tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18282815947760201942024-02-07T02:41:25.587-08:00Teaching GenerationsIdeas and thoughts about teaching our children from a homeschooling grandmother and her three homeschooling daughtersAmy Beckstead Leonardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01722416326961147801noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828281594776020194.post-48887369008078855582013-03-01T05:13:00.000-08:002013-03-01T11:42:21.487-08:00Writing Classes on Skype<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I loved homeschooling my own children. Homeschooling is my passion. I love being close to my grandchildren so what do I do for fun? I teach my grandchildren classes over Skype.<br />
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I have a Writing class each week with four of them. They range in age from eight to eleven. I use an old book that I had used with my children by Joan D. Berbrich. She wrote three I really like, <i>Writing about Amusing Things, Writing About Curious Things</i>, and <i>Writing About People and Yourself,</i> my favorite. This year I am using <i>Writing About Amusing Things</i>. Each week I make a powerpoint that teaches a lesson. Then I send the powerpoint to each household. We go over the lesson and they get their assignments. The next week we read their assignments.<br />
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For me the key to a writing class is that they learn that writing is a form of communication. They need positive and constructive feedback and examples. Each week we begin by having them share their writing with each other. After each one reads their paper, or I read it for them, the choice is theirs, everyone makes comments on what they like about the paper. I always try to point out things they are doing well. As this goes on each one learns from the others. As they hear what the others are doing well they eventually try to incorporate that into their writing.<br />
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Also I believe adult examples are important. The children need to hear more mature voices and to know that adults still write, not just authors, but normal adults. My husband, the grandfather, is writing his life story, episode by episode. He joins our class many times and uses the assigned ideas to write an episode for his autobiography and shares it with our class. The children love to hear his papers. I write papers also; but the real treat is hearing Grandpa.<br />
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Last week we had a lesson on making excuses. Their assignment was to write an anecdote about someone giving an amusing excuse. It didn't have to be the truth; but most of them started out basing it on truth and then imbellished it. I try to mention their use of specific vocabulary that really paints a picture for us to see. This eight year old granddaughter really did that in her paragraph.<br />
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was resting on. </i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.5in;">My math slipped off </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.5in;">and my pencil
flew out of my hand like an arrow </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.5in;">and shot through my math book and out </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.5in;">the other
side. So you see, I </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.5in;">couldn't have done
my math because there was a huge hole </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.5in;">in my </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.5in;">book.</span></i></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 0px;">They also had the assignment to write a quatrain about an excuse. </span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 0px;">A </span><span style="text-indent: 0px;">quatrain </span><span style="text-indent: 0px;">is a four line poem that </span><span style="text-indent: 0px;">the second and fourth lines </span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 0px;">rhyme. </span><span style="text-indent: 0px;">Sometimes they really </span><span style="text-indent: 0px;">get into an assignment and do more </span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 0px;">than the </span><span style="text-indent: 0px;">r</span><span style="text-indent: 0px;">equirement. This ten year old </span><span style="text-indent: 0px;">wanted to do more so her </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="text-indent: 0px;">poem had </span><span style="text-indent: 0px;">several stanzas.</span><br />
<span style="text-indent: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.5in;"> <i> </i></span><i><b style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.5in;"> </b><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.5in;"><b>The Story of
Freddy</b></span></i></div>
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</div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.5in;"><i>I know you all are hungry</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><i> And I am
hungry too,</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><i>For when I
was baking pancakes,</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;"> The griddle
ran off with a shoe!</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><i>Then the batter said to me,</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><i> "I'll
bat you right out of the park.",</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><i>"No,
you're not that kind of batter!" I said,</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;"> But it
whacked me as high as a lark.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><i>On my way up I broke through the top,</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><i> The very top
of our house,</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><i>"You'll have
to pay for the repairs."</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;"> "I have as
much money as a mouse!"</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><i>That's why we don't have pancakes,</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><i> You'll have
to do with oatmeal.</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.5in;"><i>But for me
there's some leftover cake and pie.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><i> What a
delicious meal! </i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 18px;">This is just one of the classes I teach. I will write about others later.</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
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<!--EndFragment-->Ginnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085220203155388350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828281594776020194.post-62577102540510213382012-06-13T09:05:00.000-07:002012-06-17T08:57:51.910-07:0010 Reasons Why I Homeschool<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIm9J1_8buMyqe_Hrug8xHbK4GCQGLmGHrrE6AM2wH6OOguzM1vTEg2CuzRI0MTXFH30J4aUrOhgKjM8_DqpnWGDYlvuxCpQBUNk0M819eWvSY_DFgBdIcT_NLzuHOtNlCup_zRWfoUMo/s1600/butterfly" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIm9J1_8buMyqe_Hrug8xHbK4GCQGLmGHrrE6AM2wH6OOguzM1vTEg2CuzRI0MTXFH30J4aUrOhgKjM8_DqpnWGDYlvuxCpQBUNk0M819eWvSY_DFgBdIcT_NLzuHOtNlCup_zRWfoUMo/s320/butterfly" width="240" /></a></div>
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Yesterday, a mom asked me, "Is it just so hard to pile all your kids into the car and drive your kids to school? Is that why you homeschool? Is it just easier to stay home?" <br />
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I had to force myself not to laugh. I was asked this question previously from another mom. Wow! It blew my mind again that some people think that is the reason why people homeschool. It just opened my eyes to the fact that many people don't understand homeschooling and have no idea why people homeschool. They have just never been exposed to it. It is such an unfamiliar thing to them. So, I decided to make a list of some of the reasons I homeschool. And "it's just easier to not pile all my kids into the car" is not one of them. I actually don't know anyone that homeschools for that reason ;)<br />
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1. I have a passion for teaching children! I love the challenge of finding ways to help them understand concepts and learn. It is my hobby! (I have been known to read math textbooks late at night in bed.)<br />
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2. I can give my children more individual attention than they would receive in a classroom of 32 kids. Yes, that is the class size where we live in California. I know my children and their learning styles year after year. Each new year at school, a new teacher would have to try to understand my child and help them learn. I have it a lot easier with a 4:1 ratio. <br />
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3. I can skip over material my children know and slow down when they have a hard time. My daughter already knew how to spell words on a spelling list, so she didn't need to do worksheets practising those words or to take a test on them. However, my daughter struggled with her math facts, so we had to approach them various different ways until she was able to memorize them. <br />
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4. I want my children to develop a love for learning. We can really delve into studying a topic and explore their interests which I believe helps them enjoy learning. I think school teachers would love to do more of this, but they have to focus on tests instead. <br />
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5. We can get more done in less time. We don't have to spend time lining up, waiting on the whole group to finish a math problem or doing a pointless worksheet just to use up time. We can usually finish our schoolwork in 3 hours (I have younger children) and we have the rest of the day to learn more and play. <br />
