Fun Schooling what it is and why do it. Out with the old, rigid, 'boring' methods of learning in with the new, creative and fun ways to learn.
This weeks spotlight is the Fun Schooling Spelling Journal. If you have a child that struggles with reading, is a poor speller, has ADHD, and/or Dyslexia, then you might be interested in trying this Fun-Schooling Spelling Journal with your child. I've been on pins and needles with wanting to share this one with you all! It's so pretty and fun looking. It's one of The Thinking Tree's newer journals. I know I write that a lot (newer journals) but Sarah the author of these amazing books has been cranking these out so fast I can't keep up. I still want to spotlight her winter, spring, autumn, and summer journals but haven't yet (so stay tuned, they are fun and gorgeous!). (This post may contain affiliate links) Two of my boys will use next year (which is only week away). They probably won't start this journal until March. They are still using Dyslexia Games so I think I'll wait a little longer with having them use this one (it will be hard though). I love the uniqueness of this spelling journal. It's so different from what we've used in the past. The way children are taught to spell using this fun journal is great for visual learners and especially wonderful for children with Dyslexia, ADHD, and/or with Asperger's. The first five lessons have you read a fun poem to your child. You then have your little one repeat the poem until he can read or recite it all by himself! Depending on the age of your child these pages can be completed in one sitting or take a few days. Have fun going over the poem, coloring, adding some doodling, and filling in the blanks. The way I plan to use this with Lance is to say, "Cook, c-o-o-k, cook" and/or, "What do you notice about cook, look, and book?" The next few pages are Bake & Spell, totally cute! What child doesn't like sweet things to eat like cupcakes, actually my Lance doesn't like cake! Can you believe that? I think it's more the frosting than the cake though. The first page has a fun poem for you to read to your child. Like before read it and have your little one repeat the words. The next Bake & Spell page (shown below) has words to be colored and more fun cupcakes. Eventually the child will fill in the blanks to the Bake & Spell poem. The next 30+ pages has your child draw and search around the house for words. Sometimes your child will be asked to find words with 3, 5, 7, or even 10 words! Once your child finds and writes the words have him/her read them to you. If the child copied down a word wrong, don't cross it out or put an X on it. Simply say, "This word is spelled _____" then praise your child with how well he did. If you prefer to have your child read the word she found before writing it in her Fun-Spelling Journal you can do that too, as long as you are keeping it fun. You want your child to be in a stress free environment when using the Fun-Schooling Spelling Journal. The next pages brings some of your child's creativity out with words they pick to describe a picture. I plan to sit with my boys or be near and help them spell words if needed. One thing that author encourages us mamas is to NOT make marks and corrections in THEIR spelling journal. I think these pages are going to be interesting. I can't wait to see what words my kids use to describe the pictures! With all the fun spelling practice your child's next fun-spelling stop will be to make some comic of their own. I can already see lots of LEGOS and Batman comics going on here at Homeschooling6. There are 20+ pages for your child to be creative with making their own comics. If your child grows tired with the comic pages have him alternate with the alphabet pages. One day complete a comic page the next day an alphabet page. I might have my boys copy a favorite comic from a library book or magazine. Your child will go through the alphabet making words. Once your child completes these pages, they'll have written words from a-z. The next set of pages are a bit more challenging because they will use EVERY letter in the alphabet to make ten words, wow! I can see little thinking gears turning with using these pages all ready. Once they've completed all those fun spelling pages they'll be ready to write some fun stories. As your child writes stories remember NOT to mark his book. Instead as you find words through his writing that he's having trouble with, use the My Fun Pages to help with words he misspells. Have your child practice writing the words using different color pens or colored pencils. You can have him write it in puffy letters and color them in. Be creative and keep it fun. The Fun-Schooling Spelling Journal is recommended for ages 5 and up. I will be using this my 11 and 13 year old boys who struggle with spelling. I think it's going to be a fun way for them to learn how to spell. And that's another Thinking Tree Thursday Spotlight!!! If you have a Thinking Tree or Dyslexia Games post feel free to leave a link in the comments. I'll be starting a Thinking Tree Thursday link-up in January but for now please leave a link in the comments.
Games are fun and they make great gifts for any occasion. It's easy to sneak in learning, too. Here's a list of the best educational games for all ages.
Welcome to Funschool, a weekly list of FREE educational lesson plans and printables built around a seasonal theme! This week’s theme is Weather. Weather Wiz Kids info, games, experiments Web Weather for Kids info & activities Tree House Weather Kids info & activities NASA’s Climate Kids info & activities {There are affiliate links in this [...]
