Friday, December 31, 2010

Winter Color By Number

This adorable winter themed color by number  will help your child recognize whole numbers 1-6 and reinforce colors.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Mental Math Practice - Odd Numbers





See if your kiddos can solve these math problems in their head.  Mental Math is a great way to increase their math power!

Ask your child to name the proceeding odd number:


1. 49
2. 27
3. 35
4. 63
5. 79

Monday, December 27, 2010

I Spy Calendar


Calendars are plentiful this time of year, and can make great learning tools. One activity you can try with your child is "I spy".  Tell your child, "I spy the number nine." Their job is to point to the number nine.  Other things you can say include:

* I spy the word Sunday
*I spy the word January
*I spy the word Christmas
* I spy a number with a two in the tens place and a six in the ones place
*I spy a palindromic number (11, 22)

Big Universe Learning Reading Resources

I just stumbled across Big Universe Learning and I thought I would share what I have found.  The website features on-line versions of leveled readers, both fiction and non-fiction.  There is also an area where your kiddos can write their own books.  They do charge a fee - $9.95 a month or $69.95 for a yearly subscription, but there are also many sample books that you can access for free.  I signed up for a trial membership to see what I think, but I will keep you posted.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Giggle Poetry Writing Prompt


My boys absolutely love the poems at Giggle Poetry so I knew they would make a great writing prompt.  I had them choose a poem and then finish these sentences:


1. I like/dislike this poem because….
2. This poem reminds me of…. because….
3. When I read this poem I felt…..
4. Some interesting or strong words that the author used were… I liked them because…
5. I would recommend this poem to…

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Current Events

I think that it is very important for my kiddos to be up to date on the current issues facing our country. The best way I have found to do this is by showing my older kids a 10 minute daily news program called CNN Student News.
You can stream the program straight from the internet, or use iTunes to download the daily podcast. It's simple to download: Open up your iTunes, go to the iTunes Store, type in CNN Student News, and download the current episode. It's completely free!

I recommend this program for all students  4th grade and above. It helps kids become more aware of their country and the events that are taking place each day.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Free Non-fiction Science books to read on-line

Here are a few science non-fiction readers for your kiddos to read on-line!  Free homeschool resources are always wonderful!


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Free Non-fiction books to read on-line

Here are a few non-fiction readers for your kiddos to read on-line!  Free homeschool resources are always wonderful!



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Tuesday, December 21, 2010

The Science (And Math!) of Snow

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If you live in a state that gets a lot of snow (and snowstorms!), keep tabs on the weather so that you can take advantage of this great science and math activity when the next storm hits!). Here are some ideas:


1. Visit Weather.com or your local news station’s website for the snow forecast to find out how much snowfall is expected.

2. Have your kiddos make predictions on whether the actual amount of snow will be the same, more, or less than the amount forecasted.

3. Provide your child with a container to place in a secure location outside for collecting and measuring the amount of snowfall. [NOTE: Make sure the container has a flat bottom.]

4. After the storm, bring the container inside and measure the results, comparing it to both the forecast and predictions.



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Let's Play Chess! Lesson Plan


Chess is an amazing learning activity in so many ways!  Chess can teach your child logic, mathematical reasoning, and so much more!  Click here to read about the history of chess. Here is a link to an online chess game  from Chess Test Tutors where your child can play against a computer to increase their skills.  My kiddos are loving this one!

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Free Math and Science Textbooks

If you're looking for some free homeschooling textbooks, I've found some great ones for math and science. These math and science textbooks are available for grades K-5.

There are also online math activities suitable for Kindergarten through fifth grade.

For older kids, there are Algebra I, Algebra II and Geometry Books.

There are also science textbooks for first through fifth grade, and science fun for Kindergarten through fifth grade.



Long Division Steps





Looking for a fun way to help your kiddos remember the steps of long division?  Try this fun mnemonic:

Does McDonald's Sell Burgers?

Divide
Multiply
Subtract
Bring down


Here is a quick long division tutorial.

Here are some long division practice worksheets:

Easier Long Division (great to start lessons with)

Winter Division

Longhorn Long Division

Subject and Predicate Lesson Plan

If your kiddos are learning about subjects and predicates, you may want to introduce them to this old School House Rock video, The Tale of Mr. Morton.  After watching the video, they can practice with these worksheets:

Learn about sentence subjects with this worksheet.

Add the subject to these incomplete sentences. 



Rhyming Words Game

Luke is working on learning rhyming words, and he absolutely loved this rhyming words game.  Your child matches the rhyming words.  For more rhyming practice, try these:


Match the rhyming words on this worksheet.

Rhyming Picture Cards Game

What Rhymes with Dog?

Saturday, December 18, 2010

How to Teach Children to Read When Homeschooling : Alphabet Sounds

Teach your child the sounds of the alphabet with the chant introduced in the video below.  You can also have them practice writing each letter with this tracer page.


Roll A Christmas Tree


There are so many versions of this fun addition dice game, but I am loving the design of this cute Christmas Tree graphic I found at Lettering Delights! 
 
 
Supplies:
 
2 dice
see through counters or small Christmas erasers to use as markers
 
Directions:
1. The first player rolls the dice and adds them together, then they cover that number on the mat with a marker. If they roll the same number again, they lose a turn. 
 
2.The players continue to take turns until someone has all the "ornaments" on their Christmas Tree!

