February 8, 2010

Getting excitied about the Winter Olympics?  We love to curl up on the couch with a stack of books together.

Try heading over to your local library or Amazon and pick up some good books on the subject.

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Here are a few top picks:

The Boys of Winter: The Untold Story of a Coach, a Dream, and the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team - $10.04

This is a book about the 1980 U.S. Hockey team and their incredible story.  A bunch of unknown college kids taking on the great Russian team in a time when American spirits were pretty low.  They pulled off an amazing victory with the famous quote by Al Michaels who cried, “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!” as the Americans won. 

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The Winter Olympics: An Insider’s Guide to the Legends, Lore and Events of the Games Vancouver Edition - $12.89

This is a fun guide specific to the Winter Olympics, written by Ron Judd, a popular columnist at The Seattle Times.  The book has profiles of the individual sports along with the history, athletes, how each sport is played and judged.

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Freeze Frame: A Photographic History of the Winter Olympics - $12.89

Like pictures?  This history of the Winter Olympics takes you through how it all began, the different sports, and highlights of all the games – all in beautiful pictures.

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Check out this Winter Olympic Sport Series with books highlighting individual sports, thier histories, greatest moments, famous athletes, and more.  (P.S.  These are part of Amazon’s 4-for-3 promotion, so you get one free if you buy 3)

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Do you have a favorite Olympic book or story?  Please share!

Posted under Books to Read, Homeschool Unit Studies

February 5, 2010

I had a fun idea to get really excited and involved in the upcoming Olympics:  what if someone set up a Fantasy Olympic League, like the fantasy football my brother and his buds get all crazy into?

Well, these guys have done it:  Fantasy Olympians - with all the rules and scoring information along with a blog about past events.

If you’re curious about how it works, and how fun it is, check out this article on how the Olympic Fantasy League gave the writer a reason to really get into the Olympics.

It sounds pretty entertaining.  I’d love to hear back from anyone who decides to try it.

Enjoy!

Posted under Homeschool Unit Studies

February 4, 2010

 

Here’s a quick deal for you:

Zoobooks, who puts out a fun animal magazine for kids (awesome pictures!) also sells board books, soft cover books, and lots of other great animal stuff.  Anyway, there is a 10% off code “ZOOBOOKS” you can use on any of the products in their store.

If you’ve seen any of their stuff, you’ll know that they have incredible pictures of animals and then add in the science facts disguised as fun activities and information.  I know my little 1-year-old is totally fascinated by animal pictures lately, and he’s really been enjoying animal picture books from the library.

Or, if you’re interested in the actual magazine, here’s their current special: ”Get a FREE poster and FREE animal stickers with your Zoobooks magazine!”

Enjoy!

Posted under Homeschool Bargains

February 3, 2010

Do you have preschoolers who might enjoy the Olympics?  Try some of these for the littles:

• Print, color, and fold Olympic mascots
• A few simple Olympic online games
• Olympic dot-to-dot, patterns, coloring, and other printables.
• Make an Olympic flag or your own gold medals with these fun Olympic crafts.
• Have them choose a stuffed animal to watch the Olympics with and the ‘friend’ can dictate a story for you to type up about the Olympics.
• ABC Teach Olympic directory of printables and projects.

Enjoy!

Have you done an Olympic craft or activity with your preschooler?  Please share.  Thanks!

Posted under Homeschool Unit Studies

February 2, 2010

The Homeschool Carnival this week is titled “What Matters Most” posted over at “As For My House” – I’ve been having fun browsing all the great articles this morning.

Posted under Blog Carnivals

February 2, 2010

The idea that you simply add a zero to a number when you multiply it by 10 is probably one you already know, but it’s a fun one to teach beginners.

After that, however, did you stop to think that just as 5 is half of 10, when you multiply a number by 5, it is half of what it is when it’s multiplied by 10?

Here’s what I mean – something like this:

• 5 x 5 . . . I know 5 x 10 is just 5 plus a zero on the end = 50, so 5 x 5 is half of 50 = 25.
• 7 x 5 = half of 70 = 35.
• 16 x 5 = half of 160 = 80

Or you can think of it this way – divide the multiplicand in half and then times 10:

• 5 x 5 = half of 5 is 2.5 . . .2.5 x 10 = 25
• 7 x 5 = half of 7 is 3.5 . . . 3.5 x 10 = 35
• 16 x 5 = half of 16 is 8 . . . 8 x 10 = 80

It is an extra step, but it’s definitely faster than counting by 5s on your fingers to get to the answer.  Plus, it’s a big help once you move up into the bigger numbers you don’t have memorized.  It also help teach relationships between numbers, another fun trick.

Enjoy!

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

• Tips and Tricks for 9′s
• Tips and Tricks for 6′s
• Timez Attack
• Dojo Math
• Favorite Math Curriculum
• Memorize in Minutes: the Times Tables

Posted under Math Curriculum

February 1, 2010

Are you too swamped to plan anything big, but you want the kids to get excited about the upcoming Winter Olympics?

These ideas are for you – no work, no fuss, only fun:

• Plop down in front of Vancouver Olympic Committee’s official YouTube channel and start clicking.  Watch videos until you’re done.
• Students Live chose 24 students to attend Olympic events and write articles, blog, tweet, facebook, video, etc., about their experiences.  Help your child choose one and see what they’re learning and enjoying about the Olympics.
• Check out the Olympic Torch Relay Interactive Map and click around as the torch makes it’s way to the Opening Ceremony.  Make sure to click on the “Stories” button under each day to read about the interesting people chosen to carry the flame.
• Browse this comprehensive list of Olympic Videos:  Don’t miss Vancouver host videos, cultural Olympiad videos, explore Vancouver videos, Olympic torch relay vids, video galleries by sport, and more.
• Go to the Official 2010 Vancouver Olympic website and have your child pick any of the 15 winter sports arrayed in blue boxes across the top of the page.  They have very cool info including photos, news, about the sport, training, and my favorite: “athlete’s voice” where you get to hear actual athletes describing things like a typical day of training, etc.  Awesome stuff for kids (and adults) to explore.

Enjoy!

Posted under Homeschool Unit Studies