Unschooling, Worksheets, Unit Studies, Lesson Plans, Hands-On Activities? Continue reading, plus see links below!
In traditional schools, the second semester usually begins in January. That means the kids are now about halfway through the year.
Homeschoolers can follow a traditional school instructional calendar. Or you can follow your own educational plans and schedules. And, of course, you can add other topics, as well, such as Art, Music, Foreign Languages, Life Skills, etc.
The way you homeschool is totally up to you and your family, depending on what works best for your educational goals, your family values, your child’s best learning styles, and most workable homeschool schedule.
Now is a great time to reflect on the first semester of your homeschool, consider what went well, what worked best, and what could perhaps work better for the next few months of homeschooling.
If you’d like to focus on individual Lessons covering Math, Science, Language Arts, and Social Studies, we’ll include some links below to help you out.
If, alternatively, you’d like to try theme studies, unit studies, or unschooling activities, we’ll include some links for those.
Remember, also, to revisit our previous posts of Weekly Homeschool Lessons and Learning Activities, posted in August; 500+ Science Experiments and Hands-On Math Activities, also posted in August; Unschooling Activities and Reading Activities, posted in September; Language Arts, Social Studies, Math, and Science Activities, posted in October; Crafting History, posted in November; and Winter Learning Activities, posted in December, along with many other educational ideas over the past months.
*** Here are some Links to Lessons covering Math, Science, Language Arts, and Social Studies:
1. Math Solutions, Grades K-8:
https://mathsolutions.com/classroom-lessons
2. Math Goodies, Elementary to Pre-Algebra:
https://www.mathgoodies.com/lessons
3. Math Worksheets:
https://www.math-drills.com
4. Homeschool Math Worksheets:
https://www.homeschoolmath.net/worksheets
5. 80 Science Activities:
https://elementalscience.com/blogs/news/80-free-science-activities
6. Science Worksheets:
https://www.easyteacherworksheets.com/science.html
7. Language Arts Lesson Plans:
https://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/lang.shtml
8. Language Arts Worksheets:
https://www.easyteacherworksheets.com/languagearts.html
9. Social Studies Activities:
https://sharemylesson.com/subject/social-studies
10. Social Studies Worksheets:
https://www.education.com/worksheets/social-studies
*** Here are some Links to Theme Studies, Unit Studies, or Unschooling Activities:
1. BookShark Unit Studies:
https://www.bookshark.com/freebies
2. Discover Unit Studies:
https://discoverunitstudies.com
3. Hess UnAcademy Unit Studies:
https://hessunacademy.com/unit-studies
4. Crafty Classroom Unit Studies:
https://thecraftyclassroom.com/free-unit-studies
5. Unschooling and Hands-On Ideas:
https://www.weedemandreap.com/learn-subjects-unschooling
6. Unschooling Ideas for Older Kids:
https://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/100-hands-on-activities-for-middle-school-and-high-school
7. More Unschooling Ideas:
https://zenhabits.net/unschool
Happy homeschooling!
Showing posts with label Reading Skills. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reading Skills. Show all posts
Friday, January 27, 2023
Friday, November 4, 2022
Fun Language Arts Activities
When learning is fun, children will naturally learn more. But
even better, they will remember and retain more of what
they learn. Here you’ll see how to thread fun through Language Arts. More subjects, topics, and activities will be added in the next few days.
Language Arts Activities
Language arts encompasses English, reading, writing, spelling, vocabulary, grammar, composition, literature, drama, and poetry, listening and speaking, and related written or oral activities. Ideas and activities follow.
Reading Activities:
Reading need not be dull! Famous or popular movies are made from books and stories! If your children are not especially interested in reading, try reading movie scripts together, such as Disney movie scripts or family movie scripts featured on www.SimplyScripts.com. Use the scripts to act out the movie, and compare scripts to the book version of the story. Try writing your own scripts, too!
Turn your library visits into story scavenger hunts! Have children find books that will take them to another land, another planet, or an imaginary world. See if they can locate books by particular authors or stories that focus on a particular time period.
