Informational Text Resources

One area that my boys have had challenges in reading is with expository or informational texts.  K12 reader has a myriad of resources in that area (as well as many others!). An example of the first grade and fourth grade level are pictured above.  Here are the links:

1st grade

2nd grade

3rd grade

4th grade

5th grade

The Little Red Hen

November is a great time to study the story of the Little Red Hen who couldn't find anybody to help her bake the bread, but plenty of animals who would help her eat it!  Here are some activities to go along with the story:

Reading

Have your child read this fun Rebus Version of the Little Red Hen.

After reading ths story ask your child the following questions:

1. How would you describe the hen?
2. How would you describe the other characters?
3. In what ways are they alike? In what ways are they different?
4. How do you think the Little Red Hen felt doing all of the work by herself.

Your kiddos will love retelling the story with this activity.

Here is a Little Red Hen activity packet.

Little Red Hen Letter Matching Cards

Letter Matching Spelling Cards

Practice reading color words with this emergent reader.

Math

Little Red Hen Counting Cards

Multiplication Mania

If you are working on multiplication with your homeschoolers, you may want to check out some of the great resources at Math is Fun.  From tips on learning multiplication facts, to worksheets, to timed fact tests like the one above, you are guaranteed to find something to help.

Here are some more resources for multiplication lesson plans.

Free Scholastic Math Magazine

Scholastic publishes a math magazine each month for sixth to eighth graders that makes math fun.  The magazine uses celebrities and television shows that teens enjoy, and add a math twist to them.  For example, in an episode of Wizards of Waverly Place starring Selena Gomez, her character has a Quinceanera. The magazine uses this theme to ask the readers to solve various word problems. 

If you think your homeschooler would enjoy the magazine, you can check it out for free here.

Calendar Daily/Morning Boards

Many homeschoolers start their day with a calendar or morning boards.  Here are a few I've seen in my perusals of other homeschooling blogs.  Maybe you will get some inspiration for your own calendar or morning board!

I love, love, love this board from Home(pre)schooling Jungle!  So many things to get inspiration from, and use.  You can take some basic ideas and change it around to match the needs of your own kiddos.

A few items to point out:

• The left side has a days of the week poem with a little library pocket to hold the different days of the week cards.  I have purchased these pockets myself at the Dollar Tree, you could also use small mailing envelopes.
• I love the 100s chart along with a dry erase marker to count the days of homeschooling!
• I also love the things we are learning this week section with flashcards on rings.  You could really customize these rings to fit your homeschooling needs with anything from colors and shapes to more advanced skills such as math facts and vocabulary words.  She has four sections on hers, which could work extremely well for homeschooling multiple kiddos.  Have one review ring for each of your students.
• On the right of the board she has used a pocket chart (they have these at many Target dollar spots right now for under $5) to provide a space for their daily schedule.  I know my kiddos like knowing what the day has in store for them, and it would be a great way to visually let them know what to expect.  You could also read it out loud during your morning meeting for your audio learners or non-readers.

I love the Veggie tale lessons on the top of this board from the Homeschooling Harts. 

Similar to the first board, this one was also made using a science project board.  I love that you can easily carry it from room to room, and can easily fold it for storage if need be, particularly if you don't have a dedicated homeschooling room.

I also love the alphabet chart along with pictures for practicing the alphabet and letter sounds for little ones.  Here is a link to a similar one.

You could also use a list of multiplication facts for older kiddos.

The following board from Homeschool Creations would be great for your older kiddos as well.

I love the way that she has incorporated place value into the chart on section 2 and the graphing of the temperature in section 6.  You can find these printables on her site here.

Here are a few more things that you might  find useful for a calendar or morning board:

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Calendar Tags

Daily sight words reading practice

Daily agenda

Do you do a Calendar or Daily Morning Board?  What things does yours include?

A Peek Into Our Homeschool Room

Here is a little peek into our homeschool room.  We share this are with my grocery stockpile, so I will just show a few views.

Our Bookshelves

We read a lot around here, so bookshelves are a must.  I am hoping to re-sort and label the green book bins by author or genre, I haven't quite decided yet. 

Our Supplies

I try to stock up on supplies during the back to school sales in the fall so that I can get the best prices.  Here are some of our supplies.  And yes they are in alphabetical order because I am a little OCD organized.

Desk Space

The kiddos normally work at the dining room table (as you can see in the picture below), the couch, or their rooms, so we don't really have separate desks for them. The oldest three each have a desk in their rooms.

 This is my desk which is in the homeschooling room area.

I am writing this post as part of the Not Back To School Hop. If you would like to share your curriculum plans, be sure to hop along! I would love to see what others are using!

Curriculum 2011-2012

Here are a few of the items we will be using in our homeschooling efforts for the upcoming year:

Reading:

Luke decided he needed to be in all the pictures, so I appeased him : )  - Just know that the materials are not all for him - he is bright, but not yet reading novels!

