Savvy Use of Videos in Your Homeschool

Using videos in your homeschool can enhance your children’s learning about a given topic. If you are savvy about how you use those videos, your children will gain a better understanding of the topic at hand. Here are a few tips to help you out.

~Preview the video.

It is always best to know what to expect from a particular video in case there are concepts that need to be explained or there are parts that you want to skip.

Decide what clips are worth showing to your children.

Take notes on what you want to highlight for the children.

~Before watching the video with the children, have a discussion about what they will be watching and what your expectations are.

Have the children take notes while watching the video. Focus their note-taking with a question or a specific topic.

~Watch the video with the children.

Show one clip of the video at a time.

Assist the children with note-taking.

Be willing to stop the video if the children are confused or need more direction.

~After viewing the clip, have a discussion.

Have the children use their notes during the discussion.

Discuss the children’s ideas and questions and clarify any misunderstandings.

Make any points about the clip that you deem important.

Hopefully these tips will help you and your children use media to your advantage in your homeschool.

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Kick Start Your Homeschool Without Kicking and Screaming

Kick start your first day back to school without kicking and screaming (from either the kids or you)!

~Mom, you need a little quiet time to get your head in the game. Ask God to lead your school day, and perhaps find a verse that you can keep on hand to motivate you.

~Coffee never hurts in times like these! Try offering chocolate milk or a smoothly to the kids to celebrate returning to school.

~Play some soothing music as you start your day. Music can change everyone’s mood!

~Take it slowly. On days like these you are not getting anything new done. Try doing some review. Perhaps you could play an educational game, or let the kids choose something that they enjoy doing. C4 loves it when I read to her, so we often warm up with a few great books.

~Sometimes having a goal is motivating. Set a goal for the day and reward everyone once you achieve it.

~This might be a day to do some science experiments. Hands-on work can be fun. Do experiments that are completely unrelated to what you have been doing. That might make it seem like they are not doing school work.

~Take the focus off of your life and do something for someone else. Make a meal and deliver it to a family that has a new baby. Visit an elderly neighbor with some homemade cookies. Write thank you notes to your church leaders. Put together a care package for someone serving overseas either in the military or as a missionary.

~Be patient with yourself and the children. it is always difficult to get back into the routine. In a couple of days you will all be back on track!

What do you do on those days when you and the kids are just not interested in getting into school?

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Homeschool Activities in the Snow

Here are a few more homeschool activities that you can do with your kids in the snow.

~Take your children snowshoeing. It is a lot of fun to hike in the winter with snowshoes! Take the opportunity to see how the woods have changed since the fall.

~Create a map in the snow in your yard. Use water tinted with food coloring in spray bottles to draw the outlines of the continents, for example. Or use cookie cutters in the shape of the United States
as stamps. Put a a paper towel on a cookie sheet and add a little watered down paint on it. Dip the cookie cutter into the paint and stamp the snow with it.

~Go cross country skiing. Skiing in itself is fun, but you can add another dimension to the experience by teaching a geometry lesson. Learn about rays & lines. Explore perpendicular, parallel, and intersecting lines.

~Do some experimenting with the snow. For example, melt some snow and test the pH of the water with a pH testing strip. Or melt the snow and refreeze it to observe the structure changes.

~You can also find some great snow learning activities at The Parenting Exchange.

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A Learning Toy Recommendation

When I created a wish list for my kids for Christmas, I came across a real gem of a toy called WEDGiTS. I recommend that you try it out in your homeschool!

My 4 year old was engaged in using this toy for at least 45 minutes, which is unheard of for her, and she came back to it later in the day. My 2 year old was engaged in using it for at lest 30 minutes. When both of the kids worked together to build things, I observed them solving problems cooperatively, and they were not competitive. They were being creative with the structures they were building. This toy also improves spatial relations skills. I also think they were communicating better with each other than they do with a number of other toys.

I hope that you try this toy with your children, too. I think that you will be happy that you did!

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Christmas Eve Homeschool Traditions

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and our family is really excited! Our day will be FULL of baking, cooking, building a gingerbread house, and tracking Santa’s trip.  I’m hoping God will hold the time still so we can get it all done and savor the special moments.

