MAD SCIENCE HOMESCHOOL CLASS:

New class begins April 15th:

http://www.madscience.org/locations/centralflorida/ourservices.aspx?sm=-99

I think it's wonderful if you can homeschool. We have for several years but things have changed for us.. Anyway, I'm all for homeschooling if a parent chooses too. God bless them for it.

That's true about reassessing the situation. We took J out at the beginning of 1st grade at the public school. Because of several issues. He is in 5th grade now. Everything is going good so far. He likes it too so we're happy about that.

You have a wonderful Easter too!

gritsrus, Glad to hear J is doing well
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EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
BOOK ADVENTURE

http://www.bookadventure.org/

SPELLING CITY

www.spellingcity.com

DAILY GRAMMAR

http://www.dailygrammar.com/

MATH COUNTS

http://www.mathcounts.org/

Florida: Governor Declares Home Education Week:

March 30 - April 5

CHARLIE CRIST, Governor
HOME EDUCATION WEEK PROCLAMATION:

http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/fl/FL_proclamation_08.pdf

We just went to the Florida Parent Educator's Association (FPEA) Convention this past weekend in Orlando. It was the first time we'd attended but it was so inspiring seeing all the other homeschool families. My fellow homeschooling sister asked me if I was overwhelmed from the sheer volume of stuff. Well, I can honestly say "No" because I had a mission. To seek out Math-U-See and only brought one check with me! lol I took our older son the first day and my husband and younger son came the next day. My husband attended the Math-U-See workshop to gain a better understanding of the curriculum.

It was fun, too, to see those in our own group, another group I went to meetings with in the past, and some from an older church we attended who wasn't too sure what to think of homeschooling when I said we were going to and now is herself!

I wanted to share some very cool resources with you:

Binding Books Beautifully is one. Here is their website. We had so much fun reading her children's self created stories and to see how wonderfully they were preserved! It was a mini-lesson. What a blessing it was for them to see the joy their children's stories brought other young children. Family heirlooms can be done this way, too! It is a definite to look at.

http://www.bindingbooksbeautifully.com/


Another one is a book, The Ultimate Lap Book Handbook and we had a great time in her seminar, including our boys! They liked seeing what they'd be doing following some of their lessons. They have a great number of other items to look through, too.

http://www.tobinslab.com/shopping/catalog.aspx?scCatalo...&scCatalogItemID=974

I wanted to also share that my husband came away with a deeper appreciation of me and my spending habits or lack thereof. There were soooo many vendors there who are all vying for time, attention, and sales. I can't tell you the number of times we were approached. BUT, when you go, keep in mind having a plan of attack is key or else you will be attacked yourself!

The above are good even if not homeschooling, so I hope other parents read this thread.



Michelle

i was wondering where is a good place to get some things for kindergarden/ pre k. i don't want to homeschool my daughter. but i would like to start early at getting her ready for kindergarden. i know walmart sells book. but there has to be a better selection out there. any store info would be great. thank you

Courtney, I go to the Schoolhouse teacher store on what used to be A-Z Parkway, it's now something else, Business Drive or some such name??

Anyway, they have a lot of choices. But, really, you don't necessarily need anything special.

Books, manipulatives such as letters, numbers, pop cubes, pattern blocks, puzzles, BINGO games, games for listening, being still, following directions (really working on self control and listening skills) such as Hullabaloo and Discovery Toys "What's That Sound?" are great games. These two games require a child to practice listening and following directions. If you do these a little at a time, you'll be amazed at how quickly they learn these concepts.

I will say though for younger or Preschool to K age, just reading and then doing activities afterward that can connect to the story will really do a world of good.

Some activities may be cutting along the lines of an object the story focused on, whether a person, animal, or thing, painting or coloring, for a story on animals, you could search online for pictures to print and color.

Creating music instruments, too, can be a follow up activity. For instance, take an old cereal box, cut out a rectangular section from only one side, front or back works nicely, then use rubber bands of various sizes/thicknesses to go around the box. When plucked, they make music. Simple, everyday objects can be used, no great amounts of money to spend.

Watching DVDs together that are educational. We rave about the Leap Frog series DVDs. The library has a good selection.

At the library, let her use the computer for some of the games. When ours first started on the computer, I'd sit beside them and until they learned to manuever the mouse, they'd point or tell me the answer and I'd click on it.

Our first activities were solely books, books, books, and mroe books, with flash cards, BINGO games, puzzles, and Leap Frog DVDs that we used toys or letters to create the math equations or spell the words with. You can stop and start them back up very easily.

This is a time for play, reading, more play, and more reading. HAVE FUN, too!!!!
These are some things to start with anyway.