Homeschooling Dreams

Mind over Manners

2009-11-20T07:13:00.000-08:00

Mind Over Manners is a different approach to a lot of curriculum focused learning tools. This book is full of information to help your child to become their best. It uses manners as a way to guide your child through their daily life and also focuses on aspects such as kids using drugs, table manners, please and thank you, and also public behavior as well as a lot of other useful information for your child to learn.

This book is targeted for grades 4-6 but can be used for grades as young as third. Inside of the book are different stories and activities for your to teach with. I truly love this book and it has helped my daughter to learn more of what is right from wrong. I did have to supplement with online activities to help my child gain the full aspect of manners.

I feel that you will enjoy this book as much as we did and if you are interested, I will be posting up links to go along with this book or for you to use as a supplement in teaching responsibility and manners. Teaching your child responsibility and manners should be one of your priorities as a parent and as a homeschooling parent. I do believe that children learn their behavior from their parents but this book goes into more details on things that you may not do but your child may pick up on from their peers such as drugs or attitudes.

If you have any suggestions on manner training, please feel free to include these in the comment section.

Although I feel it is only right to disclose that I am not getting paid for this review but if you purchase the book, Mind Over Manners, from this site I will receive compensation from the site listed below.

Will My Kid's Respect Me as Their Teacher?

2009-11-17T19:43:00.000-08:00

I love getting the stair down by many parents who don't understand homeschooling and I also love it when other parents ask me questions about my homeschooling and the children.

One question that I will never forget is when a women who was considering homeschooling asked me if I thought her children would respect her as their teacher. I had to ask if they respected her as their parent since the two kind of go hand in hand.

I can still remember the first week that I homeschooled and took the role of a teacher in front of my tiny class. My third grader thought it was going to be nothing but fun and games. Sorry, but I like proving them wrong when it comes to the role of being a mother. I took one look at her and said, "Exactly who do you think I am? You don't act like this in my home." She slowly added that I was her teacher and that she was just goofing off. I was quick to correct her and say that I am her mother and I deserve her respect. From that day forward she understood the difference between a mother and a teacher and I haven't had to correct her since.

If your children don't respect you, then how do you think you will be able to teach them? Respect is all that it takes to be able to teach a child even when you are their mother. Homeschooling doesn't come easy and I will be the first to admit that but it is a life journey that I am willing to take and one that I enjoy.

Why I chose to homeschool

2009-11-16T22:53:00.000-08:00

It is nearly 1 in the morning and I still find myself awake. I dream of a day when I can homeschool my other children. Some people don't see the importance of homeschooling and that is not to say that traditional schooling is bad; we get more freadom when we homeschool.

You see, I have six children of only one in which I homeschool full time. My oldest daughter had a lot of problems in school and was struggling. I later found out that she has ADD which is simular to ADHD except they are different when it comes to emotions. Children with ADHA often become hyper and children with ADD are the exact opposite, they are often depressed and aren't very social. I ended up having her tested on my own because the school kept saying that she was a lazy child and didn't have anything like this. After four long hours of testing the results came back negative for a learning disability and positive for ADD. I was shocked and releived at the same time and this is how I began my homeschooling experience.

By the time that we discovered that she had ADD, she was already nearly two years behind in school but the school kept passing her along. I was fed up and started taking on a homeschooling task. I am proud to say that my daughter is now almost completely caught up with her grade level and she is happy to be homeschooling.

Homeschooling isn't easy and especially with six kids, a husband who acts like a kid at times, and going to college. Yes, I am a late bloomer but I wanted to go to college badly and I finally got my opportunity.

I have been wanting to homeschool my other children but for now, I am just working with the one child to get her caught up before I make the final decision to homeschool my other children. I am always on the internet and have proubly bought every curriculum known to man and this is why I created this blog. I know how hard it can be to homeschool children and how much it cost, with a little luck and a lot of help I am going to make this blog into one of the best homeschooling blogs around.

