January 29, 2010

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Need some fun ideas for lessons or activities about the 2010 Winter Olympics?  Here are some good resources and great information:

• Here is Canada’s Olympic School site – Packed with things like teacher resources including multiple project packs, an Olympic library, a student lounge, and an online playground.
• The Olympic Torch Relay is happening NOW – Here are some complete Olympic Torch Relay Classroom Kits you can download and use now.
• A list of Educational Resources from the Official Vancouver Olympics Site.
• Join the Winter Olympic Games Online project and choose one of three ideas to do.  See what other classes have done, once the games begin.
• Let the kids click through the list of the 15 Winter Olympic Sports, and pick their favorite.  Do a project on that sport, maybe a lap book, draw a picture, make a list of equipment needed, learn about athletes from their country competing in that sport, record that sport when events are on, or watch them online, keep track of the medals, etc.  With multiple kids, they can each choose a sport and the ‘ownership’ helps them get more excited and involved.
• Choose a new country to learn about.  It’s exciting to find the flag and delegation of ‘your’ new country during the Opening Ceremony.  Wikepedia (see participating nations) is a great place to start.  See the country on Google Earth, or check it out at Lonely Planet. 
• Enchanted Learnings Olympic Resources – They always have good printables, information, and lesson ideas – though some are only available through their paid subscription.
• Olympic Math – Creating an Olympic Medal Chart is a great way to make the whole bar graph thing a fun activity.

Enjoy!

Do you have a good lesson or project idea for the Olympics?  Please share.

Posted under Homeschool Unit Studies

January 28, 2010

photo by pshutterbug

I don’t know about you, but when I memorized addition and multiplication facts as a kid, it seemed that the 6’s, 7’s, and 8’s always seemed the hardest to remember.

Well, here’s a fun trick to help remember the 6’s:

• When multiplying 6 by an EVEN number (sorry, it doesn’t work on the odds), the answer ends in the same final digit.
• Some examples:  6 x 2 = 12, 6 x 6 = 36, 6 x 8 = 48, 6 x 12 = 72 and yes, even 6 x 472 = 2,832 if you really wanted to know. 

Hope that helps a few of you out there.  Do you have any math tricks that helped you memorize the facts?

P.S.  Here are some previous tips and math reviews:

• Tips and Tricks for 9’s
• Timez Attack
• Dojo Math
• Favorite Math Curriculum
• Memorize in Minutes: the Times Tables

Enjoy!

Posted under Math Curriculum

January 27, 2010

Want to get the kids excited about the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics?  Need some information to sprinkle a little learning in with the fun?

Here are some great websites to help you out:

• The Official 2010 Winter Olympics Site – If you only visit one site, this is it.  The official Olympic site offers TONS of information – schedules and results, medals from this and previous Olympics, athlete info, latest Olympic news, photos, video, and more.  There is even a ski jump mini-game, and wallpaper images for your computer.  I also love how everything in inter-linked, so you can always find what you’re looking for.
• NBC Olympic Site - Offers your Olympic TV schedule, video, news, and more.  Check out the handy Olympic Winter Sport page with all the info in one place.  For the techies, they also offer mobile phone Olympics, alerts, widgets, and RSS feeds.
• Official U.S. Olympic Committee Site – A great resource for Olympic history, and also detailed information on the U.S. team and the process involved in ‘making the team.’
• Vancouver’s Website – Curious about where the Olympics are being held, this is the website for Vancouver, BC in Canada, along with their information about the Olympics.

Enjoy!

Posted under Homeschool Unit Studies

January 25, 2010

You can’t have fun watching the 2010 Winter Olympics if you don’t know when everything is happening.

Here is the official Olympics schedule with the Opening Ceremony starting Feb. 12th @ 6 pm, and the Closing Ceremony on Feb. 28th at 5:30 pm.

Take a minute with the kids and scan all the great sports that are listed on the schedule – Have your kids heard of the luge, curling, the nordic combined, or the skeleton? 

And even better, each of the events listed on the Olympics schedule is clickable and you can then see:

• Where the event will take place
• All other times the event is planned
• More about the sport and it’s history
• More about the athletes competing in that sport
• Photos and news about the sport.

Enjoy!

Posted under Homeschool Unit Studies

January 20, 2010

Looking for a fun unit study?  The Winter Olympics are coming in a few weeks, and there are TONS of resources and ideas for you and the kids to enjoy and follow along while they happen.  I’ll be doing a series of posts with my favorite resources.