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6. Since we spend less time on "school," we have more time for play and extracurricular classes. My daughter took a Spanish class, a group tennis class, a nature exploration, and an American history hands-on project class this last year. They have also taken pottery classes, painting lessons, PE classes, science classes, soccer team and creative writing classes. We also get to do many field trips with groups. I pile my kids in the car many times a day, not just to take them to school and back ;).<br />
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7. My kids spend more time with their siblings and more <i>playtime</i> with friends their age. They don't get to sit next to friends in a classroom all day (where you can't talk to the person next to you), but they do get to play with friends at the park, at nature classes or on field trips. <br />
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8. I get to learn along with them! Last year, I learned more about Lewis and Clark than I ever knew. We read their journals and it was fascinating. I learned more about Benjamin Franklin. I love catching the excitement my children have about these topics. How lucky am I! It is so fun to learn!<br />
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9. I hope that we can avoid some of the attitudes that some children have in school. Some of the ideas I personally like to avoid are: "I can only play with kids that are in he 5th grade" and "learning is boring". I also want to be the one to determine how they are exposed to sex and bad influences.<br />
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10. My husband and I feel good about homeschooling at this point in our children's lives. We have prayed about what is best for them and for our family.<br />
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I hope that this helps more people understand homeschooling. I would love to read someone write 10 reasons why they send their kids to school. I think they could have 10 really good reasons as well. I think it is helpful to understand advantages and disadvantages of both. Then, I can adjust and make up for the disadvantage. For example, if I feel socializing with kids their own age is an advantage of school, I can make sure to plan playdates and parkdays with kids with the same ages at my children. If I sent my kids to school and I felt no art classes in school is a disadvantage and that was really important to me, I could teach my kids art after school in a class or at home.<br />
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I love deliberate people who do things because they have thought about it, not just because that is what they are used to or that is what everyone else is doing. I could just homeschool because I was homeschooled and that is what I am used to. I do think that plays a part in our decision (because I had a great experience being homeschooled), but we have also analyzed and decided what is best for our family. Tatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04584969541189857119noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828281594776020194.post-79506530924491839302012-03-17T20:59:00.002-07:002012-03-17T20:59:55.128-07:00Kumon Cutting Book<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/First-Cutting-Workbooks-Commonwealth-Edition/dp/1933241764/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332042848&sr=8-1"><img aea="true" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVcbjObTr86J3EYNtUXsRuDQjLhnDpX1CCE60fdGH5Pw6yWsBFuWplffAjn4Ue-6gYlc7_kudGk-E1lH8iceI0iXVtMF5psBmcwOhFMo73j7RdjT8NYPwf2b-51gYCWeEoRIlqwqJgR-8/s1600/kumon+first+cutting+book.jpg" /></a></div>
My 3 year old wants to be a part of homeschool. She begs me for any type of workbook or worksheet. (If only my older kids were like that!). She can hardly stand to be sitting somewhere other than the table during school time.<br />
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I had a hard time finding activities she could easily do on her own. I wanted to share this great cutting book. She can do them all on her own and loves doing them. She has also learned great cutting skills. Kumon has many other books likes these. She enjoyed the My First Tracing Book as well. We finished both books and just ordered some others. We'll let you know how we like them!Tatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04584969541189857119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828281594776020194.post-8423198886470348482011-11-04T14:14:00.000-07:002012-02-13T16:37:44.577-08:00Getting Serious about Math Games!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguKfq-SMgLjgwp3G-po1L36wXggsL0S1Q5e7MAK5kQGX7OXOZJKn6jAq17KvE_hgrWcjO0HQejw-lKGvcCpGXLzgwsFzcwUEytYhyphenhyphenBy_i4YM4RkVbCLf1IHOCo9GAK6eujzaQRx1wZH70/s1600/card+games.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 266px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708783640658301538" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguKfq-SMgLjgwp3G-po1L36wXggsL0S1Q5e7MAK5kQGX7OXOZJKn6jAq17KvE_hgrWcjO0HQejw-lKGvcCpGXLzgwsFzcwUEytYhyphenhyphenBy_i4YM4RkVbCLf1IHOCo9GAK6eujzaQRx1wZH70/s400/card+games.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">image from: </span><a href="http://www.todaysparent.com/activities/10-kid-friendly-card-games"><span style="font-size:78%;">http://www.todaysparent.com/activities/10-kid-friendly-card-games</span></a><br /><br />When it came to addition facts, my daughter needed to get them down. The only problem was if she sees flash cards or I use a timer, she freezes. She starts panicking and gives me the wrong answers at a slower pace. I didn't know what to do. I had to think of ways for her to practice her addition facts without the drill.<br /><br />We started focusing on combinations of 10. Now her favorite combination is 7 + 3. I came up with some games that she has loved. Now my 5 year old knows most combinations that equal 10! We made math games a priority. Every morning after breakfast, we play 1-2 games. Here are games that I have made up. Each one has a little dance and song we do :)<br /><br /><u>Which Combination will Win?</u><br />(Probability for Combinations of 10)<br />Take 10 small objects that have 2 sides (like pennies or circle tokens with different colors on each side). We were actually studying poison dart frogs at the time, so I took beans and painted then blue on one side, let them dry and then red on the other side. First, my daughter made a list of all the possible combinations of 10 (9+1, 8+2, 7+3, etc.). This was good practice since she had to make the list each time we played. Then, we each chose one combination. Then, I put all the beans inside a cup, she shook them up and then poured them out. She counted how many blue and how many red and put a tally mark by that combination on our list. We did this 10 times. The person whose combination came up the most won!<br /><br /><u>Combination 10!</u><br />I take a stack of Uno cards (only using number cards). Each player is dealed 10 cards. They turn over all their cards and find pairs of numbers that equal 10 (5 and 5, 8 and 2, etc). Each player keeps their own matches. The leftover cards without matches go into a discard pile. After all the players have found matches, each player is dealed another 10 cards (until there are not enough cards to deal out more). The person that has the most matches of cards that equal 10 wins!<br /><br /><u>Slap that Ten<br /></u>We use our uno cards. I have the stack of cards and turn over two cards. I continue to put new cards face up on the two cards. When both cards together make 10, the players have to slap that ten! They get all the cards on the stack (below the combination of 10). The winner is the person with the most cards at the end.<br /><br /><u>30 minus something</u><br />Each player is dealed 5 cards face down. All the other cards are scattered face up all over the floor. The game starts when the players turn over one of their 5 cards. They have to find the answer to 30 minus the card they turned over (For example, the card is 4, so the player thinks 30-4=26). They have grab the number 2 and 6 from any of the scattered cards on the floor to make 26. They put the 4, 2, and 6 together to make a set, and turn over their next card. This is a game of speed and all players work at the same time, without taking turns. I sometimes have different players have different numbers to minus from (one has 40 minus something, another person has 100 minus something, etc.)<br /><br /><u>Addition Battle-</u><br />Each player is dealt 2 cards face up. Each player solves the sum of their two cards. The highest sum takes all the cards. This is repeated until all cards are dealt. If there are two sums that are the highest and the same number, they have an addition battle. Addition battle is when two players put down two more cards and add their numbers to see who wins all the cards. The winner is the player with the most cards.Tatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04584969541189857119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828281594776020194.post-41332663377975579062011-05-11T17:26:00.000-07:002011-05-13T13:36:39.334-07:00Writing Club with Cousins!In my family, there are so many families that homeschool that the older cousins have a book club. They each read certain chapters of the assigned book, then one of the moms thinks of two writing prompts that relate to the book. Each child chooses a writing prompt and writes a response. Then, they meet weekly via skype and share their writing with each other.<br /><br />Well, my oldest daughter in the first grade started loosing motivation in her daily writing journal. I wanted her to not only be more motivated in writing, but improve in her writing skills. I talked with my sisters and we decided to make a younger book club. So far, we have read Charlotte's Web, Little House in the Big Woods and Beezus and Ramona. The cousins get to see each other on skype and share their writing. After each child reads, the others comment on what they liked about it. It takes about 15-30 minutes. I found a great site called Edhelper.com. It has books for each grade level with review questions and writing prompts for each chapter from the books. <a href="http://www.edhelper.com/books/literature_units.htm">Here</a> is the link! It makes it so easy to come up with writing prompts!