I was going through my email today and one of the gals had shared three different links to lesson plan websites.Ones I haven't ever seen before. So I thought I would share them with all of you.

The Educator's Reference Desk - This site has lesson plans for almost every subject. You can search by category or by grade. The grades you can search are K - 12.

Cool Teaching Lessons and Units -  This site is designed for grades K - 12. This site contains web quests, lesson plans, ready made units, research modules, and project based learning. It links you to many other sites also. Very interesting website.

Economics and Geography Lessons for 32 Children's Books - This site is mainly for grades 1 - 5. You pick a book by grade and it gives you lesson plans that go with that particular book. Another interesting website.

First let me apologize to all of you for not getting any links sent out over the past couple weeks. My son was very sick and is not just starting to get better. So hopefully things are back to normal and I can get things posted daily. I ran across some interesting links someone shared with me in my email containing theme units and literacy centers.

Teacher Theme Units - This site is set up for primary grades 1 - 3. There is a nice selection of theme units with free printables. There is also a great section literacy center instructions as well as center cards. 

Teacher Literacy Centers - This site has many different areas you can download for centers and ideas. It's nice to be able to incorporate these into your day.

Teacher Zone - This site is a great resource as it has printable site words, spelling words, theme units, and a few other things that maybe of interest.

If I had ten thumbs, all ten would be going up for the Yourteacher.com math program.  It has been a month now since we have subscribed and started learning through their wonderful math lessons, and I can tell you it has been a great success!

Once you subscribe, you have access to over 450 on-line math lessons, with courses in Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, Geometry and Algebra 2.  (I personally hope that in the future they expand their lessons to other subjects, because I am so impressed with the teaching methods.)

The videos feature a teacher, who speaks concisely and clearly, at a chalkboard, taking you step by step through different problems.  Don't get it?, then just back up and start again until you do.  They offer additional problems, along with challenging problems if you are feeling up to it.  When you answer correctly, cheering is heard, very good for the motivation factor.

My daughter, who is a reader, more than a math person, is really enjoying this program.  I never even have to remind her about math, she instantly goes on every morning for her next lessons.

Parents, for those of you (who like me), never excelled at math in school yourselves, this program will have you interested too.  It is like having a one on one math tutor.

Yourteacher.com is offering the first week free, so try it out for yourself, it is normally $29.50 a month, and you can pay month by month for the service.  IT IS WELL WORTH THE MONEY.  So worth it in fact, that when summer rolls around, we are not going to put it on hold until September.  We are going to just keep going with it and see how far it can take us here.

It offers structure, challenges, step by step learning, what more could you want for your math curriculum? Try it for the first week, you will be hooked.  By the way, this is not part of any affiliate program, I make no money pitching this program to you. So please know that I am really excited about this program, just because we are using it and succeeding beyond our expectations with it, and for home-schoolers everywhere, it would be a wonderful asset to your classroom.

Yourteacher.com Math Program

One of my dearest friends has a group on yahoo where she shares weekly lesson plans for a certain topic and this weeks topic was Valentines Day.  She does alot of research in putting these wonderful plans together and she allows them to be shared. She also has a wonderful website which you will find in the beginning part of the message. Some of the stuff on her website you need to be a paid member but for me I felt it was well wother it. The links in the lesson plan are to all free sites. I will share them weekly with you all. You can find her group at the bottom of this page. Enjoy as there are alot of links to enjoy and spend time with this particular theme!! Thanks Penny for all you do!!

Welcome to another edition of the Lesson Theme of the Week. This
week's topic is on Valentines Day and I hope you enjoy this week's
theme and will pass it on to other homescoolies so they also can use
it with their children.

