My Kids......
I Just love the age 4! It is such a Fun loving Curious age wouldn't you agree?
My son is awesome, whether he decides to make a beetle his pet for the day, feeding a ant pile or Unscramble a puzzles, playing dinos in the tub, informing me of shapes he sees while we are out and about I just can't get enough :)
Now I also am starting to gain a new type of love for my oldest as well, she is almost 10yrs old. She is no longer a lil kid yet not grown up yet. She is starting to primp more, wanting to shop and have cute hair. It is really fun for me to be able to hang out with her and do girly stuff & Bigger kid activities. Recently I dug out my old super Nintendo and and we had a Blast playing games together.
I Just Love being a Mom!
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Our 4th of July!
So we had such a Great 4th of July!
We defiantly need a lil family Vaca away from the daily grind of work and I know the kids needed some fun time away from their Reading & Math vocabulary school work.
So we took our yearly trip to the home town my husband and I grew up in about 2 hours from us. It is a bit of a drive but, my kids love this family tradition :-)
Being able to get together with family and old friends, Grilling out and watching Fire works is always so much fun!
So by that evening we were at our towns park, it sits right on the gulf so its always so pretty. There was so much food and good music.
Sometimes I think hmmm... fireworks seem kinda of boring compared to this high tech world of ours filled with so many things that entertain us, but every year I am surprised with how much I enjoy and still am in aww of those beautiful colored fire works.
It was a Great Day & Night ;-)
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Learning styles
Learning styles, A term that many many of us homeschooling moms know. Unless your child was one of those lucky multi learners, I am sure you have had to figure out which of these was your child's learning style.
•Auditory learners remember by talking out loud, like to have things explained orally and may have trouble with written instructions. Auditory learners may talk to themselves when learning something new.
•Visual learners easily remember visual details and prefer to see what they are learning. They prefer to write down instructions and may have trouble following lectures.
•Kinesthetic or tactile learners prefer activities that allow them to do what they are learning about. Tactile learners like to touch things in order to learn about them and like to move around when talking or listening.
For my daughter she is more of a Visual learner/ Kinesthetic or tactile learner, leaning more towards Visual since she doesn't require hands on but, she does do well with it :-)
If your child is struggling, I would suggest making sure that not only thier learning environment meets thier style needs but also thier curriculum.
When I began homeschooling I bought a popular curriculum and pretty much imitated how I was taught growing up in a class room. After a year of many tears and feelings of failure ( me not her) I decided that something was not right and learned that Yes! not everyone can learn the same. Whew! what a relief.... Now I had a possible reasons why my child was struggling, and soon had my suspicion's confirmed. No my child wasn't slow or stupid, she just needed to have her learning environment tweaked to meet her needs. ~> Another reason Il ove Love Love homeschooling, if she had been in a public school, she could have been labeled slow or lazy and her needs gone un met. Thankfully I home school, so I quickly changed gears and switched to a online program that gives her that visual interaction she desperately needed!
It has been 3 yrs and she is excelling wonderfully ! So again my advice, don't assume something is wrong with your child, it could be something is wrong with how they are being taught ;-)
•Auditory learners remember by talking out loud, like to have things explained orally and may have trouble with written instructions. Auditory learners may talk to themselves when learning something new.
•Visual learners easily remember visual details and prefer to see what they are learning. They prefer to write down instructions and may have trouble following lectures.
•Kinesthetic or tactile learners prefer activities that allow them to do what they are learning about. Tactile learners like to touch things in order to learn about them and like to move around when talking or listening.
For my daughter she is more of a Visual learner/ Kinesthetic or tactile learner, leaning more towards Visual since she doesn't require hands on but, she does do well with it :-)
If your child is struggling, I would suggest making sure that not only thier learning environment meets thier style needs but also thier curriculum.
When I began homeschooling I bought a popular curriculum and pretty much imitated how I was taught growing up in a class room. After a year of many tears and feelings of failure ( me not her) I decided that something was not right and learned that Yes! not everyone can learn the same. Whew! what a relief.... Now I had a possible reasons why my child was struggling, and soon had my suspicion's confirmed. No my child wasn't slow or stupid, she just needed to have her learning environment tweaked to meet her needs. ~> Another reason Il ove Love Love homeschooling, if she had been in a public school, she could have been labeled slow or lazy and her needs gone un met. Thankfully I home school, so I quickly changed gears and switched to a online program that gives her that visual interaction she desperately needed!
It has been 3 yrs and she is excelling wonderfully ! So again my advice, don't assume something is wrong with your child, it could be something is wrong with how they are being taught ;-)
Sunday, June 26, 2011
The Writing process
The Writing Process: How to teach Writing Success to your children
As parents we all know that "Good writing" is essential for success in school and the 21st Century workplace. Teaching this skill to our children is best taught by breaking down the process into steps. I know that with my daughter breaking down writing step-by-step, helped remove the mystery and of course any writer’s block she may have ; )
~The Goal is always that our children progressively master, and even enjoy, writing.
Steps in the Writing Process:
1. Pre-writing: This is the planning phase of the writing process. Brainstorming , researching, gather and outlining ideas.
2. Drafting: This is where your child creates their initial composition by writing down all their ideas in an organized way to convey a particular idea or present an argument.
3. Revising: This is where you have your child review, modify, and reorganize their work by rearranging, adding, or deleting content, and by making the tone, style, and content appropriate for the intended audience. The goal of this phase of the writing process is to improve the draft.