<br /><br />Here is an example of a writing prompt for younger grades for Charlotte's web:<br />1. What do you like to do in the summertime? Do you like to do some of the things they do in the book?<br />2. Wilbur wanted to spin a web like Charlotte. Have you ever wanted to do something, but when you tried, you couldn't? How did you feel?<br /><br />I have already seen an improvement in my daughter's writing. She will say things like, "Oooh, I'm going to write this like "Jen" does." or "I wrote what color my shirt was like "Amelia" does." I highly recommend doing a skype writing club not only because it will improve their writing, but they will get to see their "cousins" more often.Tatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04584969541189857119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828281594776020194.post-27189929615762753822011-01-30T14:14:00.000-08:002011-01-30T14:15:14.931-08:00More Fun with Letters!My 2 1/2 year old is starting to understand that letters are everywhere! She knows about 10 letter sounds now. It is so fun to see her little mind working. She has started to notice letters as she reads books, looks on the back of cereal boxes or even plays with her toys that have alphabet letters on them. "Look! There's the c, Mommy!" I forgot how much fun it is when they actually realize letters can be found everywhere!<br /><br />I recently came across a great <a href="http://confessionsofahomeschooler.blogspot.com/2010/02/prek-letter-q-for-quilt.html">list</a> of activities to do with the letter Q from Confessions of a Homeschooler. I am doing a preschool for my 4 year old daughter's coop tomorrow! Many of the activities can be used with any letter of the alphabet. Make sure to check out her <a href="http://confessionsofahomeschooler.blogspot.com/">site</a> for other fun ideas on letter games. I am going to copy and paste my favorites directly from that site:<br /><br />**Alphabet Activity: This is called the stair game, everyone loves it! She stands at the top and I flash a letter, she says the letter and its sound. If she’s right she gets to jump down a stair. When she hits the bottom she wins! <a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/__PNkZ0hVKgg/S2YY8HWWALI/AAAAAAAAAos/WwfL9UQ5J-4/s1600-h/IMG_3338%5B2%5D.jpg" vglnk_1296424856874="11"></a><br /><br />***Finger Tracing Paint Bag: This is simple and fun, I filled a bag with tempura paint, you could also use cheap shaving cream. Then I'll tape it to her desk for her to practice writing her letter on using her finger. You could also skip the bag and put shaving cream on your counter if you're feeling brave ;o) After we do the letters we do numbers, shapes, and whatever else we can think of!Tatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04584969541189857119noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828281594776020194.post-14231963322636507662011-01-15T07:46:00.000-08:002011-01-15T08:30:31.996-08:00Short Vowel Readers!I always struggle to find books my children can read when they are first starting reading. When my children have mastered short vowels, they want to read books! That is why we created a few short vowel books we have posted for free <a href="http://teachinggenerations.blogspot.com/search?q=short+vowel">here</a>. There are so few books out there that only have short vowels :) I recently found a great series!!<br /><br /><img style="WIDTH: 147px; HEIGHT: 160px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5562446704948323410" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWOiIWNH6QPQnayy8DWXxI0kWR7GnuZ_bo8rrvRb9xpYC2m3QV5uuM_38TZzrA5MmbuCcOAXtkc3Zx1Ala6iNvxTf2mP2QkSbVe6PwXICYHAbbP0F0dC1VNzO5AwKD6ZrQDXP5ASc0kc4/s400/playful+pals.jpg" /> <img style="WIDTH: 153px; HEIGHT: 160px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5562447519118247698" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNo0wEKVXQEjlDZhhubjBfOEoJNBvKeLGy7KA0EYXXlnbmu1AqrfllgzHCwERZdAq-T_At0RY1ty01_mbHBbomSE1EtQ32-UUcy8zV7RST32yajTYKcBcDMktUpFV0kvic8IQEpckt8wc/s400/clever+critters.jpg" /><br /><br />The Now I'm Reading! Series by Nora Gaydos is adorable! I'm so happy I have found it.<br /><br /><u>Things I love about these books:<br /><br /></u>1. There are 20 books for short vowel words. Can you believe it, 20!<br /><br />2. Each set comes with a cute set of stickers that coordinate with each book. The children have 4 stickers per book. Each time they read the book by themselves out loud, they get a sticker. I love repetition and my daughter loves putting on a sticker each time she reads it!<br /><br />3. Each page builds on the previous page. Each story starts with two words, the next page has three words (repeating the first two words) and it continues to build on the first two words as the story goes on. It is a perfect way to build confidence in the early readers!<br /><br />4. The stories are actually fun to read! They are cute and clever. They are not boring to read over and over again! Sorry, I am not a fan of the BOB books. It makes it so much more enjoyable for my daughter and for me to read these books :)<br /><br />Click on the two sets of stories above to find out more about them, read other great reviews and buy them :)Tatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04584969541189857119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828281594776020194.post-26268367237591620922010-09-10T17:40:00.000-07:002015-10-08T07:19:18.602-07:00Word Families Website!<div>
For reading and spelling, I have found that my oldest daughter really catches on quickly when she can categorize words that have similar sound endings. We are focusing on a word family each week to learn to recognize, read and spell the words. </div>
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I searched around for spelling books or other types of workbooks with word families and I couldn't find any that I liked. I searched the internet and couldn't find any good sites. But then I came upon a real gem. I love <a href="http://www.wordway.us.com/">this</a> site! </div>
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Reasons why I love <a href="http://www.carlscorner.us.com/WordWay.htm">Word Way Word Families</a>:</div>
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*the pictures are adorable and have more than one picture for different meanings (hook and Captain hook, for example)</div>
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*there is a variety of fun activities to do: fill-in-the-blank, word search, name the picture, cut and paste, and other games.</div>
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*each word family includes a lot of words, including compound words (for example, for the /-ark/ family, they have remark and bookmark). </div>
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*they have a configuration station page. They use these in school to help kids picture how letters are below and above the main line. I think my oldest will really benefit from this and I didn't want to have to create it myself.</div>
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<div>
We are starting with <u>r-controlled word families</u> found <a href="http://www.wordway.us.com/BossyR.htm">here</a>. As we complete a set of each word family a week (taking out some activities/worksheets I don't like as much), I am also planning on doing other interactive games with the word families. I am planning on building on the word families from prior weeks to review how to spell them as well. So, we will do these activities with the /ook/ family we did last week and the /ar/ family that we learned this week.</div>
<div>
</div>
<br />
<div>
<u>Here are the extra games my daughter can choose from to do with me:</u></div>
<br />
<div>
*Mommy Matches: Make a matching sheet for Mommy with pictures<br />
*Rainbow Letters: Write five words with three different colors<br />
*Finger Paint Words: Use your finger to spell out five words with a bag full of paint<br />
*Bend it: create five words using wiki sticks or pipe cleaners<br />
*Playdough: create five words using playdough<br />
*Run & Spell with Mom: Mommy gives you clues and you have to run in the other room and write the word correctly<br />
*Silent Charades: act out each word and then the guesser has to write the word down correctly in order to guess.<br />
*Dictation: Mom will dictate a sentence using words from different word families. You will write the sentence and draw a picture.</div>
<br />
<div>
<a href="http://www.wordway.us.com/BossyR.htm"></a></div>
Tatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04584969541189857119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828281594776020194.post-86941004574103482702010-09-05T22:11:00.001-07:002010-09-05T22:13:34.250-07:00The Power of Cereal BoxesI just posted a fun new way to enjoy breakfast over at our Spanish teaching blog <a href="http://wannajugarwithmigo.blogspot.com/2010/09/power-of-cereal-boxes.html">here</a>. You can apply this to anything you are teaching your children. You could use it to reinforce things they have learned or motivate them to get interested in a new subject. Check it out!Tatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04584969541189857119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828281594776020194.post-60368524143657735782010-07-16T07:51:00.000-07:002010-07-16T08:07:09.276-07:00Treasure Hunt Reading!<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgsxWkEAKqsioNvuOBDpc_POJ3aSRcHEyRqbHJ2znUODZPymtKAbFBRjNzLYjDa08LTrhpNL7AsKZ94xjeJKEoamTNqKbJgiGyJ41i1Zub9ABTNJNrVzFXikarpDgw7Rfsst4sHCIOV90/s1600/P1010820.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494520080751760626" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgsxWkEAKqsioNvuOBDpc_POJ3aSRcHEyRqbHJ2znUODZPymtKAbFBRjNzLYjDa08LTrhpNL7AsKZ94xjeJKEoamTNqKbJgiGyJ41i1Zub9ABTNJNrVzFXikarpDgw7Rfsst4sHCIOV90/s400/P1010820.