I have  found a lot of different downloadable resources for you to
use with your children. Please click here to visit and view all of
these.  http://homeschoolnetworklibrary.com/valentines/valentines.htm

General Information
Howstuffworks "How Valentine's Day Works"
http://people.howstuffworks.com/valentine.htm
Valentine Exhibition-- Origins of the Valentine
http://www.americanantiquarian.org/Exhibitions/Valentines/origins.htm
Valentine's Day History
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/valentinesdayhistory.html

Lesson Plans
Candy Heart Sentences Language Arts Lesson Plan
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/LAArtCandyHeartSentences34.htm
Conversation Heart Candy Math Math Lesson Plan
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/MathConversationHeartCandyMathIdea23.h
tm
Detective Valentine
http://www.pecentral.org/lessonideas/ViewLesson.asp?ID=3028
Graphing Valentine Candies
http://www.beaconlearningcenter.com/Lessons/2563.htm
Mend My Broken Heart Math Lesson Plan
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/MathLAAdditionSubtractionMendBrokenHea
rtIdea23.htm
The Language of Love
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20010214wednesday.ht
ml?searchpv=learning_lessons
Valentine Letter Writing
http://lesson-plans-
materials.suite101.com/article.cfm/valentine_letter_writing
Valentine Rap game Music Lesson Plan
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/MusicValentineRapGameIdeaP1.htm
Valentine's Day Language Arts Lesson Plan
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/LAValentinesDay6.html
Valentine's Day lesson plan
http://www.developingteachers.com/tips/valentine_plan1.htm
Why Celebrate Valentine's Day?
http://www.glc.k12.ga.us/BuilderV03/LPTools/LPShared/lpdisplay.asp?
LPID=55041

Crafts
Bear Box Craft for Valentine's Cards
http://www.dltk-holidays.com/valentines/mbearbox.htm
Chocolate Boxes Paper Crafts - Learning Colors
http://www.dltk-holidays.com/valentines/m-chocolates-colors.htm
Chocolate Boxes Paper Crafts - Learning Letters
http://www.dltk-holidays.com/valentines/m-chocolates-letters.htm
Chocolate Boxes Paper Crafts - Learning Numbers
http://www.dltk-holidays.com/valentines/m-chocolates-numbers.htm
Chocolate Boxes Paper Crafts - Learning Shapes
http://www.dltk-holidays.com/valentines/m-chocolates-shapes.htm
Easy Valentine's Day Kleenex Box Cover
http://www.dltk-holidays.com/valentines/mkleenex.html
Gum Guy Cupids
http://jas.familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts?
page=CraftDisplay&craftid=10788
Heart Pinwheels
http://www.homeschoolzone.com/craft/ripplepinwheels.htm
Heather the Heart Shapes Buddie
http://www.dltk-teach.com/shapes/mheart.htm
Love Bug
http://jas.familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts?
page=CraftDisplay&craftid=11597
Scented heart ornaments Valentines Day craft project
http://www.craftown.com/valentine/val3.htm
Stained-Glass Hearts
http://jas.familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts?
page=CraftDisplay&craftid=10556
Sweethearts Bookmark
http://www.sesameworkshop.org/parents/activity/article.php?
contentId=23482&categoryId[]=4473&contentId=23482
Valentine's Day Crown or Hat
http://www.dltk-holidays.com/valentines/mcrown.htm
Valentine's Day Wreath Craft
http://www.dltk-holidays.com/valentines/mwreath.htm


Cooking
Conversation Heart Fudge
http://jas.familyfun.go.com/recipefinder/display?id=40793
Cupid's Lemony Love Potion
http://jas.familyfun.go.com/recipefinder/display?id=40797
Lollipop Flowers
http://jas.familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts?
page=CraftDisplay&craftid=10520
Sweet Heart Krispy Treats
http://jas.familyfun.go.com/recipefinder/display?id=40795

Music
CanTeach: Songs & Poems - Valentine's Day
http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/songspoems13.html
Valentine's Day Songs: Lyrics for Children
http://www.songsforteaching.com/holiday/valentinesdaysongs.htm
MoJo's Musical Mouseum Song Lyrics - Valentine's Day Songs
http://www.kididdles.com/lyrics/valentines.html

