Human Anatomy Online

Human Anatomy Online is way cool.

Dewey Decimal System

My mom would have really liked this website, "Do We" Really Know Dewey? She was a school librarian. I like to think that should would have been supportive of us homeschooling. If I ever want to organize all of our books, this will be very useful. It explains the Dewey Decimal System in a very light and fun way.

Question of the Day (Words On Us)

Why this site? Well, she does homeschool. I like her writing style and sense of humor. And she has a "Question of the Day" that lasts more than a day, and they are sometimes about homeschooling.

Participation

Friday my boys actually participated in one of the classes at WIHS Enrichment Co-op! We have gone 3 or 4 times, and this is the first time that they have consented to actually go to a class that I signed up for. Usually they just want to play in the breakroom. Not that playing isn't good: before our afternoon class they played with Magz (magnetic bars with steel marbles), building some interesting shapes and interacting with 2 other kids. DS1 worked on pronouncing interesting correctly; it was how he described what he was creating. They both also did some 24 piece jigsaw puzzles that they had never before seen.

The class that we attended was Stories and Rhythms. The facilitator read 4 books that were very rhythmic. She had the kids repeat a phrase from each book: left foot right foot feet feet feet; clickity clackity trainberry trackberry; dum ditty dum ditty dum dum dum; and something from Charlie Parker Played Be Bop. DS1 was quiet at first, even though he knows The Foot Book very well. When he saw Hand Hand Fingers Thumb he piped up that we have that book. It was all good from then, especially when she passed out pans and stick for the kids to bang (their own) rhythms. Thanks C, that was a fun time!

AAA Math

AAA Math is an interesting Math website that I found through a recommendation on WIHS. There is a CD that you can buy, but there is also online practice. It has concepts generally considered K through 8th grade level, as well as a Sudoku game. I'll definitely introduce the boys to this at some time in the future. Thanks K.

Multisensory Instruction and Learning Styles Tutorial

Multisensory Instruction and Learning Styles Tutorial is part of someone's Master's degree design project. She's a homeschooling mom of gifted kids, one of which is a kinesthetic learner (a wiggle worm who learns best when moving). I don't know how good this website is yet, or how appropriate it will be for us, but DS2 is extremely wiggly and I wonder if I will need to learn a lot about learning styles. DS1 seems (so far) to be more like me, liking hands-on, but also able to sit still and REALLY focus on something.

Math links

Here are some links recommended for young math whizzes by the Sonlight (Special Needs - Accelerated Learners) forum participants:
Kapla blocks
K'NEX
Championship Chess

Homeschooling article by Fact Master

This article, Today's useless fact - What percentage of American children are homeschooled?, is an introduction to homeschooling, stating that approximately 2.2% of US students are homeschooled. The link to Fact Master's 'Homeschooling' article is very factual and includes common pros and cons with much explanation about homeschooling. It would be a good one to send to questioning relatives.

Homeschooling a 3- or 4-Year-Old

I think I may have blogged this article, Homeschooling a 3- or 4-Year-Old, Paula's Archives, before, but here it is again, just in case. It should help me remember not to fret too much.

The Rudiments of Wisdom Cartoon Encyclopedia

The Rudiments of Wisdom Cartoon Encyclopedia has "cartoons covering almost everything there is to know." The fact and tidbits are quite interesting. The pictures are rudimentary (pun intended) and the text is somewhat hard to read all capital hand-lettering.