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div>To change our reading up a little bit, I decided to create a treasure hunt for my 4 year old. It took maybe 3 minutes to do :) I wrote out simple instructions like "Go to Mom's bed" "Go to the fish" etc. At the end, she had to find a cup in the kitchen with her surprise in it. She had a few M&M's in hers, but you could put some yummy fruit or marshmallows or even a smoothie in it. She was so excited to find every clue, she was shaking with excitement as she picked up each paper and then squealed with delight after reading each one. You can make them more complicated depending on their reading level and even make fun riddles. Just a fun way to show kids all the ways reading comes in handy :)</div><br /><br /><div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGYeWgiaNqRPmDbYFJVaEB7zIwm3lJ3FVPvoUGgrnw2SRiKywFNIXxG5JF6MtwJKIiOtZf-x0m09wJ_ozTXW_O4J7MZYB6GzZN1f9RIznYGfepQj5bApqDLfGMhjibc4Wlr8TwwCH0GfQ/s1600/P1010822.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 300px; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494520081205752434" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGYeWgiaNqRPmDbYFJVaEB7zIwm3lJ3FVPvoUGgrnw2SRiKywFNIXxG5JF6MtwJKIiOtZf-x0m09wJ_ozTXW_O4J7MZYB6GzZN1f9RIznYGfepQj5bApqDLfGMhjibc4Wlr8TwwCH0GfQ/s400/P1010822.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div>I'm sure everyone has done a treasure hunt, but here is how we did it. For the set-up, write out 5-10 clues. Start with an original clue ("Go to Mom's bed"), then put the next clue at mom's bed (maybe the clue on mom's bed says "Go to the car") so then the next clue would be on the car and so on. The very last clue leads to the treasure :)</div></div>Tatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04584969541189857119noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828281594776020194.post-66173512454291982182010-03-24T03:01:00.000-07:002010-03-24T03:06:57.792-07:00Peep and the Big Wide World Giveaway<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFvw3xppnkdyLy1Y52Q24JR4NCE5B2nKLNxZwsvfdFZXlGcGw0rq2D-pl58zcyZVPop_U79T1xzXZAeLOz-Hap7VaDN1Zrd1__sTD29Dxa5z4z-0ZMpLnz5bWDXv3z2hUcDs-fldFmdas/s1600/logo_on.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 110px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFvw3xppnkdyLy1Y52Q24JR4NCE5B2nKLNxZwsvfdFZXlGcGw0rq2D-pl58zcyZVPop_U79T1xzXZAeLOz-Hap7VaDN1Zrd1__sTD29Dxa5z4z-0ZMpLnz5bWDXv3z2hUcDs-fldFmdas/s200/logo_on.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452139087658547458" border="0" /></a><br />There is a wonderful giveaway and introduction to a wonderful resource for teaching children Spanish. There are darling little videos that teach science concepts. Then there are videos giving ideas for experimenting with each concept. What a wonderful idea. Go see this wonderful giveaway at <a href="http://www.spanglishbaby.com/2010/03/video-of-the-week-peep-and-the-big-wide-world-giveaway/#comment-6014">SpanglishBaby</a>.Ginnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085220203155388350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828281594776020194.post-74067319135059110812010-03-13T04:50:00.000-08:002010-03-13T04:58:00.264-08:00Yoga in Spanish Giveaway<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXvIezxthhEJJ6gt5gMjzPGdcB0Uc0wmrfTkCkqUkmxyt24PFCQhyd5-G-uBkMl1v5kiCLl9r_3kGFdn1Xzf3BM9fsNU7CpnSkoL35NFMm3MGPlRDO90RtkGAWpyYcCLkO7jCng2wmos8/s1600-h/AdultChildPose.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 132px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXvIezxthhEJJ6gt5gMjzPGdcB0Uc0wmrfTkCkqUkmxyt24PFCQhyd5-G-uBkMl1v5kiCLl9r_3kGFdn1Xzf3BM9fsNU7CpnSkoL35NFMm3MGPlRDO90RtkGAWpyYcCLkO7jCng2wmos8/s200/AdultChildPose.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448101877418549954" border="0" /></a><br />I just heard about a great giveaway. There are two yoga workouts, one for adults and another for children. They are in Spanish by a wonderful Colombian lady, Ana Lilian. I love Colombians and the way they speak Spanish. You will understand what I mean when you listen to her speak. Since I am not a native speaker, I always say that just my heart is Latina and more specifically Colombiana. Great opportunity! Go <a href="http://www.spanglishbaby.com/2010/03/yoga-in-spanish-for-kids-giveaway/#comment-5863">here</a> to enter.Ginnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085220203155388350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828281594776020194.post-40418258942833260032010-01-19T09:38:00.000-08:002010-01-19T10:08:17.163-08:005 Books Every Homeschool Should HaveI am Ginny's oldest daughter Amy, who recently reluctantly began blogging after overcoming my fears that it would take over my life. My personal blog about homeschooling and rearing children, inspired by the Suzuki Method of learning instruments, is <a href="http://www.mothertonguehomeschooling.blogspot.com/">http://www.mothertonguehomeschooling.blogspot.com</a>.<br /><br />A couple of months ago I read a list online of "5 Books Every Cook Should Have," which got me thinking about what types of books each homeschool should have.<br /><br />5 Books Every Homeschool Should Have<br /><ol><li>A history book that reads like a collection of stories. This year we are reading <em>Abraham Lincoln's World</em> by Genevieve Foster for a class taught by my mom. By telling stories from around the world during Lincoln's lifetime, Foster brings history to life and helps the reader feel the spirit of the times. To know history is to better understand humanity if the book depicts it well.</li><li>The complete works of William Shakespeare. Through her character Crawford in <em>Mansfield Park</em>, Jane Austen expressed the importance of Shakespeare so eloquently that I will not attempt to improve upon it. Crawford said: "But Shakespeare one gets acquainted with without knowing how. It is part of an Englishman's constitution. His thoughts and beauties are so spread abroad that one touches them everywhere; one is intimate with him by instinct." We owe so many words, metaphors and similes to Shakespeare; to know Shakespeare is to know English.</li><li>A science book that reads like a collection of stories. In my opinion, all good writers are primarily storytellers. Science can be a pageturner, too. Last year we worked in <em>The Joy of Chemistry</em> by Cathy Cobb, with me doing the reading and then sharing it with my children. Now I know that chemistry affects me every day, running my car, cooking my food, even making post-it notes sticky. To know science should be to gain a greater understanding of how the world works.</li><li>A math textbook that uses literature, comics, stories and puzzles to show the relevance of math to everything. When my mom told me to use <em>Algebra</em> by Harold Jacobs, I complied. In no time, though, as my daughter and I anticipated the next lesson each day, I found myself wishing that he had written more than <em>Algebra, Geometry, </em>and <em>Mathematics: a Human Endeavor</em>. If math at all levels were taught in the Jacobs way, everyone would know that to know math is to be able to quantify, measure, and analyze the world. Numbers surround us every day, and we need to know how to manage them.</li><li>A classic novel your child returns to repeatedly throughout their childhood. I hope every homeschooling parent can assist each of their children in finding a book they have a strong personal affinity for. Mine as an adolescent was <em>Up a Road Slowly </em>by Irene Hunt. My oldest daughter Karina's is <em>Little Women</em> by Louisa May Alcott, and my second daughter Katie's is <em>Watership Down</em> by Richard Adams. I am currently hunting for the right book for my oldest son, Tommy (10). To read should be to communicate with a book on a personal level, to fall in love with a story and feel its resonance in your life. Education would be empty without this.</li></ol>Amy Beckstead Leonardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01722416326961147801noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828281594776020194.post-14176613888920404272009-11-24T05:57:00.000-08:002009-11-24T06:14:25.123-08:00Christmas Activities<div><div>I love Christmas! 5 activities we love to do together as a family each year are:</div><div></div><br /><div>*Sing Christmas carols around the piano. It is such a special, family bonding time. This year we are starting something special. We are having an "extravanza" where everyone in the family is preparing something musical to perform (singing, guitar, piano, anything). I will let you know if it becomes our next tradition.</div><div></div><br /><br /><div>*Have a big Mexican dinner for Christmas Eve, Noche Buena. We have enchiladas, fajitas, tacos, chips and salsa, flan, tamales, and cheese dip. So yummy! Add a pinata, a great story like The <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Legend-Poinsettia-Tomie-dePaola/dp/0613053451">Legend of the Poinsettia</a> and it is a beautiful way to start the evening!</div><br /><div><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Legend-Poinsettia-Tomie-dePaola/dp/0613053451"><img style="WIDTH: 224px; HEIGHT: 280px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407672740094981282" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQbaUKsw7IC7dgK7cZEnJAMt1CzG2vKxPSlX6mN4tEzTHPGctz4fUIA1WCm04FtL3-MbxiJCPxkuE6mnY14v47CQWK5krPnJT6T8Mdl70_zlkAuZLJYW3lmlSWbsgy0yKOwWCAeyhlRKM/s400/legend+of+poinsettia.jpg" /></a><br /><div></div><br /><div>*Go Christmas caroling. It is always fun to bring Christmas cheer to neighbors and friends. The littlest kids have to bring along Christmas bells so they can contribute even if they don't know the words.</div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiArJAY3UXmwmqzCaFSTmb3bvVg9ZfWo7YE8_n1mzQebCR1GUkvt9-_Jn9fkyGPy2s35dJMmOJCkHAx2pBB-QmubI24s0G_ghT3-yz7cwWfkpVTUtCCEhVTU_JotbooVsz-m9g9MAF2-4/s1600/jingle.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 135px; HEIGHT: 110px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407672741524156322" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiArJAY3UXmwmqzCaFSTmb3bvVg9ZfWo7YE8_n1mzQebCR1GUkvt9-_Jn9fkyGPy2s35dJMmOJCkHAx2pBB-QmubI24s0G_ghT3-yz7cwWfkpVTUtCCEhVTU_JotbooVsz-m9g9MAF2-4/s400/jingle.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div></div><div>*Do an advent calendar. It is fun to add to the excitement counting down the days. We did this advent last year and will pull it out his year.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlQawqEb9_Sfaa2b6zigEiyTMpYYC7f1bSnYRQ7pKmnai4_4iIhIw9v6NCVYMF6vF1NqzM9Y1zLMUu-EZf0QIvjCbYWjHZxFncMy-xt51bfbX-UPefEkdRu5tmXAW1Y9g1WW0y3Nu1BWo/s1600/picture+advent.