First is Currclick: a great homeschooling resource for e-books, lapbooks, and online classes that you join via the internet.  The prices are great, and you get most of the products instantly as PDF documents that you can read on your computer or print if you’d like.

Here are the best-priced 2010 Olympics selections:

1. The Winter Olympics 2010 Lapbook with Study Guide – $4.00 - Get ready for the 2010 Winter Olympics with this educational, hands-on 3-folder lapbook by A Journey Through Learning!
2. Vancouver Olympics Unit Study – $9.00 - This unit study is designed to teach students about the past and present Olympic Games as well as the Paralympic Games. Students will read about the significant historical events of the Games and complete activities including research, creating time lines, and writing a newspaper column. Students are also provided with a medal tracking sheet to keep track of the 2010 events.
3. Live Class – Winter Olympics – $30.00 - 5 Class Sessions, Ages 8-12, Tuesdays from 1:45 – 2:30 pm Central, February 2, 9, 16, 23 and March 2
4. 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games- A Unit Study & Lapbook Project – $6.85 
5. Wonderful Winter Lapbook with Study Guide – $13.00
6. Winter Olympic Games – $16.00
7. Plus lots more Olympic selections . . .

Enjoy!

Posted under Homeschool Unit Studies

January 18, 2010

If you like FREE – take a look at this list of Homeschool Freebies put together by The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.  Free art lessons, woodworking projects, science kits, sample curriculum, and more.  Many are bonuses and samples offered by companies who sell to the homeschool crowd and there’s something for almost everyone.

Enjoy!

Posted under Homeschool Bargains

January 15, 2010

Make the times tables a little fun for little ones with this ‘handy’ trick for doing the 9’s:

1. 9 x 6 =
2. Hold up both hands, 10 fingers, starting at the left, bend down the 6th finger.
3. Count the numbers to the left of the bent finger = 5, and the fingers to the right = 4 and you have your answer = 54.
4. This works for multiples of 9 up to 10.

For the ‘do it in your head’ crowd, try this:

1. 9 x 6 =
2. Take the multiple (6) and subtract 1  . . . 6 minus 1 = 5
3. Then figure out how much you need to add to the 5 to get up to 9.  5 + 4 = 9.  There’s your answer = 54
4. Again this works for multiples of 9 up to 10.

If you’re looking for some fun free games to practice multiplication, try these:

• Timez Attack
• Dojo Math
• Multiplication.com games

Enjoy!

Posted under Math Curriculum

January 13, 2010

Are your kids going a bit stir-crazy being stuck indoors during the winter?  Disney’s Family Fun website has this cool list of table top games the kids can design, make, and play indoors.  It’s a great homeschool day bribe to break up math and Latin.

Here are a few easy favorites:

• Flip Golf
• Sharpshooter
• Tabletop Football (all you need is a piece of paper for this one)

Enjoy! 

P.S.  Do you have any good indoor boy-energy using ideas?  I’ve got 4 stir-crazy boys and both I and my daughter would love some ideas!

Posted under Homeschool Activities, Homeschool Crafts

January 12, 2010

Pop over to Alasandra’s Homeschool Blog to read the latest articles in the “Dog and Cat” Edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling.  Enjoy!

Posted under Blog Carnivals

January 5, 2010

After I just spent a ton on Amazon.com for Christmas, I thought I’d share this money saving tip:

I heard about Swagbucks on some money saving blogs, and decided to try it out.  You basically do your normal internet searching using the Swagbucks search engine, which combines results from Google and Ask.com, and every now and then, you get awarded some ‘Swagbucks’ for a search.  You can then redeem them for a whole bunch of prizes, including gift cards from places like Amazon, ITunes, Target, Paypal, etc.  

After a couple of weeks using it, I was up to 45 Swagbucks, and I just turned it in for a $5 Amazon Giftcard.  It’s not a ton, but since I do a lot of internet searching, it doesn’t cost me any extra effort or time, so why not?

Here’s what you do:

1. Sign up for a free Swagbucks account
2. I recommend installing the toolbar – it makes it easier to use, so I can type search terms right into my toolbar instead of going to the Swagbuck website.
3. Search as usual and earn Swagbucks.
4. Spend them on giftcards you want.
5. You can also earn extra Swagbucks when your friends sign up   (Thank you!)

Enjoy!

Posted under Homeschool Bargains