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.

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.

How to incorporate writing into your lapbook project

A great way to reinforce knowledge gained on a particular subject is to create a lapbook around that theme. Lapbooking has become wildly popular in the homeschool arena as evidenced by the sites poping up to provide free downloadables for your lapbook or to sell you everything you need in one easy-to-use kit.

But one thing that has been a struggle is how to incorporate more writing into the lapbook process. Time4Writing has tackled this challenge with their online writing tutorials for kids from 2nd to 12th grades. You may enjoy reading abut how to bring writing to a lapbook project on any given subject.

In addition, this website has a great blog post including a video of a finished lapbook project or 2, just in time for Thanksgiving.  Directly from the website:

"Still not sure what a lapbook is? I wasn't either, until I saw a few that others had created. One of my daughters' Thanksgiving lapbooks is showcased in the video below (found on the site)."

Check it out and enjoy!

list from onelook.com/browse.shtml

General dictionaries and glossaries indexed by the OneLook® search engine:

Compact Oxford English Dictionary: [41947 words, 22Nov2008, More info] - contacted ann 4/11
The Word Spy: [2628 words, 30Mar2009, More info] Paul McFedries - not a real dictionary....
V2 Vocabulary Building Dictionary: [2042 words, 30Mar2009, More info] - word builder product
Encarta® World English Dictionary, North American Edition: [107301 words, 14Aug2003, More info]
Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, 11th Edition: [107545 words, 27Sep2008, More info]
Cambridge International Dictionary of English: [66408 words, 19Nov2007, More info]
InfoVisual Visual Dictionary: [3884 words, 9Apr2006, More info]
Wiktionary: [580200 words, 22Feb2009, More info]
Reuse terms - Not at all clear. It seems that I could bring over the wiktionary, have it available on the site and query my copy of it. posted at:

