Child-Centered Homeschooling
 
It's always fun to incorporate cotton balls into art work.  It's no secret that when you enhance learning through art, children have more fun and learn more.  We recently learned about the different types of clouds.  To further cement this learning, we used cotton balls and created samples of the different types of clouds.  This is an ideal art tool for clouds because you can pull and stretch or put them together to look like actual clouds.  Then, the students can decorate the rest of the paper to make a creative scence of their choosing.

Other examples of where you can use cotton balls in art work are:  to create waves, snow, smoke stacks from trains and buildings, bunnies, snowmen, igloos, and a variety of other things.  They can also be painted or spray painted to make bricks, rocks, bushes, trees, etc.  

Enhance your lessons through art and watch how engaged your students will become!

Happy schooling! 

 
We created a memory box as a group project this year.  Each child decorated their own box to store their memories and favorite things for the current year.  What a great keep sake!  I can just imagine 5, 10, even 20 years from now the kids looking back on these memories.  I think at the end of the year, I am going to take the box and store it away.  We might repeat this every year until graduation or she tells me that she's no longer interested.

When she graduates high school or college, I'll have each box nicely wrapped for her.  At least those are my plans.  Another option is to hold on to the boxes until her own children are the same age as she was when she created each box.  That way, she and her kid(s) can do a now and then comparison. 

If anyone else had done this kind of thing (or is planning to), I would love to hear your ideas!

 
I am really thinking about writing a book.  It would be geared toward parents and about children without going into further detail.  It would not be about homeschooling or education at all.

I'm not really sure if Lulu is a good platform for publishing a book or if there are better options out there.  I have heard that it can be hard to get an agent and publisher unless you have had works published before.

If anyone has some advi

 
I love websites that help with learning and teaching techniques, worksheets, printables, free lessons, etc.  Some of my favorite websites are:

www.starfall.com  This website helps emergent readers through phonics lessons.  Best of all, it's free!

www.timezattack.com  This website helps to reinforce multiplication tables through a video game set-up. 

www.schoolexpress.com  This site offers a free unit study each week!  All you have to do it sign up for it on their website.  On the site, you can also access loads of free worksheets on a variety of subjects.  There are some features that you can pay for too, but there is a ton of free stuff!

www.enchantedlearning.com  I love, love, love this site!!  There is a small yearly membership fee.  Then, you can print so many worksheets, booklets, crafts, etc.  The membership paid for itself for my family almost the first day!!  Many subject areas are covered.

Smithsonian kids is awesome as is the NASA kids site.  National Geographic kids has many good links and information as well.  Colonial Williamsburg is great for social studies and history.  I could go on and on, but I'll stop at those few sites for today.

Happy Schooling 
 
As promised, here are some more product trials/samples.  The best part is they are 100% FREE!!!

Free book samples, articles, contests, etc.
http://www.a pologiaonline.com/sp

ebook with lesson plan samples:
send an email to [email protected]

ACT/SAT help seminars:
www.collegeprepgenious.com/freedownload

Preschool ebooks:
http://www.criticalthinking.com/tosm

More to come tomorrow!!!
 
Sometimes, despite the best intentions and planning, things go haywire.  At times like that, you have to just keep plugging ahead and roll with it.  Sometimes, these times present the best learning opportunities too! 

When I decided to homeschool my daughter, I had recently learned I was pregnant.  Although I still wanted to homeschool her, I was unsure how I would do it when the new baby arrived.  How would I teach her when I was in the hospital?  What about my doctor appointments?  When would I have time during the first few weeks home with the newest addition to our family?  Now, I was starting to rethink the idea of homeschooling.  Still, the arrival of the baby was months away, so we decided to see how it went.  Maybe it wouldn't be a good fit afterall and she would go to public school in the Spring. 

Fast forward to December 2009.  I was 37 weeks pregnant and no really feeling like doing much of anything ~ least of all homeschooling my daughter.  Still we continued on knowing that we would be taking about 3 weeks off after the baby arrived.  My daughter came with me to every doctor appointment and was able to see the ultrasound and hear the baby's heartbeat.  What a learning experience!  She learned along with me the proper nutrition needed and the benefit of a daily vitamin.  After the baby arrived, she learned how to prepare bottles, bathe an infant, how to hold an infant, sleep cycles ~ basically how to take care of baby.  She was, and is, the best big sister ever!!  I know this type of learning doesn't sound like "normal" learning for a child of her age (7), but it was real-world, hands-on learning that cannot be duplicated in any text.  This is something that she can and will actually use!  After about 2 weeks at home, we were back to our homeschooling.  The setting was far more relaxed than before the baby.  We had to take breaks for feedings, diaper changing, etc.  Little sister sat patiently (most of the time) in her bouncy seat right on top of the table next to us.  We learned together as a family and as individuals.  I would never change a thing about that very special time in our lives. 