I want this blog to be a place where parents can print off a great curriculum instead of having to pay a high price for curriculum or to help supplement their curriculum. I hope you will join me in future post and I will be keeping this blog updated daily. I will soon be posting up how I do homeschooling in a typical day so keep checking back.

Turkey Coloring Pages and Activities

2009-11-15T23:42:00.000-08:00

This is a great way to implement Thanksgiving and the meaning of Thanksgiving into your homeschooling lesson plans. All of these printable coloring pages are free to use. The way I usually add these coloring pages and activities into my homeschooling curriculum is by doing a lesson plan on a particular part of Thanksgiving such as the pilgrims or Native Americans and then I allow the children to color or do these activities. I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think of them.

Kid's Turn Central Thanksgiving Coloring Pages

Turn Key Turkey Coloring Pages

Class Brain Pilgrim Boy Coloring Page

JanBrett's Hedgie as a Pilgrim

Coloring's many pages on Thanksgiving

About.com's coloring pages for Thanksgiving

Pilgrim Works

ABC Teach Thanksgiving Theme Coloring Pages

Pilgrim Family

Turkey coloring page

I will continue to add more of these great Thanksgiving coloring pages and activities as I find them if they interest me. If you have any that you would like to share, please let me.

Galloping the Globe Review

2009-11-15T00:48:00.000-08:00

At first glance I thought that this was going to be a complete curriculum for geography but then I learned that it was actually a curriculum based on the seven continents. This book can help you to put together a great curriculum for kindergarten to fourth graders and possibly even beyond that.

Curriculum overview- The curriculum is suppose to be so that you can integrate other lessons such as history, science, literature, and the bible into their geography lessons. I can see how you can add these into your lessons if you follow it's curriculum but I didn't do everything that it told me to do. I actually added more things to it and took a few away from it. If you follow the curriculum you will be able to complete each activity with your child having a full understanding of each continent.

In the front of the book there is a sample lesson plan to follow for one week and two week curriculum. I used the two week curriculum just because I wanted to do more with each continent and country. There is also a list of books and websites that you will find useful and unlike many other books, these links actually go somewhere.

Text book pages- There aren't as many as I would have liked there to be but it was definitely worth the price. I paid about $25 for the book from Mardel's Christian bookstore but you can probably find it cheaper on Amazon or Ebay. The pages allow you to reuse the material so that the child can color and do the lesson plans.

The grade I used this for- I started using Galloping the Globe for my third grader but then I started seeing how I could add more things to it and carry it over into further grades. I also plan to use it for my other homeschooling children. My daughter really loved the part where we would make food from each country after we finished our lesson. We took lots of photos of the event and glued them to her journal of the world.

Overall Satisfaction- I was actually pleased with Galloping the Globe since it allowed me to teach more than one child at a time and I could find extra activities for my children to do on the internet that went with the country that we were learning about.

If you plan to purchase this item, you can follow my list of objectives to do with your child by checking out the links on the right under the categories tab. I am trying to add all of the things that you can do with Galloping the Globe into this blog so that you may enjoy some of the activities that we did.

Don't you hate it when you can find something cheaper than what it was when you bought it. I paid around $25 for this and look at the price on Amazon.

China Literature

2009-11-15T00:33:00.000-08:00

If you are studying on China or the Chinese for homeschooling then you may want to read some of these books that are listed below. They all center around China and are great pieces of literature. You may be able to find these at your local library or by purchasing them online or at your local bookstore. I will try to list the links with each one of the books that I list for your convenience to make purchasing easier.

The Story about Ping (Reading Railroad Books) -This story is about a duck named Ping and it is based in China.It is a good story for elementary student to read and can go along with any curriculum on China.

Granny Han's Breakfast - This story is cute and as you can see, it is also based on China.

Tikki Tikki Tembo - If you read any book based on the Chinese culture, I highly recommend this one. This was one of my all time favorite childhood books. It is about a boy with a long name and it is a really great book. My children loved it so much that I had to read it over and over again.

