Puppets Encourage Homeschool Literacy

Puppets can be a useful tool in your homeschool literacy program. Here are a few ways to use them with children eight years old and younger.

~Your beginning reader can read books to a puppet. Young children buy into the fantasy of the puppet interacting with them. Sometimes the presence of the puppet helps a child who is struggling with reading to relax and enjoy the experience. The puppet makes it fun to read.

~Your children can retell books by writing a script and using puppets. It is a fun way to encourage your children to reread a book and understand it well enough to capture the essence of the story. It also encourages your children to write a good script. Younger children will love to watch the puppet shows, too.

~You can make a read aloud more engaging with a puppet. My kids love listening to the puppet read stories, ask questions, and explain parts of the stories. They talk to the puppet. They also like touching it and even mimicking the way that I use the puppet. This tool can be especially helpful in engaging children who find it difficult to sit still long enough to listen to a whole book.

~Your children can teach the puppet. This is a fun way to have your child summarize a new skill or concept that you’ve been practicing. For example, the puppet can learn to sound out words or find rhyming pairs. The puppet can even find sight words in a story such as “the”, “what”, and “said”.

~You can research another culture with puppets. Shadow puppets are part of Indonesian culture. Your children can create a shadow puppet show as a culminating activity after researching Indonesian culture.

Have fun with puppets!

Photo courtesy of nickstone333

Russian: A Homeschool Foreign Language

Russian is another great option for your homeschool foreign language. Since it is widely spoken in the larger metropolitan areas of the US such as Boston, Chicago, Miami, and San Francisco according to Wikipedia, you might find it helpful to have a background in Russian. It would also be useful to learn this language if you plan on traveling to or working in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus since it is primarily spoken there.

I like this particular lesson because it gives plenty of practice with a practical phrases. You are also able to see the translation of the words as you learn them, which can be helpful for visual learners when learning a language. The style of this particular video lends itself to kids who need minimal visual information and structured lessons. It is a no frills approach to language learning.

I hope this video gives you a glimpse at the Russian language and helps you decide if it is right for you.

German: A Homeschool Foreign Language

German is another foreign language option for your homeschool. According to Wikipedia, it is the second most widely spoken language in North Dakota and South Dakota and is spoken by ~1.4 million people in the United States overall. It is a language worth learning to speak! This video gives a sampling of basic vocabulary and will hopefully help you decide if you are interested in learning to speak German.

Madarin: A Homeschool Foreign Language

Are you a homeschooler who wants to incorporate a foreign language into your curriculum? This video is an introduction to Mandarin Chinese and will hopefully give a taste of what the language is like.

I like how this particular video has a slow pace and gives many opportunities for you to practice the new vocabulary. The teacher speaks slowly and clearly as well. It is also helpful to see the pronunciation guide as you learn the vocabulary. Sadly this video is not as edgy as the Learning Japanese from Yoda video previously posted, but I still think that teens will like that the lesson is short and easy to follow.

A Foreign Language for Your Homeschool

This post is the first in a series on homeschool foreign language learning. This series is designed to introduce you and your children to some foreign language options and help you narrow down which  language you want to focus on before investing any time or money on a curriculum.

Have you thought about teaching your children a foreign language in your homeschool? Before you make a decision on what language your children should learn, give them a taste of several languages. Here is a first Japanese lesson for you (HT The Informed Parent). It is very entertaining.

I like how this particular lesson engages the viewer. I think it would be appealing to teens because of the camera work and the tidbits about Star Wars. Using videos made in a similar style would make foreign language learning more interesting for your children (and you, for that matter!).

I hope this taste of Japanese helps you and your children decide if it is a langauge you are interested in learning!

Read Across America in Your Homeschool with Dr. Seuss’s ABC

The youngest children in your homeschool can enjoy Read Across America Day, too, with Dr. Seuss’s ABC, a great alphabet book that my kids love! I found this video of the book. I love its simplicity! After enjoying this Seuss classic, you can make your own alphabet book, too.

Seuss on the Loose Cool Homeschool Rhyme Time

Dr. Seuss was the master of rhyme, and rhyming is a great literacy activity that builds phonemic awareness and can build vocabulary. You can have fun rhyming with your kids in your homeschool as you celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday on Read Across America Day – March 2!

~Read One Fish, Two Fish, Read Fish, Blue Fish. This book is full of short vignettes that rhyme. You can discuss which words rhyme in each vignette and compile a list.

~Play “Go Fish for a Rhyme”. Make a deck of cards with pairs of rhyming words. Play as you would normally play “Go Fish” except ask for a word that rhymes with one of your cards. For example, ask, “Do you have a word that rhymes with car?”

~Play “Toss-a-Rhyme”. Use a bean bag or a small soft ball for this kinesthetic activity. The first player holds the ball, says a word (such as cat), and tosses the ball to another player. The next player catches the ball and says a word that rhymes with the first player’s word (sat). Then the ball is tossed to another player for another rhyming word (fat). Other players can give hints if someone gets stuck. If no one can think of a rhyming word, then the player holding the ball chooses a new word.

~Make collages of words that rhyme. This is an especially great way to work with younger children who are not yet reading. Brainstorm words together first. For example, a collage might include pictures of the following: black, sack, tack, track, hack, jack, mac (truck), pack, rack, and stack.

~Play “Find the Rhyme”. This is another kinesthetic way to teach non-readers to rhyme. Fill a shoe box with small items, trinkets, or toys. Be sure to include rhyming pairs (sock-block, crow-bow, girl-curl, hat-cat). Pair up the items that rhyme.

~Write a short story or even a rap in Seuss’s style. Easy Fun School has a great example of how you can do this with your kids.

Enjoy some word play and rhyme away!

