High ratio of creamer to coffee, with a dollop of whipped cream for good measure.
Holly and jolly at the same time.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
One of the ways I get to enjoy Christmas break
High ratio of creamer to coffee, with a dollop of whipped cream for good measure.
Monday, December 26, 2011
A bit out of the loop
Having spent many hours this Christmas season listening to different types of Christmas music, I've realized that I'm a bit out of the loop on "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas".
As a homeschool Mom I just can't relate to the line that "Moms and Dads can hardly wait for school to start again".
Not me! I'm enjoying my break from lesson planning and I prefer gathering around the table for a board game rather than for lesson time.
From our house to yours,
Have a very Merry Christmas and Blessed New Year
As a homeschool Mom I just can't relate to the line that "Moms and Dads can hardly wait for school to start again".
Not me! I'm enjoying my break from lesson planning and I prefer gathering around the table for a board game rather than for lesson time.
From our house to yours,
Have a very Merry Christmas and Blessed New Year
Monday, December 19, 2011
Interviewing Skills
After learning about the steps of conducting good interviews the kids spent some time practicing conducting interviews with each other.
*Make an appointment.
*List questions.
*Collect materials.
*Introduce yourself.
*Listen carefully and maintain eye contact.
*Take notes.
*Ask questions to clarify.
*Write the interview information in a way that can be shared.
I got to thinking how very many people we could interview, just for a short couple of minutes to start with. People have such interesting stories and we, as people, love to talk about ourselves, right? Interviewing is great practice in listening skills and writing key words so you can remember what was said later.
I've heard socialization described as the ability to be a contributing member of society as a whole. This sounds like a step in that direction.
*Make an appointment.
*List questions.
*Collect materials.
*Introduce yourself.
*Listen carefully and maintain eye contact.
*Take notes.
*Ask questions to clarify.
*Write the interview information in a way that can be shared.
I got to thinking how very many people we could interview, just for a short couple of minutes to start with. People have such interesting stories and we, as people, love to talk about ourselves, right? Interviewing is great practice in listening skills and writing key words so you can remember what was said later.
I've heard socialization described as the ability to be a contributing member of society as a whole. This sounds like a step in that direction.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Happiness Is...
...having both your children (6 and 8 y.o.) in suspense as to whether Elizabeth and Darcy will *ever* get together!
I have to admit that I was never really all that crazy about abridged versions of literature. I may be changing my mind a bit.
There is a series of book/CD sets of abridged classics that we've been reading/listening to lately. We've done everything from Captains Courageous and Moby Dick to A Christmas Carol and Pride and Prejudice. The kids are loving it.
On the downside of abridged versions I always kind of thought it was "cheating" a bit not to read the original.
On the upside, these are very high-reading level classics that they are now familiar with. They know the basic story line which is just enlightening. I also hope that someday when they're presented with the originals they're able to follow the storyline better since they know where it's going.
Any thoughts on abridged versions?
I have to admit that I was never really all that crazy about abridged versions of literature. I may be changing my mind a bit.
There is a series of book/CD sets of abridged classics that we've been reading/listening to lately. We've done everything from Captains Courageous and Moby Dick to A Christmas Carol and Pride and Prejudice. The kids are loving it.
On the downside of abridged versions I always kind of thought it was "cheating" a bit not to read the original.
On the upside, these are very high-reading level classics that they are now familiar with. They know the basic story line which is just enlightening. I also hope that someday when they're presented with the originals they're able to follow the storyline better since they know where it's going.
Any thoughts on abridged versions?
Monday, November 21, 2011
Time4Writing Review
Our two-week Time4Writing.com trial has sadly come to an end. It's time to share our thoughts about this program. Note: My son (age 8) was signed up for the "elementary paragraphs" course.
THINGS WE LIKED:
-The course lessons could be completed at his pace. This is a huge bonus for my competitively-spirited ds. He loves working toward a laid-out goal of this type. The complete course was an 8-week course. During our 2 weeks he was able to finish 3/8 of the lessons.
-The program lessons for this introduction to writing paragraphs were put together very well sequentially. The lesson was usually introduced by a video in which a teacher would tell what the new concept was. It was followed by some computer-graded lessons which would test whether the student understood the concept. There would then be a writing assignment that was turned in to an actual teacher. Within 24 hours the teacher would respond with comments and a grade.
