Sunday, December 30, 2012

FlashCards

Have you ever made your own flash cards? I don't mean flashcards you have written out on scrap paper or even index cards. I am talking about using the internet in making flashcards. When you use Spellingcity.com you can create These online talking FlashCards allow users to study spelling and build vocabulary words in context, learn definitions, parts of speech and more.

Use the VocabualarySpellingCity activity as your own personal flashcard maker. Creating flashcards, for kids using their words list gives them un, interactive ways to study for test. Use FlashCards or create A Flashcards printable featuring your own content.



Sunday, December 23, 2012

Special Needs and the Holiday's

With the holiday's here, how is schooling going? Are you still schooling? I have a friend who has a child who is special needs child and she has adjusted her schooling to his special needs learning.  With all the excitement of the lights, tree, the changes in the stores her son has trouble dealing with it all and doing school.  One of the main reasons she uses Time4learing.com.  Here is what the website states about Why time4learining.com works for special needs.....

Why does Time4Learning work for special needs?

Time4Learning provides a comprehensive curriculum that allows children to easily get comfortable with the system. The levels for language arts and math programs are independently set for each child. This helps children who perform or progress at vastly different levels in these major subjects. Children progress at their own rates using multisensory learning that helps each learning style. The computer is very engaging. Some children, when faced with text books or non-interactive environments, exhibit ADD/ADHD-like behavior, but, when faced with an interactive system, they are often successful in focusing and learning. The computer is impersonal so children on the Autism spectrum(specifically children with Aspergers Syndrome and high-functioning Autism) learn without the distraction of interpersonal relations.






Sunday, December 16, 2012

Creative Writing

Creative Writing can be fun and or frustrating for many kids and adults. My son has a great imagination. So does my daughter. My daughter is not old enough yet to write out essays or even write out stories. But my son is old enough!  He just does not like to write or even type. He can tell you the most creative story you will ever hear but to put it on paper that is a whole other story. 

We try our best to get his stories to paper. Sometimes we succeed and other times it is harder..  There are all kinds of items that make up a great essay/story. 

  1. It All Starts With Sentence Writing
  2. Developing a Thought Through Paragraph Writing
  3. Essay Writing and Making a  Case
  4. Holding it All Together: Grammar, Usage, and Writing Mechanics
  5. Creative Strategies of Writing Enhancement 

All of these items are needed work on creative writing and for SAT writing, too. 






Sunday, December 9, 2012

What is Homeschooling?

Dictionary.com defines “homeschool” as: To teach one’s children at home, instead of sending them to school.


Our homeschool co-op frequently welcomes families who have just enrolled in the school district’s school-at-home program. These families usually come to realize that, although their children are being educated at home, they are not homeschooling in the traditional sense. Our co-op meetings concerning choice of curriculum, modification of lessons, and other decision-making issues just don’t apply to them. They have no curriculum choice, they aren’t allowed to modify lessons, and the decisions are made by public school personnel.

When I decided to homeschool my youngest son, who has special needs, I was approached by an acquaintance who is a teacher. She strongly suggested that I enroll my son in public school, and tried to bolster her argument by stating that, often, the teachers and therapists will provide services for children with special needs within the child’s own home. “You would still be homeschooling!” she said. I asked her if that meant I could consider my other children public schooled, as long as they sat in the school library to do their homeschool lessons. The location isn’t the point.

Lists of celebrity homeschoolers are often found on the Internet. These kids have a tutor, either at home or on a movie set. Their parents have no idea what they are studying. Are they really homeschooled?

Although I choose my children’s curriculum, grade their work, and make modifications where necessary, I do enroll them in activities taught by others, and I consider those activities part of their school program. Is my child any less homeschooled, because I choose to provide music education through piano lessons?

The term “parent directed education” has been suggested as a replacement for “homeschool”. It’s a bit awkward, but it does more accurately describe what most of us think of when we talk about homeschooling. We may enlist someone else to teach music or art, and we might enroll our students in an online class or two, but the parent determines what classes to offer and how best to provide the instruction.

So, are families who opt for public school at home “homeschoolers”? Are celebrity children who are tutored on a movie set “homeschooled”? What’s YOUR definition of homeschooling?

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Don't take things out of Context!

Have you ever taken anything out of context? The definition of context is....


Definition of CONTEXT (from Merriam-Dictionary)

1
: the parts of a discourse that surround a word or passage and can throw light on its meaning
2
: the interrelated conditions in which something exists or occurs : environmentsetting <the historical context of the war>


Spellingcity.com states: Context refers to the words or sentences that surround a particular word, idea or passage which either greatly influence or outright define it.

This is a very important skill to learn while learning to read and spell. Spellingcity.com has some great games for each grade level K-2nd, 3rd-5th, 6th-8th, and 9th-12th grades. No matter what your grade level or even your ability level there is a game for you to use and work with.

Even better is they are not just context games but definition games also. This also is a very important skill to have when you are learning to read and spell.  Some of the games are based on math words while others are based on books that you might be reading or have read.

Stop by Spellingcity.com and try out the context/definition games.


Lil Momma