Monthly Archive: October 2015

Chemistry-Experiment-Mixtures-Chromatography-DNA-Experiments 0

Chemistry Experiments for Kids (Grade 2) – Mixtures, Chromatography, DNA Kit

Today, I want to share the three more chemistry activities we did during our unit on chemistry for my youngest, who is currently 7. Mixtures Un-Mixing: Chromatography DNA Kit Earlier this week, I shared the first two science experiments we did, and you can find those here (and in the free pdf printable at the bottom of this post): Matter is Neither Created Nor Destroyed (Molecules switch atoms) – Chapter...

0

Free Grammar Worksheets: Capitalization Rules Practice Sheets

We are spending a couple of weeks on grammar rules again.  We are going to review some of the basic rules about capitalization. This should be fairly straight-forward for my older two. Some of this will be new for ED, so I’ll sit down with her to work on these together. Some of the rules we’re covering include: Capitalize the first word of every sentence Capitalize the first word in...

0

Skeleton Math Riddle (Free Math Worksheet for Addition, Multiplication, Division or Numbers)

Here’s a silly math worksheet for you! You probably know this riddle: Why didn’t the skeleton cross the road?  Have your child figure out the answer using some math facts! I made these in addition, multiplication, division or just with number recognition. These are free to download! 🙂 Skeleton Math Riddle for Addition, Multiplication, Division or Number Recognition Other Free Halloween-Themed Math Worksheets: Free Halloween Multiplication Packet (30 pages of...

0

Chemistry Experiments for Kids (Grade 2) – Matter is Neither Created Nor Destroyed — Acids and Bases

This semester we’ve been doing a Chemistry Unit for science. We tend to do our science and history units together. In the next two posts, I wanted to share some of the activities I did that were more geared toward my youngest (my older kids have done these before).  Then after that I will share the chemistry materials my older two (grades 5 and 7) have used as we’ve delved...

0

Free Halloween Addition and Subtraction Packet

Today I would like to share another free Halloween packet of math worksheets and games.  This contains free addition and subtraction worksheets.  Since everyone’s kids are at different levels, I included some very basic/beginning addition worksheets that cover +2 facts as well as doubling (2+2, 3+3, 4+4…) as well as sheets that go into carrying or borrowing.  There are about twenty pages, so hopefully there are a few sheets your...

1

Thoughts on Teaching: Meaningful Teaching Activities

Have you noticed that the longer  you talk, the more the kids’ attention wanders? People’s brains stay sharply focused only for short periods… I think I’ve read figures of between 10 and 20 minutes for average kids. But of course, the more interested  you are in a subjects, the better able you are to sustain attention. The key to education then is transforming students from passive receivers of information to...

German Clothing - Kleidung 0

German Conversation Cards and Worksheets: Clothing – die Kleidung

Are you practicing clothing, shopping and colors in German with your kids? These are the worksheets and cards we used for this unit. As many of you know, we are studying German as our foreign language. (Why German? I studied German in high school and college, so it’s the language I’m most comfortable helping the kids learn.) This semester, we have daily conversation practice built into our day.  I made...

0

Free 30-Page Halloween Multiplication Packet: Math Worksheets and Games

I have a 30-page Halloween-themed Multiplication Packet to share with my amazing readers today! This packet has 20 or so multiplication worksheets. These cover the 2s through the 9s (even though my daughter hasn’t covered all the math fact families yet, I still included all of them.)   You can print out two pages on one sheet to save space.  I printed two per page, folded them in half and...

0

Writing Scary Stories – Writing Workshop Mini-Lesson

With Halloween coming up and the house decorated with creepy spider webs and stuff, it’s the perfect time to dabble in writing scary stories! I thought I would share the materials I made for the kids for our Writing Workshop. This lesson was all about Writing Scary Stories! Before they delved in to writing their story, I wanted to spend some time talking about what makes a story creepy. Scary...

0

American Revolution Unit: Books, Movies and Resources for Kids

There are lots of wonderful books and movies for kids about the American Revolution. In this post, I’m going to highlight some of the resources we used during our American Revolution Unit.  Our kids are currently elementary and middle school age:  7, (almost) 10 and 12. You might be interested in our packet, American Revolution Unit. Click here for more details: Books and Resources we used for this unit study:...

0

Homeschooling is Like Coaching an Olympic Sport

To become an expert, I’ve heard it takes 10,000 hours of hard work and practice.  But, it also takes a special teacher, coach or mentor to get to that elite level. Just as top Olympic coaches help motivate and train their athletes by keeping track of every work out and by designing plans and drills that work, we homeschoolers/educators keep track of our kids’ learning, observe their strengths and weaknesses...

0

Music for Elementary: Music Symbols (Week 4)

This past week, we talked quite a bit about different music symbols such as treble clef, base clef, natural sign, flat and sharp symbols, crescendo, quarter notes, half notes, etc. etc.  (We also went over various notes as we’ve done previous weeks, though I won’t talk about those activities this week.) We played Music Bingo (the easy version). For the link to this and other free music activities, see our...

0

Free Minecraft Math Worksheets: Multiplication by 7s

Today I have a freebie for you. My kids still love playing Minecraft… and ED likes the Minecraft themed math worksheet characters I made.  So, here’s yet another set of Minecraft math worksheets! I made these for practicing multiplication by 7s (for beginners). ED knows the “song” for skip-counting by 7s.  We sing the 7s to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat: 7, 14 21 28, 35 42...

2

Native American Unit

Columbus Day was set aside as the second Monday in October as a federal holiday in 1934. Slowly celebrations of Native American culture has been gaining recognition as well.  For example, South Dakota renamed Columbus Day to Native American Day in 1990. This Columbus Day,  more cities are recognizing Native Americans (see this CBS article). According to CBS News, nine cities will be celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day. Those cities include ...