The children are making zucchini bread for Christmas Day. It is one way that I hope to sneak a vegetable into their diet this week. The girls love baking breads, too. Measuring, pouring, following the directions, and watching the changes to the ingredients are all great math and science experiences. Baking together is also making memories together.

E’s cousin from Mexico is visiting us this Christmas. We plan to make empanadas with her. The kids will learn a little about their heritage through this cooking experience. They can practice their Spanish skills while we cook, and maybe they’ll hear some stories, too.

I am really excited to build a gingerbread house with the kids for the first time this year! We have seen kits in the stores, but buying one was not a priority. Today Daddy found one that was on clearance, though! The gingerbread pieces are already baked, so we just have to construct the house. We are going to have a great time getting messy and laughing together. This is definitely a photo opportunity!

A very special tradition for Christmas Eve is baking cookies for Santa. This year is no different.  He needs a snack so he has energy to deliver all of those toys!

Throughout the night we will track Santa’s trip through NORAD Tracks Santa. There are videos posted that tell where Santa is, and they give a little information about each country. It is a fun way to infuse some geography, culture, and history into your Christmas celebration!

On top of all of that we have a church service to attend. There will be a Chirstmas drama at this family friendly service. A few of our friends have children performing in it, so the kids should be excited about it!

Christmas Eve will be great!

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Homeschool Learning in the Snow

Instead of letting the snow distract you and your children from school work, try these ideas for using the snow to your advantage in your homeschool. This is the first in a series of posts about learning opportunities in the snow.

~Practice handwriting.

-Use a stick to write the letters and numbers in the snow.
-Try using a paint brush and water tinted with food coloring to practice writing letters and numbers.
-Use your feet to make BIG letters and numbers in the snow. Color the letters with tinted water in a spray bottle.
-Pack snow into a container and “build” a letter out of snow (similar to building a sand castle).

~Learn geometry.

-Draw shapes in the snow with a stick, or use your body to make shapes in the snow. Organize the shapes by number of sides.
-Pack the snow into different shaped containers and flip them over to reveal a cube, a cone, or a sphere.
-Investigate the best way to draw a circle in the snow.
-Make a circle in the snow and measure the radius and the diameter.
-Use bowls, cookie cutters, cups, or other containers to press shapes into the snow to make tessellations.

Have fun learning in the snow!

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Snow Angels Homeschool Activity

Let it snow! We have a ton of snow and it is right before Christmas. We just had to play in it today. A2 discovered that snow is cold, and she was not happy about that! Even though A2 complained about being cold, I did convince her that there are a few fun things that you can do in the snow.

I showed the kids how to make snow angels! They had a really great time doing it, and Daddy had fun taking pictures of our masterpieces. I decided to tie our snow adventure into our Advent activities by having the kids make a heavenly host of snow angels! They worked hard to make snow angels all around the yard.

This activity is a fun way to engage a kinesthetic learner in a vocabulary lesson. Unlike the fine motor activity in my previous post about a heavenly host of angels, this activity focuses on gross motor skills. A2 responds better to fine motor work while C4 has more refined gross motor skills. By giving the children both experiences, I was able to add depth to thier understanding of the concept.

We might take this idea to another level and try to paint our snow angels next time. We might even try to make birdseed snow angels. It would be fun to see which birds and other animals eat the seeds!

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We’re Going to Bethlehem

In our homeschool we packed up our donkey and took a trip to Bethlehem to register. You guessed it! We read about Mary and Joseph’s trip to Bethlehem. This is a fun activity for a preschooler who is a kinesthetic learner.

Supplies

Your favorite Christmas book
Period “Costumes”
“Props”
Your imagination

Bible Verses

Luke 2:1-5Luke 2:1-5
English: World English Bible - WEB
2 ¹ Now it happened in those days, that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. ² This was the first enrollment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³ All went to enroll themselves, everyone to his own city. ⁴ Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David; ⁵ to enroll himself with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him as wife, being pregnant.

Activity

~Read a simple Christmas story. Pay particular attention to mention of the trip to Bethlehem.

