I don't think I know "how" to homeschool....

[Mama2Many4]

What I mean is, I don't have a creative bone in my body. I try to navigate away from all of the worksheets, but I don't know any other way to get the material across to them!

 

I have a 1st and 2nd grader that I'm teaching currently and both they and I am bored to tears with the way things are going. It's just worksheet after worksheet, subject after subject. If I knew of a way to teach spelling, phonics and the like in a fun way, I'd be all over it!

 

Can anyone share any fun teaching methods for these things? Or point me to a blog where someone has multiple great ideas for teaching these subjects in a fun hands on way? I have no hands on ideas, nothing. It's very sad because I want my kids to enjoy learning and they are just trying to "get through" school everyday. Thanks for any help or tips you can offer. :confused::bigear:

[lovinmomma]

I had a question for you, first, if you don't mind. How long have you been homeschooling for?

[boscopup]

Phonics and spelling - Use a white board with markers and/or magnetic letters.

 

When I was first teaching DS#2 his letter sounds, I'd draw a hockey rink on the white board, then put the letter magnets on, then I drew in a puck. The player (letter) that was about to hit the puck had to have their sound made before it would hit. Then I'd just randomly draw the puck somewhere else (this is for a 4 year old, so it really didn't matter - it was still fun for him!), and another letter would have to be sounded out to hit the puck. This was a very simple, basic game with no real strategy, and it would seem boring to an adult, but a 4 year old? He was playing letter hockey! :D

 

Elizabeth has a phonics game here:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Phonics/concentrationgam.html

 

Here's some game boards I bookmarked:

 

http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/gameboard.htm

 

I'm not very creative either, but when I try to think what my boys would enjoy doing, I start to come up with some simple things. They love the white board and the letter magnets. They can be doing the exact same thing they'd be doing on paper, but it's more fun on the white board. :)

[specialmama]

Spelling Power sells a box of activity cards that can be added to any spelling or grammar program.

 

Based on your kids' ages, I'd be more inclined to drop the worksheets, or if they are necessary, then do 1 per day surrounded by lots of exploration and play. Nature walks, hands-on science like The Backyard Scientist and read-alouds. I know you'll get lots of great advice on this! :001_smile: And good for you for recognizing this before your kids think school is boring. It's not too late!

[5Wizards]

I have a few basic ideas for you. First, my 5 year old LOVES Time4learning.com. She is learning how to read primarily online. I am sitting and interacting with her the entire time. She also enjoys the math on the site, which we do for fun.

 

Instead of HWOT, have you considered something like Draw Write Now for your oldest? You could work on a drawing lesson with him, then have him do copywork associated with the picture for his handwriting.

 

Once you get to multiplication, my oldest loves Timez Attack online. It's fun and painless. Since they really don't spend much time on the computer, I am ok with these 2 things for them (Time4learning and Timezattack).

 

One last suggestion is to do some science kits if you're not already. Most kids seem to love hands-on science, and you could use it as incentive to get through some of the more tedious subjects. I'd try some Magic School bus kits along with the chapter books to go along with whichever kits you get.

 

I am being called by children, so that's all I have time for now. :001_smile:

[KrissiK]

Yeah, I hear ya! Some subjects do lend themselves to more worksheets than others. I use A Beka phonics with my kids and they are notorious for worksheets, but my kids haven't complained too much and I am slowly getting away from them as they learn to read. For language, definitely use FLL. No worksheets there! I haven't researched all the curriculum (A Beka has worked for us, so we use it for phonics and math), but what we've used that's been written by SWB really stays away from the worksheet mentality. It's helped balance out the subjects that we do worksheets with.

 

You mention that you are bored to tears. Are they? That's the real question. Some kids don't mind worksheets, even if their mom hates them. Now, if they hate them and are protesting... well, that's a different story!

[Mama2Many4]

I had a question for you, first, if you don't mind. How long have you been homeschooling for?