I plan to add more books to this list. If you have any suggestions, please let me know and give us your review on the books that you enjoy.

Quiz on China

2009-11-14T23:11:00.000-08:00

Some homeschooling parents don't like to give quizes while others view it as a way to test your child's skill level. Either way, you can either add these into your homeschooling lesson plans as quizes or you can use them for daily activities.

China Find it Quiz- This quiz asks the student to answer a few questions related to China. This quiz should be administered by students who are at least in third grade.

The Great Wall of China

2009-11-14T23:00:00.000-08:00

If you are homeschooling on the subject of China, you are going to love this page. This page is full of different lesson plans and activities to use as part of your homeschooling curriculum on China and the Great Wall of China. I believe that every child should know about the Great Wall of China and these activities will help you. Some of them may be buy membership only and I will specify if they are. If they are not membership only then they must be free, and this is always good when homeschooling.

Facts on The Great Wall of China- This page will be beneficial in teaching children of all ages about China and it's great wall. It includes many facts pertaining to China and also includes many colorful photos to go along with it.

You Wouldn't Want to Work on the Great Wall of China!
This is a great book that you will want to take a look at. It is based on the Great Wall of China and can be read by children to learn about China.

The Great Wall of China Coloring Page-This is a coloring page that you can print off for you homeschooled children to color. We colored this page after we read the book listed above on the Great Wall of China. This coloring page allows the children to see exactly what it looks like and that it is huge.

Dora the Explorer and the Great Wall of China- This printable should be used for younger kids that enjoy Dora the Explorer. It is a maze that leads Dora to the Great Wall of China. At the end of the maze is a picture of what the great wall looks like.

How the Great Wall of China Works- This is mostly reading but it is loaded with facts and information on the Great Wall of China. This page is mostly for children whom are older. I am sure that you will enjoy this reading lesson.

China Map Activities

2009-11-14T22:07:00.000-08:00

Map skills are essential if you plan on getting around in this world without mapquest or a electronic navigator. Map skills are usually studied between 2nd and the 3rd grade but are usually fully mastered by the 5th grade. China is an interesting place especially if you are studying the seven continents or studying particularly on China. These map activities are meant to enhance your homeschoolers knowledge on using maps and on China.

China Map Quiz Printout- this map quiz printout is free to print out but it has ads in the printout. If you prefer to not have the ads you can become a member for $20. I don't mind the ads and neither does my daughter. I have also used material like this and just cut the ads out of them. This activity displays a map of China which can be colored and it also features a quiz about the map. It is very useful in studying map keys and China.

China black and white map- If you prefer to have a map of China without the quiz you can use this link. This map can help you to teach your homeschooling child what China looks like on a map.

Dot to Dot Mystery Map of China- This is mostly for younger kids but it is a neat printout of China. Basically the child will connect the dots to form China which can be colored afterward.

I will continue to add more over time but if you have found something that you feel I might be interested in, please notify me so that I may add it to my China map activities page.

Activities for China

2009-11-14T21:33:00.000-08:00

If you are teaching about China at this point, you are probably searching for different activities that you can use to go along with your lesson. In one of my geography lessons on China, I decided to use a bunch of different activities that would inspire my children to want to learn. If you involve engaging stories to go along with the lesson, it provides a branch for them and will often catch their attention. Some of these activities may only allow you to print if you are a member but I will list the free ones for you so that you can print or view the activities.

Tricked by a Monkey: This lesson requires you to be a member but the membership is only $9 a month and you can print off as many lessons or activities as you want. In this particular lesson, you and your child will read a story that is associated with China and then their will be a questionnaire at the end of it. I found this activity lesson to be very help in teaching about China. If you are a homeschooling parent and need homeschooling lessons then I recommend signing up with Scholastics to be able to print off their material for homeschooling.

Exploring China: This is a lesson unit that will teach children about China. It is free to print and all of the lesson plans for this activity are also free to print. It is from Scholastics which requires a membership to print some of their activities but not all of them. This activity gives you the ability to stretch the lesson plan out over a few days so that you can go in-dept on China.

