FREE Audio Books

Tons of audio books for children - FREE - found here.

Listen on demand or download.

Random

1. Today is Mozart's birthday.

2.  Here's a simple activity for the littles (and bigs):

Liberty Bell

Make your own Liberty Bell, but don't forget the crack.

Read as little or as much as you would like about the Liberty Bell here.

-Thanks Holly Bertram for the links.

Songs for Comm. Central

I apologize for not posting this last week (when we were reviewing helping verbs).  Better late than never, eh?  If viewing in email, click to the blog to watch.


And for kicks and grins...
John Isaac (two years ago!!) sings the first part of The Beginnings of Time:
spoiler alert: he butchers the pronunciation of Cuneiform.




Last week's portion:


This week's:


The entire song:

Betsy Ross

Kristi McFarland passed this along:

Here is a site I found on Betsy Ross--seems best for younger kids. Since I have a little girl I thought she might enjoy learning about the important role a woman played during the American Revolution.

And here is a site that shows you how to make a 5-pointed star, perhaps the same method Betsy used.

EASY Kinetic Theory Experiment

Watch John Isaac here.  All you need is water and food coloring.


We liked this one, too - that explains kinetic and atomic theories.

Minutemen and Soldiers

Battle of Bunker Hill PDF with great info and interesting bios on soldiers.

Minutemen info can be found here.

I know of a few little boys who would definitely like this fun idea:

The minutemen had to be dressed and armed very quickly. Have your child pretend that he (or she) is a minute man and time them putting on clothes or outerwear and grabbing weapons.

Thanks Holly Bertram for the ideas!

Easy and Fun Math Game

The following was originally posted at What Do We Do All Day.  Mom & Kiddo graciously allowed us to re-post it here.

As soon as Kiddo found the book, Games for Math, in the library bag he dove for it. Really. I love that I have not even had to look at the book, he has been reading it cover to cover and detailing instructions for the math games he would like to play with me.

Here are the instructions for a simple game we played last night called "Make 10":

After removing the face cards from a deck of playing cards, each player chooses 5 cards. Using the 5 cards create as many equations as you can in which the sum equals 10.

For example using the cards in my hand you see above:

9+4-3=10

9+3-2=10

Once I was able to use all five cards at once: 8+5+3-5-1=10. Kiddo thought that was terrific. You don't necessarily have to write the equations down but Kiddo enjoyed doing that as part of the exercise.

Keep a deck of cards stashed in your purse and this would be a great travel/waiting/restaurant game.

This is probably not the last time you will see games from this book on this blog!

Forge: Revolutionary War Book Recommendation

My husband and second grade son recently listened to Forge by Laurie Anderson while on a long road trip.  Both adult and child were enthralled by the story.

(I have been reading Chernow's Washington: A Life and read aloud an interesting section one night.  My husband said he already knew the fact because of listening to Forge.)

Below are details about the audio book from the CALS website the book is also available in print which is recommended for ages 10 and up.
-Julie

Details

Descript	7 sound discs (7 hrs., 51 min.) : digital ; 4 3/4 in.
Narrator	Tim Cain.
Note	Unabridged.
Target Audience	Ages 9 and up.
Summary	Separated from his friend Isabel after their daring escape from slavery, fifteen-year-old Curzon serves as a free man in the Continental Army at Valley Forge until he and Isabel are thrown together again, as slaves once more.

Here's a video interview with the author that I found on this blogger's book review of Forge.  At the end of her 3.5 minute interview, she says something like, "My job as an author is to keep younger readers so enthralled that their parents have to yell at them to turn off the light at night. To which the children reply, 'Please one more chapter!'"

Boston Tea Party Art Project

Here's an art project about the Boston Tea Party for the whole family.  From youngest to oldest, all should enjoy.

Thanks Holly Bertram for passing along the link.

In Thursday's Dem. Gazette

I saw this in the paper today and thought some might be interested:

And two just for fun.

-Julie

Homeschooling Priorities - Reminders

This was a great post from Simple Homeschool.  Good reminders for the new year.
-Julie

American Revolution Lapbook and more

Wow! It's hard to get back into the swing of things again, isn't it? I have to admit that I'm ready for a routine again, though. I'm excited about our upcoming history - the American Revolution! I didn't learn this well when I was younger so it's almost brand new to me. Even though Baker is only in 2nd grade, we are going to read Johnny Tremain and he is going to independently ready The Magic Tree House, Revolutionary War on Wednesday.

There is an abundance of FREE (love that) resources on the internet to make this section so hands on and interesting. (Don't you just love the wonders of the internet? What a blessing to our generation when used wisely.) I'm probably going to make a lapbook / 3-d notebooking pages right alongside Baker. He loves it when I do that and it's F-U-N for me but then I'm a geek and it's only the two of us for school.

The most resource rich site I found that is easy to use is the Dynamic 2 Moms blog. Downloads and pix and links - oh, my! Have fun! Remember that you don't have to do it all since we'll come back to it again and can go deeper. (I just love this aspect of the classical method.)