through age 18.
Cooking is a valuable life skill for both girls and boys, and with this site, you’ll have access to many resources to help get them started.
Guest Blogger: Samantha Bell
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With the Olympics now in full swing, learning opportunities abound. There are so many possible lesson ideas and unit studies that correlate with the events in Vancouver, from sports lessons to writing to history and geography.
If you’re looking to incorporate the games into your schooling, here are some ideas to help get you started:
- Host your own Olympics. You don’t have to do the same sports you see on television. Try games like tug-of-war, relay races, and obstacle courses. You might even have a bubble gum blowing contest. Create medals using colored cardstock and ribbons, and award them as prizes for first, second, and third place.
- Investigate the history of the Olympics. Where were the first Olympics held? What were they like, and how are they similar or different from the Olympic games today?
- Create a lapbook or unit study about the host country, Canada.
- During the awards ceremony, the national anthem of the gold medal winner’s country is played. Write down the names of the anthems you hear, and find out the words to the songs. Do the songs have something in common?
- Choose a country represented in the Olympic games, and study that country. Begin with the country’s participation in the games: find out how many athletes are competing and the events they are competing in. Then find out about their homeland and what the people, government, and culture is like.
- Imagine you are an Olympic athlete, and you’ve just won (or lost) your event. Write a journal or diary entry describing what happened and how you feel.
- Watch an event on television all the way through to the medal ceremony. Write a newspaper article and report on the activities.
- Create your own Olympic vocabulary list. Find out what sports are included in the winter Olympics and describe each sport. Sports to include are: downhill skiing, cross country skiing, Super G, slalom, biathlon, freestyle aerials, freestyle moguls, nordic combined, snowboarding, ski jumping, luge, bobsleigh, skeleton, curling, ice dancing, figure skating, ice hockey, speed skating, and short track.
- Choose your favorite sport of the winter Olympics. Find out what type of training an athlete needs to make it to the Olympic Games.
Guest Blogger: Samantha Bell
Photo from adrian8_8
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If you’re like me, your children might be even more computer-savvy than you are. If I run into a computer glitch, I call on my 13-year-old to help me figure it out. In this age of technology, there is so much available for children, from games and coloring pages to educational programs to social sites. Many children’s resources have also been produced digitally — including children’s magazines. Some are free, some are available by subscription, some directly online, and others as downloadable files. Most contain original stories, articles, and activities just for kids.
If your children enjoy using the computer, but you want to cut down on time spent playing video games, these online magazines are a great alternative and are worth looking through. Here are a few of them:
Guardian-Angel-Kids.com: This is a brand new free magazine for children ages 2-12 featuring games, stories, freebies, and more.
StoriesforChildrenMagazine.com – Featuring stories, articles, poems, crafts, and recipes, this magazine can be accessed for free during the publication month. PDF files of the current issue can be purchased for 99 cents, and past issues can be ordered for $3.99.
BumplesMagazine.com – Another new magazine that debuted in 2010, Bumples is an interactive magazine with games and activities included as part of the stories. A nonfiction section adds an educational aspect to this magazine as well. You can purchase a subscription to the magazine from the website.
Amazing-Kids.org – Amazing Kids! is a free online magazine produced by the nonprofit charitable organization with the same name, a group dedicated to inspiring excellence in children. Written by kids for kids, the magazine features fiction, nonfiction, poetry, recipes, and artwork.
Wayback – Published by PBS, this online American history publication features articles, interviews, and activities.
Guest Blogger: Samantha Bell
Photo from Mannobhai
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Several years ago, I read a note online from a teacher who worked with children still struggling with reading. In it, she mentioned how she used Dr. Seuss books with these students and how much their reading levels had increased as a result. I’ve tried the same approach with my more reluctant reader, and I’ve had good results as well.
Dr. Seuss books have been favorites with children for years — the fun illustrations, quirky rhymes, and easy-to-read text. Many of the books have a controlled vocabulary (the Cat in the Hat, for example, contains only 236 words), making them good first books for children beginning to read on their own. And for the reluctant reader, they are a good read-aloud choice that can be completed in one sitting, giving the child a sense of accomplishment.