Download Roll a Christmas Tree!
You might also like:

Friday, December 17, 2010

Subtraction Using Regrouping Lesson Plan

I've noticed with my boys that sometimes they don't understand the concept of place value as well as I thought when we start working on subtraction using regrouping.  The video below really demonstrates the concept well.  Here are some links for practicing:


Place Value Manipulatives

Snowflake Subtraction Worksheet

Fractions

If your kiddos are starting to learn about fractions, you may want to have them watch the video below.  After they watch it, they can practice with these worksheets.

Fraction Puzzles

What Fraction?

Equal Fractions

An Alphabet Song - ASL American Sign Language

Your little ones will love learning their alphabet in sign language with the video below. For extra practice, try this worksheet and flash cards.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Multiplication Grand Prix

Here is a fun little game to help with your Basic Facts!

Christmas Handwriting Worksheet

Holiday Handwriting Free Worksheet
Here is a great printable Christmas handwriting worksheet for practicing both handwriting and spelling Christmas words.  Would work great for journal writing as well!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Christmas Tree Coordinate Graphing

Your kids will love watching this Christmas tree drawn before their eyes as they practice coordinates.  You can print out the directions and a blank graphing chart here.

Shadow Play Read Aloud





Shadow Play is a great interactive read aloud for your beginning readers!  They will be able to practice reading sight words such as what, is, and it as they enjoy this story with repetitive patterns and a great surprise ending!  This was a hit with Luke, and I'm sure your little ones will love it too!

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Christmas Sorting Activity

A simple sorting activity. You can sort the bows by color or size. Can also be used for counting, graphing, addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication.


Gingerbread Baby Board Game

Click on each picture for the full-sized print
or click on the link under the artwork for a PDF version
Gingerbread Baby Board right Gingerbread Baby Board right
Click here for PDF                     Click here for PDF

This Little Dog Writing Prompt

Have your child write a story about this adorable little dog.  Where is he going? What or who is he looking at?  What is he thinking?

Matching Shapes Game





This Matching Shapes game is a fun way for your kiddo to practice matching shapes.  Your kids never realize they are working so hard when they are playing games.

Christmas Tree Board Game

Christmas Tree Game Board

This adorable Christmas Tree Board Game from Activity Village is a great way to practice number recognition and one-to-one correspondence.  You can  play the simple way with younger kiddos by  just using dice and the game board (shown above),  or you can print out the game cards to go along with it to make this a fun game for older children as well.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Christmas Journal Writing Prompts

If your kiddos are at a loss of what to write about in their journals, you may want to give these Christmas writing prompts a try.


Saturday, December 4, 2010

Power Towers - Review game

I absolutely love this idea!  I am going to make a set of addition facts and sight words for my 4 year old, and then I am going to change it up a bit to use it to review multiplication facts for my 3rd and 4th grader!

My Heart Is Like A Zoo - Simile Lesson Plan

Product Image Michael Hall's, My Heart Is Like a Zoo is a great way to introduce your child to similes. The book is filled with similes about animals and about one person's heart. Hall uses rhyme throughout the book which helps keeps the book moving. There is also a math component as the back of the book challenges you to count the hearts in the book.Hall uses more than 300 hearts in all.Take a look at the You Tube video highlighting the book.




Identifying Similes and Metaphors worksheet

Telling Time Lesson Plan

When the clock strikes one, a fun-loving mouse runs up the clock. But what happens when the clock strikes two? A cat gets hungry for mouse-tail stew . . . and the chase is on! Hour by hour, more animals - and even a few people - join in. The crowd charges into the barnyard, dashes through the kitchen, and eventually heads right into the middle of town. Keep your eye on the many clocks in this book and follow along until this twelve-hour race comes to a surprising end!

This book would be perfect to use to reinforce time telling practice! The familiar nursery-rhyme on page one will have students chuckling, but the rhymes only get funnier as the story goes on!
Hickory dickory dock,
a mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck ONE.
He said, "What fun!"
(But the mouse was in for a shock.)

Hickory dicory doo, the grandfather clock struck two.
It woke the cat, who sprang from his mat,
hungry for mouse-tail stew.

Hickory dickory dore,
the dashed across the floor,
splattering food (how terribly rude)
as the cuckoo cuckooed four.
Read the book first with your child, so he or she is familiar with the rhyming text and notice the clock on each page, how the time is noted. A day later reread the book, giving them  a  practice clock.  If you don't have one, you can make one here. Instead of reading the book from front to back, I would read the pages randomly, asking the child to make their own clock read the time that is read in the riddle.

Learning Activities:

Practice telling time to the hour with this worksheet.

Practice telling time with this fun math center. 

Practice telling time with this worksheet.

In this humorous look at shapes, Brian P. Cleary and Brian Gable introduce circles, ovals, triangles, squares, and rectangles. The comical cats of the wildly popular Words Are CATegorical® series explain how to identify each shape and provide loads of examples. Peppy rhymes, goofy illustrations, and kid-friendly examples make shaping up a snap! Rather than using the book in its entirety, I would break up the different shapes taught over the course of several days, or they will become too complex for children to remember. The different shapes are taught through rhyming text and concrete objects are used as examples for each shape, allowing ample opportunity to make connections between shapes and everyday objects!

Learning Activities:

Alphabetizing Game


 Alphabetizing
Fun game to practice your skills from Toon University (Choose Level 1, 2, or 3)