Learn about the "Mile High City" and the home of the Rockies with this Colorado Unit Study. A quick dip into the state of Colorado.
Help those kids from getting the “summer slide” with this 100 page packet! Included is 50 pages of math and 50 pages of literacy including reading and comprehension, grammar, writing, and word work. This would also make a great addition for any beginning of the year work for 1st grade too! Click here to download. here …
Learn what is under your skin with a fun life-size human body project for kids. Download FREE skeletal system bones and organ printables!
A few years ago I met an amazing Occupational Therapist when her son was in my class. Although she didn’t serve any students in my classroom, she did spend lots of time helping out. Along the way, Dee shared some of her OT tips and tricks with me! She changed my entire approach to handwriting […]
This is a zippered pencil case with a wide opening.It's really nice pencil case but you can also use these for makeup bags.Sewing pencil cases really doesn’t
This post contains affiliate links to materials I recommend. Read my full disclosure statement. My friend, Kim, at Life Over C's has an awesome 21 day series going on her blog called 'Learn with Your Craft Stash'. The series focuses on learning activities you can do with craft items you have around your home or classroom.
So much Twitter love from my post about my walls this year. Y’all know how to make a girl feel good! I don’t have my lesson plans ready, and am not entirely sure what I’m doing on…
So, we started our Seasons Unit this week and I have been scouring pinterest in hope of finding something new or exciting that I could do. Unfortunately there just weren't that many ideas so I came up with my own based off of this painting: First, we made a poster talking and explaining the differences between each of the seasons (I use sticky-notes for this). Then we talked about what we wanted to achieve with this art project (i.e. to show the seasons changing). Then I went through the instructions with the kids as follows (this is a great activity for the kids to practice listening skills): 1. Start with the earth/ the ground. 2. What color should the (or usually is) ground be in winter? A: White 3. Color that section white. 4. What color does the ground start to be in the spring? A: Light Green (it's coming to life!) 5. Color that section light green. 6 What color does your grass turn to in summer? A: Green 7. Great! Color your summer grass dark green! 8. What happens with your grass at the end of summer and in fall? A: It starts to turn yellow 9. Color your grass in fall yellow! 10. DO NOT draw pictures on this paper or draw leaves on the tree, that will come later. Then show them how to put on the leaves. I used white "snowballs" for winter, pink "buds" for spring, green leaves for summer, and red/orange/brown leaves for fall. I have my kids take one in their hands squish it up, dip the bottom in glue and put it on their paper. Show them where each color goes and how to get the glue on the paper without getting it all over their hands. They really turned out cute and the kids loved doing it! It was also good for me to see who could follow the directions and how well they were doing with their fine motor skills. TOO MUCH FUN! This is the template I used: Just click here to download the Seasons Tree!
Building a Worm Observatory and Observing earthworms in our homeshool has been such a fun learning experience.
Need great podcasts for kids to add to your lessons or fun family podcasts for trips or listening together? Here are educational podcasts for kids, podcasts for tweens, teen podcasts and even podcasts for family road trips! Great alternatives to traditional learning, screen-free time ideas, and perfect ideas for road trips!
Series of easy space mazes for preschool and kindergarten - each space maze pattern has an easy & more detailed version pdf to print
Mental Maths practice is fun especially when you do your addition and subtraction up and down pyramids! Updated! How do these pyramids work? Add the 2 numbers next to each other in a row and write…
Great as a center/station. Students get to move and have fun while working with fractions.
Haken en breien is al een aantal jaren weer helemaal hip, maar ook het borduren is de laatste jaren ontzettend gestegen in populariteit! Je ziet het op
Are you looking for fun national days to celebrate in your homeschool? You have come to the right place! Check out this awesome list.
Free homeschool art curriculum with famous artists, art history lessons, world culture, easy art techniques and a weekly online art lesson.
