Educational (and Fun) Websites for Kids

     Keeping children busy with worthwhile endeavors is defintely a tiring task.  Video games, television, movies, and online games can suck up the majority of their free time.  In the end, they have nothing to show for the time spent on these activities.  Still, kids need to have fun.  A good way to keep children busy and happy is to find educational websites for them to play games, read, and learn from.
     Besides keeping them busy, educational websites are great for other reasons too.   Not only are they happy and occupied, they also increase academic skills while visiting these sites.  If you have a struggling student or one that needs a challenge, you can find educational websites to fit his needs and help him to progress.

      Educational websites can be great homework tools.  First, they are good motivators.  If your child needs encouragement to  complete homework , try giving him a few minutes on an educational website as a reward when he finishes.  Second, there are great visuail aides and videos out there that may help your child grasp a difficult concept.

       Here are a few of my favorites (and they are free too!):

Florida Center for Reading Research
      This website is not one your children can use on their own.  It is full of printable, creative literacy activities.  The activities at three levels: Grades K-1, 2-3, and  4-5.  If you click on the age group, it will bring you to a list of categories for each age group.  Choose the skill you would like your child to practice and click on it.  Follow the directions to create the activity. This usually involves a little cutting and pasting.  They don't take very long to prepare and you can choose to laminate if you'd like.  There are literally thousands of activities on this site.  If your child is struggling in Reading, this is the site for you! No log-in or sign up is required.

Khan Academy
     This website is great for Math and Science.  Parents can sign up for an account that is customized for each of their children.  If your child is doing 5th grade math, it has a list of all the skills needed for that.  You can pick and choose what is practiced or they can go through each skill one by one.  It has tons of videos and tutorials as well as a place to practice.

Sumdog
     Sumdog is another site that breaks down their games by skill. You can even pick and choose what skills your child can practice.  If he is working on multiplication facts, you can set it up so that is what he practices when he is on.  They even send you an e-mail that reports your child's progress.  Much of this site is free but you can get even more if you sign up for a subscription for your child.  It has Readinga and Writing games too but those are not free.

Funbrain
     This has games for Reading and Math.  There are lots of fun ways to practices important skills.   From letter recognition to multiplication, this site has a lot to offer.No log-in or sign up is required.

I hope your children (and you) enjoy these websites!

Homework Tips

The kids are back in school so that means that every afternoon or evening you are going to be dealing with homework.  For some families, this can be one of the most frustrating times of the day. The kids dread it and you dread it (but don't tell the kids you feel that way, right?). Here are some tips to make this time go smoothly.

1. Give your kids a break when they get home from school. They've been at school learning for 7 hours and their brains just aren't ready to do more.  This is a good time to serve a snack, talk about their day, go for a walk, or play a short game.  
2. Try to set a homework schedule.  I think it works best when you strive to do homework at a set time everyday.  When I was a kid, I had to start my homework at 4:00.  I got home about 3:30 so I had a half an hour break and then I got to work.  The routine helped make homework both a priority and a habit.
3. Let your child choose a place to do their homework. It could be on his or her bed, on the couch, or at the kitchen table.   Ask your child to consider the following questions: Does my homework area have good lighting?Is it close to someone who can help me if I need it? Is it quiet? Is it free of distractions?
   
4. Make the right tools available.  Have a pencil box or other container that holds pencils, erasers, paper, glue, crayons, scissors, notecards, or any additional supplies your student uses regularly to do homework.  I think it is best to only use these items for homework so they don't get lost.  Encourage your student to put them away after each homework session.  
5. Play "study" music softly in the background while they are working.  Pandora has several stations that work for this.  Classical and instrumental music is awesome as thinking music.  I find that when my kids hear the "study" music, the automatically quiet down and focus because they associate it with our normal homework routinte.  Unfortunately, you can't play it all the time to keep them quiet because then they pay no attention to it.  LOL. 
   