If you have a child who is working on his reading skills, check your library for some of these titles by Dr. Seuss:
Beginner books:
- The Cat in the Hat
- The Cat in the Hat Comes Back
- One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
- Green Eggs and Ham
- Hop on Pop
- Fox in Socks
- There’s a Wocket in My Pocket
- Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?
- The Foot Book
- Are You My Mother?
- Oh, the Things You Can Think!
- I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!
- The Shape of Me and Other Stuff
Books for more advanced readers or for you to read aloud:
- Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
- The Lorax
- Dr. Seuss’ Sleep Book
- Happy Birthday to You!
- The Butter Battle Book
- Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?
- Horton Hears a Who
- Horton Hatches the Egg
- The Sneetches
- If I Ran the Zoo
- Yertle the Turtle
- And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas
- The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins
- On Beyond Zebra
Guest Blogger: Samantha Bell
Photo from susansimon
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The other day, as we were moving books around from one room to the other, we came upon a couple of boxes of yearbooks — some mine, some my husband’s — from college, high school, middle school, even elementary school! My children had a fun time looking through them, finding our old photos and looking at others who were in the same class.
Fortunately, we’ve been able to participate in a homeschool yearbook for the past five years. A group of homeschooling moms put it together each year; one of the moms is a photographer and takes all the photos; another mom collects the pre-orders; several moms lay out the pictures, and as many as will raise advertising revenue from local businesses to help off-set the cost.
After my children finished with my old yearbooks, they began thumbing through their own. Besides the class photos, their books also include a lot of extra pictures that parents send in featuring field trips, clubs, vacations, holidays, special family times, and more. I usually send in some extra photos every year, so they had fun searching for themselves in those pages as well.
If your local homeschooling community doesn’t have a yearbook yet, perhaps you can help start one. While the first one our family was part of was laid out by hand, the books can now be done digitally on the computer. Below are a few companies that feature do-it-yourself yearbooks:
Homeschool-Yearbooks.com – Started by a homeschooling father, this company offers four easy plans for creating your yearbook, either in color or black and white.
Memorybook.com – The Memory Book Company publishes yearbooks for homeschools, elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, summer camps, and military units.
Blurb.com – With this print-on-demand company, you can create all kinds of photo memory books, including yearbooks
Jostens.com – Often recognized as a company that sells class rings, Jostens also sells yearbooks that you can put together online.
For those involved in its creation, a yearbook is certainly a lot of work. But it’s a project that not only chronicles the school years, but also the memories made along the way.
Guest Blogger: Samantha Bell
Photo from Homeschool-Yearbooks.com
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If you are looking for information on the Internet regarding homeschooling, A to Z Home’s Cool Homeschool website is the place to start. This community site offers help for home educators of students from preschool through high school with articles, lesson ideas, books, materials, and curriculum, as well as links to many other online homeschooling resources.
New to homeschooling? You’ll find articles about what homeschooling entails, why you might choose to homeschool, and how to get started. There’s also information about planning, record-keeping, and getting Dad involved. If you’re bringing your child home to educate him after he’s been in a traditional school, you’ll find articles to help you with that transition as well.
But that’s not all. A to Z Home’s Cool also provides information about teaching methods and philosophies, homeschooling gifted children or children with special needs, and preparing for graduation and beyond. You’ll also find curriculum reviews and suggestions. The best part is, if the article is not on the site itself, A to Z provides you with a link to another site containing that article. Not only are you looking at the resources available on this site, you’re also plugged in to resources from all over the Internet.
Another interesting feature of this site is its community focus, as it works to connect homeschooling parents with other homeschoolers. With the blogging tool, you can join in by reading the blogs of other homeschooling families on the site, or you can start your own. You’ll also find forums and a chat room in which you can discuss particular topics with other homeschoolers from around the world.
This website is a resource filled with resources — there’s so much there, it would take hours to look through it all. It’s a good place to start when you have questions or concerns, or if you just need some fresh ideas.
Guest Blogger: Samantha Bell
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