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Field trips are great, aren't they? But sometimes it's just not possible for us to travel to certain locations. Now, through the magic of technology, we can take our kids on educational field trips without leaving home (or school).
Virtual field trips allow us to take our children on a fun journey without leaving the comfort of our own homes. Some of the trips they offer include:
- Deserts
- Dinosaurs
- Endangered Species
- Hurricanes
- Oceans
- Rainforests
- Volcanoes
This isn't a complete list; you'll have to check the website for more information! The site provides vocabulary words, concept questions that kids will learn the answers to and more!
How do you do field trips with your kids?
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Is it time to teach your kids about
human anatomy? That link will take you to a site that offers nice diagrams of many different systems of the human body. You'll find interactive diagrams for the skeletal system, digestive system, muscular system, lymphatic system, endocrine system, nervous system, cardiovascular system, both male and female reproductive systems and the urinary system.
Each diagram includes a picture of the entire system. You can click on the magnifying glass next to the name of the body part for more information.
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http://lessonopoly.orgI have found a great new site for
free lesson plans! Lessonopoly.org allows you to set up a free account as a teacher, parent or a student. Create plans, browse their library of lesson plans, participate in groups and more.
The best part is that you can create a schedule for your classroom. Choose lesson plans (your own, or pick one from their library) and add them to specific dates. It's a great way to keep all your plans in one online calendar. :-)
The site has
free lesson plans for all grade levels, and a variety of subjects including:
- Arts
- Language Arts
- Foreign Languages
- Math
- Science
- Technical Career Exploration
- History & Social Sciences
- Physical Education & Health
Grade levels range from Pre-K all the way up to 12th grade.
Check them out today!
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If you're looking for some free homeschooling textbooks, I've found some great ones for math and science.
These math and science textbooks are available for grades K-5.
Specifically, the math texts are for first grade through fifth grade. There are also online math activities suitable for Kindergarten through fifth grade. Kids love to play games online (or at least mine do)and the ones available on this site are fun and engaging.
For older kids, there are Algebra I, Algebra II and Geometry Books. I wish I had known about this last year when my oldest was learning Geometry!!
There are also science textbooks for first through fifth grade, and science fun for Kindergarten through fifth grade.
Enjoy! :-)
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I have been looking for something to help teach my son how to read. The boy is SO super smart, he just doesn't like to learn things that he has to stay still for...the only time I can get him to stop moving is to give him a puzzle, or put him on the computer. Therefore, it has been hard teaching him to read!
Today, I was surfing the web when I came across
Starfall. Starfall is a free website that has a vast collection of games and activities to help teach your child how to read, while keeping them engaged and interested.
Here is a screenshot of Starfall's Learn to Read page:
As you can see, Starfall has a ton of options to choose from!! Here's another screenshot of one of their activities:
In this one, your child learns to read by selecting the appropriate letters to create the word matching the picture. My son really enjoys Starfall so far, they have great audio that says the sounds, and helps him sound them out. And, as I've pointed out before, the best way to teach kids how to read is to learn phonics!
They even have alphabet activities for preschool level readers, or younger readers. Look at this screenshot from Starfall:
Here's a screenshot from one of Starfall's reading activities. It's an actual story that the website reads to your child, sounding out each letter first. This is an excellent resource! I can't recommend Starfall enough!!
If any of y'all have experience (good or bad!) with using Starfall to help your child learn to read, let us know!
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Amber recently asked me why we had a heartbeat. Why do we have a heart? So, I decided it was time to learn about the heart and our circulatory system.
I found a great resource for learning about the heart and circulatory system. Check out this heart and circulatory system learning guide.
On that website, you will find entire curricula on the heart and circulatory system for kindergarten and grades 1 - 6. When I say entire curricula, I mean they have lesson plans on the heart and circulatory systems, and worksheets to help kids learn about the heart and circulatory system.
In this post, I'm only going to discuss the 2nd grade portion, because that's what I'll be using for Amber. But remember, if you're looking for lesson plans or worksheets on the heart and circulatory system, look here first!
Heart and Circulatory System Lesson Plans
The first lesson plan for second grade answers the question "What does the heart do?" This heart and circulatory system lesson plan covers exactly what the heart is for, and covers the basic anatomy of the heart.
