Learning at Home!

We’ve often said that your local library has nearly every resource a homeschooler needs for learning. If your library is currently closed, you can still use online libraries, either through your local library or through online websites.

For free books, here’s links to great sites for easily reading books or picture books online, or downloading free classics, fiction, or nonfiction on a variety of educational topics.

So even if you can’t visit your favorite library right now, you can still have fun and continue learning every day!

Also, continue to share your homeschooling knowledge and experience with all those who are suddenly learning at home, too!

Happy homeschooling from EverythingHomeschooling.com!

Heart-Health Activities + Valentines

Heart-Health Activities: February is American Heart Month, highlighting the importance of healthy hearts, fun activities, and healthy foods. Use heart-themed activity sheets to help your children learn more about healthy hearts.

1. Print a Heart diagram and/or a “Heart House” diagram to learn more about the workings of the heart.

2. Print a Healthy Heart Coloring Page featuring healthy foods.

3. Print a Heart Healthy Calorie Calculation Math Sheet, helping to solve math problems while counting calories.

4. Print a Move-It Minutes Tracking Chart, to track time spent on active play or daily exercises.

5. Print a Count Your Steps Tracking Chart, to track the number of steps achieved on walks or runs.

6. Have your child draw an illustration of a working heart. Then see how many parts of the heart he or she can label correctly.

7. Encourage children to design and create their own Valentine's Day cards. Then compare their creations to the illustrations of working hearts. In what ways do their creations resemble working hearts? Have fun and be creative!

Keep these activity sheets, illustrations, and creations in your child's portfolio or learning logs.

See EverythingHomeschooling.com for these and hundreds more learning activities.

Weekly lessons are also available for 9 months of learning fun in all subject areas!

Happy homeschooling!

Children's Learning Styles and Learning Environments

When you understand your child’s learning style, your children will be happier, they will learn more quickly, your job will be easier, and homeschooling will be a joy!

Learning Styles:

Visual learners. Children who prefer to spend time pouring over pictures and graphics, and respond to bright colors and visual stimulation. They tend to learn best through visual presentations.

Auditory learners. Children who enjoy listening to music, audio tapes, and people reading aloud or talking. They can learn best through discussions and verbal information.

Tactile-Kinesthetic learners. Children who like to move around, touch things, and talk, plus they have a difficult time sitting still. They learn best through an active, hands-on approach.

Some children do best with a combination of these styles. Try these styles, or a combination of them, and observe which best captures your child’s interests and enthusiasm. Interested, enthusiastic learners grasp concepts quicker and retain knowledge longer!

"Active Learning" Benefits:

Swiss educational theorist, Jean Piaget, found that quality learning took place when children were actively involved in their own learning process. Through exploration and discovery, children turned their experiences into learning patterns that provided foundations for further explorations and subsequent learning.

Piaget found that children’s cognitive skills, or the way they process information, were enhanced through physical experiences and perceptions. He believed in active learning environments where children could discover, absorb, and build on new experiences and information.

Learning Environment Ideas:

* Keep hands-on projects and manipulatives within easy reach of children.

* Display educational charts, posters, maps, illustrations, pictorials, and mobiles where children see them frequently.

* Designate an arts and crafts area with paints, clays, markers, arts and crafts supplies.

* Create a musical space for instruments, sound effects, musical equipment, and dancing.

* Design a theatrical area for dramatic plays to bring social studies and literature to life.

* Incorporate games, construction sets, Geo-Boards, and Cuisenaire rods into lessons.

* Use lab or kitchen equipment for experiments and for reinforcing science and math concepts.

* Browse learning center supplies, or photos of learning centers, to gain additional ideas for your own learning environment.

Your children will be thrilled to have fun, learning materials at their fingertips throughout the day, every day!

For more Homeschool Activities, see our Home page at EverythingHomeschooling.com and have fun learning!

Happy homeschooling!