Little Caesars: Kids Games & Activities Fun and games Hands On Crafts for Kids: Pizza Game Instructions for a great pizza game Wikipedia: Pizza What is pizza? Wikipedia: Anchovy What is an anchovy? Cocco’s Pizza: Cocco’s Pizza Game Matching game Passariello’s Pizzeria: Pizza Pac Man Chevron: Pizza Pong PrimaryGames: Pizza Fractions Fraction game FamilyFun.com: Pizza Cake Recipe Fun pizza recipe Yahoo! Kids: Perfect Pizza Game Michigan Kids!: Pizza History What’s Cooking America: History & Legends of Pizza Related posts:2009-01-12 Happy Homeschooling for the New Year! We had a fun break, but now it’s time to...Columbus Day Unit Outline (October 13) I’m having my son write a book on Christopher Columbus...Thanksgiving Crafts and Fun Ideas Here some Web sites with Thanksgiving crafts, coloring pages, games...Happy Labor Day! Hope everyone is enjoying their Labor Day!  Here are a...A Goofy Dinner (ages 5-10) Here’s what you’ll need: Paper Pencil Crayons, markers, or colored...Feed the Frog (Teaching Sight Words) I made a "Feed the Frog" game to teach children...2008-10-23 (Thursday) Daily Warm-up: BrainPOP This is my son’s favorite "movie" Web...My Favorite "Math Games" Sites In the last few days a number of people have...Apple Theme Unit Here are a few ideas for an apple theme unit....Pilgrims, The Mayflower, and the First Thanksgiving These are great Web sites about Pilgrims, the Mayflower, and...

Just a note to my blogger buddies. My son and I are taking a homeschool break until Jan. 1st, 2009. We have worked very hard and are enjoying a well-deserved break. I will be blogging a little about my favorite Christmas sites and some other ideas I come across. Happy Holidays! Jo Related posts:A New Year and New Techniques We are starting our new homeschool year on Jan. 12,...How We Love You (from A-Z) Sorry I haven’t posted a new blog for so long,...Fun Christmas Web Sites My son asked me to find some Christmas Web sites...Homeschooling 24/7 Every parent who has ever "homeschooled", or whatever you want...Welcome! Welcome to our site! We will be posting lesson plans,...Pilgrims, The Mayflower, and the First Thanksgiving These are great Web sites about Pilgrims, the Mayflower, and...Memorable Hand-Made Christmas Gifts WARNING: If you are related to me, do NOT read...Thanksgiving Crafts and Fun Ideas Here some Web sites with Thanksgiving crafts, coloring pages, games...The Little Red Telephone This idea was given to me years ago by a...Creative Ways to Carve and Paint Pumpkins I am blogging about this topic because I want our...

WARNING: If you are related to me, do NOT read THIS blog!! :) I am posting this blog early because when you hand-make Christmas gifts, it takes extra time. I am already starting to make my gifts, because I want each one to be unique and special. This idea is great for close family members and friends. Here is what I do: I buy a photo album for each person (on sale, if possible). The first page says, "Merry Christmas from (the names of our immediate family members)". I make this page extra special with fancy letters, ribbons, and such. Each immediate family member writes a letter to the gift recipient. We include a variety of poems for the gift recipient. We write about special memories and decorate the pages with stickers and craft embellishments. I include what the person’s name means and other ideas that are unique to the person, like their astrological sign. I make a unique bookmark to put in the album. I also include a hand-made ornament. In the end, the gift recipient ends up with an album all about them. I include photos, clip art, and other personal information like the names of their pets. I try to buy everything on sale and save scraps of everything: ribbon, paper, etc. The following are some resources that our family will use to make the gifts: Christmas Printable Book (Grades 3-8) (TeacherVision.com) Snowman Mobile (TeacherVision.com) Brown Paper Christmas Stockings (Enchanted Learning) Kaboose: Christmas Cards Merry-Christmas.com: Kid’s Zone Activity Village: Christmas for Kids! DLTK’s Holiday Activities for Kids: Christmas Activities kiddyhouse.com: Christmas Activities for Kids and Teachers Related posts:Fun Christmas Web Sites My son asked me to find some Christmas Web sites...How We Love You (from A-Z) Sorry I haven’t posted a new blog for so long,...I See Mommy Looking at Me! (ages 4-8) Here’s what you’ll need: Pencil or some other kind of...Silly Alliterations (ages 5-10) Here’s what you’ll need: Paper Pencil Here’s what you do:...Monthly Memory Book (ages 5-adult) This makes a great Christmas gift! Here’s what you’ll need:...Turkey Time! A couple of years ago, we invited some friends and...Letters to Santa (ages 3-10) Here’s what you’ll need: Paper Pencil Stamp Envelope Here’s what...Miscellaneous Story Starters Here are some ideas for helping children write stories: The...Autumn Theme Outline September 23 is the first day of autumn! Here is...Christmas ...