Now that little sister is almost 1 1/2 years old, we have to be even more flexible than before.   There are times when she allows us to complete all of the day's lessons in one sitting, but more often than not, we need to get creative with our learning.  We take breaks, wait for daddy to get home and play with little sister, take our learning on the road or to the outdoors, etc.  The point is, with all of the freedom we have as homeschoolers, we can learn when it's best for us as a family.  We have no school clock to punch in and out of.  If we aren't really interested in something, we can move on to another subject!  If we just need a mental health day (or week), we can take a break too.  If we want to go on vacation, we are not limited to the days listed on the school calendar.  Most times this is a blessing.

Another example of rolling with the punches came just this week.  We were supposed to spend a week at Walt Disney World.  Well, big sister got sick with the flu and we had to cut the trip short by about 3 days.  Luckily, they refunded us the unused days and we live close enough to drive home within a couple of hours.  As luck would have it, big sister's fever went away the next day, so we really could have stayed.  Oh, well, let's use this vacation time to just hang out as a family.  We can go to the beach, the zoo, play games, etc.  Maybe this detour from our original plans was a blessing in disguise.  At any rate, we are rolling with the cards we were dealt as best we can ~ just like we always do! 
 
Math trial offer for homeschoolers:  www.aleks.com/webform/c215

Spelling and the silent 'E':  www.all-about-spelling.com/tos-free-silent-e-book

K-12 Social Studies Lesson Plans:  http://www.americanheritage.org





 
Are you sure that your child is comprehending what they read?  Well, now there is a website that can answer that question for you!  What's more is that your child can earn points for taking the online comprehension quiz and redeem them for prizes!

Now, my daughter wants to read ALL THE TIME to earn enough points to get each prize giveaway.  Depending on the child's age, they must score at least an 80% to earn points for the book quiz.  This is doubly good.  My daughter wants to read AND remembers what she reads!  As we know, this leads to learning and retention.

Check it out for yourself:  www.bookadventure.com

All the best,
Amanda

 
Keep checking back because I'll be posting some great giveaways in the coming weeks!  These will be geared toward children of various ages.  Refer a friend to my blog, webpage or Facebook page and you'll receive an extra entry into that month's giveaway. 

Your friend will need to add me as a friend on Facebook, comment on my blog or inquire about my lesson planning services.  Oh, and they must menti
 
This Sample lesson plan is intended for Kindergarten to 1st Grade and is all about FEELINGS.

The scope and sequence (what the unit covers):

Language Arts:  Reading, Listing Feelings, Alphabetizing, Journal Entries or Pictorials for not writers, Definitions

Science:  Your Body's Reaction, How Animals Show Emotions, Observation

Social Studies/ History:  Feelings Thru Time

Reasoning and Problem Solving:  How To Deal With Our Emotions

Math and Spelling:  A Separate Curriculum Of Your Choosing

Monday:  Library, here we come!  Take a trip to your local library and check out several good books about feeling that will be of interest to your child.  Videos can be a good option too.  Ask the librarian for help.  Begin the week by previewing the books.  Begin keeping a journal of emotions.  This can be drawings, writings, pictures cut from magazines ~ whatever works for your learner.  In the journal, provide a definition for each of the emotions ~ this can be from a dictionary, from you, or from the child.  Use today just to set up the journal.  You can begin working in tomorrow and continue the rest of the week.
Help your child create a list of various emotions.  If appropriate, you can help your child alphabetize the list.  Read a book from the library together.

Tuesday:  Let's Read!  Read one or two of the books from the library together.  Talk about emotions with your child.  What emotions have they experienced?  How do they show their emotions?  Has there been a time when they were proud or not so proud of how they reacted?  Today would be a great day to read Munro Leaf's book "How to Behave and Why."  Use this book to reason and problem solve about how we should behave.  Begin working on the journal today and continue each day until it feels complete to both you and the student. 

Wednesday:  Emotions in Science!  Continue reading Munro Leaf's book.  Do some research (online, through books, etc.) on how our bodies react to our emotions.  Also explore how animals display their emotions.  Animals can't talk to us, so how do we know how our pets are feeling?  Continue with your journal.

Thursday:  Emotions Throughout Time!  Were people always so willing to express their emotions?  We they even allowed to show their emotions?  Why or why not?  Consider creating a Venn Diagram to list "then and now" of displaying emotions.  Finish your journal today.

Friday:  Field Trip!  Put it all together.  Take a trip to the zoo or the park to watch animals.  How are they displaying their emotions?  While there, be sure to watch people as well.  How are they displaying their emotions?  Are they acting appropriately?  If not, what could they have done differently?  What will you do to keep control of your emotions?

Final Notes:
Typical lessons will last approximately 2 hours per day, give or take (including independent reading time if the student is a self-reader).
Math and Spelling will need to be taught separately from this integrated curriculum. 
Have fun!