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 286px; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407670722400720626" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlQawqEb9_Sfaa2b6zigEiyTMpYYC7f1bSnYRQ7pKmnai4_4iIhIw9v6NCVYMF6vF1NqzM9Y1zLMUu-EZf0QIvjCbYWjHZxFncMy-xt51bfbX-UPefEkdRu5tmXAW1Y9g1WW0y3Nu1BWo/s400/picture+advent.jpg" /></a><br /><div> </div><div>*My husband brings out simple wood scraps and we put together a little manger scene. The kids can fill it up with hay. It helps remind us of the real reasons of Christmas</div></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjjAHXBc7-vI60UqxWpP-kH2ASFBBePfRpUtFszWBytzIHdkO3Wc8KaECqI7wQZb1qY6wKzVPKb8cQteLqeJtvrapBFljP9jIMCL5M04vQ65l-0XY641EUL9YuixRcoVWEKbLClvZwUuo/s1600/manger.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 355px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407672750225028578" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjjAHXBc7-vI60UqxWpP-kH2ASFBBePfRpUtFszWBytzIHdkO3Wc8KaECqI7wQZb1qY6wKzVPKb8cQteLqeJtvrapBFljP9jIMCL5M04vQ65l-0XY641EUL9YuixRcoVWEKbLClvZwUuo/s400/manger.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><p>This is part of the Dora Christmas Carol's concert. Look at more entries answering the question, "What are Your 5 Favorite Holiday Activities to do with Your Kids?" <a href="http://www.twittermoms.com/forum/topics/share-your-favorite-holiday?id=2291408%3ATopic%3A1240798&page=2#comments">here</a>. </p></div></div>Tatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04584969541189857119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828281594776020194.post-56404442946476850482009-09-20T17:14:00.000-07:002009-09-21T08:14:50.693-07:00Why I Homeschool!This year I have started homeschooling my oldest. She is in Kindergarten. I know we are just starting out, but to me, it is a big deal. I am starting out what I want to do with homeschooling.<br /><div></div><br /><div>I have had to do some real thinking about homeschooling. Yes, I was <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">homeschooled</span> and I liked it. Yes, it seems very natural to me. But yes, homeschooling will be a lot of work! I needed to make sure that I felt like this was the right move for me, my husband and my family. I better really believe in it because it will definitely take enough work and there will be hard times. </div><div></div><br /><div>As I studied and taught in elementary education, it was so interesting for me to see what public school was like- the good and the bad. </div><div></div><br /><div>So why am I homeschooling my kids? Is it just because I was <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">homeschooled</span>? </div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div>First off, let me answer a few questions...</div><div></div><div></div><div>Do I think public school is bad? No</div><div>Do I think children will be ruined if they go to public school? No</div><div>Do I think moms that don't <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">homeschool</span> are not good moms? No</div><div>Do I secretly think every mom should want to <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">homeschool</span>? No</div><div>Should everyone homeschooling? NO!</div><br /><div></div><div>Are there advantages to public school? Yes</div><div>Are there advantages to <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">homeschool</span>? Yes</div><br /><div><u><span style="color:#cc0000;">Here are the reasons why we are homeschooling right now:</span></u></div><div><span style="color:#cc0000;">-I want to be a part of my children's education. I want to learn along with them and help them develop a love for learning. I want them to view "school" as fun, exciting and an adventure! I want to involve my husband as much as I can.</span></div><div><span style="color:#cc0000;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="color:#cc0000;">-We want to build strong family relationships. I feel like I will have more one-on-one time with my children. They play with each other so much and I think that is a good thing :D</span></div><br /><div><span style="color:#cc0000;">-We feel that our children can progress academically if they are taught at their level and at their learning style. I can give my kids so much more instruction at their level than all the hours in school in a day. I can see when I need to slow down and when I need to speed up. One of my daughters only speaks Spanish when we sing, so we sing a lot :) My oldest needs to feel very confident in reading one vowel or set of words before we move to the next level. </span></div><br /><div><span style="color:#cc0000;">-I want my children to have plenty of time to play with friends. I don't want them to be too busy with homework in the afternoon that they can't have unstructured play with friends of all ages! I also love having <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">flexibility</span> to do fun field trips and outings.</span></div><br /><div><span style="color:#cc0000;">-I am used to the idea of homeschooling from the wonderful example of my mother and I love teaching!!!</span></div><div></div><br /><div>As they get older, like middle school age, we will probably be homeschooling for other reasons like not wanting them to be exposed to some stuff out there. I don't want them to be super sheltered, but I think it will be okay for them not to see and hear some stuff :)</div><div></div><br /><div>Am I worried about them being socially <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">awkward</span>? No. I feel like I have no problems making new friends or talking with people. It wasn't hard for me to go to high school or college. I believe that there are lots of weird <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">homeschoolers</span> because their parents don't relate socially very well or they never let their kids play with other kids :) Let's be honest, there needs to be more normal <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">homeschoolers</span> out there! </div><div></div><br /><div>Are there problems with homeschooling? Yes, but I hope to make up for those problems. I want to give my kids opportunities to work and learn in groups. My husband wants them to learn how to deal with people with a variety of backgrounds. There are other things to consider, but I feel like right now homeschooling is working for our family. I want to evaluate each child as to what would be best for them as we continue homeschooling in the following years. </div><br /><div></div><div>We're starting a fun adventure right now! Why do you <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">homeschool</span>? Or what do you think is great about homeschooling? </div><div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1cVfHPwF8tfsLRQvfSb348TFvnC0a97goGadV6OLLTzGC2_WKJub-KdFOnzAg9GF3Q-JU2DHHRb9nmzIV89jd8-7a0CWJ49RvnWzioibL0WLgihpRvXwqMpSmG7RZKYgjD6wJ9Nsdbcc/s1600-h/schoolroom.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 302px; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5383938419731414338" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1cVfHPwF8tfsLRQvfSb348TFvnC0a97goGadV6OLLTzGC2_WKJub-KdFOnzAg9GF3Q-JU2DHHRb9nmzIV89jd8-7a0CWJ49RvnWzioibL0WLgihpRvXwqMpSmG7RZKYgjD6wJ9Nsdbcc/s400/schoolroom.jpg" /></a></div><div>Books are along the wall you can't see :)</div>Tatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04584969541189857119noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828281594776020194.post-28109463352558190402009-09-20T04:38:00.000-07:002009-09-20T04:43:49.892-07:00What Happens to Old Homeshool Moms?They resurrect as a homeschool grandmom. <br /><br />My life has changed drastically in the last two months. Our son Jason´s oldest daughter, M, was diagnosed with Leukemia. She was a thirteen year old, healthy girl trying out for the volleyball team for her first year in public school this year. What a blow, no volleyball, no first dance, no school, much less facing no hair. Those losses seem trite now to the loss of feeling good enough to sit up all day or see friends or just be home instead of the hospital.<br /><br />My husband and I decided to help out by moving me to Houston. I am now in an apartment near our son´s house. Kim drives to Houston every weekend to see me. I am homeschooling M and her sister, L, every day. So from 8:00 to 3:00 or 4:00 or 5:00 they are here and we are learning tons of things. We do classes over the phone with their cousins in Seattle. A teaches Essay Writing, Shakespeare and Grammar-Vocabulary. I teach Spanish and History.<br /><br />I help out when needed by the family, still play some tennis, and play the rented piano. I have a new ward to get involved with.<br /><br />I will start blogging about some of the resources we are using and activities we do.Ginnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085220203155388350noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828281594776020194.post-68732038239587868122009-09-19T20:04:00.000-07:002009-09-19T21:00:02.999-07:00Free Mini Books for Beginning ReadingWe are busy homeschooling! We had our first week with my oldest for kindergarten this last week. I will post our plan for the year later.<br /><br />I had to share this incredible resource! My mom found this wonderful program and they have great lesson plans and mini books and activities for kindergartners. They have free mini books for short vowel words. They also have a plan for the curriculum. Check it out!<br /><br /><a href="http://education.byu.edu/projectseel/resources/db.html">http://education.byu.edu/projectseel/resources/db.html</a>Tatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04584969541189857119noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828281594776020194.post-87262391067947457042009-06-30T18:53:00.000-07:002009-06-30T19:00:04.035-07:00Check out the Giveaway<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF-d1a3lpyNLuDGlflfPCeNZjAS-AnP8r1Yu5Gd-IDy3jEbJdcy6S3l2fhX6YDvE05hKWYdPnOLQbTnV2mCznk6QOsr760fp7m5oKRnvOTEGNOLPFoRmfftL7ahoAuoAQ5_S4lkaY5zxQ/s1600-h/bsf_logo2.