3 Boys And A Dog » Homeschooling

Fun and Easy Outdoor Activities With Kids

Momof3boys — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 15:00:00 +0000

This guest post from Kelly Wilson should have been a Homeschooling Notes post! I am planning to use a couple of her ideas this coming school year! Be sure to welcome her and visit her site to show her how wonderful my readers are. ~Kelli

By: Kelly Wilson

Teaching Resource Center

www.trcabc.com

Kelly.wilson@trcabc.com

Fun and Easy Outdoor Activities With Kids

Kids will often claim to be bored during the summer, but that phrase may mean that they’re ready to spend some time with you. Here are a few fun activities that not only give you and your kids time together, but also teach them a little about the world around them.

Bubbles

Gather your bottles of bubble solution and all of your bubble-blowing tools. Start by adding a couple of drops of food coloring to the bottle or dish of bubble solution and shake or stir. Blow some bubbles and check to see if they’re clear or if they have taken on any color. Slowly increase the amount of food coloring, keeping track of how many drops you put in and if the bubbles are colored or not.

Chart The Sun’s Travels

Choose a spot on your driveway or patio and mark a large “X” in a space that gets regular sunlight. At about the same time each hour, have your child stand on the “X” and trace his/her shadow with sidewalk chalk, writing the time of day next to it. At the end of the day, take a look at your unusual artwork. The following questions can help you and your child discuss the change in the shadow’s length:

What happened to the shadow in the morning? In the afternoon?
What time was the shadow the shortest? What time was it the longest?
What does this shadow chart tell us about the sun?

Water Balloon Test

This is a fun activity for those unbearably hot days.

If you can, buy a few different brands or sizes of water balloons. Fill them, making sure to keep the brands or sizes separated.

When the water balloons are ready, choose something to throw them against, like the side of the house or the driveway. To make this test fair, the balloons need to be thrown the same way every time.

Keep track of which water balloons bounced and which ones broke right away. Use this information to plan a water balloon party with friends and strategize which water balloons will get everyone soaked the fastest.

These three easy activities should provide some fun with your kids during these warm summer days!

Kelly Wilson is an editor with Teaching Resource Center, a trusted source of high-quality teaching supplies.

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Homeschooling Notes: Helping Kids Read Better

Momof3boys — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:00:00 +0000

Welcome Fiona to 3 Boys and a Dog. Fiona has an AWESOME story so after reading her tips and tricks, be sure to run to her website to find out more about her and her adopted daughter.

Helping Kids Read Better With Homeschooling

Parents give many reasons why they prefer to home school their kids: better academic test results, poor public school environment, improved character/morality development, and objections to what is taught locally in public school. Homeschooling cannot be undertaken lightly. Parents need to be dedicated and may have to sacrifice two incomes for one because one parent has to take on the schooling task. The benefits can be enormous, and include better bonding with kids, being able to monitor their academic progress, and sharing the joy of reading, obviously the cornerstone of any schooling program.

Reading is one of the hardest aspects of learning because kids must love reading to benefit. Here the home school parent can really ‘get stuck in’ with loads of novel and fun ideas that transform reading from a chore to the best activity imaginable. It can be disappointing when your child expresses absolutely no interest in reading. However, you can change that by coming up with new and interesting ways to ‘package’ the art of reading. Reading is a skill, just like any other skill. It has to be introduced, nurtured, and developed. Children don’t enjoy what they can’t do. When reading is difficult, they shy away from even coming near a book. Turning your non-reader into a reader will require your participation and encouragement every step of the way.

