A history timeline

Someone on my provincial homeschool support group shared a great link with us. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was what I had been looking for! A history timeline, yay. Last night, I printed it and now, I only have to laminate it then put it all together. It will be a great addition to our school room. And, best of all, the kids will be able to add to it. Like when we studied pyramids or Rome, they will find a picture or make a drawing and we will add it to the timeline.

The link:

http://mad43.free.fr/spip.php?article608#

Obviously, it is in French :)

Sharing a great link

I have been wanting to put together some fun games and more for Alexandra. While looking online, I found this site:

http://www.childcareland.com/

Oh, what a dream for a homeschooling mom! There are so many free printables, I do not know where to start. Of course, the site is having a sale, which is making me wonder if I should not just buy the cd and get almost all the activities then I could chose and print complete sets.

I am thinking, I am thinking. To tell you the truth, I love the idea of putting together a complete set for every month, every special day.

A few of the themes available:

Christmas
Winter
Crayons
Easter
Butterflies
Flowers
Ice Cream Cones
Under the Sea
Autumn
Apples
Bears
Dinosaurs
Cars

And some of the activities:

File Folder Games
Forms
Lacing Cards
Shapes
Matching Mats
Letters and Numbers
Awards

The only thing that cd does not have are the learning centers, but they are also on sale.

The teaching ideas are really great. I need more ink for my printer now, lol. But, I am getting so much things put together for my kids. See, my oldest daughter says she is homeschooling HER little sister. But she says, the games we have are not for homeschooling. They are just to have fun. We need some homeschooling games. That means games on paper, just like the ones I am putting together.

A few things I am happy about: I have my own printer and laminator. I have a glue gun. And I have a $ store not far from here, lol. I love buying all the glitter for the snowmen, the ribbon for the gifts, the little white stuff for the stockings, the stickers for everything I feel needs them and so much more. And the total price is not bad at all. While I put things together, the kids can do crafts, which is one of their favorite activities.

I hope you will check out that site. I know I would have missed out on so much without it.

Thinking of changing math curriculums

We have used Singapore Math since the very beginning. It is a great curriculum and I enver thought we would use anything else. But, as Catherine moves from grade to grade, she is hating the solving problems. Solving math problems is not always easy but solving them when they are in another language is even harder. So, I think it is time to use something in French. I already bought grade 1-6 of Défi-Math and I think that, even though I would want my daughter to start from grade 1, she would enjoy it much more. The first grades would be like practice so she would move quickly through them. I know it would mean a lot of math work at first but the end result would be worth it. She could still work on her Singapore Math books when she feels like it, because she really loved them (as long as there are no solving problems).

I have a few weeks to think about it and, obviously, I will talk to her about it too.

Books, computer desk and more

We went garage saling this morning and were quite lucky. I was able to get a small computer desk with chair for the kids'. They were quite happy and now, have been asking Daddy to get their computer on it AND install of the games on it, lol.

I also got several books for them:





I got a very old book titled Catherine à la ferme. I could not not buy it for my daughter Catherine. I got a Star Wars book for the boys and a few more but most were old titles so no pictures online. I also got several Archie comics and sone canning supply, which are always needed around here.

A small unit on asteroids

I only need to find a museum to visit now.

Asteroids

Books:

Comets, Asteroids and Meteorites (Cynthia Nicolson, ISBN: 1550745786)
The Magic School Bus Out of this World: A Book About Space Rock (Joanna Cole, ISBN: 0590921568)
Asteroids and Meteorites: Catastrophic Collisions with Earth (Timothy Kusky, ISBN: 0816064695)

DVD:

Asteroids; Deadly Impact (dvd, National Geographic)

Unit on chocolate

I have finally sat down long enough to put this one together. I hope you are going to enjoy it as much as we will.

Chocolate

Computer games:

Chocolatier: Decadence by Design (download on www.playfirst.com)
The Great Chocolate Chase (download on www.playfirst.com)
Chocolatier (download on ww.playfirst.com) *
Chocolatier 2 (download on www.playfirst.com)

Books:

From Cocoa Bean to Chocolate (Robin Nelson, ISBN: 0822546655)
Smart About Chocolate, a Sweet History (Sandra Markle, ISBN: 0448434806)
The Story of Chocolate (Usborne, ISBN: 0746080549)
Chocolate: Riches from the Rain Forest (Robert Burleigh ISBN: 0810957345)
Chocolate by Hershey (Betty Burford ISBN: 0876148305)
Hershey's Kisses Substraction Book (Jerry Pallotta ISBN: 0439337798)
Hershey's Kisses Addition Book (Jerry Pallotta ISBN: 0439241731)
Hershey's Milk Chocolate Multiplication Book (Jerry Pallotta ISBN: 0439254124)
Hershey's Weights and Measures (Jerry Pallotta ISBN: 0439388767)
Hershey's Fraction Book (Jerry Pallotta ISBN: 0439135192)
The Chocolate Lovers: A Children's Story & Cookbook (Van Loon & Gate, ISBN: 1552852334)
Hershey's Classic Recipes (ISBN: 0785337288)*
Company's Coming, Chocolate Everything (ISBN: 1895455669)*
Chocolate Fever (Robert Smith, ISBN: 0142405957)
Chocolate Mousse for Greedy Goose (Julia Donaldson, ISBN: 140502190X)
The Chocolate Train (Amber Jones ISBN: 1425977731)
The Chocolate Train (Joanne Kornfeld ISBN: 097046293x)
Percy's Chocolate Crunch (Random House ISBN: 0375813926)
Curious George Goes to a Chocolate Factory (A.H. Ray ISBN: 0395912148)
Chocolate Island (Karen Dolby ISBN: 0746088191)
Triple Chocolate Brownie Genius (Deborah Sherman ISBN: 1554455351)
Chocolate Cat (Su Stainton ISBN: 0060572450)
Chocolate Touch (Patrick S. Catling ISBN: 0688161332)
The Chocolate-Covered-Cookie Tantrum (Deborah Blumenthal ISBN: 0395700280)

DVD:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Toys:

Smart Snacks: Hide 'n Peek Chocolates (Learning Resources)
Chocolate Fix (Think Fun)
Chocolate Puzzle (Great American Puzzle Factory)
Chocolate-Opoly (Late for the Sky)

Make your own Chocolate Kit (Verve, Inc)

New additions to our homeschool room

with birthday gifts.

Zachary's birthday was on Monday and besides lots of Lego Pirates, we offered him some really nice gifts that would make him learn things.

This dvd boxset is amazing. I was sure I would not like it but I am glued to the television as much as the kids are. Did you know that some people use insects to make jewels? Beautiful jewels too. I cannot recommand this boxset enough and you can be sure that I will be buying the second one as soon as I find it.



He also got two games, one of logic and one of fun, but that makes the kids count and think of strategy to win:





Finally, he got a really nice M&D puzzle, 100 pieces. A floor puzzle, which is always nice. The kids love them.



William's birthday is coming up, wonder which game I will find for him. Like Zachary, I will find games that go with his birthday theme. I know, I am particular, lol.