Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Speaking Without a Voice Game

Hello there,

I just got this great idea last night while I was sleeping. Yes...sleeping. It was a dream. I was talking to my family in sign language and notes in my dream. So this morning is asked my girl if she would like to play a no using your voice game for half a day.
Rules: use sign language or gestures, write notes or mime what you want to tell or ask me. She loved the idea because we are learning sign language right now. The site we go to is Auther's site. Simple easy to use and the kids love the site.
We will start this game either this afternoon or tomorrow. My thinking is that each of us would have to carry a not pad and pencil. I really can't wait to start, as this will give the kids great practice with their writing and spelling skills. I somehow think I just tricked them into writing more without them even knowing. We will see how well this works and if it works out and have fun then we may be playing the game more often.

Joeji

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Another Sun and 2 Planets Found

Hey,
So I was watching the news the other night and heard that Nasa has found another Galaxy with a Sun and 2 giant Planets orbiting it.
I was amazed and excited and shared this news with many friends. Yesterday I had the opportunity to share this news with a young man approxitmately 25yrs old. I had met him only once before. He seemed like a smart kid and I was bursting at the seems with this information and blurted it out to him. He tilted his head and moved closer to me and said "say that again" well boy was he full of information.
The conversation led to all kinds of sharing, but what I found interesting was how we talked about the technology changes and time. For example...I, in my life being at the end of the baby boomers have experienced, micro wave ovens, cell phones, satelite TV, Computers and more. (feel free to add more) He then brought to my attention many other facts about us intelligent beings. But the most interesting thought, was the focus on what could our offsprings experience? You should share this finding with your kids and talk about technology and where it could go. I really enjoyed doing this because it shows how far we could really go.
Here is the link Nasa Spacecraft Spots Multiplanet Solar System.

Joiji

Monday, June 21, 2010

Reverse Thinking

Hey everyone,

Summer is here and I am looking forward to doing some reverse thinking. Reverse thinking to me would be to think-stop-back up and think outside the box. Mainly I would be trying this new technique involving myself and my children in new innovative disscussions. When we discover new ideas I really want myself and my kids to ask as many questions as possible.
This could encourage us to rethink things and possibly make our learning more fun.

My inspiration...well if you must know...we were visiting in our backyard with friends, (you will figure out who you are) and discussing new features that the latest rave (the iphone) has to offer. It was shown to me how this phone not only phones people and searches the net but has app's (applications FYI) for almost everything... like the laser that measures distance. Cooooool, I thought, now that could come in handy. So I threw out this idea that popped into my head at that very moment on how we could jump on this bandwagon and develope a gadget that would do something similar yet unique and make millions selling it to a targeted market.
My girlfriend thought I was brilliant, well maybe not brilliant but pretty smart anyway.
I won't mention what our men had to say. But there you have it... throwing it out there and thinking outside the box. So now when my girlfriend and I make it and sell it and get rich...
our men will have nothing to say:)

How can we do better, will be the topic this summer with my kids. Reverse thinking and thinking outside the box.
Here is an inspirational video about a young boy who thought outside the box and changed his teachers and his classmates thinking.
I think you will enjoy it.


I'm off now, I just did some reverse thinking and now thinking outside the box.
Dinner using a regular recipe, changing it, making it newer, better and tastier.
Joeji




Monday, May 10, 2010

Gardening Time

Hey there,

I'm back up and blogging again. I've been down for awhile and playing catch up with Home School work. Now it is time to get the garden tilled and planted.

The kids love gardening and have gardens of their own. This weekend we weeded them and got new fresh compost from our little compost bin and added some cow manure. This week we will be planting the seeds. Every year I like to try something new and fun for the kids to do with planting vegetables. I think I'd like to have a Garden Party for the kids. Check out this article about throwing a Garden Birthday Party.

I also came across an interesting Blog about boulevard gardens in Vancouver. It just goes to show you that thinking outside the box can be so productive. I loved this idea and wanted to share it with you.

If you are not a gardener or feel you have no room to grow vegetables a great way to start would be in pots. I grew over 54 tomato plants all in pots last year and had a great crop. I also have 4 rectangle window pots full of fresh herbs. Herbs grow like weeds are are very hardy. I leave mine outside and they just keep growing. Adding fresh oregano and basil to salads really give the salad a new taste.

That's all folks, I'm off to start Homeschool now.
Talk to you soon.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Earth Day

Hey everyone,

It's been a bit since I've been able to blog. Spring break is over and with the flowers blooming on the trees and the smell of fresh cut grass it makes me think of what a beautiful world we live in.
Talking about the world with the kids can open up so many different discussions. Kids are so curious about our world. Lately, since earth day is coming up soon on April 22nd I've been trying to focus our discussions on environmental issues. Causes /effects, Actions /reactions, what we need to live on this planet and how everyone and everything can be affected when changes take place.

I have been a frequent visitor to Eco Kids Canada and recently they sent me an Eco Kids Scavenger Hunt to be completed with the kids to win a prize. It is a series of questions about the earth. This is a great way to do some research with your kids. I have learnt so much working with them on this Hunt. They have a Homework Help page where you can get most of the answers.
On each page there is "More on this topic area" to the right where there are printable worksheets that go hand in hand with what they are reading.

If the link above doesn't work to get the printable Pdf form of the Scavenger Hunt then just go here and click Sign up it's Free button on the Teacher's Lounge area.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Fun Math

If you are a Home educator and looking for some cool ideas for your kids to do that involves math, then I think you'll like these ideas. 3 Fun Math ideas and they will not even know they are learning. Even adults will love playing them.

1. String Art: Remember when we did this fun craft in school. The wonderful thing about string art is that it's fun. Children learn patterns, measuring, hand eye coordination and memory.
  • Patterns are a large part of math. String art allows children to see another form of how patterns work. The end result can be exciting for them.
  • Memory because they have to remember where they left off to keep the pattern going.
  • Measuring is used to space out the nails. Hand eye coordination with keeping the string tight and tying simple knots.
  • Here is a string art pattern for a boat with a link on the pattern to get more free ones.

2. Toilet paper Shopping: This is my idea because my kids love to play "Let's go Shopping". They love to set up shop in our family room and spend hours buying items from the house. It's the set up that is time consuming. One day I decided to use a roll of toilet paper. How it works is like this:

Get a roll of toilet paper and rip about 20 squares off. I have 2 children so this gives them 10 each. With a marker put money amounts on each square. For my grade 1 and grade 2 kids I start at .15 cents and write random amounts up to $3.25 on the rest of the squares.

Then put a pile of change in the centre of the table and let the kids pick one square at a time and put the correct amount on the piece of toilet paper. When they are done you check to see if they have the correct amount. Praise them and then start level two. In Level two they have to place the least amount of change on the piece in order for you (the store clerk) to accept the money. This will get them thinking about exchanging 2 nickles for a dime etc.

3. Add it, Subtract it, speed: Wow I never knew how competitive my kids were until I played this game with them. They even play it now with friends when they come over.

Take a deck of cards and remove the jacks, queens and kings. You are the dealer and the kids are playing against each other. They don't touch the cards at all. Start by telling them to add 1 to each card that is placed on the table. The first one that gets the correct answer, gets to keep the card. If they say the correct answer at the same time then the cards stays on the table and another card is place on top of it. The first one that gets the right answer gets to keep both cards or however many cards they said the answer at the same time.

Each new game can be played by adding a different number to the card on the table. This game works with addition, subtraction and multiplication. It is amazing how fast they start to remember and you will notice that when doing Math book work they are faster at it.