Online Stories
Lil' Fingers Storybook: Hearts
http://www.lil-fingers.com/hearts/

Online Activities
Make a Valentine with a Connecting Word
http://www.starfall.com/n/holiday/valentine/play.htm?f
Seek-a-Word with Billy Bear
http://www.billybear4kids.com/games/online/search/valentines.html
Valentine's Day Heart Scrambler
http://www.surfnetkids.com/games/valentine-sc.htm
Valentine's Day On-Line Coloring Pages
http://www.dltk-kids.com/color/valentine3.htm
Valentine's Day Tic Tac Toe
http://www.dltk-holidays.com/valentines/tictactoe/index.htm
Valentine Concentration Game
http://www.bethanyroberts.com/ValentineConcentrationGame.htm
Valentine Dress Up Game
http://www.billybear4kids.com/paperdoll/OnlineFlash/Valentine/DressUp
.html
Valentine Online Word Puzzle
http://www.bethanyroberts.com/ValentineOnlineWordPuzzle.htm

Printouts
Chocolate Box Tic-Tac-Toe for Valentine's Day
http://familyfun.go.com/printables/coloring-pages/printable/tic-tac-
toe-valentine/
Custom Tracer Pages
http://www.kidzone.ws/tracers/valentine/index.asp
How Many Colorful Hearts Book
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/books/holiday/valentine/colorfulhear
ts/
Math Activity Worksheets
http://www.kidzone.ws/math/valentine/index.htm
Valentine Activity Book for Children
http://www.allfreeprintables.com/valentine/activity-book.shtml
Valentine's Day Anagram
http://www.dltk-holidays.com/valentines/m-anagram.htm
Valentine's Day Coupon Book
http://www.activitiesforkids.com/holiday/coupon.htm
Valentine's Day Crossword Puzzles
http://www.dltk-holidays.com/valentines/m-crossword.htm
Valentine's Day Memory Game
http://familyfun.go.com/printables/games/printable/memory-game-
valentines-day/memory-game-valentines-day.html

To Subscribe to the Lesson Theme of the Week use the links below
Lesson Theme of the Week
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lessonthemeoftheweek/

Lesson Theme of the Week NoChat Version
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lessonthemeoftheweeknochat/

Miscellaneous Lesson Plans - This link is sponsered by Utah Education Network. This site has dozens of lesson plans with documents to support the lessons.

Education World - This site is a great site for lesson plans and are submitted by teachers. This is a great place to spend a few hours at.

Zoom School - This site has many different lesson plans and is designed for elementary students. The lessons you can find here are biology, geography, language arts, and early child hood activities. This site looks like it's part of Enchanted Learning.

I know that I can always use premade lesson plans when I am running short on ideas. Here are a few sites that are great resources for lesson plans. Enjoy!

The Academy Curriculum Exchange - This website has a wealth of resources for grades K - 12. They have curriculum for langauge arts, mathematics, miscellaneous, science, and social studies. The lessons here are very detailed and consise but they require alot of sifting through pages.

Lesson Plans and Reproducibles - This site is made by Scholastic and this particular section is the most valuable: hundreds of lesson plans ranging from elementary to intermediate ages, in 100 different categories. This site could keep me busy for days.

Lesson Plans - This site has over 3,500 free lesson plans. There is lessons for all ages and subjects.

Marc Sheehan's Lesson Plans - This site has a small collection but includes theme units, lesson plans and links to other lesson plan sites.

Stay tuned as tomorrow I will finish posting the lesson plan sites that I have found.

Now this is Western Civilization done right!  Annenberg Media has put together on-line, a 52 week series on Western Civilization, that is billed for High School and Adults.  I though will tell you that you can use this series for your home-schooled middle school child without it being too lofty for them, and the educational benefits are tremendous.

