September 16, 2009

Thank you for visiting HomeschoolBytes again! Feel free to contact me with questions or suggestions. Make sure to subscribe to my RSS feed or get email updates any time I post new content.

(Thank you to Rebecca of Scavenger Hunt Guru for this guest post.  Make sure to check out her site!)

If you are trying to be creative with your homeschool lesson plans, why not consider a scavenger hunt? They are easy to organize and tons of fun for all ages.

Scavenger hunts are experiential by nature. Kids learn in a hands on fashion as they explore the world around them, and we all know that the more hands-on the learning, the more the kids learn and remember. Hunts can be done indoors, outdoors, in the classroom and even as fun car games.

To set up your hunt, simply print out a list of clues and let them go! It’s fun to add a fun quote or graphics to the scavenger hunt list, but not entirely necessary. It just depends on how creative you are feeling.

Here are a few educational scavenger hunts for you to try:

• Online Scavenger Hunt: to introduce the non-profit world.
• Library Scavenger Hunt: go explore your local library.
• Dictionary Game: to help build vocabulary.
• Gardening Games: get outside and explore your community garden.
• Newspaper Scavenger Hunt: a fun way to explore the daily news.
• Nature Scavenger Hunt: to build awareness.

The important thing is to be prepared, have fun with it and end while the kids are still wanting more. Try doing one scavenger hunt a week with your kids. They’ll love it!  The scavenger hunt for kids section has a comprehensive collection of hunts to get you started. Also be sure to check out the free stuff for teachers section for more ways to spice up your lesson plans.

And last, but not least, if you are looking to create your own hunt, this site has that covered too with a list of scavenger hunt ideas already brainstormed and broken down by location: indoor, outdoor, classroom and crazy! Simply pick and choose what you want to put on your list.

Happy teaching and happy hunting!!

Posted under Homeschool Activities

September 11, 2009

I just read an interesting article here by Peter Gray, a professor of psychology, that says over and over, “School is Prison.”  He says that a main reason kids don’t like school is that they’ve lost their freedom and their time and activities are completely controlled throughout the public school day.

Since my husband pretty much loved school (the geek)  as a kid, and I was banging my head (figuratively) against the classroom walls the whole way through, I’m interested to hear what you think?  Did you have that kind of experience in public schools as a kid?

Here are a few fun prison public school moments I remember:

1. Writing in my journal with my left hand during a class in a desperate bid for something challenging to do.

2. One teacher erased the current homework assignment off the board, because I was doing that night’s homework during his lecture instead of ‘paying attention’ like I was supposed to.  (That just meant I did his homework in the following period so I didn’t have to ‘waste’ any of my free time after school)
3. I wrote an essay detailing what I knew the teacher thought the interpretation of red in “The Scarlet Letter” meant, even though I completely disagreed.  (I had quickly figured out that getting an ‘A’ meant telling a teacher what he/she wanted to hear.)

To be fair, here is a great experience:

4. Mr. Sergeant, a history teacher, handed everyone a folder on a significant figure in the WWII era and after a week of research, we all had a debate with each other representing our WWII V.I.P.

Ahh . . . why weren’t all my classes like Mr. Sargeant’s history class?

So, in remembrance of public school, I have an essay question for you:  (please answer in the comment section)

1. How are public schools like prisons?  How are they not?  Please explain. 

Posted under Homeschool Life

September 9, 2009

photo by Jo Jakeman

Math is supposed to be fun, right?

At our house, math work seems to inspire the most creative moans, physical contortions, and excuses why it doesn’t need doing.    So, we’re always looking for new ways to play the old math game.

Here’s our new twist on a math curriculum:

Internet 4 Classrooms has gathered TONS of links to website resources for teaching, and their math section is awesome!

Here’s what we’re doing:

1. Go to their math page.
2. Click on appropriate grade level under “State Assessed SPI’s”
3. Tadah!  You’ll now find every state required math skill sorted and listed down the left side of the screen and to the right are lots of links directly to websites with games, lessons, and more that teach that exact skill.
4. Have your kids either work on a certain number of skills, just ‘play math’ for a length of time, or join in and encourage their interest until they get so involved they forget they are doing MATH!

Even if you already have a math curriculum, this site can give you some fun online games to help drill play with a math concept that is particulary difficult.

I’m also looking for good math websites to compile a free E-Book Math Guide to the Internet, so I’d love to hear (in the comment section) what your favorite sites are. 

Please share!

Posted under Math Curriculum, Math Websites

September 7, 2009

Where have I been?

I’ve been a bit scarce during August as we’ve been spending every second we can outside in a desperate attempt to pretend that summer isn’t almost over.  We have a couple months of summer left, don’t we?

I hope you’ve had as much fun and family time as we have.  I’d love to hear what your favorite experience was?

Here are a few of mine:

Picking and eating raspberries in our backyard with my 1-year-old who thinks he’s too big to be my baby any more.

Summer blueberries

Raspberries off the bush and in the mouth in less than 2 seconds!

Tomatoes from the garden, fresh salsa, tomato sauce, and pulling out the pressure cooker to bottle a few for later.

Water, water, water, pools, and the beach!

Passing the swim test at the pool.

How tired the kids are at the end of a fun summer day!

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Do you have a blog post about your fun summer/homeschooling activities?  Enter a direct link to your summer blog article below to share it with us!

P.S.  I’m experimenting with ‘Mr. Linky’ below, for the first time, so I’d love a few links to test it out.  Thanks!!

Posted under Homeschool Life