Make it fun! If your children are having no luck finding such books, see if you can help. Pull out a few selections from the shelves and point out the colorful pictures or delightful illustrations. Then wonder aloud what might be occurring in the story. Begin reading a few of the pages aloud, and soon their interest will be piqued.
Book suggestions and Reading Lists are available at www.KidsReadingCircle.com and https://www.rd.com/list/the-best-childrens-books-ever-written. The RD (Reader’s Digest) site lists “100 Best Children’s Books of All Time.”
Breathe life into the stories you read together. In addition to discussing the characters and events in the stories, create your own plays or dramatic performances based upon the stories. Or simply take turns reading the lines of the different characters in the voices that seem to reflect their personalities. This often results in fits of giggles and reading fun!
Read to them, share written stories with them, read newspapers aloud, and read information aloud, even if it’s the cereal boxes at breakfast or a sign in the dentist’s waiting room. The key to encouraging children to read is to read, read, read!
Parts of Speech:
Use illustrated books or even comic books to help children become more familiar with nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. After reading the stories, pick out the different parts of speech together. When done on a regular basis with stories children enjoy, you’ll be surprised how quickly they’ll learn the different parts of speech and how long they’ll retain this knowledge.
Here’s a fun activity many children enjoy. They can assign colors to the different parts of speech. Then, with colored construction paper at their fingertips, they can jot down the nouns they find in a story on red construction paper, for instance. They cut up those nouns on red paper and drop them into a jar or box. Then they jot down the verbs from the story on blue construction paper, cut up the verbs, and drop them into the jar or box. They can continue with yellow adjectives, green adverbs, etc., cutting up the words and dropping them into the container.
Later, they can shake up the container and select a red noun, blue verb, yellow adjective, green adverb, and create their own fun or silly sentences. Over time, as they continue to add colorful words to the container, they’ll have quite a collection of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, all color coded and clicking in their mind. And they’ll become much better at spotting the different parts of speech in sentences as they read.
Writing Activities:
Brainstorm new story prompts or creative writing ideas together each day. For instance: What if time ran backward? What if you could read everyone else’s thoughts? What if you had webbed feet and a beak? Describe what your day would be like, or write a story based on your "What if" ideas. Keep a daily writing journal full of your creative thoughts and stories.
As a family, think about a story you’d like to write. Decide on the characters, setting, plot, and storyline. Then have each family member write his or her own version of the story. Read your stories aloud and see how similar or different the stories are.
In today’s digital world of texting, instant messaging, and e-mail, letter- writing is still an important skill. Children can hone those skills by writing letters on a regular basis to friends and families. Remind them to write thank-you notes for gifts or favors, as well. They can also write letters and thank-you notes to famous folks. What might they write to Dr. Seuss? What would they thank him for? What would they write to Pocahontas, or to Lewis and Clark, or to Mark Twain? They can write letters to other favorite authors, actors or actresses, or local heroes.
Spelling and Vocabulary Fun:
Use Scrabble game tiles, magnetic letters, or other types of letter tiles for spelling practice. See who can spell the words the quickest. See who can create the silliest word. Spell out words on each other’s backs with your fingers, and see who is the most ticklish as kids practice their spelling skills!
Spelling lists are available for Kindergarten through Grade 9 at www.HomeSpellingWords.com. For online spelling and vocabulary, browse spelling and word games at www.FunBrain.com/Games/Spellaroo.
More subject areas, topics, and activities are coming in the next few days, so check back soon!
Remember to sign up for our Weekly Newsletter in the Subscribe box on the right!
Happy homeschooling!
Language Arts Activities
Language arts encompasses English, reading, writing, spelling, vocabulary, grammar, composition, literature, drama, and poetry, listening and speaking, and related written or oral activities. Ideas and activities follow.
Reading Activities:
Reading need not be dull! Famous or popular movies are made from books and stories! If your children are not especially interested in reading, try reading movie scripts together, such as Disney movie scripts or family movie scripts featured on www.SimplyScripts.com. Use the scripts to act out the movie, and compare scripts to the book version of the story. Try writing your own scripts, too!