Kung Fu Panda: The Movie Storybook: This is a book based on the movie Kung Fu Panda which is based on China. This book would be a good one to read to your child or with your child while studying China in your homeschooling curriculum plan. This book can be found at many libraries or in many bookstores.

Global Trek: This is an activity based homeschooling project to help your child get to know China. This activity even allows your child to start a traveling journal that they can return to as many times as they like. This has everything to help your child to understand China.

China: This activity is in a power point presentation and it is great for children of all ages as long as you implement the right material that is appropriate for their age. This helps you to cover some of the main points of China including locating China on a map.

This is an ongoing project and if you have any that you find I might enjoy, please let me know so that I can give credit where credit is due. I will be adding more to this list over time as soon as I research material and sites for you.

Chinese New Year

2009-11-14T20:35:00.000-08:00

China is a great place to start in Geography and especially if you are learning about the 7 continents. China is part of Asia and therefore you should also be studying on things about China such as the Chinese New Year. I personally use Galloping the Globe for geography since it allows me to teach on the seven continents and about things from around the world. If you are interested in purchasing Galloping the Globe, you can do so at Geography Matters.

Geography should be a part of your child's learning and studying on the seven continents is recommended at around grade three. So, if you are studying on China at this point, then you might want to consider adding in the Chinese New Year as part of your child's homeschooling experience. Some of these links are through membership only and others are free. I will specify which are free and which ones require a membership.

About the Chinese New Year: This link will take you through to a page that is printable through membership only. It is from Scholastics and the membership is around $9 per month. I use Scholastics for a lot of my printable homeschooling lessons. I also like this site since I can purchase books for my homeschooling. This printable article tells about the Chinese New Year and it is beneficial to those who are studying on the Chinese New Year in homeschooling.

Photos of Chinese New Year: If your child is a lot like mine then he or she will probably enjoy seeing a few pictures of the Chinese New Year. These pictures are courtesy of Google and are free to look at. As far as the right to print, you will have to check this out on your own but it will give your child a view on what the Chinese New Year looks like while doing their homeschooling project.

Food, Tradition, and Video of the Chinese New Year: all of these are free homeschooling tools that you can use through History.com. If you haven't already checked out History.com, you might want to for some great topic ideas and for great things related to history.

Celebrating Chinese New Year: An Activity Book : This is an activity book that is filled with activities to do for the Chinese New Year. It can be purchased on Amazon and I recommend it.

Confucius says: Everyone should know who this person is and what some of his saying were. This will take you to some of his famous saying that you can say and discuss with your child.

Chinese New Year's craft ideas: If you are more into doing activities with your child, this link is for you. It features some of the craft activities that you can do for the Chinese New Year while you are homschooling.

This is just a short list and I will be adding more as I get them. If you have an activity or link that you find might be relevant to this post, please leave a comment with the information so that I may post it up to this blog.

What Your 1st Grader Should know: Math

2009-11-03T12:11:00.000-08:00

Math is one of the things that many parents complain about when they are trying to help their kids with their school work or when they are homeschooling. Most senior homeschooling moms will tell you that the best way to teach math is to take it one day at a time. My suggestion is for you to go in order down this list of what your first grader should know in math. I don't suggest moving on to the next item until your child scores at least an 80% in that field and even higher if you feel that they just don't get it so that you can make sure that they are actually understanding the first grade math concepts.

Counting and Writing math 0 to 100

Counting and Writing by 2's to 40

Number Patterns

Simple Properties of Zero

Simple Properties of Sets:

Beginning addition and subtraction facts:

Number line use

Place value and numeration

Concepts of quality and size

Concepts of equality and inequality

Concepts of ordinal and cardinal numbers

using ½ and ¼ appropriately

Estimation

Geometric patterns and figures

Basic Customary and metric system

recognizing time; clock and calendar

value of penny, nickle, dime, and quarter

solving simple word problems

Basic probability of chance

basic chart and graph concepts