Posts

Advent idea # 5 (25 days of reading)

/7 Comments/in /by

25 days of reading!

I love this idea–I read about how a mom had carefully wrapped 25 books and each night she read one to her child at night.  Then when her second baby came along she carefully wrapped 50 books and read each child a book at night (I thought this was crazy but I kept reading . . . ).   The third child she did the same thing (she is now wrapping 75 books!) and finally with the fourth kid the books were just put in a basket and they picked randomly.

I have learned from her and I have adopted the idea of reading a special Christmas book to my kids each night–and I did wrap them in white paper and I did number some of them . . . but I’m only reading one book a night!  and some are chapter books so I will spread those out over a few nights.

a basket of books

a basket of books

I didn’t buy the books all at once–I searched the house first–I found several books with a Christmas theme.  Then I stopped at the library and they have a used book rack–I went often and picked up a book here and there for 25 cents-$1.  Then I just needed a place to put them so I wouldn’t forget!

a selection of our Christmas books

a selection of our Christmas books

I’m enjoying this “new” tradition.  Tomorrow we will read a book before quiet time rather than wait until evening–this lends itself to lot of possibilities and I love planing in options.  My “older” son likes to stop and listen or read some of the longer books . . . my heart sings to see all the kids gathered in a layered mess reading.

Be Blessed as we focus on wonder of this season.

I’m linking up with  All things christmas, deck the halls

 

Kids + Reading=Easy!

/1 Comment/in /by

I’m so excited!  Today I discovered this awesome online reading resource.

Lit2Go supports Grades K-12 with an extensive collection of free audio books to help us present literature to our kids.  Each book is given a reading level based on the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Index.  This index is explained on the site but it is basically avg. # words/sentence, length, syllables/word to estimate the difficulty of the text.  This formula converts to a grade level.

When you get to the site, you’ll see a brief introduction, some featured audio books, and a menu where you can browse for audio literature by:

Author– Search for books by your favorite authors, in alphabetical order from Aesop to Walt Whitman.

Book Title – Explore the alphabetical index for literature from the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain to Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.

Genres – Find literature based on preferred genres including:

  • Adventure
  • Fantasy
  • Historical Fiction
  • Memoir
  • Mystery
  • Nursery Rhyme
  • Poetry
  • Science Fiction
  • Tragedy
  • And More!

Collections – Browse for literature by collections based on themes including:

  • African-American Literature
  • Books of Oz
  • Civil War
  • Dragons
  • Mathematics
  • Monsters
  • Princesses
  • Science
  • Sherlock Holmes
  • And more!

Readability – Search for Literature based on the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level from K-12.

Just click on a title of interest and a new page opens where you can find more information and the MP3 download links.

I looked at Uncle Tom’s Cabing–the kids version and the voice was pleasant and easy to pay attention to–for kids who might have issues keeping focus–this will be great.  I spent way too much time listening to poetry . . . and each book or chapter has an activity sheet.

This site would be perfect for parents who:

  • homeschool
  • seek enrichment
  • have kids that learn differently
  • have kids that need a multi media approach.

I highly recommend Lit2Go.

Be Blessed as you discover new and exciting way to educate your children.

I’m linking up with motivation monday, create with joy, Busy Mondays, mindful mothering, and with Ann, The Better Mom, Rediscovering Domesticity, Titus 2 Tuesday, Teach Me Tuesday, Titus (2)sdays, Gradituesdays, Heart and Home, Whatever Works Wednesday, Wisdom Wednesday, Fabulously Frugal Thursday, Show and Share Wednesday, Saturday Show and Share.

The Classroom @ Joyful Mom

/1 Comment/in /by

Welcome to The Classroom of Joyful Mom.

The Classroom is a space for me to write about:

  • homeschool related topics
  • “away” school related topics
  • how kids learn differently and how I approach teaching them
  • technology based learning–apps, readers, online programs
  • what works and what doesn’t for me!
  • and tons of projects that I do with the kids–for fun and learning
  • how I manage my own homeschool
  • how I incorporate speech therapy into the everyday
  • how I incorporate occupational therapy into the everyday
  • the challenges of being home and schooling

I really love teaching kids–but I know I would never survive a typical classroom.  My philosophy is when kids can be given the time and opportunity to develop at their own pace, they bloom.  I so enjoy giving the kids I work with tools to create their own way of understanding a subject.

In my homeschool we use a mix of unschooling, Charlotte Mason, books, notebooks, the iPad, computer . . . whatever it takes for us to fully grasp the subject at hand.  Some subjects I teach everyone at the same level and other subjects are done one on one.  My goal is to provide and environment where my kids enjoy learning and seek it out–for themselves–not just when we are “doing school.”  I want them to integrate math, science, reading, writing, art and music to find solutions to real problems.

 

 

Be Blessed.

By wisdom a house is built,

and through understanding it is established;

through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.  Proverbs 24:3-4.

Linking up with tactile Tuesday, Works for me Wednesday,  Work in Progress Wednesdays, Wisdom Wednesday, hip homeschool hop,