Internet UPDATE

My apologies for regular readers. My Internet has been out, again...

Problem found ... and it wasn't me!  LOL

Get good value for trial period ATT u-verse

It's Gonna Happen...

This is my sixteenth year home schooling and it still happens...That time of the month, someone not feeling great, animals creating havoc, kids bickering.....
My youngest child has been diagnosed with ADHD and winter time can give us both Cabin Fever.

Some days will just suck raw eggs, no matter what you do.
 My advice, just give everyone a ten minute break and separate... Literally go in separate rooms , or outside if weather allows. Have a small snack. Come back to the school table and start all over again.
 Give hugs, say "I love you" and begin again.

Mondays = Montag

I believe I mentioned that I changed up our schedule a bit because my youngest is catching on with the foreign languages so well. Anyway, today I have assigned for German Language Studies. I will speak as much German as I know and so will my child. When the regular subjects have been completed, we will study German and new words. I'm guessing probably more cognates will be the main focus.

The main thing I want you to notice is that when we home school, we don't ever really leave school. I 'm not talking about our house, I'm talking about how we live. It's a way of life. The first thing I will say to my child today is "Ich liebe dich, Guten Morgen." That means-  I love you , Good Morning. The last thing I will say to my child is " Ich liebe dich, Gute Nacht." Can you guess what that means? See it's not that difficult.

BTW I write everything down so I'm practicing writing German during my child's lessons!

We learn TOGETHER and I make sure I tell my kids this. I want them to know that people can still, and should learn all their lives! I've always said "Once you stop learning, you start dying."

Everything I've ever really needed to know, I leaned by teaching my kids home school !! 

When we first started learning German, I said the English words first, then I followed it with the German. (same for Spanish and sign) now that we both understand these phrases, that's all we use now.

Have a look on goodreads.com for my bookshelf for the books I'm using

ElainaMc

Guten Morgen!

Got Books?

Reading... it's the other white meat. Who can live without either, right?

 I was invited by a Facebook friend to join goodreads.com so I did!

 If you want to see what I'm currently reading check out my bookshelf Elaina Mc

FREE ONLINE GERMAN GAMES FOR KIDS AND BEGINNERS

http://www.digitaldialects.com/German.htm

Again, I'm not responsible for the content of the Internet..

ALWAYS check out websites before you let your kids use them. Talk to them about Internet safety.

This site is really cute and we just found it ourselves.... Have Fun !

UPDATE : found a new site !
http://www.chillola.com/at/german%20starter.html

I joined italki to learn a language, and you should too! You can find online teachers from around the world. It's free to sign up!

I joined italki to learn a language, and you should too! You can find online teachers from around the world. It's free to sign up!

SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK!

My cousin's wife bought my kids a set of these videos many years ago.
I remember watching these cartoons on Saturday mornings when I was a kid.

 Boy, kids now are SO spoiled! I had to wait weeks sometimes to catch my favorite schoolhouse rock toon.

Anyway, My older kids have said that they did INDEED learn something from these toons.

We also had a cdrom of Grammar Rock that somehow got cracked.... Who KNOWS how that happened? Anyone willing to fess up yet? It was good also...

School ROCKS!

FREE Spanish ONLINE games for kids and beginners

http://www.123teachme.com/learn_spanish/spanish_for_children

Again, I'm not responsible for the content of the Internet.. call Al Gore! LOL ! Just kidding about Al.

ALWAYS check out websites before you let your kids use them. Talk to them about Internet safety.

This site is really cute and we just found it ourselves.... Have Fun !

FREE PICK FRIDAY !

I love FREE PICK FRIDAYS, and so do the kiddos!
This is my way of rewarding good behavior during school time.If the child has completed all work and been a nice, polite student, he/she gets to pick what they want to do for the school subjects.

Examples:
Biblical Lesson - Child picks to watch a video with biblical teachings or lessons.
Reading - reading on starfall.com with associated learning games
Home Ec. - making favorite snack or learning to crochet a potholder

You get the idea... FUN! School and learning SHOULD be fun.

