Homeschool Minutes: 06/21/09

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Reach for the Stars Writing Club

I recently found a writing web site for kids - Reach for the Stars! Kids can join a free writing club. You can download a sample Reach for the Stars writing workbook. You can also sign up for a monthly newsletter - Launch Pad - that will deliver story starters, a photo to caption, grammar help, reader's stories,and web links.

The Reach for the Stars writing workbook was published in May and is available for purchase on the web site for $18.95. According to the web site, the sample workbook has a lot in it that students can benefit from. Try it, and if you like it you can purchase the full workbook for more!

Tips for Multiplication practice...

Image from Timez Attack

Kathy Stemke suggests a few activities to help your child grasp the concept of multiplication and learn their multiplication math facts:

HULA HOOP MULTIPLICATION

Have your children make individual lists of the multiplication tables. (skip counting) Fold each list and place them in a bowl.
Each child takes a turn picking from the bowl. They must recite the table while using the hula hoop. (Ex. 4,8,12,16...) The other child can time them and check for correctness.
Now the next player gets a turn. After several turns, the player with the highest time wins.
You can modify this activity by changing the movement. (Ex. jump in and out of the hoop, hop on one foot in the hoop, circle the hoop on your wrist)

CIRCLE AND BEANS MULIPLICATION

Cut a 12 cicles and laminate them for durability. Use a bag of beans for counters. Write a multiplication problem on an index card. Explain that the first factor is the number of circles you need to use, and the second factor is the number of beans to put on each circle. (Ex. 5x7=) 5 circles with 7 beans on each circle. The kids will love this fun way to use concrete manipulatives to understand abstract concepts.

(H/T Kathy Stemke at Education Tipster)

A trip to the library...

Ignite to Write

If you're anything like us, you love the library. Children's author Jan Mader, who's web site is Ignite to Write, wrote about her trip to the Carnegie Library in Washington Court House. She met a great group of kids at the library for a writing workshop, and it sounds like they had a lot of fun!

They used a couple of creative writing exercises, including braindropping and painting with words. You can find these exercises and many more on Jan's web site. She also loves to answer any questions you might have about writing!

Jan is an animal lover as well and has a web site devoted to animals - Animal Talk - where she writes about all kinds of animals, including her horse, Tango!