-The teacher was great. Her feedback was given in a very positive manner and he took each suggestion very well (much better than he does from me). :)
-Before beginning the program I wondered what the grading criteria would be. For this course a certain number of points were taken off for spelling and grammatical errors. This was clearly stated at the beginning which was very helpful.
THINGS WE DIDN'T LIKE:
-Ds worked just about every weekday on a lesson during the first week. The second week was much busier around here for us and unfortunately he didn't get much of a chance to log in for the second week. That was certainly a missed opportunity since he really enjoyed the program. I suppose if I had purchased the 8-week course and then had some unexpected things had come up (preventing us from logging in as much as we'd like) I might feel as if I wasn't "getting my money's worth".
-Since ds successfully completed his teacher-graded writing assignments, I can't say what would happen if a student didn't. For example, for an assignment to "write three supporting sentences for each topic sentence below" what would happen if a couple of the supporting sentences didn't really have a lot to do with the topic sentence? Would the student be asked to re-do the assignment or would points be taken off?
-This was my first experience using an online course with an actual teacher. I don't know what the average price is for such courses so I can't compare it numerically with anything. I can say that I would have a difficult time paying quite this much for an 8-week course for my third-grader. I might be willing to do so for a more advanced student, however, if I felt that he or she could really benefit from the expertise (think high school transcripts). I also wonder what would have happened if I purchased the 8-week course and he finished in 4 weeks. Have I purchased the course or have I purchased 8-weeks?
I would sincerely like to thank Time4Writing.com for this amazing opportunity to try their Elementary Paragraphs Course.
THINGS WE LIKED:
-The course lessons could be completed at his pace. This is a huge bonus for my competitively-spirited ds. He loves working toward a laid-out goal of this type. The complete course was an 8-week course. During our 2 weeks he was able to finish 3/8 of the lessons.
-The program lessons for this introduction to writing paragraphs were put together very well sequentially. The lesson was usually introduced by a video in which a teacher would tell what the new concept was. It was followed by some computer-graded lessons which would test whether the student understood the concept. There would then be a writing assignment that was turned in to an actual teacher. Within 24 hours the teacher would respond with comments and a grade.
-The teacher was great. Her feedback was given in a very positive manner and he took each suggestion very well (much better than he does from me). :)
-Before beginning the program I wondered what the grading criteria would be. For this course a certain number of points were taken off for spelling and grammatical errors. This was clearly stated at the beginning which was very helpful.
THINGS WE DIDN'T LIKE:
-Ds worked just about every weekday on a lesson during the first week. The second week was much busier around here for us and unfortunately he didn't get much of a chance to log in for the second week. That was certainly a missed opportunity since he really enjoyed the program. I suppose if I had purchased the 8-week course and then had some unexpected things had come up (preventing us from logging in as much as we'd like) I might feel as if I wasn't "getting my money's worth".
-Since ds successfully completed his teacher-graded writing assignments, I can't say what would happen if a student didn't. For example, for an assignment to "write three supporting sentences for each topic sentence below" what would happen if a couple of the supporting sentences didn't really have a lot to do with the topic sentence? Would the student be asked to re-do the assignment or would points be taken off?
-This was my first experience using an online course with an actual teacher. I don't know what the average price is for such courses so I can't compare it numerically with anything. I can say that I would have a difficult time paying quite this much for an 8-week course for my third-grader. I might be willing to do so for a more advanced student, however, if I felt that he or she could really benefit from the expertise (think high school transcripts). I also wonder what would have happened if I purchased the 8-week course and he finished in 4 weeks. Have I purchased the course or have I purchased 8-weeks?
I would sincerely like to thank Time4Writing.com for this amazing opportunity to try their Elementary Paragraphs Course.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Celebrating 11-11-11: Just For Fun
Just for fun, the kids didn't get started with any schoolwork until 11:00.
Also, we're doing "eleven" activities both today (11-11) and tomorrow. We just had too many ideas that the kids wanted to do. So we'll celebrate both days.
Also, we're doing "eleven" activities both today (11-11) and tomorrow. We just had too many ideas that the kids wanted to do. So we'll celebrate both days.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Celebrating 11-11-11: Compiled List
As promised, here's our starter list of things to do with "elevens".
Ds8 decided that we could do 11 minutes of each subject. He also thought we could get 11 minutes of something extra-special. Maybe it could be electronic time, reading time at night, etc.