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 43px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF-d1a3lpyNLuDGlflfPCeNZjAS-AnP8r1Yu5Gd-IDy3jEbJdcy6S3l2fhX6YDvE05hKWYdPnOLQbTnV2mCznk6QOsr760fp7m5oKRnvOTEGNOLPFoRmfftL7ahoAuoAQ5_S4lkaY5zxQ/s200/bsf_logo2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353305032530914914" border="0" /></a><br />Just wanted to let everyone know that there is a whole week of giveways at <a href="http://www.spanglishbaby.com/">SpanglishBaby.com. </a>Ginnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085220203155388350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828281594776020194.post-53865399801808776072009-05-01T04:47:00.000-07:002009-05-01T05:17:25.523-07:00Day of the Child and Book Giveaways<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Favfdr3Ti4PK500fO3LQg6YasuDkC7vRvV3_DDkw2Q3SFSwMLuS0rvlz9-rglBgisThya1WOfJMYJqRWmmBR7fYfqq3fY39fHn5mz34Tvj0NFoEfsx0oMzk1glox0-wWgLC3xJmIA3E/s1600-h/hiresfiesta.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Favfdr3Ti4PK500fO3LQg6YasuDkC7vRvV3_DDkw2Q3SFSwMLuS0rvlz9-rglBgisThya1WOfJMYJqRWmmBR7fYfqq3fY39fHn5mz34Tvj0NFoEfsx0oMzk1glox0-wWgLC3xJmIA3E/s200/hiresfiesta.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330826703383347122" border="0" /></a><br />I wanted to share with you some great giveaways going on right now!<br /><br />Last weekend I took my two granddaughters to a wonderful celebration of Day of the Child-Day of the Books (El día de los niños-El día de los libros). They made books from folded paper, listened to stories, played with play dough, made pinwheels, listened to lively Latin music and received lots of gifts including several nice books. I didn't know that this has been celebrated in Latin America for some time and is just now arriving here to the United States. Read more about it <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://www.spanglishbaby.com/2009/04/el-dia-de-los-ninosel-dia-de-los-libros-giveaway/">here</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">.</span><br /><br /><a style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255); font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.spanglishbaby.com/">Spanglish Baby </a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">(an incredible resource if you haven't checked it out yet) is giving away a book called </span><em style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Book Fiesta</em><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> that has beautiful illustrations. Click<span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"> </span></span><a style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255); font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.spanglishbaby.com/2009/04/el-dia-de-los-ninosel-dia-de-los-libros-giveaway/">here</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> to enter this giveaway. It ends at midnight on Sunday, May 3rd.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The </span><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://www.latinbabybookclub.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Latin Baby Book Club</span> </a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">is giving away a book a day this week to celebrate El día de los niños/El día de los libros! Be sure to check out their giveaways every day. Click </span><a style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255); font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.latinbabybookclub.com/2009/04/celebrate-dia-with-bossy-gallito.html">here</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"> </span>to enter the giveaway.</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.spanglishbaby.com/"></a>Ginnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085220203155388350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828281594776020194.post-31481394059271258042009-04-18T05:23:00.001-07:002009-04-18T06:37:04.970-07:00Can I? Short Vowel Word Game<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHfqrHKgJ8fJDskESq5eQdOU0Z-7SgZNr5LB9ztvF2ozmSTJUO9u1-1pNp-a-xB8NNP-VT5BwuTWKs2px_1NulFoX82TaHnuw88QW_zC1B33yRknZRsdgv12eoUCRT3m4wxFxi-PtEDPY/s1600-h/Can+I+blank+the+blank+main+sheet.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326009007820996370" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 309px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHfqrHKgJ8fJDskESq5eQdOU0Z-7SgZNr5LB9ztvF2ozmSTJUO9u1-1pNp-a-xB8NNP-VT5BwuTWKs2px_1NulFoX82TaHnuw88QW_zC1B33yRknZRsdgv12eoUCRT3m4wxFxi-PtEDPY/s400/Can+I+blank+the+blank+main+sheet.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I decided it would be fun to review reading words with all of the short vowel sounds. I had the idea to have the sentence "Can I _____ the ______?" and then have two piles of words, one pile has verbs (only simple short vowel words) to put in the first blank and the second pile has nouns (only simple short vowel words) to put int he second blank. She will get some silly phrases like, "Can I <em>rip</em> the <em>sock</em>?" and then more normal phrases like, "Can I <em>hug</em> the <em>Mom</em>?" We do a couple of these a day and she enjoys it. If you are going to print these, you have to save the first picture (above) as a .<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">jpg</span>. The rest should just print fine by clicking "more" and then "print." You might just want to print one sheet of verbs and one sheet of nouns to see if your kids like it :) The first four sheets are the nouns, the last two sheets are the verbs. My mom is going to use this with the grandchildren she is visiting right now and wanted me to post this. Hope someone else can use this too!<br /><br /><object id="doc_769220820489267" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=" height="500" width="100%" align="middle" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" name="doc_769220820489267"><param name="_cx" value="17965"><param name="_cy" value="13229"><param name="FlashVars" value=""><param name="Movie" value="http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=14371196&access_key=key-1y1ocqm9i525ub710lla&page=1&version=1&viewMode="><param name="Src" value="http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=14371196&access_key=key-1y1ocqm9i525ub710lla&page=1&version=1&viewMode="><param name="WMode" value="Opaque"><param name="Play" value="-1"><param name="Loop" value="-1"><param name="Quality" value="High"><param name="SAlign" value="LT"><param name="Menu" value="-1"><param name="Base" value=""><param name="AllowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="Scale" value="NoScale"><param name="DeviceFont" value="0"><param name="EmbedMovie" value="0"><param name="BGColor" value="FFFFFF"><param name="SWRemote" value=""><param name="MovieData" value=""><param name="SeamlessTabbing" value="1"><param name="Profile" value="0"><param name="ProfileAddress" value=""><param name="ProfilePort" value="0"><param name="AllowNetworking" value="all"><param name="AllowFullScreen" value="true"><br /> <embed src="http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=14371196&access_key=key-1y1ocqm9i525ub710lla&page=1&version=1&viewMode=" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" play="true" loop="true" scale="showall" wmode="opaque" devicefont="false" bgcolor="#ffffff" name="doc_769220820489267_object" menu="true" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" salign="" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" align="middle" height="500" width="100%"></embed> </object><div style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 6px auto 3px; FONT: 12px Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none"><a style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline" href="http://www.scribd.com/upload">Publish at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Scribd</span></a> or <a style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline" href="http://www.scribd.com/browse">explore</a> others: </div><br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>Click on "more" above the documents and then press "print"</div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Tatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04584969541189857119noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828281594776020194.post-83361351633439068962009-04-17T08:06:00.000-07:002009-04-17T08:15:08.586-07:00Fantastic Resource<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCRcHeENBNdjHwPzZ0cr_TThncuanS_hm-QvfxJslHPodtw-WigFigAgYoDYUXEoW2XqBagV_9fwQZgxmIs-9JGeVmv_0mYjOXTTm1CgpKk1mQ1z4iH4VeW8z022S8wbgDVTVaA5rJE5U/s1600-h/April-09-cover.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 179px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCRcHeENBNdjHwPzZ0cr_TThncuanS_hm-QvfxJslHPodtw-WigFigAgYoDYUXEoW2XqBagV_9fwQZgxmIs-9JGeVmv_0mYjOXTTm1CgpKk1mQ1z4iH4VeW8z022S8wbgDVTVaA5rJE5U/s200/April-09-cover.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325678968941515154" border="0" /></a><br />There is this wonderful resource that I have been using and checking out. There is a free homeschool resource everyday. On Monday they send out a list of all the resources available for the week. You can check them out and come back to download the ones you want.<br /><br />This weekend in honor of the 234th anniversary of Paul Revere's Ride they are giving away four<br />wonderful resources all related to Revere and the history surrounding his midnight ride. Here's the complete rundown:<br /><br />Listen My Children (MP3 audio) -<br />This a great half hour audio story about Revere's long life and influence, including the events of<br />that fateful night, as originally dramatized on the radio program "Cavalcade of America", in December, 1952.<br /><br />"Listen My Children" Listening Guide (PDF ebooklet) -<br />This PDF discussion guide with background info and questions to accompany the above audio program.<br /><br />Paul Revere's Ride (MP3 audio) -<br />A wonderful dramatic performance of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's classic poem,<br />"Paul Revere's Ride" as performed by Frederic March.<br /><br />An art study lesson focusing on paintings & sculptures depicting Paul Revere (as well as<br />the Minutemen), courtesy of Yes You Can! Publications. This is lots of fun and a great way to combine history with art appreciation & hands-on activities to boot.