Daily 5 and The Cafe-

I love the fact that the "sisters" researched solid based reading practices to develop their system, and I will be incorporating it into our reading curriculum.  The Daily 5 consists of :

1. Read to Self

2. Read to Others (to Mom, Dad, or Brothers)

3. Listen To Reading

4. Work on Writing

5. Word Work (See Spelling/Words Their Way Below)

For read to self books, the boys will self-select books from either our home library, the library, or purchase that we make from Amazon using our SwagBuck earnings.  The books will be at their independent level (books they can read on their own with no assistance.

Luke is 5 and in Kindergarten so he will be working on various emergent readers, some store bought, some I make, and some printed off the internet based on letters and sight words he is focusing on each week.

Cody and Tyler are 9 and 10 and in 4th and 5th grade respectively.  They both read at about the 5th -6th grade reading level, and will be reading novels they choose. 

For Read to Others Books, the boys will read books that are at their instructional level (where they may need help with a few words).  I will select these books based on skills they are currently working on.

Tyler and Cody will also work on novel studies together.

Listen to Reading will be books on our Nook, books that we have on cd, and books that we have mp3s of.  It will also include Mom read alouds.  The purpose of listening to reading is for them to hear a fluent reader, and what good reading sounds like.  It also allows them to access and understand books that they may not be able to decode yet.  For example, Luke is not yet reading, but he loves to listen to Magic Tree House books.  I ask him questions as we are reading to help build his comprehension.

Work on Writing will include them writing in their journals, and working on writing lessons.  I plan on using some Lucy Calkin ideas (still need to purchase that book) and a book on using Non-fiction as mentor texts that is also on my wish list.

Word Work - Will include various activities using their spelling words from Words Their Way.  I will have hands- on activities such as shaving cream writing, scrabble spelling, using magnetic letters, wikki stick, this magnetic writing toy, etc, as well as games included in the Words Their Way Curriculum.

Spelling:

As I stated before, we will be using Words Their Way for our Spelling Curriculm.  I like that you assess the student to see what level they are currently working at, and then move from there.  I have a link to the assessments here if you would like to try it with your child. 

I also was lucky enough to have studied with Dr. Bear, one of the book's authors, while working on my Master's Degree, so I am very familiar with the program.  If you ever have any questions about this program feel free to ask, and if I don't have the answer, I can always ask him!

We have the main book which gives lessons and ideas for all of the ages, but I also have the various levels so that I can just copy a week's worth of words rather than having to think them up on my own.  I do have some word sorts that I have made which are posted here, but it is less pressure on me each week to use these.  They are not necessary, I just chose to use them. 

Luke age 5, Kindergarten - Letter Name-Alphabetic Spellers

Cody and Tyler 9, 10 4th and 5th grade - will start in Syllables and Affixes Spellers and later on in the year will move to derivational relations spellers. (They are almost done with the Syllables and Affixes lessons).

(And ignore my messy corner there - trying to get ready for the upcoming year and BlogHer and I am in a bit of dissary!)

Math

For math we will be using the Balanced Math Program which involves the following components:

1. Computational Skills (Daily Math Review and Mental Math)

2. Problem Solving

3. Conceptual Understanding

4. Mastery of Math Facts

5. Formative Assessment

For the Daily Math Review, I will make these up using the skills that the boys are working on and need continued practice with.  I will also include past skills they have learned to make sure that they are retaining what they have learned.  This is a blank template of the math review page that you can print out and fill out by hand, or pre-type problems in before printing.  An example of a completed third grade math review is here.  I will be sharing the ones I use for the boys throughout the year, but the idea in the book is to include skills based on your own child's needs.

For mental math we will use a variety of math challenges and games such as: hundreds chart games, Number Ninjas, and Number Tile games.

For Conceptual Understanding, I will use lessons from the Mini-lessons for math practice books above.

Mastery of Math Facts will involve flash cards, games, and timed "Math Mad Minutes".

Formative Assessments - are basically just tests to see what the kiddos still need to learn to drive their instruction. These will be based on the daily math review and daily lessons.

Social Studies

Luke age 5 Kindergarten - Community, Family, All About Me Units
Cody age 9 - 4th Grade - State History - We live in Nevada, so that means all about Nevada
Tyler age 10 - 5th Grade - US History

We will use a mix of resources - a few novels that follow the time period, internet, encyclopedia, research, etc.  Especially with Tyler and Cody, I want them to work on self-learning and researching skills.

Science

Will also be a mix of resources, but this will be my main text and go to resource for the units we work on.

Handwriting
Almost completely forgot this!  So I am using some OLD pics of Cody with our choice of Handwriting Without Tears.  We have used this for years and we all love it!  The boys love using the chalkboard to "wet, dry, try".

I am writing this post as part of the Not Back To School Hop.  If you would like to share your curriculum plans, be sure to hop along!  I would love to see what others are using!

Numbers About Me

Here is a great activity that mixes math and creative writing.  Print out the Numbers About Me template here. 

Ask your child to color and personalize the booklet cover and then fold it in half. Staple a stack of 3” x 4-½” blank paper inside the folded cover. Then challenge your child to think of numbers that describe himself/herself. If they need some inspiration give them an example, such as “The numbers one, two, three, and six describe me. I have one nose, two thumbs, three pets, and six children.” Have your child list in the booklet the numbers that represent him/her and a brief explanation of each.

