Want to have some fun without spending a lot of money? There are plenty of things to do with your family in Santa Cruz, California on a beautiful day, but one of the top destinations in California is our beaches. I list here some of my favorite family friendly beaches in and around Santa Cruz County. Enjoy a family vacation or just a day out with … [Read more...]
Learning about Monkeys
I'm excited to be joining the What to Read blog hop link up as a co-host. Each week we have a different theme and I'll be suggesting my favorite books for learning about that topic with your kids. Animals have always been one of my kids' favorite topics in homeschool learning. Preschool and Kindergarten homeschooling is the perfect age for unit … [Read more...]
14 Ways to Learn Multiplication That Work!
I struggled with learning multiplication facts. I've never been great at rote memorization. I didn't actually learn upper times tables until I started teaching kids math. I bought the Times Tables DVD to supplement math learning in my kids' homeschooling and not only have they learned, but I now know my times tables as well. All through these fun, … [Read more...]
How to Encourage Innovation through Fort Building
Building forts was always one of my favorite past times as a kid. My brother and I would build them inside with couch cushions or outside with whatever materials we could fine. We'd spend hours building and playing. Building with kids is not only fun, but builds skills such as innovation, creativity, confidence, and teamwork. It's great to let … [Read more...]
Unexpected Lessons in the Life of Fred Books
My kids absolutely love Life of Fred. We enjoy reading together as we would any bedtime story, but there is so much more packed into these pages that my kids are learning and picking up on without even realizing they are learning. These educational books make for fun, math learning and add will enhance your math curriculum for homeschool or are a … [Read more...]
Play with Your Math with this Educational Toy
Building with shapes, recognizing colors, ingenuity, creativeness, geometry... learning math has never been so fun! Or should I say playing with math? We have had a set of Magformers for years and my kids have never tired of them. There are so many ways you can play with them. On the fridge Building Experimenting with magnets sorting … [Read more...]
10 Fun Math Games and Printables
Math can be a tough subject, especially if you use a math curriculum that is all worksheets, test prep, and drills. Kids can become quickly bored with math if this is all they think it is. To get my kids excited about learning math, we try to find fun and creative ways to introduce all math concepts. We read the Life of Fred math storybooks, use … [Read more...]
Ideas for Talking with Toddlers or Preschoolers to Encourage Learning
Children are naturally curious and eager to learn. They are full of questions about their world. You may be doing the most mundane activity, such as grocery shopping, picking up mail from the post office, or doing laundry, but to your kids it's all new and exciting! They will want to know how everything works and why people around them are doing … [Read more...]