<br /><br />Check it out at <a href="http://www.homeschoolfreebieoftheday.com/" target="_blank">http://www.<wbr>homeschoolfreebieoftheday.com</a>Ginnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085220203155388350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828281594776020194.post-61274096413976442912009-04-06T14:05:00.000-07:002009-04-06T14:24:00.120-07:00Teaching Ch, Th, and SHMy two year old knows all of her letter sounds, so I have been introducing some digraphs (two letters that together make a new sound). My mom likes to introduce these while the kids are learning normal letters because they learn them just like they are another letter. We use the letter sound cards you can find <a href="http://teachinggenerations.blogspot.com/2008/12/more-letter-sounds.html">here</a>. <br /><br />Now I take two sounds like Ch and Sh. I have her put both of the cards down. Then I give her a picture (sometimes I tell her a little story as I explain each one). She has to put the picture in the right column on the floor (under the ch or the sh). We do a lot of repetition, reviewing the sounds and names of all the things aloud after we have put down a couple of pictures and then when we are done after about four pictures under each digraph. <br /><br />My mom told me today another game she likes to do is like slap jack. The way you <br />play is have a bunch of cards with just ch, sh and th on them. You make a big deck, as you flip each one, you tell her to only slap the one of them, only the ch for example. I can't wait to try this tomorrow. <br /><br />Just click <a href="http://www.scribd.com/share/upload/10676574/d6balwo3laa5vdyezus">here</a> to see the sheets of pictures of words starting ch, sh and th my mom created. The last document I created could be printed and cut out to make a slap jack game. <br /><br />*To print, click on more above each picture and click print. I'm trying a new way to upload word documents. Tell me if it doesn't work :)<br /><br /><object codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" id="doc_489869562070092" name="doc_489869562070092" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" align="middle" height="500" width="100%" > <param name="movie" value="http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=14026405&access_key=key-1u7hjxvl25c70d199oue&page=1&version=1&viewMode="> <param name="quality" value="high"> <param name="play" value="true"> <param name="loop" value="true"> <param name="scale" value="showall"> <param name="wmode" value="opaque"> <param name="devicefont" value="false"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff"> <param name="menu" value="true"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"> <param name="salign" value=""> <embed src="http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=14026405&access_key=key-1u7hjxvl25c70d199oue&page=1&version=1&viewMode=" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" play="true" loop="true" scale="showall" wmode="opaque" devicefont="false" bgcolor="#ffffff" name="doc_489869562070092_object" menu="true" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" salign="" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" align="middle" height="500" width="100%"></embed> </object> <div style="margin: 6px auto 3px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block;"> <a href="http://www.scribd.com/upload" style="text-decoration: underline;">Publish at Scribd</a> or <a href="http://www.scribd.com/browse" style="text-decoration: underline;">explore</a> others: <a href="http://www.scribd.com/browse/Books/Fiction" style="text-decoration: underline;">Fiction</a> <a href="http://www.scribd.com/browse/Research/Other" style="text-decoration: underline;">Other</a> <a href="http://www.scribd.com/tag/funny" style="text-decoration: underline;">funny</a> <a href="http://www.scribd.com/tag/pictures" style="text-decoration: underline;">pictures</a> </div> <br /><br /><object codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" id="doc_851014992016746" name="doc_851014992016746" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" align="middle" height="500" width="100%" > <param name="movie" value="http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=14026408&access_key=key-18qxcz9efvbsj3jbcahp&page=1&version=1&viewMode="> <param name="quality" value="high"> <param name="play" value="true"> <param name="loop" value="true"> <param name="scale" value="showall"> <param name="wmode" value="opaque"> <param name="devicefont" value="false"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff"> <param name="menu" value="true"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"> <param name="salign" value=""> <embed src="http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=14026408&access_key=key-18qxcz9efvbsj3jbcahp&page=1&version=1&viewMode=" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" play="true" loop="true" scale="showall" wmode="opaque" devicefont="false" bgcolor="#ffffff" name="doc_851014992016746_object" menu="true" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" salign="" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" align="middle" height="500" width="100%"></embed> </object> <div style="margin: 6px auto 3px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block;"> <a href="http://www.scribd.com/upload" style="text-decoration: underline;">Publish at Scribd</a> or <a href="http://www.scribd.com/browse" style="text-decoration: underline;">explore</a> others: <a href="http://www.scribd.com/browse/Books/Fiction" style="text-decoration: underline;">Fiction</a> <a href="http://www.scribd.com/browse/Research/Other" style="text-decoration: underline;">Other</a> <a href="http://www.scribd.com/tag/funny" style="text-decoration: underline;">funny</a> <a href="http://www.scribd.com/tag/pictures" style="text-decoration: underline;">pictures</a> </div> <br /><br /><object codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" id="doc_852869008440187" name="doc_852869008440187" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" align="middle" height="500" width="100%" > <param name="movie" value="http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=14026409&access_key=key-1ul1tud18rp4ngsmw5zn&page=1&version=1&viewMode="> <param name="quality" value="high"> <param name="play" value="true"> <param name="loop" value="true"> <param name="scale" value="showall"> <param name="wmode" value="opaque"> <param name="devicefont" value="false"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff"> <param name="menu" value="true"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"> <param name="salign" value=""> <embed src="http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=14026409&access_key=key-1ul1tud18rp4ngsmw5zn&page=1&version=1&viewMode=" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" play="true" loop="true" scale="showall" wmode="opaque" devicefont="false" bgcolor="#ffffff" name="doc_852869008440187_object" menu="true" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" salign="" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" align="middle" height="500" width="100%"></embed> </object> <div style="margin: 6px auto 3px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block;"> <a href="http://www.scribd.com/upload" style="text-decoration: underline;">Publish at Scribd</a> or <a href="http://www.scribd.com/browse" style="text-decoration: underline;">explore</a> others: <a href="http://www.scribd.com/browse/Books/Fiction" style="text-decoration: underline;">Fiction</a> <a href="http://www.scribd.com/browse/Research/Other" style="text-decoration: underline;">Other</a> <a href="http://www.scribd.com/tag/funny" style="text-decoration: underline;">funny</a> <a href="http://www.scribd.com/tag/pictures" style="text-decoration: underline;">pictures</a> </div> <br /><br /><object codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" id="doc_1651154600702" name="doc_1651154600702" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" align="middle" height="500" width="100%" > <param name="movie" value="http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=14026410&access_key=key-285nrqyifpa6a38ep230&page=1&version=1&viewMode="> <param name="quality" value="high"> <param name="play" value="true"> <param name="loop" value="true"> <param name="scale" value="showall"> <param name="wmode" value="opaque"> <param name="devicefont" value="false"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff"> <param name="menu" value="true"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"> <param name="salign" value=""> <embed src="http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=14026410&access_key=key-285nrqyifpa6a38ep230&page=1&version=1&viewMode=" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" play="true" loop="true" scale="showall" wmode="opaque" devicefont="false" bgcolor="#ffffff" name="doc_1651154600702_object" menu="true" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" salign="" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" align="middle" height="500" width="100%"></embed> </object> <div style="margin: 6px auto 3px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block;"> <a href="http://www.scribd.com/upload" style="text-decoration: underline;">Publish at Scribd</a> or <a href="http://www.scribd.com/browse" style="text-decoration: underline;">explore</a> others: <a href="http://www.scribd.com/tag/job" style="text-decoration: underline;">job</a> <a href="http://www.scribd.com/tag/career" style="text-decoration: underline;">career</a> </div>Tatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04584969541189857119noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828281594776020194.post-10106888578260099152009-04-03T13:54:00.000-07:002009-04-03T14:09:58.855-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitlWP6BsacgT9rmSe_KD52JM45hSLNDgnZDGzFeaNqxYlIzMfMR_5qZyPdbpuU-94Vy9ZnZ8tpMLXPXj0uwQiMH8mcbIdUW1FrDzmIZjf9woexT5fdm-akqCLrbW_x4jG7zcHG2N4wizQ/s1600-h/Peg+the+Pig+and+the+Sick+Chick+1.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 247px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitlWP6BsacgT9rmSe_KD52JM45hSLNDgnZDGzFeaNqxYlIzMfMR_5qZyPdbpuU-94Vy9ZnZ8tpMLXPXj0uwQiMH8mcbIdUW1FrDzmIZjf9woexT5fdm-akqCLrbW_x4jG7zcHG2N4wizQ/s320/Peg+the+Pig+and+the+Sick+Chick+1.