Kids and Blogging

Blogging is something that appeals to people.

I don't know exactly what it is that makes it so enjoyable, but it certainly is a lot of fun!

A year-and-a-half ago, one of my sons thought he would try his skills at blogging.  He did a pretty good job of it for a while.  He seems to get inspired to do it sporadically.  And since it's his project I let him take it at his own pace.

Here's his site : it's called Cliffside Notes

I gave him pretty much free reign about what and when to write. 

It has encouraged his typing skills, his editing skills and his general writing skills.  It has opened up the opportunity for us to discuss how to effectively communicate your message to an audience.  We talked about the idea that you can't assume anything about your audience.  

Who knows when his next post will be, but if I ever stop doing my blog compositions at midnight he might just see my example and get back on the wagon!

Do you have children who are blogging?  Post their links in the comments sections so we can check them out!

The Story of the World

Ah history... I always hated history in school.  I guess the teachers who taught it to us were really not teaching it.  I can only remember reading dry texts with lots of dates and details.  And then trying to memorize it all.  For me, the trouble with "history"  was that it seemed more like "no-story." Just boring facts.

So, now that I'm teaching history to my children, I am always looking for ways to bring the story to life.

Enter: The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child by Susan Wise Bauer.

If you're a classical educator, I'm sure you've heard of this series.  It's a history teachers dream!  I have actually come to love history thanks to this lovely set of books!  And, they are so well-suited to teaching world history to the younger learner.

There are four volumes, one for each year in the classical education cycle.  Each volume has a companion activity guide which is worth it's weight in gold! 

The activity guide contains references to other history books such as the The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia  and the Usborne Encyclopedia of World History, both of which are great for visual learners!  (Stay tuned for my post on learning styles, coming soon!)  

The activity guide also lists recommended reading of other non-fiction books (which can provide more background information on particular topics) as well as fiction which support the history theme.  Also found in the activity guide are reproducible maps and coloring pages, as well as recipes, craft ideas, games and more.  And, oh, let's not forget the review questions (it has those as well, although I admit to not using them a whole lot!)

For those auditory learners out there the series also comes with a compete set of audio books.  These are the full text, not abridged!  Each volume comes with 7 or more CDs. We love listening to them in the car!

The Story of the World is a complete history in four volumes from ancient to modern times.  My kids love to do the crafts, activities and recipes in the books.  And I love that the content is well researched and written in a clear and engaging style.

If you haven't seen them yet, check them out!

Related posts:

Story of the World Blog

Homeschooling on a Budget

Money's too hard earned to see it spent unnecessarily!

We strive not to break the home school budget in many ways some are quite obvious and others are crafty.  Here are a few of them:

• We try to use the library as much as possible.  Our local public library has a wealth of resources from books to books on CD and even DVD's!  We can learn a new language, or discover a new favorite book.  We make it a point to visit the library each week. (It's also a great place to meet new friends!)

• Planning ahead is another good way to economize when homeschooling.  I try to stick to my plans when acquiring new resources.  I don't know about you, but I could live in a bookstore or an office supplies store!  I love the smell and feel of new books and stationery supplies.  So, when I'm in one of those types of places I feel a little bit like a kid in a candy store.  It can be tricky not to over-spend on all those new and tantalizing supplies.  The trick is to make a list of the things you really need and try to avoid impulse purchases.

• Internet resources are another great way to save money when homeschooling.  It's amazing how many helpful people are out there posting free resources for downloading.  Many of them are intended for classroom teachers, but often these can be modified to suit a home school environment.

• Involve the children!  Teaching them about budgets is a great way to ensure that you're following one yourself.  They love applying what they learn, and what better way to set and example than by using restraint when deciding how to spend the home school budget.

• Buy quality materials.  If you're homeschooling for the long term, try to ensure that any equipment or books that you purchase will hold up under use and still be in good condition for the next child.

• Second hand materials are another obvious option.  Getting access to them can be the tricky part.  If you have a co-op with another family you could share resources, or pass them between children of staggered grades.  There are online sources of second hand materials.  And, we are lucky to have a local curriculum fair for Homeschooling families held once per year.  I always head to the second hand sale to see what treasures I can find.

• Make cooking a  subject in your curriculum.  Cooking at home is much cheaper than eating out, so why not shave off some of the food budget by teaching your children how to cook inexpensive and easy meals?  You could even use some of the former eating out budget toward homeschooling endeavours.  
  

