Homeschool at the Beach
Spring is a great time to homeschool at the beach. It isn’t too hot and there aren’t many folks around. The sound of the ocean and the texture of the sand are soothing. Recently I took C5, A2, and P4 (my nephew) to the beach, and we had a great experience. Here are a few things that we did that you might want to try out.
~Go for a walk along the beach. It is really great exercise. Read more about the benefits of walking on the beach at Discover Walking.
~Skip rocks on the water. You can find out how to skip rocks at wikiHow. If you want to know why stones skip on the water, you’ll find information about the physics behind it at The Library of Congress.
~Collect rocks and shells. In addition to what I have included here, you can find more information about geology and art with rocks at Suite 101.
-Categorize the rocks and shells by size, by color, by shape, etc.
-Examine the rocks to find different geometric shapes. We found rectangles and trapezoids.
-Use the rocks that you collected to build with. The kids built a really great tower together.
-We used those shells and rocks to “write” the kids’ initials.
~Build sand castles. You can research the physics behind why sand castles sand at BNET. This post also includes an experiment for you to try.
Have fun and make memories at the beach with your kids!
Photo courtesy of MyAngelG
Filed under Educational Strategies | Comment (0)Sticky Note Learning: Miscellaneous Ideas
Here are a few more creative ideas for using sticky notes to enhance learning in your homeschool.
~Create a scavenger hunt. On each sticky note write a clue about where the next sticky note is. Or you could include math problems, trivia questions, or riddles on the sticky notes. Place the notes all over the house. This is a great activity for rainy or snowy days or times when it feel like you need to change things up a bit.
~Practice descriptive writing with famous paintings. Have your children write descriptive sentences about the artwork on individual sticky notes. Post the notes around the painting. Then the notes can be moved around in order to plan a paragraph or a story about the painting. (Photo courtesy of tomsaint11)
~Practice rhythm. Write sixteenth notes, eighth notes, quarter notes, and rests on individual sticky notes, and place them in any order on a wall. Use percussion instruments such as drums, claves, or a xylophone and play the rhythm posted. Mix the notes up and play the new rhythm. (Photo courtesy of calm a llama down)
~Have your child label scientific drawings using flag post-it notes. For example, create a poster with a drawing of a flower on it. Have your children use the flags to label the parts of a flower. The same poster can be used later as a test of that knowledge.
Have fun!
Filed under Educational Strategies | Comment (1)Homeschool Sticky Note Math
Sticky notes can be used for learning and practicing math skills. Here are a few ways you can motivate your children to master math concepts in your homeschool.
~Make a graph with your sticky notes. Collect data on your notes and then organize them into a graph. For example, you can take a nature walk and count the petals on a particular type of flower. For each flower that you observe, record the number of petals on a sticky note. Then create your graph at home with the sticky notes.
~Young children can learn how to put numbers in the correct order with sticky notes. Write the numerals 0-9 on individual sticky notes and post them around the house. Have your children go on a hunt for all of the sticky notes and put them on a wall in the correct order. You can do the same thing with other sets of numbers such as 100-120.
~Children can also learn how to translate numbers from words to numerals. Write the numbers 0-9 on individual sticky notes, and make a couple of sets of these. On another set of notes write different numbers in words such as one hundred twenty three. Post the words on the wall. Then have your children create the numbers with their numeral cards. You can post the words in different locations in the house, too, in order to help your kinesthetic learner stay engaged.
~Create an addition matrix with sticky notes. On individual sticky notes write the numbers from 0-9 and make two sets. Place those notes in order horizontally across the top of the matrix and vertically down the left side of the matrix. Have your child add and fill in the matrix with the sums on individual sticky notes. You can do the same thing with a multiplication matrix.
I hope these ideas inspire you to try using sticky notes in new and different ways.
Photo courtesy of James Cridland
Filed under Educational Strategies, Math | Comment (1)Snowflakes Are Falling In Your Homeschool
It is the middle of the winter, and most places have plenty of snow. Learn about snowflakes this month in your homeschool.
~Wilson Bentley is famous for photographing snowflakes. He successfully photographed his first snowflake on January 15, 1885. Try researching his work and life. Watch this informative video about his life. It starts out told in the first person.
-There is a Snowflake Bentley website where you can find out more about his life. There are also copies of his photographs posted there.