A good way to begin is to actually assess your child’s reading level. If it’s below par, then that’s one reason why he or she isn’t keen on books. Have your child read a page or two from a variety of books they might enjoy. Make a list of the words they find easy/hard/not understood. Once you have an idea of their level, based on vocabulary skills, then you can move forward. In fact, to build your child’s confidence, perhaps begin with a book for a younger age. Your child will skim through it, feeling proud at having finished and understood it, and you can offer praise by saying, “Look how easily you managed that! Shall we try something else?”
A book can appear quite a formidable object to a non-reader. Begin small. Start with a thinner book and say, “I bet we’ll finish this quickly.” Then let your child read the book in bite-sized pieces. Don’t try for ten pages—read only four or five pages. Your child will feel this is not a huge task after all.
Reading aloud is something that all parents should do, regardless of children’s age. Most children really love that special time when Mom or Dad comes in to say good night. You can say, “Hey! I’ve got something really exciting here. Want to hear some?” Anything to delay turning off the light, your child will say (of course) “Yeah!” You can make this session into something really memorable by acting the parts and using your Repertoire of Funny Voices, but more importantly, stop at a really exciting point, just when the hero is about to be plunged into mortal danger. Close the book and say, “Gosh! I hope he survives. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out.” Generally, no kid can go to sleep without confirming their hero is indeed still alive…
Praise and admiration boost a child’s confidence. You can do this by letting friends and family members know just how well your child is doing. “It’s amazing how many pages (child’s name) is reading every day now!” Soon your child will be the one to suggest reading. Use the time together to understand your child’s thought processes, and structure the book choices around what really sparks their interest.
Get your child their own library card and encourage them to begin choosing their own material, based on what captures their interest. Buying book vouchers instead of other kinds of gifts will encourage your child to start building their ‘own’ collection of cherished books.

Fiona Ingram (B.A., Hons. (Natal), M.A., (Wits)) was born and educated in South Africa. Her interest in ancient history, mystery, and legends, and her enjoyment of travel has resulted in The Secret of the Sacred Scarab, the first in her exciting children’s adventure series—Chronicles of the Stone. The first book was inspired by an actual trip the author took to Egypt with her two young nephews (then aged 10 and 12).

Fiona’s dedication to helping children read better was inspired when she adopted a disadvantaged African child who was still basically illiterate at age eleven. Visit Fiona’s author site at www.FionaIngram.com for more articles on helping your child become a better reader.

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I am going to let you in on a SECRET!

Momof3boys — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 05:37:29 +0000

A super secret sale. That is right, for the first time ever, I have a post going live at MIDNIGHT! Why? Because my TOS affiliate newsletter stated:

Here is information for the super secret sale; please do not post before 12:01 a.m. on July 1.

So, you are getting it right after 12:01 am on July 1st.

1776 was a spectacular year, and it is a smashing, save-more-money price!

Grab your subscription to The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine during their four-day Fourth of July sale, and check out the craziest price on July 1 only! Receive a 2-year subscription, free Homeschooling with Heart tote bag, and five FREE E-Books for just $17.76! You can get a new subscription OR renew a current one! How great is that? You know I am renewing my subscription today!

While supplies last. U.S. and Canadian residents.

July 2 through July 4 the unprecedented savings continue. The sparks are flying at TOS Magazine . . . join in the celebration and savings! Get the details here at July 4th

*DISCLAIMER: These are affiliate links. I LOVE The Old Schoolhouse Store and Magazine and completely recommend them to EVERYONE. I use affiliate links to make a couple pennies if my readers choose to purchase through my links. That is it.

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Homeschooling Notes: Outdoor Science Fun with Backyard Safari Outfitters

Momof3boys — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:46:17 +0000

Awesome products from my own home state, Alabama! Team Mom and Backyard Safari Outfitters sent me the following items to review and my kids couldn’t have been more excited. LOL!