This first heart and circulatory system lesson plan includes worksheets so your second grader can reinforce what she's learned.
The second lesson plan offered by this site covers heart healthy eating habits. This teaches kids that what they eat affects their health, and makes them realize that proper nutrition will help their heart stay healthy.
The final heart and circulatory system lesson plan teaches kids how exercise relates to a healthy heart.
In addition to these 3 heart lesson plans, the site also offers several illustrations on the circulatory system. Kids can also listen to a heartbeat!
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OK, just found this great homeschooling resource! I've often gone looking for math worksheets with a specific math problem set in mind...but haven't been able to find the perfect math worksheet! Sound familiar? Then here's the solution!
Math Master lets you create your own math worksheets! You can choose from the normal operations, fractions, skip counting, even telling time! So if you want to make your own math worksheets, visit Math Master today!
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Peter and the Wolf 
is an absolutely awesome way to introduce small children to music, symphonies and classical instruments.
I used it for Dakota and Amber. The others listened in, but only because it was on. However, the other kids liked listening for the different instruments on Peter and the Wolf, and associating the instruments with the Peter and the Wolf characters.
Each character in the story Peter and the Wolf is represented by a different musical instrument. For example, the bird is represented by the piccolo, Peter is represented by the clarinet and Peter's grandfather is represented by the bassoon.
Parents can easily use Peter and the Wolf to introduce instruments to children in Kindergarten, first grade and second grade. Get your copy by clicking the link below!
Do y'all use something other than Peter and the Wolf? What are some of the ways you have introduced music to your children?
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Another great resource for homeschoolers is Super Teacher Worksheets. They offer a wide selection of free worksheets.
I use them for spelling words. They offer free spelling word lists and worksheets for grades 1 through 4. Amber's in second grade, so I get the free worksheets and free spelling word lists for grade 2. I like it because they also have free spelling lists for holidays.
Free English Worksheets
Super Teacher Worksheets also offers different types of free worksheets for English. Free worksheets for English include the following:
- Grammar Worksheets
- Graphic Organizers Worksheets
- Cursive Writing Worksheets
- Printing Worksheets
- Phonics Worksheets
- Proofreading Worksheets
- Reading Worksheets
- Reading Comprehension Worksheets
- Writing Prompts
Free Math Worksheets
If you want some free math worksheets, Super Teacher Worksheets has those too! You can find free worksheets for the following:
- Addition Worksheets
- Counting Money Worksheets
- Decimals Worksheets
- Division Worksheets
- Geometry Worksheets
- Graphing Worksheets
- Elapsed Time Worksheets
- Fractions Worksheets
- Basic Multiplication Worksheets
- Advanced Multiplication Worksheets
- Place Value Worksheets
- Rounding Worksheets
- Subtraction Worksheets
- Telling Time Worksheets
- Word Problem Worksheets
As you can see, Super Teacher Worksheets has a great variety of free math worksheets! You can also find fun puzzle worksheets too.
In addition to the great free worksheets, Super Teacher Worksheets offers great tools for teachers and information on all 50 states.
If you are looking for free worksheets for your kids, Super Teacher Worksheets is a great choice! Do you use them? Let me know what you think of the website!
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Elementary Grades Free Math Curriculum
I have started creating my other kids' curriculums for the coming school year. Ashley's math curriculum isn't complete; she's going to take Geometry, and I haven't found a resource for that yet. :-( So in the meantime, I decided to work on the younger kids' math curriculum.
I found a wonderful FREE elementary grades homeschool curriculum that I plan to use for Kiara, Amber and Dakota. The site offers worksheets, lesson plans, even a suggested daily schedule for the lessons.
I think the neatest thing about this free math curriculum is that it teaches in a "cyclical" method. I didn't understand this at first, but basically what it means is that it cycles through each of the several different elementary grades math categories, teaching a lesson from one category the first day, then the next category the second day, and so on. It's actually a good way to teach elementary kids math.
By teaching elementary grades math in this cyclical manner, all the material is fresh in their minds, and by the end of the year, they will have absorbed more of the material. Just my personal opinion of course! ;-)
So if you're looking for free elementary homeschool math curriculum, I highly recommend the CSMP program.
If you check it out, let me know what you think of it!