Photo courtesy of ffg

Homeschool in Green with Sam-I-Am

On March 2 celebrate Read Across America Day in the green with these homeschool ideas for Dr. Seuss’s famous Green Eggs and Ham. I have included a fun game to play with your kiddos!

~Read Green Eggs and Ham. As you read, talk about the words that rhyme. Also discuss how the character learns that you don’t know if you like something or not unless you try it!

~Cook green eggs and ham with your budding chefs. This post on Green Eggs and Ham on Blissfully Domestic has a recipe and a video for how to make green eggs and ham. Here are the pictures from our cooking experience.

~Play “I Like Green Eggs and Ham, Sam-I-Am” (an onset and rime game created by ME!). Here is how:

Supplies
17 dessert size paper plates     pencil     Green Eggs and Ham scissors     plastic storage bag green & orange crayons     paper clip

Prepare the Game Pieces

1. Create your green eggs (onset) and ham (rime) cards. Use the following words: see, tree, house, mouse, box, fox, train, rain, boat, & goat.

a. Cut out the center circle of 10 paper plates. Cut those circles in half. Discard the outer rings. You will use the circles to write onsets and rimes on.

b. On one half of the circles write the onsets: s, tr (x 2), h, m, b (x 2), f, r, & g. Draw green eggs on the other side of the cards.

c. On the other half of the circles write the rimes: ee, ouse, ox, ain, oat. Make two sets of these. On the back draw a picture of a ham.

2. Create your plate (player boards).

a.Draw a line down the center of four paper plates. On the left side of each plate draw green eggs and on the right side draw a ham.

3. Create your spinner.

a. Using the back of a paper plate divide the plate into fourths.

b. On one fourth draw a ham. On two sections draw eggs. On the last fourth write “Sam-I-Am”.

4. Create holding plates for the cards.

a. On one plate draw a picture of green eggs. The onset cards will be placed here during game play.

b. On another plate draw a picture of a ham. The rimes cards will be placed here during play.

5. Store your game pieces in a plastic storage bag. You might also include a copy of the game play instructions with the pieces.

*The object of the game is to fill your plate with an onset and a rime that make a word. Play ends when there are no more cards left. The player with the most words wins.*

Set Up

Place the green eggs cards and the ham cards on their respective plates. Each player gets a plate to fill. Place your paper clip on the center of the spinner and put a pencil tip through one end of it.

Play the Game

1. Player 1 spins the paper clip. Pick up the appropriate card. Play continues going clock wise.

a. If the player lands on the Sam-I-Am space, the player jumps up and down saying, “Do you like green eggs and ham?” The other players respond with, “Yes, I like green eggs and ham, Sam-I-Am.”

b. If a player spins a card type that is already filled on the plate, the player skips that turn and the next player goes.

c. Once a player has made a word, the player sets the two cards aside to be kept for the tally at the end.

d. If two cards do not make a word, the player returns the card just picked up. The next player takes a turn.

Have a great time with Dr. Seuss and “I Like Green Eggs and Ham, Sam-I-Am”!

Homeschool “Seuss-itivity” with The Sneetches

I hope that you are planning on “Seussing Up” your homeschool for Read Across America Day on March 2. The Sneetches can help you to do just that by opening a conversation about “Seuss-itivity” – tolerance. The Sneetches is one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books! I have included activities here that appeal to a wide variety of ages.

~Read the book together. Take this opportunity to teach your children about racism and tolerance. Try this Star Belly activity at Teaching Tolerance. The activity can be modified for your homeschool by planning to do it with another family.

~The setting of The Sneetches is a beach. Put that sand to good use and make sand paintings. Kaboose has a plan for this activity.You can learn about Navajos as well since sand painting is important to their culture.

~Be an inventor! Sylvester McMonkey McBean was an inventor. Unlike McBean’s inventions, you can invent something that is helpful instead of harmful. Teacher Vision has lots of great ideas.

~This is a great opportunity to study geometry specifically looking at stars. Crayola has a great geometry lesson plan involving making 3D stars.

~Teach phonograms to your younger children with this fun game that I found at Hot Chalk’s. The game is similar to BINGO.

I hope you can share this very special book and its important message with your children.

Photo courtesy of evaxebra

“Seuss Up” Your Homeschool with The Lorax

Continue to “Seuss Up” your homeschool with these ideas for The Lorax. I have included curriculum ideas appropriate for all ages here.

~Read The Lorax. Have your children create a diorama of what the land looked like before the Once-ler chopped down the Truffula trees and what it looked like afterward. Be sure to include Brown Bar-ba-loots, Swomee-Swans, and Humming-Fish in their habitats before and after the Once-ler came.

~Write a sequel to The Lorax. Tell what happens after the last Truffula seed is planted. Do all of the animals come back? Is the air and water clear now? Do new animals come? Make sure you reread The Lorax several times to help you when you plan your sequel.

~Study seeds by observing them sprout. The Watching Seeds Grow experiment will allow you to closely observe the seeds. Older kids might like to try an experiment about the affects of water quality on seed germination found at Salt Lake County Storm Water Quality Education Lesson and Activity Plans.

~Learn about how plants help our environment. Start a garden from seeds. Since it is still too cold to plant them outside in most areas, you can start growing your seeds inside your home. Make observations in a journal as they grow. Talk about how plants breathe. You can find a good summary of plant respiration at The Open Door Web Site. This science fair project idea is great for ‘tweens and teens.

~Learn to knit since the Once-ler and his family knitted the Thneeds in the book. There is a great tutorial at Crafttown including illustrations and definitions of vocabulary. This video from Expert Village shows you how to cast on.

You can also learn the knot stitch with this video.

I hope these ideas make learning fun!

Photo courtesy of Maine Coast Semester