It’s almost that time of year again! I am proud to say that this is the first year, medicine in a very long time, patient that we are looking at the end of many of our books and curriculum. What a blessing! I am excited when I think of the brand new books that will […]
These coffee filter flowers are SO PRETTY! This simple craft is beautiful enough for adults, but easy enough that kids can make them too. They make beautiful party decorations and are also a great gift idea for teachers or Mother's Day. Easy Coffee Filter Flowers It's hard to believe these flowers are made out of coffee filters! For pennies you can make a beautiful flower bouquet that won't wilt or fade. Best of all, these coffee filter flowers are SO EASY to make. They're made from simple supplies (coffee filters painted with liquid watercolor paint and tied together with a
[/caption] Science revealed to us that universe as we know it, is composed of billions of galaxies like our own Milky Way. When you consider how many stars are just in our own galaxy you can get just a small idea how big our universe really is. Despite this astronomers have made great strides in … Continue reading "Galaxy Shapes"
Homeschoolng our kids has been a learning experience for me as much as the kids! Today I'd like to share 5 of My Best Homeschool Tips From 31 Years.
Fun Preschool and Kindergarten Printables Space is awesome! With only a tiny bit of it explored it leaves so much room for imagination (and speculation) and is a subject that appeals to all ages. These
Inspired By scsartteacher and artwithmrsreppi on Instagram Fall 2022 Kaden Hodson, Kahil C.L, Emily Rodgers, Kinslee Harle, Averie. Jasmin Durand, Michelle C. Eduardo M., Courtney N. Ayden B, Audree H., Selena Martinez, Aron P. Madison Mendez, MariaS., Ajia Simmons,, Melanie C. —————————————————- 2020 4th period (7/8th grade) Katelynn, Peyton C., Lucy, Thomas, Chloe, lovella, James & Braylee 5th period 2020 Olivia, Danielle, Myah, Bransyn, Carie, Destinee, Tania, Brielle, Mikayla & Karen I think every art teacher introduces 1 point perspective in the same way. It's nice to find a new “perspective” on this lesson. The NEWLY inspired idea!!! Vanishing Forms in Splatter Space Have a variety of basic shapes in mind (I have these shapes to trace). Have scraps of colorful construction paper. Trace a shape onto the corner of the construction paper. Trace each corner of the shape to a dot, unless the line goes through the shape. Outline with black colored pencil, shade down the bottom getting darker as you get closer to the dot. Use white to highlight the edges of the shape at the top. We went outside to splatter with a ruler under our brushes to add a better force to the splat. We used tempera cakes instead of liquid paint. Cut out the shapes from the construction paper, gluing them with all the points in the center touching each other. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Alternative Vanishing Forms in Splatter Space 1. Draw 5-6 shapes on the perimeter of a white paper. Make sure the shapes leave some open area in the middle of the paper. Include a circle, square, rectangle and triangle. One or two additional free shapes can be added (octagon, star, letter, number) You can trace stencils if needed. 2. Draw a dot in the center of the paper. This is called the VANISHING POINT. This dot will be used to transform each SHAPE (2-D) into a FORM (3-D). 3. Using a ruler, match each point of each shape to the Vanishing Point. Connect each point to the dot using a line. If the point requires you to draw a line through the shape, DO NOT DRAW IT. TIP: These "no line" points are usually the points furthest away from the Vanishing point. 4. You can EMPHASIZE (make stand out) these line and shapes with a thick black marker. 5. Using colored pencils, Shade the tops of the forms with a medium pressure. Use VALUE (going from dark to light) along the side of the form, getting darker as it gets further away. (put to side when done with value). 6. Get a black piece of construction paper. Use bright colored tempera paints to splatter background. This got really messy. Make sure you are dressed appropriately. Let Dry for 24 hours. 7. Cut out forms from paper. Glue down making sure all vanishing points match back to one single point. Make sure all forms are on the paper and not hanging off. Thank you for a new perspective on an old lesson. Here are my old lessons I use to teach this lesson in 1 Point Perspective. Vanishing Forms =========================================================== 2022-23 Vanishing Names 2020-2021 4th period 2022 4th period 2021 5th period Vanishing Names 2005-2012 Kids all over are doing the same things!! See Mrs. Hamilton's Art Class. I like the ones with the Doodles on top. Can you do that? --------------------------------------------- Vanishing Names in computer lab on Microsoft Paint (2004-2013) How to Make Vanishing Names Just like the Vanishing Shapes, but the shapes are more complex with more points and curves. Plan out the spacing of you name (count your letters) and plan out before you make it permanent. Draw light till you know it's right. Once name is centered and spaced out correctly and evenly, Test all points of each letter and take them to the Vanishing Point if you can. Remember, if the line cuts through itself, don't do. If it eventually hits something, quit it. Outline with permanent Marker. Color the tops of letter (or draw designs). Use value down the vanishing edges (darker as it is closer to the Vanishing Point). Other Artists out There... Laus Deo, Internal Boxes