I kid you not, my kids have usually completed MORE work on Free Pick Fridays than I would have assigned.
Fun makes the learning go down!


Suggestion: Limit each school subject to 30 minutes or at least a set time and USE A TIMER! The kids have had so much FUN that they thought I was cutting their time short! LOL !

Today is Spanish Day.... Buenos dias!

Calling All Cognates!

What is a Cognate? Really good question!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognate

Now, here's my definition: Words in a foreign language that look and/or sound like the words in your language.

example: English- Hamburger = Spanish - Hamburguesa
 These words look very similar but sound a bit less alike.

example: English - Milk = German - Milch
I think they sound and look alike.

example: English - No = Spanish - No
same word

I LOVE to use cognates to learn and teach a new language. If you can put hope into a person that this new language they are trying to understand is similar to their own, they can understand many cognates. I believe success will follow.

My Wee One = youngest child (prefer to keep my kids names off the Net until they are older) and I learned, TOGETHER, several German cognates today while she was doing artwork. I DO love to multi-task. I also think that our brains learn better while utilizing more than one sense. I think it's called Kinesthetic learning.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinesthetic_learning

 You'll soon notice that I say, 'I THINK" fairly often because my resources leave me and now that I'm over forty,this memory recall thing SUCKS!!!!  Okay sorry, venting...

I even own a BOOK of cognates. OKAY okay, yes I have a small itty bitty book fetish/habit/LOVE. I've lost count how many books that I have. I AM SELLING SOME OF THEM......Sorry, both my exes hate books. Guess whose going to college??  yeah.....BOOKS. I can live with out the exes but NOT the books, (sigh of satisfaction)...

 I've reviewed a lot of books on Amazon  under the user name elainaxyz then somehow ( you know that look) got locked out of my old account. So now I'm ElainaMc and I think I've reviewed ONE WHOLE BOOK on my new account.

This book I own, use, and buy used when I find it for my kids to have......

NTC's Dictionary of Spanish Cognates  Hardcover ISBN 0-8442-7961-7

Hey, If you head on over to Amazon then drop by my itty bitty MarketPlace store. Thanks !

Another Class Bites the Dust!

Sadly, I dropped my remaining ONLINE classes just a few moments ago. That makes three... Sorry professors. My Internet service was down for so long that I just keep getting further and further behind. I hate being late and behind. I was also having a software issue from a required download. Hopefully, everything will be up and running and I'll be more familiar with the BlackBoard by March. I'm disappointed but a bit relieved. I HATE to be behind in assignments.

German Animal Words Game FREE

http://www.digitaldialects.com/German/Animals_simp.htm

So far, I really like this site for supplementing my German language resources... BUT, I did notice that most Americans might not like, that in the FOODS section and Game, that BEER AND WINE are included. Europeans look at alcohol differently then Americans do. I had four relatives killed by a drunk driver so trust me, I'm not a fan myself. People here are too extreme with alcohol and have no respect for the safety of others. I wonder why things are different in Europe? Hopefully, I'll be finding out soon...I have family overseas and would love to know them better and just see my ancestral stomping grounds.
 OHHH and I do play these games BEFORE I let my Wee One play them.
Guten Abend!
Good Afternoon!

Ich Spreche Deutsch = I speak German

We are having German Language lessons today and I popped online to find some free games....
Googled it...

Die Farben auf Deutsch = The Colors in German
http://www.digitaldialects.com/German/Colour.htm



Of course with all inks in this BLOG, I am not responsible for error of any kind of problems. I just use the internet, I don't own it and am not responsible for it. :)