My son asked me to find some Christmas Web sites that were just for fun. Here are a few that I found that my son loved: BillyBear4Kids.com: Merry Christmas for Kids, Family and Teachers! Northpole.com Celebrating Christmas: Printable Kids’ Christmas Wish List Saskatchewan Schools (Canada): Christmas Links All Things Christmas: Christmas Games No related posts.

I was trying to figure out what kinds of poems to write for personal Christmas gifts, so I compiled a list of different kinds of poems. I am going to use this blog entry throughout the year as my son writes more poetry. Hope these sites help you as they have helped me! Types of Poetry This site gives you poems in ABC order with definitions and examples for each kind of poem! Mrs. Mitchell’s Virtual School: Different Types of Poems for Kids Poetry for kids with great definitions and super examples! Poem of Quotes.com: 51 Types of Poetry In ABC order with definitions Shadow Poetry: Types of Poetry More poems in ABC order and examples Buzzle.com: Types of Poetry Poems in ABC order with definitions ReadWriteThink: Student Materials - Diamante Poems I LOVE this site!! It walks you through how to write a diamante poem in a fun way! Three great sites that show examples of concrete, or shape, poems: Oregon State University: Court (Smith)’s Concrete Creation Literacy Rules!: Concrete Poems ReadWriteThink: Student Materials - Shape Poems This Web site walks you through how to write a shape poem! Types of Poetry: Ballad Poems Defines ballad poems Giggle Poetry: How to Write a Limerick Shows you how to write funny limerick poems ReadWriteThink: Student Materials - Acrostic Poems Walks you through how to write an acrostic poem Hyperborea: Free-Verse Poems Examples of free-verse poems No related posts.

As part of my homeschooling—and gift-giving—I am going to teach my son that there are different types of writing. We have different types of writing for different reasons. Some are informal—such as friendly letters and silly poems—and some are formal—such as letters from attorneys and nonfiction reports for school. Anyway, I wanted a list of the different types of writing at my fingertips. I will use this blog entry many times over the years to make sure I am not teaching the same type of writing over and over. Again, I hope these sites help you and yours in your writing adventures! Kids Konnect: Write Away "Write Away" is one of the best "how to write for kids" that I have seen! A must have! Kamehameha (Hawaii) Schools Distance Learning: Writing Resources - Types of Writing Good site for the basic kinds of writing. Write on Reader: Forms of Writing I like this site! Lots of info. University of Maryland University College: Types of Writing Assignments Gives ideas on assignments for different types of writing. English Works! (Gallaudet University): Guide to Different Kinds of Essays Related posts:Writing Ideas for Kites Make a kite book with your child. It can be...

