Homeschooling families often wonder if their children are “on track” each year. If you are not in a state that has particular requirements, the book Home Learning Year by Year by Rebecca Rupp may be the resource you are looking for. In this paperback sized book, the author describes the basic skills most curriculums emphasize for each grade and subject area preschool through 12th grade. She uses simple language that even non-educators can follow and includes some suggested resources for almost every entry.
The suggested resources are one of the best parts of the book because it’s a mix of commercial curriculum, games, kits, books you can find at the library, and even some web sites each with its own short review. Some of the materials are no longer available, but it gives you an idea of what to look for.
Learning is really a continuum– there is rarely an “average” first grader– but this book is great for giving you an idea of the typical sequence of learning. If your age-wise fourth grader seems to know what’s listed in fourth grade math, go look to see what would usually be taught next in fifth grade. Likewise, if your child doesn’t seem to be quite ready, look at what’s in the previous grade listings. This book is a simple tool to help you find out where you are at and where you might be going!
Posted in Adults, Arts and Craft, Books, Early Childhood, Homeschoolers, Intermediate, Language Arts, Math, Physical Education, Primary, Science, Secondary, Social Studies.
By Heddi Craft
– July 26, 2010
Nature’s Playground is an amazing book by Fiona Danks and Jo Schofield that will inspire your family with all kinds of outdoor adventures.
The book is divided into seven sections: “Let’s Get Outdoors” is filled with basic getting started tips. Four seasonal sections are filled with all kinds of wonderful things to build with natural materials from that season from twig sculptures in “Spring” to elf houses in “Autumn” to ice mobiles in “Winter”. “All Year Round” describes activities you can do any time like tree climbing, scavenger hunts, and wild dens. “After Dark” describes nighttime adventures and crafts.
The book is a feast for the eyes with beautiful photography throughout. Even my non-reading children love to pour over the pages to get ideas of things to do. For those who want or need more inspiration, the text describes where to go and what to bring and how to get started for each of the pictured activities.
If you are looking for some inspiration to enliven or inspire outdoor walks with your children, this is my favorite of the nature activity books out there!
Posted in Adults, Books, Creative Play, Early Childhood, Families, Gift Giving Ideas, Homeschoolers, Intermediate, Parents, Primary, Science, Secondary, Teachers, Thinking Skills.
By Heddi Craft
– July 24, 2010
Handwriting Without Tears is a complete collection of handwriting instruction for Pre-K through Grade 5 children. Developed by an occupational therapist, the materials are straightforward and easy to use.
Starting with the Pre-K and Kindergarten curriculum, children explore the capital letters using a clever set of blocks which include four shapes: big curve, little curve, big line, and little line. These four shapes allow you to make every letter of the alphabet except J and U (although you can “cheat” and even make those). Children also experience the letters by making them in clay, writing them on a magnetic slate, and writing them on a specially shaped chalkboard. A CD of songs gets you singing, “Where do you start your letters? At the top!” and other tunes to help children remember how to form the letters. All three of my children have enjoyed building the letters with the special blocks before they had the fine motor skills to write the same letters.
Later grades use less extra tools, but the materials continue to be clear and easy to use. The workbooks are inexpensive and fun looking without being flashy. For grades one through four, two workbooks of print are followed by two workbooks of cursive. Fifth graders have the choice of a print or cursive book.
Handwriting Without Tears uses an unusual line design with a base line and middle line but no top line. Their cursive font is upright rather than slanted. The writing style is simple and neat. The letters are introduced by the shapes used rather than by order in the alphabet.
This series is a great resource for anyone looking for a handwriting curriculum. It is especially suited for children who have difficulty with fine motor skills.
Posted in Books, Early Childhood, Families, Homeschoolers, Language Arts, Learning Tool, Primary, Teachers, Website- free.
By Heddi Craft
– July 23, 2010
This book is written especially for parents who wish to form a cooperative preschool environment with other parents. Published by La Leche League, Playful Learning takes parents through all the steps of creating a preschool at home in cooperation with other parents as an alternative to sending children to a traditional preschool.
The first third of the book is about the reasons why you might create a co-op preschool and many details about the logistics of doing so including schedules, finances, organizing the space, etc.
The rest of the book is a treasure trove of activities perfect for small groups of children ages 3-5. Art, nature, cooking, math, early literacy, movement, and music are all given their own chapters. The activities are usually inexpensive and just right for preschool aged children. There’s plenty here for several years of home based preschool!
There is a checklist in the appendix of the skills that are considered part of kindergarten readiness. This is an excellent tool for parents who are preparing their children for the transition to kindergarten and a great way for the parents planning a co-op preschool to make sure that they are including a variety of activities to develop a broad range of skills.
If you are a parent who has considered creating a co-op preschool for financial reasons or as a way of creating the ideal environment for your child, this book has all the details to get you started.
Posted in Books, Early Childhood, Families, Parents.
By Heddi Craft
– May 21, 2010
One of the great ways to learn addition and subtraction facts or multiplication and division facts is to memorize not the facts but the “fact families.” For example, in addition/subtraction the numbers 3, 5, and 8 form a fact family with the following facts: 3+5=8, 5+3=8, 8-3=5, and 8-5=3. In multiplication/division an example family for the numbers 4, 5, and 20 would be: 4×5=20, 5×4=20, 20/5=4, 20/4=5. Fact families are great because by memorizing that three numbers have a relationship to each other, you actually memorize four facts. Many of us have done this informally and will almost expect to see the third number of a fact family when faced with the other two numbers.
