Saturday, October 30, 2010

Learning English Language

Learning English can feel overwhelming to anyone. Children start out learning English at a very young age by first imitating adults and later in school. Starting to build a strong vocabulary is one way children develop their English skills as they grow. Vocabulary can be developed through books, reading, andwriting. When children read literature, those books help children to develop strong vocabulary skills and, in turn, their English skills also grow. Here is a fabulous list of pages which are great resources for learning English: 

Analogy Games 
Antonym Games 
Compound Word Games 
Context Games
Contraction Games 
English Language Games 
Foreign Language Games 
Hig Pig Rhyming Games - These are a paticular favorite of mine for learning about words and vocabulary since I grew up playing them!
Homophone Games 
Idioms Games
Oxymoron Games 
Parts of Speech Games 
Prefix Games _ I played these and would like to see them redone!
Root Word Games
Spelling Games 
Suffix Games
Syllable Games 
Synonym Games 
Word Play Games 

  Games can be a wonderful resource for building vocabulary for English language learners. Using vocabulary games can strengthen skills already in place or develop new skills yet to be learned. ESL students can use vocabulary games to help strengthen their English skills as well. By playing fun online games to help with word association, students who use English as a second language can more easily remember difficult language rules. Many teachers find games to be a strong classroom tool for foreign language students. Students can often get bored with books and worksheets. Using online games and interactive tools can keep students focused and learning for extended periods.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Homeschool Curriculum

Curriculum needs to be easy to use and provide guidance for both instructor and instructee. If not, why not just start with a list of learning goals and create your own lesson plans.  In many ways, this is the way to do curriculum especially if you can get the student to take responsibility for the creation of the curriculum.

But, for normal kids, look no further than T4L's homeschooling curriculum.

Homeschool Curriculum - Many Choices...Many Challenges

One of the challenges of homeschool education is selecting curriculum that meets the needs of each child. Many families find that what fits one child, may not fit another, or that what worked well one semester, may feel stale and stop working the next. Or in some cases, what works for one child in one subject, does not work for the same child in another subject. Well, nobody said it was going to be easy.
What most families discover is that their family's educational needs cannot be met by a single curriculum... and that blending several homeschool programs and approaches can increase effectiveness. This eclectic homeschool approach allows the optimal education for children being homeschooled.

Great Educational Curriculum for Homeschooling - Time4Learning

Time4Learning is a great homeschool education partner because it offers each child their own learning path, with animated lessons, interactive activities, unit assessments, and integrated printable worksheets for reinforcement.
Time4Learning is a great homeschool curriculum choice. Some parents use Time4Learning as supplementary, others use Time4Learning as the primary homeschooling curriculum. Time4Learning has curriculum for homeschooled children in Preschool, Grade School, and Junior High. The Time4Learning home school website provides a comprehensive language arts and math curriculum and includes science and social studies.

Elementary Writing: The Writers Workshop

It seems like Writer's Workshop and Six Traits Writing are two popular approaches to learning to write in schools.  But how is a school ...