Educational Toys!

Let me just say I love educational toys! I mean the ones that really get the kids to think and they have fun at the same time!

We just recieved a new one (these kinds of toys are big gifts around here) and thought we'd share a little. It's a matching game by kidz delight. It's called "Explore the Earth". It looks kind of like a toddler's CD player with disks. But, it has pictures of kids from different places around the world. Each disk has picture of something: ie...instruments, clothes, food, etc They press a buttton and the CD spins, stopping so that only one picture is seen through the window. They ask who (wears, plays, etc) the item (naming the item) and the kids get two chances to get it right. If they do, they press the button and continue play. If they get it wrong after two times, then it tells them who is was. It's great for my kids. They love it! And I love that it gives a little exposure to other counties!

While I'm here, I want to mention that we have a traditional memory game which is faces around the world. They love that more than any other memory game. We also use a floor puzzle map of the United States. Candy Land and Candy Castle are great for colors and shapes. Cranium games are great for interactive (acting, drawing, modeling and brain power). We also love Izzy (for brain twisting) and Quiddler (for spelling fun).

A Guide

There are always the questions "Where to begin? And where do I go next?" running around in my head. I'm sure many of you feel the same way! Especially if you are homeschooling, or planning to homeschool, but I also go through this with my oldest who is, at present, in public school. Education is not something I just leave to the school alone because I know my child best and I don't have the same demands or restrictions that the school and teachers do. Also because my child loves to learn and, honestly, can't handle not learning (or doing) something.

I have found something that, in looking over, I really like. It's not actually a homeschooling or even a local curricumlum. I wanted something more on level with my own child, but mostly something to guide me. This does that, although we'll be working at various levels with it, so mostly I'm using it as a guide.

It's from a private school in Chile (yes, Chile the country). However, this school teaches a US Education and is the place where the ambassadors' children attend school (as well as local Chileans and Americans). I'm providing a link for anyone who wants to take a look. You will need to click on the corresponding age group to get the run down. They start with age 3 and go through 12th grade. Click on Academic and then any of the "schools" listed. Scroll down to find the list you want.

NIDO

We are not alone

So I was at the library today. I go every Thursday for storytime and to check out new movies and books. For movies, we usually pick out a few educational ones and a few fun ones (like she is watching snow white right now (which she has never seen) but we also picked one up about tunnels (for kids) and we occasionally pick up signing ones etc...) For books, the same goes. I have been picking up some Rookie Readers. i highly recommend these for early reading. They have the words on one page and the picture on another, which is so helpful for beginners. If both the words and the pic are on the same page the child ignores the words, but when seperated (the the words are printed bigger as well) then a child can look at each word while it is being said and then look at the picture to go along with what they just read. I also have been checking out sound books. There are certain letters Liliana has a hard time with (like "R" and "CH"), so I check out the R and CH book in this one series they have here. So for CH it will read like this, "Chad checks his bedroom for checkers" or something like that and show a picture to correspond. So she repeats after me while we read it.
Now while there today I ran into another mom. I recognized her as she is also there often. it never fails that if i wear my sling people want to know where I got it and want one (it is called, The Sling Set and is sold online only). So after chatting with her about that I overheard her telling someone she homeschools. So I asked her about it. She has a 7yr. old, 5yr twins, 3yr old and a baby on the way. She had her oldest in private school (cost $2,500/yr, which really isnt too bad compared to others) and decided she didnt like what her sweet child was changing into at school (started being meaner to her siblings, bad language, etc...) so she started to homeschool. She says for all 4 children she spends $500/yr in homeschooling supplies and said she could do it cheaper if she had to. She gave me some websites where she has found her material(s). I have not even looked at the sites yet but thought I would post them here as well.

My Father's World
Rainbow Resource Center

Sites to Try Out

Thought you might be interested in this site I came across. I was looking for science projects and activities to do with toddlers and found this site which seems to have some of that and more. Let me know what you think. I'll be checking it out further over the next couple of weeks.

http://www.preschoolrainbow.org/

Also, some other sites I've found along the way I think might be worth checking out.

http://members.tripod.com/~Patricia_F/mathscience.html
http://www.kidport.com/
http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/Lesson_Plans/
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/
http://www.teach-nology.com/
http://www.ngdir.ir/SiteLinks/Kids/html/g0001.htm

Some Things We Did With What We Had

There are lots of things we've done over the years, but I won't mention them all. Many may come up on their own simply because we've still got children from baby up. But, I did want to share what did today.

I recently discovered that Jeremy, although knowing his alphabet and what most of the letter sounds are, does not recognize his letters out of sequence. So, we have several toys around our house with the alphabet. With one, it's magnets, I picked a random one and asked him what it was. If he got it right, he got to use that magnet. If it was wrong, it went back in the bucket. In either case, we said the correct letter, the sound and something that began with that letter. The other thing we did was to use letter blocks. I'd take one out at random and tell him the letter, the sounds and the two pictures that went with it. He repeated each and then was given the block to add to a tower.

During this time, Beth had a bunch of letters that stick together (a game from The Learning Center). She used that to practice spelling her words.

Next we got out some little rocks (the kinds you can buy in the craft section of the store for vases or such). We have three colors. First we sorted (a group things since this skills is already known for each). Then I put out a simple pattern for Jeremy and a complex pattern for Beth. They completed their patterns.

Beth also worked on math doing simple addition. Using the rocks again, she grouped out each number given, then combined them to see how many they made.

In each case, we worked only until they were tired of that particular activity.

Just before dinner, we looked up the nutritional value of the food items we had used in making dinner. This not only helped them to see which things their bodies need, but it got them excited and willing to eat some of the foods they normally complain about.

Some sites we like (though not used today) are: starfall.com, littlefingers.com, pbs.org (especially Arthur for the nutrition stuff and for SuperWhy for reading comprehension).