The 52 week series is done in video format, using thousands of images from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it is interesting, and entertaining using these visuals to teach. Taking you from the dawn of civilization to a look to the future. It is an impressive mixture of History and Art woven together. These lessons are only 30 minutes in length, and can easily fit into your daily or weekly schedule, and are free of charge. Some of the lessons are as followed:

• The Dawn of History
• The Ancient Egyptians
• The Rise of Greek Civilization
• Greek Thought
• Alexander the Great
• The Hellenistic Age
• The Rise of Rome
• The Roman Empire
• Early Christianity
• The Rise of the Church
• The Decline of Rome
• The Fall of Rome
• The Dark Ages
• The Middle Ages
• The Late Middle Ages
• The National Monarchies
• The Renaissance and the Age of Discovery
• The Rise of the Middle Class
• The Wars of Religion
• The American Revolution
• The French Revolution
• The Industrial Revolution
• The Age of the Nation-States
• The First World War and the Rise of Fascism
• The Second World War
• The Cold War
• Europe and the Third World
• The Technological Revolution
• Toward the Future

I did not include all the subjects, but enough to give you an idea on the order the program heads.  You can read a description of each program on the website.  In the very first lesson within the first few minutes, there is a delightful 4 minute "short" movie on the History of Civilization done in four minutes.  It is quite charming! There is nothing to download or buy.  To access this wonderful series go here:

Annenberg Media

I came across this in one of the email groups I am in and thought I would share it. I think this would be a cute idea art project for either Valentines Day or thinking ahead to Mother's Day. Also after reading this you could use this for a primary science experiment in changing colors.

Coloured Flowers
Materials you will need:
. Water
. Scissors
. Food Colouring
. Jar, Plastic Cup or Test Tube
. A Flower (light coloured-white carnation) or Celery Stalk (with
leaves)

This is a colour changing experiment.

Steps:
1. Fill the cup with water.
2. Add a few drops of food colouring
3. Cut the end off the stem (stalk)
4. Put the flower in the water

Watch and in time the food colouring will be sucked up the stem
along tiny tubes (called vessels) and the petals of the flower will
start to change in colour.
Another way to try this experiment is to get a flower with a long,
thick stem (or a celery stalk with leaves) and slit it carefully
from the bottom and put one end in separate test tubes (with
different food colourings).  Your flower (or celery) should have
petals (or leaves) in two different colours.
Did you know that plants need water to live?  As well as absorbing
water from the atmosphere (air) through their leaves, they suck
water up through their stems.  If you used the celery stalk for the
above experiment you could cut the stalk and see that the little
holes inside are coloured.

A fellow home-schooling parent the other day asked me what "Bible Study" I used with my daughter.  She was having a hard time finding a good program for her 12 year old son that wasn't too elementary.

We start our day with Bible study each morning, which is not at all unusual for a home with Christian based education.  I had looked into many different curriculum and lesson plans, a lot of them well done, but we settled upon our own way of studying the bible, let me explain.

Word of Promise Audio Bible fit our need.  It is not your average audio bible, this bible has theatrical sounds and quality, and features several Hollywood "stars" as the voices:

• Jim Cavieziel
• Michael York
• Richard Dreyfuss
• Stacy Keach
• Marisa Tomei
• Lou Gossett Jr.
• Lou Diamond Philips
• John Heard
• Kimberly Williams-Paisley
• Luke Perry
• John Schneider
• Ernie Hudson
• Rebecca St. James
• Michael W. Smith
• + more........

As your student reads along with his/her bible, the chapters come alive in the ears (and the heart) as it is acted out for them on audio.  The sounds are fantastic, the music dramatic, it is extremely powerful.

We listen to a chapter a day, and we chose to go right in order, from Matthew to Revelation.  But you can certainly listen to whatever you want to fit your lesson plans.  After we listen to a specific chapter, my daughter then asks me questions that came up during her listening and reading.

You can download the whole New Testament right to your computer (our choice), or you can order the discs to be sent to your home. (I have also seen them for sale at Sam's club).  To order to your computer on-line it costs $28.95, to order the set for your home library $32.99.