 

No I don't mind! :001_smile: I've been homeschooling for two years. They've never been to school outside the home so they know nothing else which helps some. :tongue_smilie:

[Mama2Many4]

Just want to say thanks for the great ideas and encouragement! We're about to get started in a minute so I'm looking for some things online now! Thanks!

[hsbaby]

Here is a simple grammar game we play: I write single words a notecards and the kids simply tell me if it is a noun, pronoung, verb, linking verb, etc. The catch is that they are rewarded with coins for each correct answer. For simple ones I toss them a penny or nickle, for newer, more difficult material they get a quarter. They love this!

[littleWMN]

My 5 year old daughter also loves Time4learning. Two free websites we also use are starfall.com and literactive.com.

 

I use Phonics Pathways with her, but we do most of the work on a small dry erase board and she loves that.

 

I also have some manipulatives we use sometimes like letter tiles and bean bag numbers. She's still working on number recognition so I will throw her a bean bag, she has to say the number and throw it back. Something I did with my oldest was use sidewalk chalk for phonics, addition problems, etc. I also had her jump on a mini trampoline while reciting facts. She's more active than my 5 year old.

 

I try to do nature walks and do something slightly creative with them. Like one fall we looked for different mushrooms and took pictures of the different kinds. Or we will collect leaves and do leaf rubbings. We will look up something new, etc.

 

These aren't super creative ideas but they work here.

[Wheres Toto]

We play a lot of games to reinforce concepts. On my blog (in siggy) there's a few suggestions in the Weekly Wrap-ups but here's a few of the more popular ones:

 

For Math:

<>= War - we each place down one card (from a deck without K,Q,J) and my son has to put the right symbol between them. If he's right, he gets the cards.

Domino parking lot - a grid with numbers 0 through 12 in boxes. He takes a domino, adds the sides together and "parks" it in the right box.

Take two dice, roll them and add the numbers together. Check off the number on a grid (like a bingo board). Win with 5 in a row, or full board, etc.

 

For Phonics/Spelling:

I made word dice - seen here although I originally got the idea from Confessions of a Homeschooler.

Kelly's Kindergarten also has a lot of printable card games for reading and File Folder Fun has file folder games.

 

Confessions of a Homeschooler and Homeschool Creations are the two blogs where I get a lot of ideas.

[5Wizards]

Just wanted to quickly add that my 5 year old also loves math and phonics games. We have addition (and multiplication) war, and a variety of other games that I can't remember the names of right now. Her cousin comes over twice/week and we always play games on those days with him. There's a game called Sum Swamp that I've had my eye on that's on sale for $7.99 on amazon right now.

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004TDLD/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

[redsquirrel]

I am not particularly creative either. A good friend once told me to pick a subject, she suggested history, and just work that to death, lol.

 

So, that is what I do. I use SOTW and the activites guide and we work that thing! I do the activities, make the meals, make the mummy, read the books. I plan it out so I have everything. I do at least one activitiy suggested. I try to do one 'big' one a month and take it easier the other weeks.

 

I also found that math games go a long way to making things feel fun.

 

Making myself to the science stuff also adds a lot to the day. Again, I have to PLAN or it won't happen, but it is always worth it in the end.

[Mama2Many4]

These are all such great ideas! Keep em coming! I would NEVER have thought of this stuff!

[Beth in SW WA]

Can anyone share any fun teaching methods for these things?

 

Another angle...

 

I separate 'fun' from school. We get school done (via the worksheets, phonogram review, math lessons/drill, etc) and then have fun when our work is finished. No, it isn't fun all the time, but why should it be? This is the real world we are preparing our kids to enter. If they have fun while learning grammar terms and math facts, great. If not, oh well. Work then play.

 

Granted, my girls consider music practice and hours of reading 'fun' so I can't complain.