-Read the following books to research Bentley’s life:
Snowflake Bentley (Caldecott Medal Book)
The Snowflake Man: A Biography of Wilson A. Bentley
My Brother Loved Snowflakes: The Story of Wilson A. Bentley, the Snowflake Man
~Learn about snowflakes. Go to the Cal Tech website for host of information.
-Read the following books to research snowflakes:
Ken Libbrecht’s Field Guide to Snowflakes
The Snowflake : A Water Cycle Story
-Observe snowflakes. How Stuff Works has a great lesson plan for this science experiment.
~Make snowflakes in various artistic ways. These books can help:
Make Your Own Paper Snowflakes
Easy Tatting (Dover Needlework Series)
~At ProTeacher you can find a few math activities related to a snow theme. My two favorites are:
-Have a snowball fight. Write a math fact on a piece of white paper and crumple it up in a ball. Make a whole pile of these. Throw your “snowballs” at each other for a specified time. Then everyone takes turns reading the math facts out loud. Repeat.
-Use shaving cream on a table or desk as your snow. Have your child write in the shaving cream. Write math facts or draw shapes. Recite a number such as one hundred forty five and have your child write it in the shaving cream – 145.
Photos, Snowflake-024 & Snowflake-009, courtesy of yellowcloud
Filed under Art, Math, Reading, Science, Social Studies | Comment (1)Home School Halloween Math
Even of you don’t participate in Halloween, you can have a little fun with it while staying away from the ghosts and ghouls. Here are a few tips for learning math in your home school this October.
Bag of Halloween Candy Math
- Estimate how many candies are in the bag. Discuss strategies for making accurate estimates (size of candies, counting a few, etc.) Then count them. Try putting the candies into groups of ten to make it easier to count.
- Make a graph of the different types of candies that come in the bag.
- Poll a sample of people to find out which candies from your bag are their favorites. Create a graph with the results.
- What shapes do candies come in? Can you find a sphere? A cube? A cylinder?
- Learn a little about fractions. Empty a bag of M & M’s. Find out what colors there are. Find out how many candies there are. Count how many of them come in each color. Now figure out the fraction of the total bag each color is.
Have fun eating some of the candy after doing some math!
Filed under Lesson Plans | Comments (5)Mallard Math
We have practiced our math skills in a variety of ways through Make Way for Ducklings. There are a few mathematical possibilities in this particular book that you might find helpful if you are also working on this particular lapbook.
Since there are eight ducklings in the book, we have practiced counting the number eight. Since my kiddos are kinesthetic learners, I need to incorparate manipulatives into our math work, and a great manipulative for this particular lesson is plastic Easter eggs. First, we sorted the eight eggs by color and counted how many eggs there were of each color. We compared which color we had more and less of. We also dabbled in addition and subtraction by adding one more egg and removing one egg. After all of that manipulative work, we made a counting book with the numbers 1-8. It’s a graduated page book. On each page the children drew the amount of eggs that correlate with the number on the page. Creating this book is also a great way to address the unique the needs of kinesthetic learners since there is a lot of interaction involved – turning the pages, drawing the eggs, counting the eggs, and coloring the eggs. My children needed a bit of guidance with staying focused on the task, but overall, this was a hit!
We also used the song “Five Little Ducks” to talk about counting backwards from 5. We used it as a finger play while I a read a great picture book of the song, Five Little Ducks illustrated by Ivan Bates. They really love this song and adding a kinesthetic piece to it just makes it more engaging. Having the visuals (pictures) also makes the song more interesting. Lessons are so much more dynamic when you weave multiple disciplines together.
Get cracking on your math skills, homeschoolers!
Filed under How to, Lapbooks | Comment (0)Visit a Floating Museum
I love it when I hear about out-of-date things being re purposed, so I was thrilled to hear about something that is re purposed to provide an exciting supplement to regular education. The USS Midway is a retired aircraft carrier that is now a floating museum that provides exciting and engaging learning opportunities. The focus is on real-life math and science as well as the history linked to the aircraft carrier itself. The curriculum was designed by a Wheelock College graduate, Sarah Mann Hanscom.
If you are in the San Diego area, you and your children can actually take part in the hands-on learning that happens here. The activities on the ship are geared towards children in grades 2-8. There are also pre- and post-visit materials available for grades 4-8. Since the museum is in California, the activities are all linked to the California Content Standards. Your whole family can stay the night, too! There is a long waiting list, so you have to make reservations about 6 months in advance. Reservations open on August 18th.
What a unique opportunity for your family to learn together and have some fun!
Filed under Lesson Plans | Comment (0)