Also, Word of Promise has a pay it forward program where if you sign up your church, a percentage of what is ordered is then sent to your church, a double blessing.

There are samples of the program on the website, you can also watch a trailer of the Word of Promise project, be sure to watch both before you decide to order.

Sometimes (actually a lot), I am unclear what a particular passage means.  That is when I find my way on-line to "Thru the Bible" with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.  Pastor McGee died over 30 years ago, but his teachings live on through Christian radio, and through the website that is accessed from all over the world.  From the site, you can download Dr. McGee's teachings for free, and then go right to the chapter that you are having problems with, and get an understanding of it from Dr. McGee perspective.

There are many many programs out there for bible study for your home-schooled child, but I wanted to share the two that work very well for us, perhaps they will work well for you also:

Word of Promise Website
Thru the Bible

Today I spent some time looking for some environment websites to plan a unit for my boys. I hope you enjoy them.

El Nino Theme Page - This website explains the causes of El Nino and La Nina. This is an interesting webpage and it also contains alot of data.

Environmental News Network - This site has the most current news on the enviorment and scientific topics. This is recommended as one of the best environmentmental sites.

Geographia - There are many well written articles about different countries at this sites. This website kind of reminds me of a travel brochure then more of an academic website.

   The bitter cold temperatures in our area over the weekend provided me with an opportunity to make some old fashioned homemade "stained glass" hard candy. Every winter family and friends eagerly await the Arctic blast that drives our temperatures into single digits with low humidity knowing that the candy soon will be ready. The phone rings, the emails arrive, and notes placed mysteriously throughout the house appear as soon as the forecast is known, they all want to make sure I am aware the cold air is on the way. "Hurry up and get ready, the deep freeze is coming!" has to be one of my favorites. The weather is important because after the molten candy is poured from the kettle onto the tray I immediately (but carefully) rush it outside and place the tray in the snow. Between the very cold air on the top surface of the candy and the ice cold snow on the bottom of the tray, the candy instantly freezes and cracks into gorgeous pieces of old fashioned candy.
   I use a very old recipe that my neighbor just recently passed on to me from her great-grandmother. I grew up with her candy but it was always a "secret". It is a time consuming and labor intensive process but it creates some of the best tasting, most beautiful candy I've ever had.
   Over the 2 days I managed to make 10 different flavors, peppermint, spearmint, wintergreen, cinnamon, cherry, lemon, lime, orange, root beer, and red licorice. That certainly does not appear to be a lot, but it takes on average 2-3 hours per flavor. Of course I already have orders for second batches, but I am at the mercy of Mother Nature and the weather. 
   The boys help out a lot, they measure out the ingrediants, watch the kettles to make sure that the heat is just perfect, and most importantly remove the molten candy from the heat source when it reaches exactly 310 degrees. This experience of making candy actually is a science, chemistry and math lesson, all rolled into one delicious "class." Sometimes homeschooling teachs us all when we least expect it.

 

I am so glad it's the weekend so I can finally sit down and update on some new discoveries and current events that have occurred in the last few weeks.  There is some interesting stuff here, hopefully some of it will interest you enough to inspire some new lesson plans for your children:

New Game Builds Vocabulary for Kids - and Adults:  There is a new game in town for your Nintendo DS, it is called "My Word Coach", and it is getting great reviews. It was inspired by a college professor and has six different vocabulary games that also tracks your progress, read about it here:
My Word Coach

Indoor Gardening: Growing your own Vegetables and Herbs Indoors durinig the Winter: This is a fantastic and informative article about how to grow vegetables inside your house during the winter.  It is written with clear direction and really shows you how to get started with little cost. This would make a great home-school family project! (Not to mention fresh vegetables around the house year-long)
Indoor Gardening

Scottish Water Plant Dig reveals ancient Roman Fort:  This is a cool story! When construction workers in Scotland were readying a site for a new treatment plant, they came upon an ancient Roman fort, which is dated 2000 years old. To read about the discovery:
Ancient Roman Fort

