Free Geography Printables!

World Wide Wanderings has free Geography Printables!

http://ourworldwideclassroom.blogspot.com/2011/08/world-wide-wanderings-continents-oceans.html

Spirals in Nature and Fibonacci [1 of 3]

 

 

A Great "Take" on Home Educating Boys

Another Mom of a few Boys has shared her thoughts on learning. If you are feeling like you are spinning your wheels, take a minute to be refreshed!  Wendy, at Living Creatively, always has some great kinetic learning ideas  that will get you back on track.
http://wendyjanelle.blogspot.com/2011/09/school-days-at-adler-academy.html

Nature Journaling

We are in full swing with our Nature Notebook group.  There has been some discussion about  Charlotte Mason notebooking and the dear mother coordinating our group came up with this Jewel!

If you are in need of a good look at what Nature Journaling is all about, this blog will give you the eye candy you have been looking for.  

http://naturejournaling.blogspot.com/

Beautiful.

Learning with Visual Latin is F.U.N. !

::Visual Latin ::

Laugh Through Latin and Master English!

Welcome to the funniest way to learn two languages

My Experience

While latin is not new around our home, the focus has been on vocabulary.  But, now that 2 of the boys are older, it is time to delve into sentence structure.  I have been very nervous about trying new programs due to initial costs and the possibility of them being a complete failure.  I stepped out once with what I considered a great program, but, the all text format  wasn't working for the boys.  Since then, I have come across Visual Latin and they gave me the opportunity to give an open review.

Who are these Guys?

The teacher for the Visual Latin videos is Dwane Thomas.  Mr. Thomas has been teaching latin for 15 years and his wife homeschools their 5 children.

Thomas Purifoy, Jr., is the producer for Visual Latin.  Compass Cinema, has already produced 2 other series; Modern Parables and Seek Social Justice.  Mr. Purifoy's wife homeschools their 3 girls

The Set Up

Each lesson is divided into 3 parts:

Grammar

Sentences

Reading 

Each part averages ~7 minutes and is followed by a worksheet so the student can immediately put to use what they have learned before moving on.  

This set up allows for the flexibility in scheduling and pacing that is needed in homeschooling. The lessons can also be synched with your phone or IPad to take advantage of windshield time or other down time.

The See, Hear, Write format of Visual Latin is top notch for retention!

Dwane's relaxed and funny teaching style is both interactive and engaging. 
My boys have commented on how much more they are retaining in this course and they love his random references.  The younger boy also adds "...It doesn't cram a lot at you at once so I can remember more..." and  "...Mr. Thomas is funny!"

See the full gallery on Posterous

Look!

Here are 4 free introductory videos plus 2 free lessons (click here!) that you should try!  They are rather addicting, so, try at your own risk ;)

The Take Away

The guys at Visual Latin love language and their enthusiasm shows.  The course work reinforces the student's understanding of English while learning Latin. You purchase the lessons in sets as downloads (I had no problem downloading the lessons) or DVD's. Each set includes the videos, instructions, worksheets and answers.  

The Best Part!

Visual Latin has offered to give a 25% off coupon to my readers!  Use the code Latin Is Fun in their store. The coupon is good for only 3 days, so take a quick peek now :)

Don't Forget the Mean 'Ol School Marm!

via Ree Drummond AKA The Pioneer Woman
http://thepioneerwoman.com/homeschooling/2011/01/mean-ol-schoolmarm-5/

The Basics of the Romantic Period

http://artofmanliness.com/2011/03/03/the-basics-of-art-the-romantic-period/

Matisse Art Fun!

Matisse fir kids

http://www.artbma.org/flash/F_conekids.swf

Speech and Communication Skills

A weekly newsletter packed with fun speech communication tips.


http://artofeloquence.com/pages/newsletters.php

Rules for Determining a Leap Year

Rules for Determining a Leap Year

1. Most years that can be divided evenly by 4 are leap years.
   (For example, 2012 divided by 4 = 503: Leap year!)
   
2. Exception: Century years are NOT leap years UNLESS they can be evenly divided by 400. (For example, 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not leap years, but 1600 and 2000, which are divisible by 400, were.)

Read more:  http://www.infoplease.com/spot/leapyear2.html

A Quick History Lesson: Leap Year

A Quick History Lesson

The Egyptians were the first to come up with the idea of adding a leap day once every four years to keep the calendar in sync with the solar year. Later, the Romans adopted this solution for their calendar, and they became the first to designate February 29 as the leap day.

Read more: Leap Year 101 – Next, When, List, Days, Calendar, Years, Calculation, Last, Rules — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/spot/leapyear2.html#ixzz181RF1wRr

Classical Rhetoric 101: A Brief History

"Humans have studied and praised rhetoric since the early days of the written word. The Mesopotamians and Ancient Egyptians both valued the ability to speak with eloquence and wisdom. However, it wasn’t until the rise of Greek democracy that rhetoric became a high art that was studied and developed systematically." ....

A great series,  check it out!
http://tiny.cc/horv5

96 piece Puzzle Ball

Spelling

http://www.spellingcity.com/
Enter you child's spelling words and they can play games to learn them!
Yeah!

Geography Worksheets and Printables

Map work is FUN!

These geography worksheets help make learning more engaging for children.

http://www.education.com/worksheets/geography/

What is Yuck?

Maureen Spell, from spell out loud, has tried a new product!  My kids love "hands on" learning.

Yuck products are various types of slime. They are made from an acrylic polymer and each Yuck type is different

http://tiny.cc/h1avv

Pioneer Woman

You need this Link.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/