There are commercial three sided flash cards available from Trend. But for a lower cost alternative, here is a great page from Math Cats with fact family cards you can print yourself, a nifty holder for them which covers up part of the card, and many games for both addition/subtraction and multiplication/division.
Try fact families especially with kids who are good at seeing relationships between information and for those who haven’t been successful with regular flash cards.
Posted in Families, Homeschoolers, Intermediate, Learning Tool, Math, Parents, Primary, Teachers, Website- free.
By Heddi Craft
– April 10, 2010
Science Experiments for Young Learners is a great resource for teaching science to the 4-7 year old age range. The book contains over 120 simple experiments that are conducted using mostly everyday items that are simple to collect. A broad range of concepts in physical science, life science, and earth and space science are demonstrated through a combination of demonstrations and simple experiments children can complete themselves.
Each experiment is shown in a two page spread. The right hand page is a worksheet that can be completed by the student either during or after the experiment. The left hand page includes a statement describing the concept, a short description of the experiment, a step by step explanation of how to perform the experiment, suggestions for follow-up questions and explorations, and a complete list of materials.
Most of the experiments can be completed in 15-20 minutes, although some require several days of observation (this is particularly true in the life science experiments).
This book is a great resource and could provide either the main lessons in a early childhood science curriculum or a supplement to an existing text.
Posted in Books, Early Childhood, Homeschoolers, Science, Teachers.
By Heddi Craft
– March 16, 2010
One of the most wonderful things I think we can do for children is put engaging and interesting books in their hands and give them time to read. Reading opens doorways for the imagination, takes us on adventures, and teaches about topics that we might not be able to explore first hand.
If you are interested in learning more about the value of reading in children’s lives, I recommend the blog The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller. Her posts never fail to intrigue me and keep me committed to reading as part of our learning lifestyle.
Also, check out this research article about why independent reading is linked to school achievement.
Then pull out a favorite book, and share it with your child or classroom!
Posted in Early Childhood, Families, Homeschoolers, Intermediate, Language Arts, Parents, Primary, Secondary, Teachers, Website- free.
By Heddi Craft
– February 11, 2010
The Daily Word Ladders books by Scholastic are a great resource for building vocabulary and spelling skills.
Available for grades 1-2, 2-3, and 4-6, each book uses the same concept at increasingly difficult levels. Each page shows a ladder of 5 to 10 rungs. The first rung has a word. The second rung gives a clue for the word that belongs on the next rung and lines for each letter of that word. For instance, on one ladder the first word is “coat” and the clue for the next rung is “A black rock that produces heat. Change one letter.” The activity continues in this manner, with clues to add, subtract, rearrange, or change letters to create a word with a particular meaning until you reach the top rung. Each page has a theme to which the top and bottom word belong– so “hot” may be turned in to “cold” or “coat” turned into “glove”.
The wonderful thing about word ladders is they combine the elements of a game with some great brain exercises. It’s fun to discover that changing a single letter changes the sounds of almost all the letters around it. The pages can be completed alone or in small groups and are a great addition to vocabulary and spelling curriculums.
Posted in Books, Homeschoolers, Intermediate, Language Arts, Primary, Teachers.
By Heddi Craft
– February 7, 2010
If you have a child who is learning to type, check out BBC’s Dance Mat Typing before you buy any software. This is a free typing program available online and perfect for elementary aged students who are learning to type.
Rock-and-roll animals guide you through learning each of the letters in Flash animation. After learning the position of the letters, you practice lines of typing, as a little record “breaks” at the end of each line of type. Every few lines is another encouraging animation. If you make a mistake, the correct letter on the pictured keyboard calls out, “Me, me!”
Only a few letters are introduced at a time and the practice is mostly real words, not lines of random letters. The letters you have learned are shown in bright colors and are color coded with a different color for each finger.
Your child will need to remember what lesson he or she is on, there’s no login so the computer doesn’t save the information for you. Sometimes the guides are a bit difficult to understand because they have a strong accent, but this never seemed to bother my son. All the lowercase letters and the shift key are introduced, but not the numbers and extra symbols or tabs.
The website is a great introduction to typing for a beginner. My son can now touch type and is building speed by actually typing the things he is writing.
Posted in Families, Homeschoolers, Intermediate, Language Arts, Primary, Teachers, Website- free.
By Heddi Craft
– January 24, 2010
Fridge Phonics is one of the few “noisy toys” that I recommend. Although reading the English language is full of exceptions to the rule, knowing the most common sounds which letters make is useful to most children when they are first learning to read.
Fridge phonics consists of 26 raised letter magnets and a magnetized base. When the letters are placed in the base and pressed, a song begins, such as, “F says fff, F says fff, every letter makes a sound, F says fff.” For vowels, the long and short sound are included, as in “A says aa and A says aah, every letter makes a sound, A says aa– and aah!” The tune is catchy, you will find yourself singing it under your breath, which is why it’s such a novel and useful toy. Your kids will be singing it, too, and dancing to it while learning the names of the letters and their most common sounds.
This toy works well for kids who are very auditory, who already like to sing catchy tunes. The letters are in strong relief, so they stand out visually. When held, the shape of the letter is easy to trace with your fingers. They can be used on the refrigerator to spell words with no repeating letters. I watched my son at a fairly young age use the toy to figure out which letters he needed to spell his choice of words.
The letters are all uppercase, although expansion packs for lowercase letters have been available in the past. Also, sometimes the sounds of the letter are not as clear as they could be. You may need to sing along so your kids can see the shape of your mouth as you form some of the sounds.
Posted in Early Childhood, Families, Homeschoolers, Language Arts, Primary, Toys.
By Heddi Craft
– January 9, 2010