~Explain that Mary and Joseph had to take a trip to Bethlehem. Explain that the king, Caesar Augustus, was counting all of the people who he was ruler of. People had to go back to their home towns to be counted, and Joseph was from Bethlehem.
~Discuss the preparations people take before going on a long trip. Have your children name things that they have brought on a trip in the past. Reminisce about what it was like to go a long distance on a car trip. What did it feel like? How did you feel while you were driving there?
~Compare your experiences to what it must have been like for Mary and Joseph. They didn’t have a car. They had a donkey to help them carry things and for Mary to ride on. How would they pack for their trip? What would they feel like after walking and riding a donkey for a long time? What is the weather like in the desert?
~Act out going to Bethlehem. Pack up your things and start your walk. Talk about what kinds of things may have happened on the trip – thirsty, tired, hungry, hot, etc.

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“The Perfect Christmas Gift” Homeschool Advent Devotion

Today in our homeschool we learned that Jesus is the perfect Christmas gift. This is an easy activity for your toddler or preschooler as is, but you can modify it to suit older children as well.

I used the Bible Lesson from Bible Kids Fun Zone called “The Best Christmas Gift of All”. I skipped the part about sin and salvation for my purposes, but you could certainly include that in your own lesson.

~Supplies: Coloring Page of Baby Jesus, scissors, wrapping paper, tape, small gift box, Jesus in a manger (I used the Little People figure. You could use the baby Jesus from your creche.)

~Scripture: John 3:16John 3:16
English: World English Bible - WEB
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

~Discuss the ideas in the first two paragraphs of the devotion, I talked about the joy of getting gifts on Christmas morning and how sometimes you get a gift that you didn’t expect and don’t really think is right. God also gives us a gift on Christmas.

~Put the gift box with the baby Jesus in a manger in it in front of your child. “This is from God.” Have your child open it. “The perfect gift that God gave us on Christmas is Jesus! Christmas is Jesus’ birthday. God gave Him to us, and we celebrate His birth on Christmas Day.”

~Have your child color the picture of baby Jesus. Then wrap the picture. I had my children cut a piece of wrapping paper the size of the picture and tape the paper at the top of the picture. You can lift the paper and see baby Jesus.

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King of Kings Homeschool Advent Activity

Today we learned about one of the names of Jesus, King of Kings. This is a great Advent devotion to try in your homeschool. Preschoolers and toddlers will love it! You will need to assist younger children with the craft as it involves cutting. I found a great devotion at Streams of Living Water for me. Then I used the Scripture reference, Revelation 19:16Revelation 19:16
English: World English Bible - WEB
16 He has on his garment and on his thigh a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

, to tailor a devotion for my kids.

~Remind the children that Christmas is all about Jesus, and He has many names in the Bible. Have the children give e few names if they can. Then read the Scripture, Revelation 19:16Revelation 19:16
English: World English Bible - WEB
16 He has on his garment and on his thigh a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

. “Jesus is KING OF KINGS.”

~Explain that the Hallelujah chorus uses the name “King of Kings” in it. “We’re going to listen to the song. Sing along and notice when ‘King of Kings’ comes up.” (This particular YouTube video has the lyrics printed in it.) You can also find the lyrics for the Hallelujah chorus here and for an extension activity learn the vocabulary words in it.)

~What does a king wear on his head? A crown, of course! We’re going to make a crown to remind us that Jesus is KING OF KINGS.” Below there are the instructions for how we made our crowns and pictures. You can also find a crown craft at Kaboose.

Supplies: 1 file folder/child, scissors, foil, stapler, pencil

-Fold a file folder in half length wise and cut along the fold. This will be the crown.

-Take one half of the file folder and fold it in half lengthwise again. Cut along the fold. This will be used to extend the crown to fit on your child’s head properly.

-Cut out a triangle template. Trace the triangle template along the top of the thicker piece of file folder. This makes the points on the crown.

-Shade the upside down triangles and have your child cut out the shaded triangles.

-Staple one side of the extension to the crown.

-Cover the entire crown with foil. (Foil is easy to tear making this craft easier for younger children.)

-Staple the two loose ends together to fit your child’s head.

Enjoy learning about the King of Kings!

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