Turn your library visits into story scavenger hunts! Have children find books that will take them to another land, another planet, or an imaginary world. See if they can locate books by particular authors or stories that focus on a particular time period.
Make it fun! If your children are having no luck finding such books, see if you can help. Pull out a few selections from the shelves and point out the colorful pictures or delightful illustrations. Then wonder aloud what might be occurring in the story. Begin reading a few of the pages aloud, and soon their interest will be piqued.
Book suggestions and Reading Lists are available at www.KidsReadingCircle.com and https://www.rd.com/list/the-best-childrens-books-ever-written. The RD (Reader’s Digest) site lists “100 Best Children’s Books of All Time.”
Breathe life into the stories you read together. In addition to discussing the characters and events in the stories, create your own plays or dramatic performances based upon the stories. Or simply take turns reading the lines of the different characters in the voices that seem to reflect their personalities. This often results in fits of giggles and reading fun!
Read to them, share written stories with them, read newspapers aloud, and read information aloud, even if it’s the cereal boxes at breakfast or a sign in the dentist’s waiting room. The key to encouraging children to read is to read, read, read!
Parts of Speech:
Use illustrated books or even comic books to help children become more familiar with nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. After reading the stories, pick out the different parts of speech together. When done on a regular basis with stories children enjoy, you’ll be surprised how quickly they’ll learn the different parts of speech and how long they’ll retain this knowledge.
Here’s a fun activity many children enjoy. They can assign colors to the different parts of speech. Then, with colored construction paper at their fingertips, they can jot down the nouns they find in a story on red construction paper, for instance. They cut up those nouns on red paper and drop them into a jar or box. Then they jot down the verbs from the story on blue construction paper, cut up the verbs, and drop them into the jar or box. They can continue with yellow adjectives, green adverbs, etc., cutting up the words and dropping them into the container.
Later, they can shake up the container and select a red noun, blue verb, yellow adjective, green adverb, and create their own fun or silly sentences. Over time, as they continue to add colorful words to the container, they’ll have quite a collection of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, all color coded and clicking in their mind. And they’ll become much better at spotting the different parts of speech in sentences as they read.
Writing Activities:
Brainstorm new story prompts or creative writing ideas together each day. For instance: What if time ran backward? What if you could read everyone else’s thoughts? What if you had webbed feet and a beak? Describe what your day would be like, or write a story based on your "What if" ideas. Keep a daily writing journal full of your creative thoughts and stories.
As a family, think about a story you’d like to write. Decide on the characters, setting, plot, and storyline. Then have each family member write his or her own version of the story. Read your stories aloud and see how similar or different the stories are.
In today’s digital world of texting, instant messaging, and e-mail, letter- writing is still an important skill. Children can hone those skills by writing letters on a regular basis to friends and families. Remind them to write thank-you notes for gifts or favors, as well. They can also write letters and thank-you notes to famous folks. What might they write to Dr. Seuss? What would they thank him for? What would they write to Pocahontas, or to Lewis and Clark, or to Mark Twain? They can write letters to other favorite authors, actors or actresses, or local heroes.
Spelling and Vocabulary Fun:
Use Scrabble game tiles, magnetic letters, or other types of letter tiles for spelling practice. See who can spell the words the quickest. See who can create the silliest word. Spell out words on each other’s backs with your fingers, and see who is the most ticklish as kids practice their spelling skills!
Spelling lists are available for Kindergarten through Grade 9 at www.HomeSpellingWords.com. For online spelling and vocabulary, browse spelling and word games at www.FunBrain.com/Games/Spellaroo.
More subject areas, topics, and activities are coming in the next few days, so check back soon!
Remember to sign up for our Weekly Newsletter in the Subscribe box on the right!
Happy homeschooling!
Thursday, October 13, 2022
Learn Something New Every Day!
Learn something new – every day - with a book!
Hurricane Ian hit Southwest Florida hard at the end of September. For the first 2 weeks of October, thousands of families were without electricity, drinkable water, and many without a roof over their heads. Several schools were damaged, as well, and school was postponed for two or more weeks.