4. Editing: At this point in the writing process, "writers" proofread and correct errors in grammar and mechanics, and edit to improve style and clarity. Having another writer’s (parent) feedback in this stage is very helpful.
5. Publishing: In this last step of the writing process, the final writing is shared . Sharing can be accomplished in a variety of ways, and with the help of computers, it can even be printed or published online.
~Writing is a age old tradition and a Art that will never die out ....
As parents we all know that "Good writing" is essential for success in school and the 21st Century workplace. Teaching this skill to our children is best taught by breaking down the process into steps. I know that with my daughter breaking down writing step-by-step, helped remove the mystery and of course any writer’s block she may have ; )
~The Goal is always that our children progressively master, and even enjoy, writing.
Steps in the Writing Process:
1. Pre-writing: This is the planning phase of the writing process. Brainstorming , researching, gather and outlining ideas.
2. Drafting: This is where your child creates their initial composition by writing down all their ideas in an organized way to convey a particular idea or present an argument.
3. Revising: This is where you have your child review, modify, and reorganize their work by rearranging, adding, or deleting content, and by making the tone, style, and content appropriate for the intended audience. The goal of this phase of the writing process is to improve the draft.
4. Editing: At this point in the writing process, "writers" proofread and correct errors in grammar and mechanics, and edit to improve style and clarity. Having another writer’s (parent) feedback in this stage is very helpful.
5. Publishing: In this last step of the writing process, the final writing is shared . Sharing can be accomplished in a variety of ways, and with the help of computers, it can even be printed or published online.
~Writing is a age old tradition and a Art that will never die out ....
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Sound-Alike words
~> Sound-alike words, also known as homophones, cause confusion. I know that as a kid I would have those "Huh" moments when I would hear people talk about things that sounded the same but meant something entirely different. Of course as I learned and grew older those Huh moments went away.
The English language has been said that it is the hardest one to learn, I guess I should be grateful it is my first and not my 2nd then ...lol ;-)
To help my kids figure/learn these alike words,I like to play a game where we try and see who can come up with most words that sound alike in the shortest amount of time. I also use online games & reading short stories showing how certain words that sound alike can have different meanings.
Hope my tips help :')
The English language has been said that it is the hardest one to learn, I guess I should be grateful it is my first and not my 2nd then ...lol ;-)
To help my kids figure/learn these alike words,I like to play a game where we try and see who can come up with most words that sound alike in the shortest amount of time. I also use online games & reading short stories showing how certain words that sound alike can have different meanings.
Hope my tips help :')
Friday, June 10, 2011
Why I'm still in love
Have any of you every sat back and really thought, why do I love my home school curriculum?
I mean we choose what we use for our kids for a reason right? Since the year has pulled to a close I have been thinking about our past year of school studies and kinda had a bit of ah ha moment so to speak.
Like with my son he is only 4 but doing kinder level work ((so proud)), I love how my online program lets him work at his own pace. It seems that no matter where we go nowadays he is counting things or pointing out shapes etc... I also love their remedial reading programs they offer since this is my daughters weakest area, she had come so far from when we first started using this program :_)
Another thing I love is it allows my kids to work with or without adult supervision. I can help when and if I am needed, this allows me more time so that I can plan other home school activity's to add to our learning, since I do not ave to grade papers or figure out lessons sigh.... : )
The best thing I have to say I love is the Price & the month to month commitment! I'm not wealthy and I can not blow money on book type of curriculum that may or may not work ~> been there done that I have a whole grade level of Abeka in the trash :( Another thing that I realised I love was the T4L forums, being able to go and get tips,help or just some support from other parents doing what I am doing is priceless to me. Honestly even thou I have 4 years to go with my oldest before I will need to look for another curriculum ( they only go to 8th grade) I am still wondering how am I going to find anything that compares, Guess that's what happens to us Curriculum snobs when we find the best lol ;)
Just my 2cents for the day.............
I mean we choose what we use for our kids for a reason right? Since the year has pulled to a close I have been thinking about our past year of school studies and kinda had a bit of ah ha moment so to speak.
Like with my son he is only 4 but doing kinder level work ((so proud)), I love how my online program lets him work at his own pace. It seems that no matter where we go nowadays he is counting things or pointing out shapes etc... I also love their remedial reading programs they offer since this is my daughters weakest area, she had come so far from when we first started using this program :_)
Another thing I love is it allows my kids to work with or without adult supervision. I can help when and if I am needed, this allows me more time so that I can plan other home school activity's to add to our learning, since I do not ave to grade papers or figure out lessons sigh.... : )
The best thing I have to say I love is the Price & the month to month commitment! I'm not wealthy and I can not blow money on book type of curriculum that may or may not work ~> been there done that I have a whole grade level of Abeka in the trash :( Another thing that I realised I love was the T4L forums, being able to go and get tips,help or just some support from other parents doing what I am doing is priceless to me. Honestly even thou I have 4 years to go with my oldest before I will need to look for another curriculum ( they only go to 8th grade) I am still wondering how am I going to find anything that compares, Guess that's what happens to us Curriculum snobs when we find the best lol ;)
Just my 2cents for the day.............
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Unscramble
So if you if your wanting to add a lil bit to your reading & writing routine, I would defiantly give this a try! It really challenges the kids in a fun way to figure out thier spelling words. It is one thing for a child to read a word from site and write a word from memory but, to solve a word mystery that is just Cool!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)