Puzzle Pouch and Free Patterns:  If you have a student who likes to sew and if looking for some easy patterns, don't miss this article. The sewing blog at About.com has found some terrific free patterns for a Puzzle Pouch, and don't worry about not having a sewing machine, these can all be done by hand:
Puzzle Pouch and Free Patterns

Fortune Cookie - Made in Japan?:  This is a fun story, it has been discovered that fortune cookies are not Chinese at all, they are Japanese!  Read the story of how one history graduate in Japan discovered this shocking fact:
Fortune Cookies: Made in Japan?

U.S. Scientists Create beating Hearts in Lab:  This was a huge story in the science and medicine world.  A group of scientists created beating hearts in aging rats, they feel that this could lead to some mighty new changes in health-care in the future. Read about the discovery and story:
Beating Hearts in Lab

Sir Edmund Hillary, who first climbed atop Mt. Everest, has died:  Yes, Sir Edmund Hillary died at the age of 88 on January 11, 2008.  This story made me put a note to myself about future lesson plans on Sir Hillary and Mt. Everest in general.  Children will find his story exciting, and his life even more so:
Sir Edmund Hillary dies

On-Line Tangram Puzzle Games:  If your student is into puzzles of any kind, then your student is going to love Tangrams.  Dave at About.com has put together a few sites for you involving Tangrams. Tangrams may look simple enough, but believe me it is not, some of these are wonderfully challenging:
On-Line Tangram Puzzle Games

Tornado Handbook, an Interactive Guide:  You have to love the people over at the Discovery Channel, they are always coming up with some unique learning tools! This is a interactive Tornado handbook, that allows your student to participate in making a tornado, while learning step by step along the way how tornadoes form, you are going to love this!:
Tornado Handbook

New Solar System could Breed Life:  Astronomers are very excited about this one.  The beginning stages of a new solar system have been discovered, and scientists believe that this new solar system could breed life. To read more on this discovery:
New Solar System

Time-Line Greenland:  This is just a great time-line for Greenland that will enhance any study or lesson plan you may be doing on Greenland. Done in chronological order and stacked full of information:
Time-Line Greenland

Civil War Detective Solves Grave Mix-Up:  Imagine that you really really really don't like the neighbors down the street "The Smiths", you are feuding constantly. But then you die and for some strange reason, end up buried in the Smith family plot! Read the story of the Civil War soldier, who really wound up buried in the wrong place, and the person who solved it:
Civil War Grave Mix-Up

Make your own Sock Puppets:  Finally, some hands-on fun for the little ones.  Very good article on making your own sock puppets and a list of materials that you will need to get the project done:
Sock Puppets

Going High-Tech: Geo-caching in the Classroom:  This is one gold-mine of a find for classroom fun with GPS.  This site will help inspire hours of learning and fun using a GPS for your older or advanced students. The blog has several ideas to get you started:
Geo-caching in the Classroom

Volunteers needed to join International Bird-Feeding Study!:  Be part of an international study on bird-feeding.  There are two different programs to choose from. This would be an ideal on-going lesson plan for the entire family, and a chance to be part of something very special and important:
Volunteer for Bird-Feeding Study

That is it for this week, hope you found something new for your home-school curriculum planning!

I love to find amazing talents and outstanding people who have been home-schooled. Christophe Bisciglia is just one of those people.

He was one of those kids in a public school, who just couldn't keep still, kept asking questions, often annoying teachers, he wanted to learn and he wanted to learn now. So he was taken out of public school to be home-schooled, where he found the time to pursue the things that he loved

Not one for ordinary lesson plans, he started raising horses and collecting computers, and this is really where he found his spark.  He learned to hack all his video games, he grew up and attended University of Washington, and at the age of 22 started working for Google.

This is where the Hero part comes in.  Now that he is 27, and still hacking games, he designed a program called Google 101, which became a class at University of Washington that teaches students a new concept called "cloud computing".  The concept hit big, so big that through a partnership with IBM, it will spread to other Universities.