In addition to all the worries parents experienced during and after the hurricane, many also worried about their children falling behind.
Without power in their homes, they had no Internet access, and children couldn’t even connect virtually to schools, courses, or teachers.
Without water in their homes, kitchen science or hands-on experiments weren’t easily doable, nor were many crafts kids might normally do.
Simply surviving each day, and performing basic everyday tasks – without water or electricity – understandably consumed much of the family’s time, energy, and emotional and mental capacity. Caring for families, pets, neighbors, and devastated communities, without basic amenities we are all accustomed to, has been a daily challenge for them.
Several families turned to libraries and books as a way to keep their children learning during that time. For a while, libraries were closed, roads were closed, and gasoline was in short supply, so even trips to the library weren’t always a possibility.
That’s when many families gave their “home libraries” a closer look, finding books they had forgotten about or revisiting favorite books from an “educational perspective.”
Imagine what could be learned from reading and discussing the morals or lessons conveyed in books such as the following.
Then, going further and encouraging children to draw or color favorite scenes from the books, to write or deliver short book reports, and to create or compose their own stories, perhaps imagined or inspired from reading favorite books such as these:
* The Little Engine That Could
* The Ugly Duckling
* The Runaway Bunny
* Velveteen Rabbit
* Where the Wild Things Are
* The Giving Tree
* Town Mouse and Country Mouse
* Grimm’s Fairy Tales
* Aesop’s Fables
* Magic Treehouse
* The Incredible Journey
* Black Beauty
* Sounder
* Little House in the Big Woods
* Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
* Treasure Island
* Hatchet
* My Side of the Mountain
* Robinson Crusoe
* Swiss Family Robinson
* Wrinkle in Time
* Phantom Tollbooth
* Diary of Anne Frank
* To Kill a Mockingbird
These are just a few of the books that might be on the shelves of your home library. And they are full of wisdom, insight, and learning for any age.
Books can provide not only an escape from daily challenges during a hurricane - or any other time - but also offer reading enjoyment as they provide glimpses into another time or place.
Books such as these can touch on historic events, social events, survival strategies, and ways that children and families can overcome challenging circumstances or worries, no matter how big or small.
When you might grow concerned that your children are “falling behind” or “not learning enough,” just reach for a book. Something new is learned every time a book is opened!
Happy homeschooling!
Hurricane Ian hit Southwest Florida hard at the end of September. For the first 2 weeks of October, thousands of families were without electricity, drinkable water, and many without a roof over their heads. Several schools were damaged, as well, and school was postponed for two or more weeks.
In addition to all the worries parents experienced during and after the hurricane, many also worried about their children falling behind.
Without power in their homes, they had no Internet access, and children couldn’t even connect virtually to schools, courses, or teachers.
Without water in their homes, kitchen science or hands-on experiments weren’t easily doable, nor were many crafts kids might normally do.
Simply surviving each day, and performing basic everyday tasks – without water or electricity – understandably consumed much of the family’s time, energy, and emotional and mental capacity. Caring for families, pets, neighbors, and devastated communities, without basic amenities we are all accustomed to, has been a daily challenge for them.
Several families turned to libraries and books as a way to keep their children learning during that time. For a while, libraries were closed, roads were closed, and gasoline was in short supply, so even trips to the library weren’t always a possibility.
That’s when many families gave their “home libraries” a closer look, finding books they had forgotten about or revisiting favorite books from an “educational perspective.”
Imagine what could be learned from reading and discussing the morals or lessons conveyed in books such as the following.
Then, going further and encouraging children to draw or color favorite scenes from the books, to write or deliver short book reports, and to create or compose their own stories, perhaps imagined or inspired from reading favorite books such as these:
* The Little Engine That Could
* The Ugly Duckling
* The Runaway Bunny
* Velveteen Rabbit
* Where the Wild Things Are
* The Giving Tree
* Town Mouse and Country Mouse
* Grimm’s Fairy Tales
* Aesop’s Fables
* Magic Treehouse
* The Incredible Journey
* Black Beauty
* Sounder
* Little House in the Big Woods
* Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
* Treasure Island
* Hatchet
* My Side of the Mountain
* Robinson Crusoe
* Swiss Family Robinson
* Wrinkle in Time
* Phantom Tollbooth
* Diary of Anne Frank
* To Kill a Mockingbird
These are just a few of the books that might be on the shelves of your home library. And they are full of wisdom, insight, and learning for any age.
