Pre-school for free

When my oldest was younger I stumbled on to a site called dltk-kids ( http://www.dltk-kids.com/ltk-kids ).  I have used the site off and on ever since.  The site is geared toward pre-school, but it also includes a few activities for older children.  The site offers alphabet printable that kids can color or paint in addition to craft activities that correspond to that the letter.  It also offers social studies crafts and activities such as nutrition and community themes (under the miscellaneous tab).  There are worksheets for numbers, holidays and special calendar events (National Pie Day, January 23rd).  As an added bonus, there are even Bible printable sheets.  All this is offered to you for FREE!

Since my youngest is in preschool I have been frequenting the site quiet often.  Here are some of the items we have made over the last couple of weeks.

(date on my camera is off)

Another site that I use for pre-school is called starfall.com.  The site is not printable like dltk.  It is an interactive site that teaches the names and sounds of letters to preschoolers.  This is very helpful for those of us with a bit of a southern twang as it teaches the proper pronunciations of the letters.  The site progresses as they master the sounds teaching them to read and eventually allowing them to read on their own.

Make sure to make both these sites your favorites as I am sure you could use these sites for Kindergarten as well.





Igloos Anyone?

Besides a trip to the library on Tuesday the two older girls take a class at Leftovers Etc (www.leftoversetc.com).  Leftovers is a recycling center of sorts.  They take donations of recycled items, sort them and then stock the shelf with them.  Homeschool teachers, scout leaders and teachers are able to shop for items needed to complete school projects.  Besides having walls full of milk cartons and coffee cans, Leftovers offers homeschool enrichment classes. 

This weeks class was on Igloos.  The girls learned about a family that makes a igloo every year sleeping in the igloos once complete (Not my cup of tea as I prefer the warm weather, like Florida).  They also learned the steps necessary to make their own igloo if they chose (www.igloobuilding.org).  Did you know that the entrance on a traditional igloo is "L" shaped so that if the wind and snow blows in it stops at the short end of the "L" never making into the igloo itself? The things we learn when we homeschool. Finally, they built an igloo out of cotton balls using plastic containers as the base.
This lesson could be easily duplicated at home.  I would think that even my youngest (3yrs) would enjoy making an igloo out of cotton balls.

Resources

Every Tuesday we go to our local library.  One one such trip I found a handout printed by St. Charles City-County Library District that list resources available to library members.  The handout included kid friendly search engines on science and history, but the one that catch my eye was a resource for standardized testing.  The resource is called Learning Express.  First, you need to go to www.youranswerplace.org.  This is the library system website.  Type Learning Express in the search box.  Click on the link that appears.  You will need to create an account, but once created you will have access to the tests available.  The test are listed under the elementary tab.  Included in the math category is 4th grade math practice, 4th grade math diagnostic test, CAL 4th grade math, FCAT 5th grade math (Florida's standardized test), and Texas 4th grade math test.  The is also several reading skill improvement test available under the elementary tab.  In addition to elementary tab, there is a middle school and high school tab.  I have not investigate those tabs.  If you do, please submit a comment. 
So, are you saying, that's great but I am not a St. Charles County resident.  I can't get access to the St Charles City-County website.  Good news!  The St. Charles County Library system has a co-operative with St. Louis County Library system.  So, even though you are not a resident of St. Charles County you can still obtain a St. Charles County library card.  By the way, this works both ways.  If you are a St. Charles County resident you can still receive a St. Louis County library card. You can check the near locations to you a www.youranswerplace.org

Happy New Year!

We start back to our home school routine on Monday.  I have to say I have enjoyed the little break from the routine. As we start back, I am starting somethine new-a blog.  The hope is to capture and share our home schooling experiences with family and friends and maybe even inspire a few others along the way.