MY home school of a different breed

I'm back with a cup of hot Earl Grey Tea... I had a piece of pecan pie chasing Chicken Alfredo - from a box. I didn't tell you that I'm also going to BLOG about my own home school , mainly because I just thought of it! :)
I'm enrolled in my first all online HOME college courses. I've taken classes at the college but gas prices have just made me change a lot of things. I also live about 75 miles away from their door, so here goes! My home school!
I am recently a non-working, SAHM ,WAHM mother again. Did I say that I'm divorced so therefore also  a single mom? For those of you who don't understand, I'm recently no longer working outside of my home. I am a STAY AT HOME MOM aka SAHM and a WORK AT HOME MOM aka WAHM. I'm doing everything I can do to save money - see my Facebook Group" A Penny Saved...."(future BLOG).
I find myself with more time on my hands and this is one reason for the online classes.
I wanted internet at home to be able to "work" at home without having to drag my daughter to the local library to use the free internet (1 hour limit per day/ 6 days per week) in all kinds of bad weather just to try and get MY homework completed. I've had all kinds of trouble getting the newly installed internet service to work. Found out today that there was trouble under the main road a block and a half away....?? Anyway, it's now fixed and I'm behind in my new class NUTRITION since Monday!!! I'm currently up late waiting on a download from my college that's required for me to actually submit my homework. Did I say the tea is decaf?

 YES, I'm reading my assignments and trying to get acquainted with these new- to- me online classes, but I have been surfing around on SwagBucks, LinkedIn (work), Twitter(Non-Profit),Hotmail (BOTH),my other blogs, checking how much child support was deposited, checking my bank account on a mistake someone else made and finally corrected YEAH!, Kindle Direct Pub.(WORK), myAvon mistake - not mine again (WORK), Turbo Tax (WORK)... Bored to tears yet? Where's that tea....with sugar..?  I had so much trouble getting this internet working that I actually dropped two classes. I didn't want to try being several days late on a Tech. Math or Legal class. No way! I'm not that crazy.
 SO now I'm a Home School College Student. Let's hope this goes well....
Thanks for reading ...
Goodnight
Gute Nacht
Buenas Dias
(waving)

post script

hopefully see you early in the morning.... AFTER I do my homework!
3 hours left on that download....

SO what did we do today?

First Grade is wonderful... I don't remember much about my first grade experience so I'm thinking maybe my youngest won't either but anyway....

I use a curriculum ! GOSH, isn't that horrible? NO. It's a time saver. I used to make Thematic Units and Lah Dee Dah... and the kids do have their fondest memories about those units.. but realistically I don't have the time to do that anymore. I could, but I actually want a life. I'm now enrolled in college and have homework myself. I'm also finally writing.. BLOGS , children's books, trying to run my non-profit organization and find some time to have that life before I'm too darn old to do anything but knit. Yeah , I finally taught myself to knit. Bucket List here I come!

Let me say this... My older children all have L.D. That's the politically correct way to say that they have learning disabilities. My youngest child is showing some signs (inverting numerals and letters - reading some words backwards) but thus far has only been diagnosed with ADHD. We take breaks often so that she can bounce around, especially on winter days when it's too cold to go outside. That's okay though, because that's the time I use to do chores.

With my older children, I introduced Sign Language and Spanish to them and then let them have a choice which one they wanted as their Foreign Language in High School. Now, I offer German as I am teaching myself this language. I'm going to post some of the days records so you can get ideas what to do.... You will get into your own groove though and won't need anyone else to guide you. Have FUN!

TODAY - 1st grade (This can be adjusted for other grades)
****************************************************
My daughter starts the school day with her calender. I call this Calender Days.
She places a cutout of something that I bought pre-made (Snowman) with numerals 1-31 written on them. Today she placed snowman numeral 16 on the calender in the appropriate place. I've already taught her how to find the place. A calender can help with many things! Get ONE! I bought mine at Mardel's Office Supply - yep that one in the news about Obamacare !! I had it laminated. I use that blue tacky stuff that looks like gum... is it really gum?... to attach the snowmen. Just put on pea size bit of blue tacky stuff on each space and you will use that space eventually.  Once your child learns to count to 31, then start a new language. The trick is to ONLY go to TEN with the new language for several weeks until the kid knows it, knows it then proceed to twenty, etc....I think you get the idea.
Teach the days of the week, the current month, and year. I also have posters for those and we repeated them , or sang them, until memorized. I've yet to hear any kids say them in their sleep....yet. THEN, yep you're on the right track... start teaching them the current day in first foreign language, then current month, etc....
She counted 1-16 in English with ASL Sign Language, then in Spanish, then German. It really can happen fast with these young minds. The key is to do it DAILY!! use it, or lose it... trust me I don't remember half what I learned of Spanish in school because I had no regular usage.