Items:

Cargo Vest – Plenty of pockets, 6 D-Rings, 2 should epaulets for clipping and hanging more gear. Large pocket for storing binoculars and clear-view chest pocket for Pop-Up Field Guide. MSRP $19.99 Mom Says: Zack (8) is shown wearing the vest. My “Joe Cool” kid loves it because he could show off his “muscles” and hold his comb, water bottle, and cars in it. LOL!
Mega View Periscope – Full-view periscope for viewing over boulders, high bushes, backyard fences and around corners. Three sturdy light-weight sections telescope for a reach of over four feet high to see all out-of-reach views. Flip the Mega View Periscope upside down and a full 16 inches is submersible for under-water viewing – on docks, poolside, lakes or beaches – all without water in small ears! MSRP $24.99 Mom Says: All of the boys have had a blast sticking this in the pool and looking at all the leaves floating around. They have also played “I see you” with it.” In South Alabama, it is pretty flat so we are excited that it can be used in the water. Now, they want to go to the beach with it. Guess it will be packed for our Cabin vacation!
Bug Vacuum – Catch LIVE crawling, flying, buzzing bugs in the backyard! Look at bugs up close with the built-in magnifying glass. Extra nose cone comes in handy for really big bugs. The Capture Core attaches to the Backyard Safari Bug Habitat (sold separately) for easy transfer of insects. MSRP $19.99 Mom Says: Tripp (10) and Zack (8) have given up on ever using this. Tank (3) always gets what he wants and this is what he wants. LOL! He has been filling it up with everything from Ants to Legos. In fact, the vacuum noise is driving me so nuts after days of listening to it, that I am so ready for the batteries to just go ahead and DIE ALREADY!

These are great to incorporate into your homeschooling field trips! Backyard Safari Outfitters has a TON of goodies… think Christmas gifts!

Backyard Safari Outfitters available at Amazon

Homeschooling Notes: Make and Print Your Own Mazes

Momof3boys — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 16:00:00 +0000

I have had fun with this! You know I like to find fun things to entertain my kids during rainy days and at night.

As a busy mom who works at home, I always try to have “new” goodies up my sleeve to entertain my kids with when I need to get some work done.

Thought I should share

Mazes to Print – 1000’s of pre-made printable mazes and mazes you can create with a maze creator: www.MazestoPrint.com

Technorati Tags: Notes,Make,Print,kids,sleeve,Thought,maze,creator,MazestoPrint,Mazes

Homeschooling Notes: FedEx Out of Office Blog Craft Ideas

Momof3boys — Thu, 27 May 2010 15:55:04 +0000

UNEXPECTED IDEAS FOR CREATIVE PROJECTS

As a homeschool mom, I know how many hours are wasted looking for neat (and cheap) crafts for my kids. It is summer here, but in the rainy south, we will have days that we are stuck inside. I am always looking for things to keep their hands occupied… Enter FedEx’s Out of Office blog!

Mom Central and FedEx sent my boys some goodies to help them try out some of the projects on Out Of Office.

Zack (8) and Tank (3) made the bookmarks since those were the templates they sent us.

Both really had a good time and asked if we could make some more projects! Later this evening, we will sit down and choose a few more things and add the supplies to our shopping list. I love quick, easy, not so messy projects!

Aren’t their bookmarks adorable? Zack is an Alabama Crimson Tide fan, but he made me an Auburn bookmark! Wasn’t that sweet?

But, kids are not the only ones who can find fun and helpful info at the FedEx Out of Office Blog! They have several categories, including Home Helpers! A quick flip through found a GREAT post to help us Spring Clean Paper! Wonder how you could get a gig like that? FedEx, if you are reading this blog, I would LOVE to be a blogger on your awesome site. #imjustsayin

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of FedEx Office and received the items necessary to facilitate my review. In addition, Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

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Homeschooling Notes: May 2, 2010

Momof3boys — Sun, 02 May 2010 15:27:00 +0000

Where did the year go? This year, we have been doing Sonlight Curriculum and Tripp has LOVED all the reading, but he does not like all the work involved in the SAXON Math. As he gets older, the Math is getting harder and harder for me to help him with.

I have been doing some research to find him a program that won’t take as much writing (Saxon has him doing about 130 problems each day!) and won’t cost us as much. Money is an issue for us this year. The issue being that we don’t have any. LOL!

In my research, I came across TutorVista. Their Statistics tutor offers free Statistics help. Since he is going into 5th grade, he will be doing more statistics questions, statistics problems, etc and may need help.