To learn more on cloud computing click here:  Cloud Computing

Christophe Bisciglia is making his mark in the world, and that is why he is a Home-school Hero.....

50 States - This site has lesson plans on all 50 States. This site has both interesting and humorous facts about the states. Beware of embedded advertisements.

African Wildlife Foundation - This site contains information on the animals in Africa. The highlights of this site are all the geographical areas in Africa. You can also find stories and reports on the conservation efforts.

CIA World Fact Book - This site is an excellent source of information about many different countries around the world. This site makes good research information if you working on a specific country.

ChaCha.com has started their new text service (it's free try it!), and I have been busy training for the upcoming Sundance Film Festival, where Chacha.com is the official text service for the event.  It has been really fun, but has taken me away from blogging for a bit.  But I am back...

Today, I want to tell you about a few free good services out there for Home-schoolers and their teachers:

The first one is for free placement tests.  This is a Christian Home-school site which allow you to download their placements test onto your computer, and you can test your student to see what level they are currently at. This will be really helpful for you at the beginning of your school year:
Switched On School House 2007 Edition

This second one is also for Christian Home-schoolers.  It offers a daily bible quiz, which will aid your child in remembering important details about the bible, the answers may seem simple, but it is not as simple as it looks, so it is good for all ages:
Home-school Bible Curriculum

This next site is for any student (or for that matter, parent), who needs to learn how to type.  It is a free on-line typing course, you just need to register:
Goodtyping.com

I know in this day and age of computer, some teachers in public schools are dropping cursive as a subject.  I think it is a big mistake, but to help aid your student with his or her cursive skills, this site has print-outs on everything you need to teach cursive handwriting, it is not a fancy site, but click on the links provided and see how valuable it actually is:
Handwriting for Children

I am now going back to my Home-schooling, and of course my Cha-Chaing! Come join us!

Valentine’s Day has long been a day when people show their love and affection towards their family and friends. What better way to teach children about this unconditional love than by giving your child and her friends a Valentine’s Day party? Here are some suggestions and party ideas that are easy and fun for the kids.

Valentine's Day Crafts

Valentine’s Tic-Tac-Toe

This is a craft and game all in one. Start by giving each child a large heart cut out of craft foam. On one side, draw a tic-tac-toe grid in permanent marker. Allow the children to decorate the other side with foam or felt hearts (you can cut out your own and use glue dots or glue sticks or purchase them already ready to use at a craft store). Place eight hearts of the same color (two colors, such as eight red hearts and eight purple hearts) inside a baggie. These will be the markers for the game. Punch a hole at the top of the heart and thread a ribbon through it and tie the bag of markers on to the bag.

Heart Art

Your kids can make a cute heart to give as a gift. Find a box with tall sides. Place a sheet of pink construction paper inside the box. Pick out a couple of colors of tempra paint such as red and white and place a small amount of each in a paper plate. Drop a large marble in each color and coat it with paint using a plastic spoon. Scoop the marbles out of the paint and drop into the box. Have the children tilt the box in all different directions, allowing the marbles to roll around the box. It will create an interesting look on the paper. When the paint is dry, cut it into a heart shape.

Games

Valentine is the Word

When each child enters the room, place six small heart stickers on their shirt. Inform them that the magic word of the day is “Valentine”, (you can also use love, heart or any other Valentine related word). This is the word they must not be caught saying. If they hear another child say the magic word throughout the day, they are allowed to take one sticker. The child that has the most stickers at the end of the party wins.

Heart Scavenger Hunt

Cut out several hearts out of construction paper and hide them throughout the room. Give the kids a certain amount of time to find as many as they can. This may take longer with younger kids.

Preschoolers love making books—and they love talking about themselves, too. You can help your preschool make a mini book that will show the world all about your sweet preschooler. Fill it with your child’s favorites and this book may become his or her favorite bedtime story. You might even think about letting your child glue pictures of friends and family inside the book and write a story or sentences.