What are you doing to home school economically?

Reading Assessment

Knowing what your child is comfortable reading is important for choosing a reading list that suits the child's ability.  For me, it was important that my children feel good about their reading skills and at the same time meet some challenges.

The Lexile Framework  is a great tool for selecting books that are progressive, or within a certain ability range.  Other leveling systems exist out there, like the grade level system found on the backs of some school age books.  For example 4.2 indicates 4th grade 2nd month.  And there's the letter system used by school teachers that begins with AA and goes to Z.  These are great if you are looking at a series of books which are already catalogued.   But what about the great literature out there that hasn't been catalogued?

Lexile Framework has been a great source of reference for us.

For example here are the results for 20,000 leagues under the Sea:

Jules Verne's original:  870L

Retold by Carl Bowen: 440L

Judith Conaway's adaptation:  440L

This is a very helpful chart for determining which book is appropriate for my children to read.

My eldest is reading in a lexile range of 700-900, so the original is fine for him.  But,  if a younger sibling wanted to read the same story, either of the 2 retellings would be more appropriate reading level.

Try a search for yourself and see!

Online Math Curriculum Supplements

I have found a couple of websites that I frequent for math enrichment.

They are from 2 text book companies which publish online support materials.

The first one is Houghton Mifflin Math.  I use the table of contents from the leveled practice link to pinpoint appropriate material to support the concepts that we are working on.   For example, if I'm helping my 5 year old with adding by counting on then unit 6 from grade 1 reinforces that concept.

By selecting the leveled practice link, we are able to view all the lessons in the unit and the type of worksheet to generate (practice, reteach, homework, problem solving and English learners.)   The reteach is helpful if I'm looking for another way of explaining a concept (since Houghton Mifflin is not my primary math curriculum.)  The .pdf files that support these units are quick and to the point.   Click one circle from the 2 sections to view a worksheet.

Another good math resource is the Harcourt online games which correlate to their math program.  These are a nice treat, or a good way to keep one child active while working one on one with another.  The games are simple but fun for kids.

Bob Books - Basic Phonics

My kids felt such pride after being able to read their very first book.

For each of them their first book was Mat, which is book 1 in the Bob Books Set 1.

Bob Books are written by Bobbi Lynn Maslen and illustrated by her husband.  Each page is paced perfectly for the fledgling reader.  There are not too many words on the page and the stories all end with "The End!"

The stories are charming and the kids love them!  Each book adds a few new letter sounds and keeps familiar characters in the story.   The second book in the series is called "Sam."   I highly recommend this set of books for any child who has learned their consonants and short vowels.  Check them out!  If you want to peek inside the books, amazon has some sample pages and also customer images posted  from readers.

   

Kids in Mind Movie Ratings

I know this topic isn't directly related to homeschooling, but this website has to be the greatest invention since the VCR!  Kids in Mind movie ratings is an online resource for determining the appropriateness of movies for children.

Each film is rated according to the level of sex/nudity, violence/gore, and profanity.  Each element is scored from 1-10.  1 being mild and 10 being extreme.

The site doesn't stop there, however.  It then procedes to outline the details which gave the film the rating.  So in the sexuality description it might say something like "A woman wears a short skirt.  A man kisses a woman on the cheek."  '

I love this site and have found the ratings to be fairly consistent.  I know that my sons' violence levels are a 2 for the youngest and 3 for the oldest.  So I can use the search feature to find films that have violence ratings of 2 or less for family viewing.

Another interesting feature is that it lists topics for discussion that are presented in the film.  

This has been a great help when my kids ask about seeing a particular movie.  I might want to still pre-screen some of it, but I have a better idea what I might be looking for!  

Sunday Surfing: Educational Websites

I guess it's no surprise that if Mom is a blogger that the children are also involved in computer/internet learning.

Here are a few of our favorites:

Galaxy Zoo:  This is a real life research project where individuals with time to spare can help classify galaxies.  Yes, that's right actually classify galaxies.  

Krampf:  This guy is so cool.  He's always got an experiment or demostration to share.  Lots of cool videos and you can even subscribe to a newsletter with an experiment of the week.

Wildcam:  Ever wonder what wild animals are up to in their natural habitat.  Wild cam give you a sneak peek of what's going on in the wild! Some of the cams are highlights and others are in real time.