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320575396685859074" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5uKSfOBDtfjpDM2R911A0E3Czl-qX4VOWkxfMIN2iCNW6vj5zsONtlGBEM5AsEBV_RlD1eEiWylIkqyfEe2O9EDDTjjK2-9VRD2yO_RT6YGt4rST0njQ308yffO6qnc3swp2Ejp8SaRA/s1600-h/Peg+the+Pig+and+the+Sick+Chick+2.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 247px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5uKSfOBDtfjpDM2R911A0E3Czl-qX4VOWkxfMIN2iCNW6vj5zsONtlGBEM5AsEBV_RlD1eEiWylIkqyfEe2O9EDDTjjK2-9VRD2yO_RT6YGt4rST0njQ308yffO6qnc3swp2Ejp8SaRA/s320/Peg+the+Pig+and+the+Sick+Chick+2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320575338958809490" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAydypBJld_0scRRyWzgEHmlANHKwNjkz-oyQDFBodFZNMf07MBmp9XqnCqdBB1KGOn8Tie4m26IzcOUoJUOGSJ_ZFsTcEMCqhzgS2E3x02Hj64BTruEgL1W-JZsHpMczPBwEsAAC4URI/s1600-h/Peg+the+Pig+and+the+Sick+Chick+3.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 247px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAydypBJld_0scRRyWzgEHmlANHKwNjkz-oyQDFBodFZNMf07MBmp9XqnCqdBB1KGOn8Tie4m26IzcOUoJUOGSJ_ZFsTcEMCqhzgS2E3x02Hj64BTruEgL1W-JZsHpMczPBwEsAAC4URI/s320/Peg+the+Pig+and+the+Sick+Chick+3.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320575292153316050" /></a><br />Johanna makes a book or worksheet for her daughter every morning. They are so cute and I thought someone else might want to print some up for their beginning readers. So here is a cute one. This one is more of a worksheet for cut and paste activities.Ginnyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00085220203155388350noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828281594776020194.post-67941467207505143502009-03-23T16:16:00.000-07:002009-03-23T16:34:25.065-07:00Sight Words Dice Game<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjezkyarX9djwDOU_Ltd4Tj_eHlAN_Gm02fqrthF8rdKkFt4c7-4h0hxX9Tb6SwrGkhmXn_2NIrG7IaA7rUmjWhkRQOEVSPfIHivRO-vyRjHtbVfPAysLyQN-0x254yc1JXgO3Dcbb_aWw/s1600-h/dice.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316527623435212162" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 288px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjezkyarX9djwDOU_Ltd4Tj_eHlAN_Gm02fqrthF8rdKkFt4c7-4h0hxX9Tb6SwrGkhmXn_2NIrG7IaA7rUmjWhkRQOEVSPfIHivRO-vyRjHtbVfPAysLyQN-0x254yc1JXgO3Dcbb_aWw/s320/dice.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />My daughter has been having a harder time with learning her sight words, especially for a word like <em>the</em>. She can't sound it out exactly and doesn't like going over her sight word cards. So, I decided to make a fun game out of it. I made a simple die to help her learn some sight words. It took me about 5-10 minutes to create this, print it out on some orange <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">card stock</span> paper, cut it out and glue it together! We use a simple program called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nova-Development-US-Scrapbook-Factory/dp/B000VA3TAM/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=software&qid=1237850636&sr=8-1">Scrapbook Factory Deluxe </a>to do all the worksheets and activities for learning to read. I thought I would share the die template with you, so hopefully it will only take you a few minutes to create a die if you want to use it :) <span style="font-size:85%;">You could always take the image and erase the words (by covering it with white square or something) and then type or write down your own words you want to work on with your child.</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjA86-rkanoILOUO2qukjru0rmyhxKc8aTLaMibUVY_bOrvxDsfdcDKggp87f1-L8Bw59j40CmP0Oou2iQ2fYe0HNWYygOrJXpcWveOvHeHcqnj5ETnqQTi_mpczBt0ZtZ8T-H7cAUeCY/s1600-h/sight+words+dice+image.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316527636100217714" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 247px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjA86-rkanoILOUO2qukjru0rmyhxKc8aTLaMibUVY_bOrvxDsfdcDKggp87f1-L8Bw59j40CmP0Oou2iQ2fYe0HNWYygOrJXpcWveOvHeHcqnj5ETnqQTi_mpczBt0ZtZ8T-H7cAUeCY/s320/sight+words+dice+image.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Click on the image above to be taken to a screen that you can print to full page size.<br /><br />*Other games to play to review sight words-<br />-Slap the Word- Lay out the words in front of the child. Say a word and they have to slap the right word.<br />-Hide and Seek- One child hides the sight words in the room while the other child leaves the room. When the child looking for the sight words find them, she/he has to say what word they are.<br />-Jump Up- Lay out the words in front of the child. Say a word and they have to pick that word up and jump up and sit back down as fast as they can.Tatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04584969541189857119noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828281594776020194.post-57949139560540344962009-03-19T12:09:00.000-07:002009-03-19T12:40:24.728-07:00Patience with TeachingChildren are extremely <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">sensitive</span>. Not only are they affected by how we treat them, but they can <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">detect</span> real sincerity. I have found as I work with my daughters, if I am not really enjoying working with them (just pretending to have a good attitude) they can instantly sense it. They don't work as well. It's incredible how they can figure out sincerity! Maybe it is because they are so genuine themselves.<br /><br /><br />As I was working with my daughter with reading, we were reviewing some words she had read the previous day. She kept on making mistake after mistake. I started getting frustrated thinking I had spent so much time with her on these words and now she did not even know them. As our reading time continued, her reading became worse and worse. We ended with both of us feeling frustrated.<br /><br /><br />In my mind, I remembered a story shared by <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Shinichi</span> Suzuki in his book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ability-Development-Suzuki-Method-International/dp/0874875803/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237490892&sr=8-2">Ability Development from Age Zero</a>. He shared the following:<br /><br /><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">Here is another case which shows that happiness develops ability.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">There was one child in my family with a learning disability. His mother scolded him very much when he was six. She said that he would not remember what she taught him. For some reason he could not remember the numbers from one to ten. "Why don't you <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">understand</span>? This is four and this is seven!" she scolded harshly as I watched.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">"It will not do any good to scold him, " I warned. After some <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">observation</span>, I realized that four and seven were numbers that the child was scolded about and therefore he could not look at them clearly. </span><br /><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">"Hey, come and play with your uncle," I called.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">Then I made dice out of paper and on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">the</span> faces I wrote only fours and sevens.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">"Let's play dice," I said, and we started to throw. A four was thrown.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">"Four! I said it first. I win, " I said. Again a four was thrown. </span><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">"Four! I won again." At this point the little boy was determined to try harder. Again a four was thrown and together we said, "Four!"</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">"Hey, you said it too!" I praised. His eyes began to sparkle. The game continued with both fours and sevens being thrown. Sometimes I said the answer slowly. Sometime I pretended that I did not know the answer and let the boy win <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Sometimes</span> I said the wrong one and the boy made no mistake. In this way four and seven became his favorite numbers in a mere ten minutes. </span><br /><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">I had the mother write the numbers from one to ten and have the child read them. He said four and seven the quickest and in the loudest voice. These numbers had become the most well known and fun numbers.</span><br /><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">The problem is how to combine interest and training. If a child is always scolded about four and seven, his ability will not grow. Even if a parent overflowing with love for a child uses a bad method, the ability of the child will not develop. </span><br /><br />Suzuki, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Shinichi</span>. <u>Ability Development From Age Zero</u>. Tr. Mary Louise <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Nagata</span>. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Secaucus</span>, New Jersey: <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Summy</span>-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Birchard</span> Inc., 1981.<br /><br />Isn't this so true! When I am scolded about something that I fail at or someone tells me I can't do something, I can't seem to think clearly when I try to do it again. Now <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">every time</span>, I start getting frustrated with my daughter. I stop and tell myself that getting frustrated will only have the opposite effect of what I want. It will only slow her progress. If I am patient and genuinely happy working with her, she will learn at her own speed. I also love how Suzuki takes the skill and breaks it down to a more simple level. I have also tried doing this. It has been incredible to see the difference this had made!Tatihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04584969541189857119noreply@blogger.com0