Sorry I haven’t posted a new blog for so long, but I’ve been busy with the holidays, especially this year—I hand-made gifts for close family members and friends. It was a lot of work, but a success! I made a photo album for each person and wrote why we loved that person, using the alphabet as a guide. Here are examples of the ideas I used: An angel’s heart is filled with love and so is yours. Bolder Boulder (my uncle has run this race 23 years in a row!) Christmas tree (decorated with things that the person loves) Dog lover (with photo of beloved pet) Enjoys baking gingerbread people Fishing with _________. Great Grandpa! Have a twinkle, jingle, ringy-ding Christmas It’s a dog’s life! Jerry (a poem for Jerry) Kind Loved Merry Christmas Note (I wrote a personal note to this person about a very special memory I had with the person) Oh, how we love you (with pictures of the person) Poem written especially for the person Quite the storyteller (with a special story told by the person) Really fun uncle! Santa loves golfers, too! (for my father-in-law who is an avid golfer) The Finish Line ( a pretend magazine cover for my running-lover uncle) U color our lives! Vacation fun! (with photos of the person and our family on a vacation) Will loves you! Xtra Special Person (I glued a heart-shaped mirror on this page.) Yes, you are beautiful! (for the girls) Zzz… (I had some great pictures of napping family members. This was a fun page to make!) No related posts.

We are starting our new homeschool year on Jan. 12, 2009. Things will be different and hopefully much better for people who follow this site. Instead of having a "Lesson Plans" section, I am going to blog on each homeschool day about what worked, didn’t work, etc. I will go into more details about how I reteach skills that my son stumbles on and different tricks that I "pull out of my sleeve" from time to time. I am looking forward to a super New Year! No related posts.

Every parent who has ever "homeschooled", or whatever you want to call it, knows that you want your children to learn even when they don’t think they are learning or being taught. Over our break from homeschooling, I know that my husband and I have taught our child without him knowing that he was being taught. For example, this year our young boy received generous gift cards and cash from loving grandpas and uncles. My son loved this, but a few of the items he bought did not work well and had to be returned. The problem was, he usually bought other things along with the broken toy and had to figure out the tax rate to make sure he was getting the full refund he was entitled to. So, out came the paper and pencil, the multiplying and figuring out where decimals went, to find out the right amount for the returned purchase. At first, he had "forgotten" how to multiply decimals. Tears came to my eyes, because he knew how to do this well just a month ago. After a few minutes of review, though, he was off and running with his decimals and multiplication and figured out the amount he needed to get back. In a nutshell, loving parents want to teach their children about life 24/7. but we need to remember the importance of reteaching. Children forget things on school breaks, just as we forget a few things about work when we take real vacations. Happy homeschooling, parents, whether or not you homeschool full-time, or whose children go to schools outside the home. Parents, after all, are the #1 teachers for their children, no matter how you look at it. May God guide all of us parents wishing to do the best for our precious children. No related posts.

We had a fun break, but now it’s time to get back to work! I have developed a new code system for myself to help keep track of the learning styles that I am using with my child. A-Auditory (hearing) K-(Kinesthetic) (touching and doing) V-(Visual) (seeing) This is how we’ll be spending our first day back: WARM-UP: A/V BrainPOP: American Indians Revolutionary War Decimals The Brain The Nervous System Leap Pad: Review capitals and states Nervous system SILENT READING: V Child’s choice (My child is into the Hardy Boys series right now!) GUIDED READING: V/A/K The Time Machine (Chapter 7) by H. G. Wells Kids Online: Time Machine Game WRITING: V Reread story child was working on before the break Read "revising tips" Revise story MATH: V/A Decimal patterns that last forever Coolmath.com: Repeating Decimals Gamequarium: Math Games-Decimal Games PE: V/A/K Wii Sports and Wii Fit: Child’s choice including a wide variety of sports and games (at least 30 minutes) SCIENCE: V Exploring the Brain and Nervous System Label parts of the brain Word bank: cerebrum, spinal cord, cerebellum, brain stem, Central Peripheral, medulla, spinal nerves, spinal chord, Nervous System HISTORY: V James Cook (Continue working on Explorers Book) Creek Indians (Continue working on American Indians Book) Answer questions about the Revolutionary War timeline. (review) GEOGRAPHY: V Google Earth Review map skills with globe and map Answer a few basic map and globe questions Read about the Polar Regions Answer comprehension questions TEST PREP: V ITBS practice test for 5th grade by Bright Education Services and Testing, p. 14-15 RETEACH ANY PROBLEM AREAS: V/A/T Tools I use when I reteach: Patience Change the learning style I was using to a new one Write-and-wipe boards (One for me and one for my child) Different colored write-and-wipe markers Connect new information with something my child knows well No related posts.