Tuesday’s Teaching Tip June 3, 2008

Once again it is time for the Great Turtle Race. 

I know, I know!!  but, you have to calm down.  You might scare the turtles. 

The Great Turtle Race is a race of leatherback turtles on their migration to their birth homes.  There they will lay their eggs.  You can follow each of the turtles as they make their journey across thousands of miles of ocean. 

This is a great learning experience.  Each of the children will pick a turtle to root for.  We check several times a day to see how far the turtles have gone.  It is a lot of fun. 

Do you have a teaching tip to share with me? 

Have a blessed day,

~Rhen

Tuesday’s Teaching Tip February 19, 2008

     With the weather getting warmer for the southern part of the US more and more families are getting back outside.  A fun way of incorporating homeschooling with exercize and fun is to have a scavenger hunt.  

     Go outside and make a list of 10-50 things that you see or will be something the kids could find out at this time of the year.  The scavenger list size should be decided based on the ages of the children.   If it is still cold where you are doesn’t mean that you can’t do this.  Just choose items that you find during winter or are more exposed during winter.

     Make a list for each child participating or split them up into groups.  I split mine into two groups with a bigger child and one or two of the littles.  This pairing works very well.  They each have a different view of the world around them and so often the littles spot things before the older children.

     As an extra we will take samples of what we find and bring it in to look at under the microscope.  It is a lot of fun for me as well as the children.   The scavenger list is completely subjective and can be changed to fit a holiday, season or curriculum lesson.

     Got a tip to share?  Share it with other homeschoolers at Helpful Homemaker.  Please leave your mark here so I can come visit you and look around!

Here is a tidbit of a sample list:

moss

lichen

daffodil

buds on a tree

black beetle

pinecone

animal tracks

rock shaped like a triangle

squirrel nest

     Just remember to be creative, get down on their level and have fun with it!

I am editing to add that don’t forget to take a walk outside Wednesday night to watch the lunar eclipse!!!

Tuesday’s Teaching Tip February 11, 2008

 

I am joining in with Helpful Homemaker on a great idea that she has started- Tuesday’s Teaching Tip.  What tips and tricks do you use while homeschooling?  It can be arts and crafts, getting kids interested in a subject, teaching a young one to read, experiments or anything at all that you want to share. 

Here is my teaching tip for Tuesday:

Checking up on the meteorologist.  I went to www.weather.com and looked at our 10 day forecast.  You can click on the day and see what the weather is going to be that day.  Here is an example from a random town for Wednesday’s weather:

  Today Tue, Feb 12 Wed, Feb 13 Thu, Feb 14 Fri, Feb 15 Sat, Feb 16 Sun, Feb 17 Mon, Feb 18 Tue, Feb 19 Wed, Feb 20

Hourly Forecast    more details

6am 49°F Feels Like 44°F

9am 46°F Feels Like 40°F

12pm 46°F Feels Like 40°F

3pm 49°F Feels Like 43°F

6pm 44°F Feels Like 37°F

9pm 37°F Feels Like 29°F

Day	Night
AM Showers High 49°FPrecip 60% Wind: NW 15 mph Max. Humidity: 64% UV Index: 4 Moderate Sunrise: 7:23 AM ET Avg. High: 57°F Record High: 76°F (1949)	Partly Cloudy Overnight Low 27°FPrecip 10% Wind: NNW 7 mph Max. Humidity: 63%       Sunset: 6:19 PM ET Avg. Low: 34°F Record Low: 11°F (1981)

Now what we do is each of my older three has a notebook with looseleaf paper and we will record the actual temps outside at the times indicated on the forecast and we will see just how right or wrong the meteorologists were on their “predictions”.  We will also record cloud cover, sunshine, precipitation and such.  Anything the forecast shows or is different from the forecast.  At the end of the week we will gather all of our data and chart it.  The kids have a great time and learn a lot about the weather, graphs, charts and notetaking to name a few. 

I hope you have as much fun with this as we are having!

For more teaching tips head over to The Helpful Homemaker.

All for His glory,

~Rhen