I want to do a program this year that uses more of the internet than Sonlight did. His Usborne Science book is Internet Linked – that means that it gives you links to look at that give more information. But, there was so much work involved, that he didn’t have time to do the extras. I would like him to be able to do the extras!

He says that he wants to go to the local public school when he gets to public school, so that means I only have one year left to try to get him prepared for it.

Ideas? Have any of you had kids go to public school after homeschool? How did it work for you and them?

It Is Really Any Wonder Why We Have No Money?

Momof3boys — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:00:00 +0000

We all make our school supply lists in August and start stocking up on:

School Supplies
School Shoes
School Uniforms

Plus, we have all those other expenses

Fall Sports
School Fees
Clothes for outside of school

We sail through the next month so nicely. Then, October hits and we have:

Costumes
Candy for the neighborhood kids
Decorations
Candy for the Classroom Kids
Project Supplies for the Homeschooled Kids
Land Taxes

What does November bring?

School Plays
Thanksgiving
Pumpkin Patch
Black Friday

December is supposedly the most expensive month of the year.. Bah, I don’t think so!

Christmas
New Year’s Eve

January…. January is KILLING ME!

Spring Sports
New School Uniforms (you know, the others are now too little)
New School Shoes (see above)
New School Supplies (because the other “poor” kids have used all of Zachary’s!)
Costumes (For the MLK program)
Taxes
Project Supplies for February’s Black History Month Theme (homeschool)
Yearly Check Ups for EVERYONE

What about you? How is 2010 treating your wallet? Do you have any money saving tips for me?

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It is January, Time for New School Supplies!

Momof3boys — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:21:47 +0000

I was at CVS today wishing they carried school shoes and uniforms and came home from there to find an email about school shoes. Creepy? I think of it more like a sign. LOL! Watch my ADD mind work… see if you can follow this.

Do you know that buying school shoes is a science? Seriously! You have to have a degree in shoe sizing to buy them. That would be Kelli Miller, MSS to you.

Y’all think I am kidding… buying shoes has an art to it. About.com has a Shoe Guide! Yes, a SHOE GUIDE! Just for shoes! And they have a 6 step process for fitting shoes. It is really hilarious if you think about it. But, it gives me fodder for a post, so you get to see all the amazing shoe things out there.

Wikipedia has an entire page on shoe sizes, too! A shoe size is an alphanumerical indication of the fitting size of a shoe for a person. Do what? Say that again?

Start Rite Shoes even has a contest to win free shoes for a year. Hmmm, wonder if they know what they are getting into with that. If I were able to buy free shoes for a year, I would have to add on to my house. What about you? 50 bucks says there are rules to keep you from getting to addicted to the free shoe thing.

Homeschoolers, you need a project for your child? Have them find out about shoe sizing and shoe sizes. You will be amazed at the wealth of info out there. I am telling you, shoe sizing…. who knew?

And all of that because I need to buy my middle boy some new school shoes. Gosh, I LOVE blogging.

Homeschooling Notes: Planning for Next Year

Momof3boys — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 17:00:00 +0000

I know it is still early, but I have been thinking about what we will do next year for school. Tripp is already a year ahead on his Sonlight Science and I don’t really want to continue being ahead at this point. So, I have been racking my brain to come up with something fun and interesting that he and I will enjoy.

Tank will probably be in preschool most of the day next year, so it will just be myself and Tripp. To me, it makes life easier and it means we can do more. I would love to do Birds! You know they make bird cameras now that are strictly for taking pictures of birds! Isn’t that the neatest thing. A bird camera… who knew?

I could see Tripp (heck, and me) really enjoying a bird house camera. We could set that thing up like a bird nest camera and get some awesome shots and have really neat things to talk and learn about.

But, the wireless bird camera that I found is about $200.00 and then we would need bird watching books, slides, photo albums, drawing pads, graph sheets, etc. That would be a TON of expense for one subject.

I am torn, I would love for us to do this, but I just got a new camera and here I am talking about cameras for birds. ROTFL!

What are you planning for school next year?

*This post was sponsored by BirdCamera.com*