Webster's New World College Dictionary, 4th Ed.: [80134 words, 15Sep2008, More info]
The Wordsmyth English Dictionary-Thesaurus: [47719 words, 09.01.2001, More info]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: [89248 words, 24Dec2008, More info]
Infoplease Dictionary: [127110 words, 25May2008, More info]
Dictionary.com: [775929 words, 1Apr2008, More info]
Online Etymology Dictionary: [21462 words, 30Mar2009, More info]
UltraLingua English Dictionary: [103294 words, 22Jan2009, More info]
Cambridge Dictionary of American English: [37791 words, 4Jul2002, More info]
Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms: [5132 words, 4Jul2002, More info]
Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia: [3201550 words, 2Sep2007, More info]
Cambridge International Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs: [1929 words, 4Jul2002, More info]
Online Plain Text English Dictionary: [111778 words, 5Sep2007, More info]
Webster's Revised Unabridged, 1913 Edition: [88773 words, 31Oct2003, More info]
Rhymezone: [229780 words, 23Dec2008, More info]
CMU Pronouncing: [118581 words, 18Nov2007, More info]
My Hebrew Dictionary: [974 words, 16Apr2008, More info]
Grandiloquent Dictionary: [2039 words, 10Aug2008, More info]
Faclair G?idhlig - Beurla Gaelic - English Dictionary: [5173 words, 26Dec2008, More info]
AllWords.com Multi-Lingual Dictionary: [175063 words, 12Aug2002, More info]
R-O-Matic Italian/English Dictionary: [3504 words, 14Sep2007, More info]
The Spoken Taino Language: [334 words, 13Dec2007, More info]
GREEK-SERBIAN DICTIONARY: [3932 words, 3Sep2007, More info]
Strange and Unusual Dictionaries: [1769 words, 20Oct2007, More info]
Langtolang English from/to French dictionary: [20075 words, 29Aug2002, More info]
Webster's 1828 Dictionary: [62949 words, 27May2008, More info]
1500 acronymes de l'�cole: [8239 words, 18Nov2007, More info]
18 LANGUAGES MULTILINGUAL DICTIONARY: [9309 words, 10Mar2006, More info]
1911 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica: [34595 words, 31Jul2008, More info]
A to Z list of the most popular idioms: [207 words, 21Nov2008, More info]
ANTIDICO (L') - LE DICTIONNAIRE DES MOTS ABSENTS DES AUTRES DICTIONNAIRES: [7027 words, 18Jan2009, More info]
All About Homonyms: [1506 words, 18Nov2007, More info]
American-Britih Dictionary: [362 words, 29Nov2008, More info]
Bali: The Online Travel Guide: [978 words, 26Sep2008, More info]
Britih-American Dictionary: [365 words, 29Nov2008, More info]
Celtic Dictionary: [129 words, 17Aug2008, More info]
Chinese Characters: [398 words, 29Aug2002, More info]
Cl�sica expresi�n Canaria: [320 words, 25May2008, More info]
Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition: [50831 words, 18Nov2007, More info]
Columbia Gazetteer of North America: [33247 words, 12Mar2008, More info]
Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition (Encyclopedia.com): [7267 words, 5Mar2006, More info]
Dict.cc Englisch/Deutsch Wörterbuch: [750745 words, 15Mar2006, More info]
Dict.cc Englisch/Deutsch Wörterbuch: [293932 words, 15Dec2007, More info]
Dictionary of Americanisms (1848): [2158 words, 5Sep2007, More info]
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898): [14825 words, 11Apr2003, More info]
Dictionary/thesaurus: [412668 words, 18Jan2009, More info]
Dizionario Esoterico: [1855 words, 14Mar2006, More info]
Double-Tongued Word Wrester: [1249 words, 13Dec2007, More info]
E Cobham Brewer, The Reader's Handbook: [5277 words, 29Aug2002, More info]
ESL Idiom Page: [401 words, 21Aug2008, More info]
Election glossary: [61 words, 17Feb2009, More info]
Encarta® Online Encyclopedia, North American Edition: [4994 words, 26Aug2003, More info]
Etymologically Speaking: [236 words, 10Aug2008, More info]
Etymologies & Word Origins: [429 words, 4Mar2006, More info]
Eurodict Online: [81035 words, 23Jan2009, More info]
Foreign Words and Phrases: [73 words, 28Nov2008, More info]
Free Dictionary: [254453 words, 18Feb2008, More info]
GREEK-CATALAN DICTIONARY: [2470 words, 13Jan2009, More info]
GREEK-ENGLISH DICTIONARY: [2403 words, 22Nov2008, More info]
GREEK-SLAVONIC (LANGUAGE OF THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA: [3776 words, 9Feb2009, More info]
Gaelic Language (Manx): [48957 words, 18Nov2007, More info]
General English-Spanish: [20735 words, 29Aug2002, More info]
Hutchinson Dictionaries: [17065 words, 15Apr2008, More info]
Hutchinson's Dictionary of Difficult Words: [14455 words, 13Dec2007, More info]
Japanese Kanji & Chinese Calligraphy Dictionary: [1958 words, 26Jan2009, More info]
Langtolang: [51081 words, 29Aug2002, More info]
Le Dicomoche: [553 words, 10Oct2002, More info]
Lexical FreeNet (shows word connections): [134189 words, 4Jul2002, More info]
Logos Multilingual E-translation Portal: [60678 words, 21Nov2008, More info]
LookWAYup Translating Dictionary/Thesaurus: [187425 words, 22Nov2008, More info]
Luciferous Logolepsy: [9029 words, 17Aug2008, More info]
Mnemonic Dictionary: [147153 words, 26Dec2008, More info]
My Hebrew Picture Dictionary: [180 words, 24Sep2008, More info]
MyWord.info: [2507 words, 13Feb2009, More info]
New English Words: [112 words, 24Dec2008, More info]
OneLook Dictionaries "Frequently Asked Words" (FAW): [1 words, 4Jul2002, More info]
Online Talking Dictionary: [293864 words, 18Jan2009, More info]
Phrasal Verb Page: [173 words, 17May2003, More info]
Phrase Finder: [939 words, 11Feb2009, More info]
Robb: German English: [439 words, 14Mar2006, More info]
Robb: Swahili English: [31 words, 15Apr2008, More info]
Russian dictionary: [157 words, 25Mar2006, More info]
Siglas de Organizaciones en Guatemala: [981 words, 28Nov2003, More info]
Stammtisch Beau Fleuve Acronyms: [23068 words, 20Oct2007, More info]
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: [6639 words, 13Dec2007, More info]
The Phrontistery - A Dictionary of Obscure Words: [16690 words, 10Aug2008, More info]
The Word Detective: [1601 words, 22Dec2008, More info]
The Free Dictionary: [49963 words, 13Jan2009, More info]
The Free Dictionary: [49756 words, 18Jan2009, More info]
The Free Dictionary: [49803 words, 18Jan2009, More info]
The Free Dictionary: [5417 words, 18Jan2009, More info]
The Free Dictionary: [41088 words, 18Jan2009, More info]
The Free Dictionary: [20162 words, 18Jan2009, More info]
The Free Dictionary: [23409 words, 18Jan2009, More info]
The Free Dictionary: [49756 words, 21Jan2009, More info]
The Free Dictionary: [24247 words, 21Jan2009, More info]
Turkish Acronyms to live by: [138 words, 15Mar2006, More info]
Typographical Errors in Library Databases: [5114 words, 16Nov2008, More info]
UVic Writer's Guide: [319 words, 23Jan2009, More info]
UltraLingua French Dictionary: [38910 words, 25Jan2009, More info]
Urdu/English Dictionary: [118573 words, 23Jan2009, More info]
VERBAL VESTIGIA (Words Hanging On By A Single Phrase): [50 words, 29Aug2002, More info]
Virdainas - a Sudovian Dictionary: [5918 words, 21Sep2003, More info]
Who2: [3321 words, 22Feb2009, More info]
Wikimedia Commons US English Pronunciations: [7192 words, 10Feb2009, More info]
WordNet 1.7 Vocabulary Helper: [119160 words, 2Aug2003, More info]
World Wide Words: [2219 words, 22Jan2009, More info]
Worthless Word For The Day: [4003 words, 30Mar2009, More info]
Ye Olde English Sayings: [41 words, 24Dec2008, More info]
Yiddish-Hebrew-English-German-Russian Picture Dictionary: [186 words, 25Mar2006, More info]
bab.la: [512709 words, 23Dec2007, More info]