[Mallory]

I think there are some good ideas in this thread

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=214262&highlight=fun

[Farrar]

We own many games for math - things like Rat-a-Tat-Cat and Mastermind and Set. There are lots more options.

 

Also, I highly recommend the Peggy Kaye books - Games for Learning, Games for Math, Games for Reading, etc.

 

And, for me, I would just say, drop some worksheets and follow the kids down some rabbit trails. Not for everything, but I find that that's an essential part of homeschooling and if you go without a curriculum, then you're forced to find your creative spot.

[Nancy Ann]

At this age it's really hard to such a formal and workbook type curriculum. Now that my son is a bit older I can really look back and see that I really didn't have to do it that way. So my ideas have changed and now for these younger years I am not afraid to take a more relaxed approach.

 

I use Five In A Row as my core curriculum for the younger years. To go along with it, you need a math program and a phonics or english program. So, it doesn't completely get rid of the workbook type programs with the math and english but Five in a Row livens things up quite a bit. You can choose a better math program. For instance we do Right Start Math which very rarely has worksheets and mostly uses games and hands on type ways of learning. However, for english I just use Rod and Staff, I have a hard time implementing some of the more creative language arts curriculum. I can't do ALL my subjects creatively because it would just wear me out!! So I just stick to a very solid language arts program like Rod and Staff and use Five in a Row and than Right Start Math. I also add in lots of reading and I use the Sonlight titles for Read Alouds and Readers. It all works very nicely together. When your kids are older you can add in a more focused science and history. Like Apologia for science and Story of the World for history. But for right now I would suggest, language arts, math and Five in a Row.

 

Five in a Row is a literature based unit study. Each week you read one book and your read it everyday, it's like your weekly school book. The book titles are really wonderful children's literature. Than on each day you pick one or 2 or even 3 lessons from the manual to do. All the lessons for each book title is categorized into language arts, social studies, art, math application and science. It's very simple to use and it really breaks up the day from having to do the math and english (which is important and needed) Much can be done orally, the art lessons are absolutely wonderful, there are lapbooks you can get to go with some of the titles.

 

Five in a Row also has a wonderful forums with very helpful people to give you more ideas to do for each of the literature titles.

 

http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/Five+in+a+Row+Vol.+1/019808/1291847888-909754

You can purchase Five in a Row at Rainbow Resource

 

Here is where you can read the message boards

http://www.fiarhq.com

Edited December 8, 2010 by Nancy Ann

[walkermamaof4]

Sentence Family and any living books for grammar are so much fun - like Ruth Heller books. Rightstart math was a blast for us. My ds begged to play the games one more time (not from the game kit but the ones scheduled into the program).

[walkermamaof4]

one other thought - read some Charlotte Mason books and enjoy nature study. We've loved that too, even though we aren't purely Charlotte Mason types. Subscribing (for free) to the RSS feed of the harmony art mom blog will help. Doing the drawings for that is fun! Also, read the posts about tea time. We also listen to the same hymn or song all month as we do handwriting and we all love that. I finally learned to enjoy our ipod in school! And we listen to audio books on librivox.org during lunch.

[Sun]

One thing I use to add some fun and to get some movement in when ds is getting fidgety is this:

 

 

Take some plain white pieces of paper. Write words or numbers relevant to what you're studying on them. So, for parts of speech, write "noun" on one, "verb" on another and so on for all the parts you'd like to review. Spread them around the room. Call out a word and the kids have to jump on to the appropriate sheet of paper. Keep calling out words that are different parts of speech.

 

For math facts, you can write different numbers on the papers. Then call out facts and have them jump. Or switch it around and have math facts on the papers and call out numbers that correspond.

[stripe]

I like MEP for math because there are lots of other activities in the lesson plans; it's not just the worksheets. Some of them are obvious while others are creative and fun. It's free.

 

I understand where you are coming from, though.

[NanceXToo]

Switch to Oak Meadow? It's creative, fun... and no worksheets. :D