I record the date, day in English, Spanish and German in my record book. It HELPS ME learn to spell in these languages! I also record how many days of school have been completed....trust me just get in a big habit of recording EVERYTHING. FYI, Home School Legal Defense doesn't help people in family court... DIVORCE means one parent just decided home school isn't the way... I've been down that road. Cover your rear and record, record, record, If you can afford yearly testing, DO IT. Check with your insurance.... even if it's a free kind, it might be covered.
 Okay back to what we did.... sorry about that run down a rabbit hole.

1-16-213
 DAY ___
Wednesday - miercoles - Mittwoch

A Beka Book curriculum is great for a Christian Home School family... Very organized but, it wasn't great for my kids with learning disabilities. It was just too fast paced. I love the phonetic structure though and the colorful fun work pages.

Phonics test today...
Review Spelling list from Monday.
 Letters and Sounds wkpg,
Language wkpg,
Social Studies wkpg,
 321 Penguins  movie during lunch break - moral/ biblical lessons
Arithmetic wkpg
I've just recently started doing just one Language per day. She's learning so much that I've adjusted her schedule. A MUST to do when the kids are ready for a new level .. just do it!
Sign Language on the computer. A new site that I just Googled... KiddieSigns.. I think. Interactive games with ABC's
Then when school is finished.. and I mean FINISHED... ART or computer time. She had PC time today. PbsKids.org  for educational games.

FYI check out Home School Legal Defense website for your state laws and other information.They couldn't help me during my divorce but they did point me in the direction of a good lawyer.

Kids Say The Darndest Things... Today, Wee One was singing about how she loves school and wants to learn everything and do school everyday including Sunday.... I realized what she said so I asked, " Really, you want to do school on Sunday? " She said  "unt uh". LOL
One day, in the recent past, she was singing about how it's not fun to do spelling, she'd rather be playing.

Home What?

Everyday, I write down all the things my kid does that's educational. I don't do this because it's the law in my state of Oklahoma. I do this because my ex has caused me grief, in court mind you, over homeschooling. I won, but I continue to record daily activities, just in case... It takes more time to record than it does to teach. I've literally saved everything since my eldest child was in preschool and she's now 19.

 So... I was recording my 7 year old's business today when I thought, why not BLOG about this. Maybe it can help someone else until they find their own way. This is my 16th year doing the home school thing. I'm either crazy, really love to teach, or maybe I just wanted to do what I thought was best for my kids.

 I really don't care what other people think about why I home school. I've been called crazy, stupid, fanatic, and what ever else you've heard others say about people like me. THEY aren't my bosses and I'm not responsible for their kids' education. THEY sometimes consisted of strangers, public school teachers, and yes friends and family. I forgive you and NO I don't take my kids' tests for them.... do you??? If I'm not talking to you, Maybe that's your clue that I didn't appreciate you judging something you obviously don't have a clue about... and right there in front of my kids. Gee, if I wasn't a nicer person I might ask you something really rough in front of your kids. You're not perfect bucko!

 Anyway, I'm ranting now so here the BLOG goes.... I figure if I BLOG instead of tweeting and FBing then maybe someone who cares will read my thoughts and ideas. I hope that you can glean some insights to daily homeschooling and what I learned that may just help you in your journey, and boy is it a journey! BTW, I'm not an English major and I'm also not a typist. Learn to live with that and don't send messages correcting me. Perfection is for God.

If you are not a fan of homeschooling, I don't want your opinions. This BLOG is FOR HomeSchoolers.... enuf said?