Books can provide not only an escape from daily challenges during a hurricane - or any other time - but also offer reading enjoyment as they provide glimpses into another time or place.
Books such as these can touch on historic events, social events, survival strategies, and ways that children and families can overcome challenging circumstances or worries, no matter how big or small.
When you might grow concerned that your children are “falling behind” or “not learning enough,” just reach for a book. Something new is learned every time a book is opened!
Happy homeschooling!
Thursday, September 8, 2022
Free Books to Read + Benefits of Reading
Here are 7 important benefits of reading, followed by 12 websites that provide free books for your children to read online.
1. Reading a book or story for 20 to 30 minutes per day is considered “brain food” for your children!
2. Reading stimulates and exercises various areas of the brain, and it enhances language skills and vocabulary skills every day.
3. Reading makes connections in the brain, building upon current knowledge and leading to additional knowledge and comprehension each time a new book is read.
4. Reading fires up the imagination and creativity, opening your child’s mind to greater possibilities, ideas, and inspiration.
5. Reading increases attention spans and concentration, helping children to focus better, stay in the moment, and stay on-task.
6. Reading improves test scores and skills in all subjects areas, including math, science, technology, social studies, art, music, as well as reading, writing, and language arts.
7. Reading is pure joy, taking us anywhere we want to go! Read together as a family, and encourage children to read on their own, to help establish a wonderful reading habit that will provide entertainment and education for a lifetime.
Free Books to Read!
Here’s a variety of Children’s Books for free. Read, discuss, dramatize, draw, explore, experiment - you’ll be learning every day! And you can start right now!
1. Storyline Online: Stories Read to Children
2. Free Children’s Stories: Free Children’s Stories
3. Magic Keys Books: Magic Keys Books
4. Story Jumper: Story Jumper
5. Story Berries: Story Berries
6. Free Kid’s Books: Free Kid’s Books
7. Shakespeare's Plays: Shakespeare Plays
8. Project Gutenberg Children’s Books: Project Gutenberg Books
9. Open Library: Open Library
10. Funbrain Reading: Funbrain Books
11. Epic Books: Epic Books
12. Reading Resources: Reading Resources
Local Libraries: Of course, your local library is one of the greatest free resources for reading! Besides stories and reading for pleasure, here's a few ideas for books on specific topics:
Book Suggestions on Specific Topics:
1. Spectacular Stories for Curious Kids (history)
2. World's Wildest Places and the People Protecting Them (social studies)
3. Super Cool Science Experiments for Kids (science)
4. Math Riddles for Smart Kids (math)
5. Ultimate Book of the Future (technology)
6. Organic Artist for Kids (art and nature)
7. Make Music: Creating, Playing, Composing (music)
Note: Keep a Reading Log, tracking the books and stories children have read. Include the title of the book, the author, and the date read. Have children describe why they liked the story, and have them sketch the cover or illustrations from the book. Tally up the number of books read daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly. You'll be amazed at the results!
Happy homeschooling!
1. Reading a book or story for 20 to 30 minutes per day is considered “brain food” for your children!
2. Reading stimulates and exercises various areas of the brain, and it enhances language skills and vocabulary skills every day.
3. Reading makes connections in the brain, building upon current knowledge and leading to additional knowledge and comprehension each time a new book is read.
4. Reading fires up the imagination and creativity, opening your child’s mind to greater possibilities, ideas, and inspiration.
5. Reading increases attention spans and concentration, helping children to focus better, stay in the moment, and stay on-task.
6. Reading improves test scores and skills in all subjects areas, including math, science, technology, social studies, art, music, as well as reading, writing, and language arts.
7. Reading is pure joy, taking us anywhere we want to go! Read together as a family, and encourage children to read on their own, to help establish a wonderful reading habit that will provide entertainment and education for a lifetime.