6. Make homework a game.  Using a printable game template, help your child to create a simple gameboard. Your child can color it or add stickers to personalize it.  Set small goals for your child to complete.  For example, "When you  complete three problems, you can roll the die.  You can move that many spaces on the board."  When your child completes the board, you can give  a prize.  To add a little more excitement, you can label a couple spaces throughout the board that award a prize if the child lands on it.  Prizes can be reading a story with dad, a walk to the park, stickers, or a small toy.  As your child progresses, make the goals more difficult. 
7. Give your child a break when homework is done.  This gives him or her a reason to finish the homework.  If I say, "You will do your chores when you are done with your homework, " I shouldn't be surprised if they spend two hours on two questions.  I find he or she is more motivated if I offer that break before he or she  has to do chores or other tasks. 
   

  As a homeschool mom and former elementary teacher, I know these tips work. I hope you enjoy trying them and that they reduce the frustration caused by homework in your home.  Remember, homework can be fun! Just keep telling yourself that. :)

Let's Play 20 Questions

         

                It is that time of year and parents everywhere are breathing a sigh of relief. The children will return to school and the parents can return to the world of sanity.  It’s not quite the same with me.  I too am filled with giddy excitement but for a different reason. With the children returning to school,  I know that I will get to actively pursue one of my favorite hobbies, education.  I homeschool my three children and love it.

                As this new school year starts, I'd like to offer a glimpse into homeschooling on our blog.  I thought I’d begin with how I started homeschooling so here goes. It all began with 20 questions...

                A few years ago, my 3^rd grade daughter was miserable and bored.  She hated going to school. For a child who loves to learn, I was so worried.   My 1^st grade son, who has Asperger’s, was doing well in school but it didn’t seem to challenge him.  His potential was being ignored.  What was I to do?

                That is when I began to consider homeschooling.  Let me say that I applaud all those who work in public education.  While I was unhappy with my children’s school experience, I still approve of public education as a whole.  The problem for me was that it didn’t work for my children.  My journey to homeschooling began with a list of 20 questions I created to help me really learn all about homeschooling. 

                I interviewed several homeschooling parents and asked the following questions:

1. Why did you decide to homeschool your children?

2. What steps did you take in order to prepare for homeschooling?

3. How do you set up the physical environment in your home to accommodate homeschooling?

4. What advantages do you think your child may have over a child who is not homeschooled?

5. What disadvantages (if any) do your children face because they are homeschooled?

6. How often do your children socialize with other children? What do they do when they are together?

7. Do your children participate in any extracurricular activities (i.e. music lessons, clubs, etc)?

8. Do you keep in contact with other families that homeschool?

9. Do you use an on-line public school like Connections Academy or K-12? If so, what do you use and why did you choose it?

10. If you do not use one of the above mentioned programs, how do you decide what to teach your children?

11. How do you measure your child’s progress?

12. What does your daily schedule look like? How many hours a day do you spend on school?

13. How do you find “me” time amidst all the things you have to do?

14. What is the best thing about homeschooling and what is the worst?

15. As you have homeschooled, what has been difficult or frustrating for you?

16. What advice would you give to someone who is considering homeschooling their children?

17. Do you know of any resources that would be of assistance to me if I homeschooled (groups, websites, books, a person, etc.)?

18. How long do you plan to homeschool?(through elementary, middle, or high school)

19. How do you foster independence in your children?

20. How many children do you teach at home and how do you meet their individual needs?

           After considering other homeschooling parents' answers to the questions, I took some time to answer them myself.  My answers were focused on what I would do in the future. 

           And that was the beginning.  After studying the answers of others and my own, I decided homeschooling was just what my kids needed.  This fall I will journey into my 3^rd year homeschooling my children and will be working with a 5^th grader, 3^rd grader, and Kindergartener.    It takes time, effort, dedication, patience, and planning. I won’t say that I don’t have a small GIANT amount of trepidation.  But this is what works for my family. There is an old quote that says, “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” My children’s education is more than just my hobby—it is my mission.  It is a good thing I have so much fun homeschooling!