Other ideas:
MATH:
-Can you use 11 coins to pay for these items in our pretend store?
-List 11 or more ways to make $11.11.
-Practice these 11 addition (or subtraction, multiplication, division) facts.
-How much money is in 11 pennies? What about 11 nickels, 11 dimes, 11 quarters, 11 half dollars, 11 ten-dollar bills, or 11 hundred-dollar bills?
-How many minutes are in 11 hours? How many seconds?
HANDWRITING:
-Practice writing (print/cursive) these 11 letters.
-Use these 11 letters to come up with at least 11 different words. Use them to practice handwriting.
WRITING:
-In your journal, write about what you will be able to do when you're 11 that you can't do now. What won't you be able to do anymore that you can do now?
-Write a paragraph (topic, details, concluding sentences) about why I should give you 11 (fill in the blank).
SPELLING:
-Use 11 spelling words this week.
VOCABULARY:
-Put these 11 words into a vocabulary crossword puzzle using definitions as clues.
-Look up the definitions of these 11 words.
GRAMMAR:
-Find 11 nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns...in these sentences.
-Put these 11 words into alphabetical order.
-Make complete sentences with 11 words.
GEOGRAPHY:
-Locate these 11 world capitals on the wall map.
-Find out what locations are within 11 miles of your home.
HISTORY:
-Find out who was president 11 years ago. Ask someone to tell you what they remember about that person's presidency.
MUSIC:
-Use Finale Notepad to make an original song using these 11 notes (the notes can be repeated more than once).
LIBRARY SKILLS:
-Locate these 11 books at the library using their letter/number codes.
PE:
-Do an 11 minute walk/jog.
-Do sets of 11 jumping jacks, windmills, toe touches, etc.
OTHER LANGUAGES:
-Count to 11 in the language you're studying.
-Count to 11 in 11 different languages.
LIFE SKILLS:
-Bake 11 (pretzels...) or make pancakes with 11 chocolate chips each. How many chips will we need for 2 pancakes each and 5 people?
-Estimate and check: how many M&Ms in 11 grams?
Ds8 decided that we could do 11 minutes of each subject. He also thought we could get 11 minutes of something extra-special. Maybe it could be electronic time, reading time at night, etc.
Other ideas:
MATH:
-Can you use 11 coins to pay for these items in our pretend store?
-List 11 or more ways to make $11.11.
-Practice these 11 addition (or subtraction, multiplication, division) facts.
-How much money is in 11 pennies? What about 11 nickels, 11 dimes, 11 quarters, 11 half dollars, 11 ten-dollar bills, or 11 hundred-dollar bills?
-How many minutes are in 11 hours? How many seconds?
HANDWRITING:
-Practice writing (print/cursive) these 11 letters.
-Use these 11 letters to come up with at least 11 different words. Use them to practice handwriting.
WRITING:
-In your journal, write about what you will be able to do when you're 11 that you can't do now. What won't you be able to do anymore that you can do now?
-Write a paragraph (topic, details, concluding sentences) about why I should give you 11 (fill in the blank).
SPELLING:
-Use 11 spelling words this week.
VOCABULARY:
-Put these 11 words into a vocabulary crossword puzzle using definitions as clues.
-Look up the definitions of these 11 words.
GRAMMAR:
-Find 11 nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns...in these sentences.
-Put these 11 words into alphabetical order.
-Make complete sentences with 11 words.
GEOGRAPHY:
-Locate these 11 world capitals on the wall map.
-Find out what locations are within 11 miles of your home.
HISTORY:
-Find out who was president 11 years ago. Ask someone to tell you what they remember about that person's presidency.
MUSIC:
-Use Finale Notepad to make an original song using these 11 notes (the notes can be repeated more than once).
LIBRARY SKILLS:
-Locate these 11 books at the library using their letter/number codes.
PE:
-Do an 11 minute walk/jog.
-Do sets of 11 jumping jacks, windmills, toe touches, etc.
OTHER LANGUAGES:
-Count to 11 in the language you're studying.
-Count to 11 in 11 different languages.
LIFE SKILLS:
-Bake 11 (pretzels...) or make pancakes with 11 chocolate chips each. How many chips will we need for 2 pancakes each and 5 people?
-Estimate and check: how many M&Ms in 11 grams?
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