Free Books to Read!
Here’s a variety of Children’s Books for free. Read, discuss, dramatize, draw, explore, experiment - you’ll be learning every day! And you can start right now!
1. Storyline Online: Stories Read to Children
2. Free Children’s Stories: Free Children’s Stories
3. Magic Keys Books: Magic Keys Books
4. Story Jumper: Story Jumper
5. Story Berries: Story Berries
6. Free Kid’s Books: Free Kid’s Books
7. Shakespeare's Plays: Shakespeare Plays
8. Project Gutenberg Children’s Books: Project Gutenberg Books
9. Open Library: Open Library
10. Funbrain Reading: Funbrain Books
11. Epic Books: Epic Books
12. Reading Resources: Reading Resources
Local Libraries: Of course, your local library is one of the greatest free resources for reading! Besides stories and reading for pleasure, here's a few ideas for books on specific topics:
Book Suggestions on Specific Topics:
1. Spectacular Stories for Curious Kids (history)
2. World's Wildest Places and the People Protecting Them (social studies)
3. Super Cool Science Experiments for Kids (science)
4. Math Riddles for Smart Kids (math)
5. Ultimate Book of the Future (technology)
6. Organic Artist for Kids (art and nature)
7. Make Music: Creating, Playing, Composing (music)
Note: Keep a Reading Log, tracking the books and stories children have read. Include the title of the book, the author, and the date read. Have children describe why they liked the story, and have them sketch the cover or illustrations from the book. Tally up the number of books read daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly. You'll be amazed at the results!
Happy homeschooling!
Friday, June 17, 2011
Summer Activities
Here are a few Summer Activities your children can enjoy:
* Travel Maps: On short day trips or long vacations, map out the routes you travel and label your map with the places you see along the way. Research the places you see or visit, to learn even more about them.
* Summer Constellations: Select a good book depicting the summer constellations, such as Constellations of The Night Sky or Glow-in-the-Dark Constellations, and use the illustrations to locate and learn about summer constellations.
* Creative Writing Activities: Use summer themes, such as picnics, parks, pools, beaches, flowers, sunshine, cookouts, fireworks, ice cream, camping, hiking, to stimulate creative writing and drawing ideas.
* Insect Crafts: Make fun, simple, or imaginative crafts that mimic summer insects. Discuss each insect, where or how it lives, and try to find them outdoors, too.
* Create a Summer Time Capsule: Make a shoebox or tin-can time capsule and include items that depict this summer's adventures and events.
* Remember to Read: Summer reading programs began in the 1890s, to encourage children to read during summer vacations. Reduced reading over the summer results in lost reading skills. Yet, reading skills are important for comprehending topics across the curriculum. So visit your library often, and encourage your children to select a wide variety of books to read this summer!
If you have suggestions, see our Home page at EverythingHomeschooling.com.
Happy homeschooling!
* Travel Maps: On short day trips or long vacations, map out the routes you travel and label your map with the places you see along the way. Research the places you see or visit, to learn even more about them.
* Summer Constellations: Select a good book depicting the summer constellations, such as Constellations of The Night Sky or Glow-in-the-Dark Constellations, and use the illustrations to locate and learn about summer constellations.
* Creative Writing Activities: Use summer themes, such as picnics, parks, pools, beaches, flowers, sunshine, cookouts, fireworks, ice cream, camping, hiking, to stimulate creative writing and drawing ideas.
* Insect Crafts: Make fun, simple, or imaginative crafts that mimic summer insects. Discuss each insect, where or how it lives, and try to find them outdoors, too.
* Create a Summer Time Capsule: Make a shoebox or tin-can time capsule and include items that depict this summer's adventures and events.
* Remember to Read: Summer reading programs began in the 1890s, to encourage children to read during summer vacations. Reduced reading over the summer results in lost reading skills. Yet, reading skills are important for comprehending topics across the curriculum. So visit your library often, and encourage your children to select a wide variety of books to read this summer!
If you have suggestions, see our Home page at EverythingHomeschooling.com.
Happy homeschooling!
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