 All About Me Mini Book

There are different types of mini books you can make. You can always go online to find printable mini books if you do not want to spend the time cutting and pasting, or you can use one of these ideas below. Once you and your child have finished the book, make each page about your preschooler. Add pages such as:

I am _____years old.

I have_____eyes.

My birthday is_____.

My favorite toy is_____.

I love to_____.

I like to watch_____.

My pets are____.

My best friend is_____.

My favorite book is_______.

 
Here are a couple of ways to make the book:

Index Card Accordion Book

Cut two pieces of card stock paper in thirds, to make several long strips. Fold the strips accordion style making sure you make the folds wide enough to fit an index card. Glue the strips together at the ends making one long strip. Attach the index cards between the folds. Fold the entire book together and use a string or ribbon to close. When you open the book, it will fold out and each index card will be a page.

Flip Book

Flip books are fun and easy to make. You will need three sheets of regular sized copy paper (try using a variety of colors), two pieces of string (about 12 inches long), and a hole punch. Start by stacking the sheets of paper on top of each other and then arrange so that each sheet is about 1-1/2 inches lower than the one before. Hold the papers together and turn them over to the back. Fold the bottom side over so that you now have six pages. Carefully open the fold and punch two holes—one on each side at the top. Thread the string through the inside of the fold and out of the two holes. Tie in a knot. This holds the pages together. If it seems too complicated, you can simply staple the pages together at the fold. You now have a flip book for your child.

Progressive Phonics is a all in one reading program. This program works by having the child start reading the book. All the lessons are built into the book. The words that are in red are what the child reads. Each of the books add new concepts.

Progressive Phonics allows you to download the first couple books in each series to try before you buy. There are four different categories located on this page: Alphabetti Books, Beginner Phonics, Intermediate Phonics, and Advanced Phonics. According to the website all the Alphabetti Books are going to be free for a limited time.

   Wow! We sure have been riding a roller coaster of wild weather this last week. First we have a snowstorm that drops 16" of snow in 6 hours and we spend 3 days digging out. By the end of the week we are breaking records for high temperatures with severe thunderstorms (add another 2-3 inches of fresh rainfall to the melted snow total and there is wide spread flooding), and high winds with tornadoes rolling through the midwest.
   At least it allowed for a lot of conversation about weather and its cause and effects. It is difficult sometimes to teach about Earth science and weather phenomenon without visual or tactile aides. An example is light and fluffy snow, without being able to actually feel light and fluffy snow it remains an abstract thought, some cake frostings claims to be light and fluffy, but it does not feel anything like light and fluffy snow. Freezing rain, sleet and snow all are frozen water droplets, yet they all look and feel differently.
   It never ceases to amaze me how many lessons life on our planet presents to us everyday without having to be confined to 4 brick walls.

 

Many homeschoolers enjoy the benefits of using Microsoft Office.  Between Power Point, Excel, and Microsoft Word there are numerous activities, lessons, charts, graphs, and displays that can easily be created and used with your curriculum.  However, not everyone has Microsoft Office, or the featured word processor, Microsoft Word.

For those who feel that they have been missing out on numerous resources because they don’t have Microsoft Office, help is on the way.  There is a free word processor that is compatible with Microsoft Word documents and will even save your documents in PDF format if you choose.  The program is called, “Open Office.” You can download and install Open Office online and choose it as your main word processor.

 

When you want to open a Microsoft Word document, simply click on the file and Open Office will open it for you.  If you create a document in Open Office, you can choose to save it as a Word document, or even export it to a pdf file.  There are numerous formats available for saving your documents as well.

 

Open Office is “open source” software.  This enables it to be free of charge and also allows different programmers to create their own programs to enhance the software.  These programs are called “extensions” and can be downloaded free of charge as well.  A great place to find Open Office extensions can be found here: Open Office Extensions

You’ll find that once you download Open Office that it is very simple to use.