When I heard the new Star Wars movie was going to be out this week I knew it was time to take advantage of their love for Star Wars. Star Wars math? Check! Star Wars writing? You bet. And maybe when we’re done we will see a Star Wars movie! This is a kind of…
Have you ever seen the way a kids eyes light up when you ask them to be a detective? I’ll admit, I use this technique much too often. It’s losing it’s steam. But when something is lost (especially if it’s something of mine…) we all become detectives. We go all out and get on our…
Holidays are stressful. Not bad stressful, but stressful none the less. I don’t know about you, but when I feel stressed, nothing gets done. And that’s all fine and dandy unless you’re responsible for teaching children! A few off days are okay but I cannot just ditch the entire month of December. We’ve discussed Christmas…
Elf on the Shelf is one of those things that a lot of people love to hate. And a lot of people hate to love. We’re not doing the Elf at this point but I really enjoy seeing what mischief other elves get into. I’ve gotta say, some of you are really really creative with…
Do you try to introduce concepts well before necessary so it doesn’t seem like such a new topic? I’ve noticed this trend and I really like it. Royal (7) just started multiplication – a very very basic multiplication. But this way, when he really needs to learn it, it won’t be this completely new concept. …
Have you ever taken one of those “Can you name the 50 states” types of tests? Did you do well? I’ve always enjoyed geography, and for the most part, I’m pretty good at naming the states and capitals, and being able to locate the states. I even know that Alaska is in fact up…
We hit a wall in math. It happens – walls, I mean. There are some subjects that you just hit a wall (mine was chemistry in school). But what I’ve learned since becoming a homeschooler, is that there are ways around every wall. Up, down, around, through – there are many many ways to break…
Sillyness wins in our house, how about yours? Anything silly and funny is hit and easily aids the learning process. My kids are as silly as they come and it’s a good thing, because they have very silly parents. So when we can do a silly exercise and call it school work and educational, we’re…
We have been working diligently on our spelling (translate that to, they want to write messages on signs in Minecraft and I refuse to help them spell words…so they must learn spelling) so I’ve been working on some activities to help push the spelling along. Make a Word activities are great because it’s really more…
My kids like to throw things. Not just me, right? A lot of parents put their “throw-ey” kids in sports, but mine don’t like sports. They still want to throw things though. So I give them dice in school because it knocks out two problems. 1. They get to throw things and no one gets…
My kids have started asking for more of these simple math games! So of course I said yes! We end up only playing them a few days, but that’s perfect! They don’t get bored of them in the few times we play but they still get a lot of extra practice! I felt like a…
I don’t remember learning arrays as a kid. It’s one of those concepts that someone had to explain to me before I could teach it myself. I love arrays! First, what a great visual representation of multiplication. And it’s so orderly. Second, arrays make an excellent bridge between multiplication and area! And I think anything…