Free On-line Issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

Are you looking for a magazine all about Homeschooling?  Well, you may want to check out The Old Schoolhouse.  Right now you can peruse an issue on-line for FREE!  Just head over here to read all 180 pages!  This issue features articles about lapbooking, teaching, your right brain child, and 17 ways to commect with literature.  If you are homeschooling a child with special needs, there is also an article that focuses on how to best serve their needs.

One thing that is really nice about this digital version is that you can easily skip to the articles you want to read without sifting through pages and pages because really, we are all so busy!

Homeschool Organization Inspiration

I love looking at and stealing getting ideas from other homeschoolers' homeschool spaces.  Here are just a few ideas I've beeen looking at lately:

This scissor display from Spell Outloud is practical and fun!  She made it using a magnetic knife holder from Ikea.  I love the label at top - adds an element of literacy for the kiddos, and really what kid does not love to play with magnets?

I am all about color coding - with 6 boys it is one of the things that helps keep me sane - each boy has their own color and I try to get everything for them in that color from cups to hangers to notebooks and folders.  That is why I love this idea from Mama to 4 Blessings.

She has divided each week of work for her homeschooler into folders by color.

But the most ingenious part of her system (in my humble opinion) are the matching color coded tags for when she needs to make copies.  Love That!

Be sure to visit her blog to see how she makes the whole system work.  She will be sharing her workbox organization soon.

I also am going to be adding the idea of keeping a library bag like the one used by Amber at A Classic Housewife in a Modern World.  Usually each of my boys keeps their own library books, but then it is a scramble to find them or we have to re-check them out because we don't know where they all are.  I think this year I will make them keep them in one bag, they can take them out to read, but must return them to the bag.

You will also want to visit her blog to see how she organizes her calendar!

Also, I am seriously jealous of Amber because she has one of these - it has been on my Amazon wish list for awhile now :)  Do you have one? Do you love it? Hate it? Pros/Cons?

Stay tuned for some more inspiration - including shots from my own home!  Aren't you excited? LOL!  If you would like to share some of your own tips leave them in the comments below or email me and I will link up to you and share some link love!

Homeschool Planning - Setting up Your Homeschool Calendar

If you are anything like me, you want to do everything, and you want to do it now!  But, really, wouldn't it be easier, and so much calmer if you took things one step at a time? That's what I am trying to do, we'll see if that happens!

So, for today's organization/planning task, set up your homeschool calendar.  You can use a regular calendar, you can print this calendar template out, or you can try a calendar like Stephanie O'Dea' Totally Together which also includes sections to keeping your house clean and organized. (You can win a copy here!) Whatever you choose, just make sure it is something that you will use, and that won't add to your workload.

Now that you have picked out your calendar, it is time to start filling it in. Decide how many days you want to homeschool during the calendar year. Some families choose to Homeschool 4 days a week leaving one day as a fun day or co-op day.  Other families keep a traditional school year Monday - Friday approach.

Next, figure out what days you are NOT going to homeschool - for holidays, vacations, breaks, etc. Put those in your calendar now.

Look over the curriculm you have chosen (or your standards, themes, or whatever else you have planned). How many lessons are there? Tentatively divide them out among the days you plan on schooling.  I say tentatively, because things always happen. Maybe your child picks up a concept much quicker than you thought, or maybe they need a few extra days of review.

Don't forget to pencil in some planning days or hours for you!  It is much easier to spend a day planning when you don't have to spend that day teaching and grading as well.

Your last step - Relax and enjoy the rest of your day - I will have a new task for you tomorrow!

It's Planning Time!

Suddenly it is almost August! Where has the summer gone? I hope you have taken time for yourself so that you are feeling less stressed and refreshed - ready for a new year!  August is the time of year when homeschool parents really begin to think about the new year ahead. It is time to research new ideas to use in your homeschool, and new ways of doing some of the necessary things. I also begin to get excited about beginning the new year  fresh with my children.

As it is a new year, make some resolutions. Every homeschool parent can improve and make learning better for their children. Try some new things in your reading and math programs, improve your science program or teach more PE to improve the fitness of your children. If your organizational skills (or your children's) can be improved, work on this. Every year you should think about improving in some way!

Over the next few weeks I will be giving you some ideas for organizing and planning your homeschool year.  I will provide linkys for sharing some of your great ideas as well. And the best news?  I will also be giving away some fabulous back to school organzing and homeschool supply prizes through blog post contests and twitter parties.   Additional Prizes and Sponsors will be added - so check back frequently!

Prizes and Sponsors

(updated 7/25/11)

Totally Together organizer by Stephanie O'Dea

Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See Book - Homeschool Parent

Coupon Binder - Fernley Family

Ultimate Back-to-School Combo - Mabel's Labels

$25 Gift Card to Target- Homeschool Parent

If you would like to share a blog post or sponsor this contest, please contact me at kellys3ps@sbcglobal.net for more information.