Online dictionaries to use

Looking for free online dictionaries with definitions, antonyms, synonyms, phonetics, tenses, and example usage.

Wordnet from Princeton U.
Lexiteria - not free- contacted 4/10
As-U-Read - from Fanix - contacted 4/11
http://wordweb.info/ - very promising
should I try chatterblox on vocab as an affiliate?

TheFreeDictionary.com by farlex.com - contacted 4/11
http://www.onelook.com/browse.shtml - wow, what a resource!


Wordweb for horse: Not the simplest definition....
Noun: horse hors
Solid-hoofed herbivorous quadruped domesticated since prehistoric times- Equus caballus
A padded gymnastic apparatus on legs- gymnastic horse
Troops trained to fight on horseback"500 horse led the attack"; "500 horse cavalry led the attack"- cavalry, horse cavalry
A framework for holding wood that is being sawed- sawhorse, sawbuck [N. Amer], buck
A chessman shaped to resemble the head of a horse; can move two squares horizontally and one vertically (or vice versa)- knightVerb: horse hors
Provide with a horse or horses
Sounds like: hoarse
Derived forms: horses, horsed, horsing
See also: equine, horse-drawn
Type of: cater, chess piece, chessman, equid, equine, exerciser, framework, gymnastic apparatus, military personnel, ply, provide, soldiery, supply, troops
Part of: Equus, genus Equus
Encyclopedia: Horse Horse, Akhal-teke Horse, Przewalski's

As-U-Read is an OS-level, quick and easy one-click English dictionary system for online reading. It makes every word on your computer screen click-able. As you read through on-screen text and encounter a new English word that you wish to know the meaning, just use your mouse and Control-Right click the word; As-U-Read will instantly and conveniently show you the word's meaning in a small tooltip-like window next to the word. The window is small and being shown in a smart way: it does not cover any text you are reading and will disappear automatically if you move your mouse out of the word. By giving you instant explanation with a simple mouse click, As-U-Read not only saves you time looking up in dictionaries but also gives you comfortable and confident reading experience not known before to help you tackle the information overload that you may have to deal with today. Free to try!

Homeschooling Special Needs

Homeschooling Special Needs

I thought this story was really interesting and so I'm sharing it.

There I sat once again searching for the right curriculum for our children. We had decided to home school our kids the year before and we still hadn't gotten ourselves situated in a routine. What was wrong with me? How can all these moms be so organized and home school multiple kids but I couldn't? I began to dread to go to home school meetings because the mom's always seemed to have it all under control. How come only my kids didn't want to get up and school? Was I the only one that didn't have a clue as what her kids were going to do from day to day? The questions kept going through my mind and I continued to search for something that would be "right" for us. I would buy workbooks, text books, flashcards and software all relating to education. We even went to the library about two days a week but nothing seemed to be what I was looking for in an education for my kids. Our hunt for curriculum was a little different than what some kids need because of our kids' situation.

Vocabulary Website

Learn English Vocabulary

Vocabulary.co.il is a great vocabulary builder. This word game website is a fun way to build English vocabulary.

Vocabulary is Fun is a leading vocabulary website worldwide with the best flash online word games. The vocabulary games include an online word search, an online crossword puzzle, and hangman online (our version is called HangMouse). Users choose the vocabulary list that the online word game will use in the word game. The vocabulary games are popular for use on smart boards for word games to build vocabulary skills in classrooms.

Many people build their English vocabulary through a blend of methods -- by taking English classes, reading books, watching movies in English, and studying English with English language software. Playing word and vocabulary games is a valuable part of learning English. There are thousands of vocabulary words in our vocabulary lists.

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