Thursday, March 31, 2011
Kidipede
Our OM 3 curriculum directed me to this fantastic reference site today. Kidipede is an online encyclopedia covering topics in history, science and math. It's a great resource. Check it out!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
From the mouths of babes...
So I was back at art class with the kiddos today. I'm always glad when it takes the children a while to finish what they're working on (you just can't rush creativity) and pack up their things because I get to watch and listen to everything going on in the room.
Today, two girls were sitting at a table in the corner working on their paintings. One girl, the younger of the two, said to the other, "Someone called me weird yesterday." The older girl said, "So? There's nothing wrong with weird. Why would you want to be normal? Normal is boring. Normal is a setting on the dryer. Weird is better. Weird people do great things if people will leave them alone and let them."
Amen.
Today, two girls were sitting at a table in the corner working on their paintings. One girl, the younger of the two, said to the other, "Someone called me weird yesterday." The older girl said, "So? There's nothing wrong with weird. Why would you want to be normal? Normal is boring. Normal is a setting on the dryer. Weird is better. Weird people do great things if people will leave them alone and let them."
Amen.
"If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise." ~Johann von Goethe
Friday, March 18, 2011
iPad
Last week, I splurged and bought a refurbished first generation iPad. With the release of the iPad 2, Apple cut the price on the original iPad. Since we purchased a refurbished model (which comes with the same warranty as a new iPad), I saved an additional $50. It's going to be such a great resource for us. I've already found so many fun, educational apps for the kids.
This morning,Thing 4 sat in front of the map and played Stack The States, even though it's Spring Break and we have taken a week off from "school". (I realize it looks like she's looking at the map of the world, but she's really looking at the map of the U.S. which is hanging above the world map. The world map will come in handy when she plays Stack The Countries.)
Stack the States is such a fun way to learn about state geography, capitals, shape, where they fit on the map, etc. Here's a short video that shows the app in action.
Another great app that we have found is BrainPop. BrainPop has short, animated movies on many different topics across all subject areas. Every day there is a new BrainPop movie. Each morning we check for the new movie. In addition to the daily featured movie, you can search their large database of other movies for others your kiddos might find interesting.
Here is an example of a featured movie:
If you don't have an iPad, you can get a membership at the BrainPop website. There seems to be a lot of information and many educational tools there.
There are so many more fabulous apps for education that I haven't had the chance to check out yet. We also plan to use the iPad for writing papers and playing with videos, photos and music.
iPad, where have you been my whole life?
This morning,Thing 4 sat in front of the map and played Stack The States, even though it's Spring Break and we have taken a week off from "school". (I realize it looks like she's looking at the map of the world, but she's really looking at the map of the U.S. which is hanging above the world map. The world map will come in handy when she plays Stack The Countries.)
Stack the States is such a fun way to learn about state geography, capitals, shape, where they fit on the map, etc. Here's a short video that shows the app in action.
Another great app that we have found is BrainPop. BrainPop has short, animated movies on many different topics across all subject areas. Every day there is a new BrainPop movie. Each morning we check for the new movie. In addition to the daily featured movie, you can search their large database of other movies for others your kiddos might find interesting.
Here is an example of a featured movie:
If you don't have an iPad, you can get a membership at the BrainPop website. There seems to be a lot of information and many educational tools there.
There are so many more fabulous apps for education that I haven't had the chance to check out yet. We also plan to use the iPad for writing papers and playing with videos, photos and music.
iPad, where have you been my whole life?
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