Homeschool « I Know a Chicken

Our homeschool favorites ~ including our best elementary iPad apps

On May 9, 2013 / Homeschool / Leave a comment

It’s no secret that I love incorporating the iPad in the education of my chicks. Well, this year is no different! I use the iPad more than ever!

For Social Studies, we’re using Elemental History’s Adventures in America. Boy Chick (who is now 8, by the way) and I are really enjoying this chronological look at American history. I chose the digital download, and simply uploaded the Teacher’s Guide to my iPad. On social studies days, I just read from my iPad in iBook.

We’re also using Biology for the Grammar Stage by Elemental Science. Another digital download.. and my Teacher’s Guide is on my iPad. Save paper and ink??? Score!

For Spelling and Vocabulary, I’ve started using Spelling City. I splurged for the premium membership, which is around $30 per year for a family of 5. Not bad… I adore the app, though. Haven’t even really used the online games. It looks as though they even have an android app as well! The app itself is free.. and there are lots of fun games for both vocabulary words and spelling words. You can search for lists for both on spelling city… I choose to upload my own lists.

We’ve been using the iPad app Splash Math (Grade 3) for brushing up on math stuff. We’ve bounced around math curriculums this year. We started out using the free Mathematics Enhancement Programme. Honestly, I didn’t dig it. We finished the whole year (I think it was year 2), but it honestly left a bad taste in my mouth. I felt as though it held Boy Chick back from what we were doing last year. That’s the one downside to eclectic homeschooling, I suppose. Bouncing around here and there… and not finding a groove. We’ve switched over to Math Mammoth. I think this one might be our new math curriculum. It’s inexpensive, but seems thorough.

Our Language Arts is varied and all over the place… for reviews, I love the McGraw Hill apps… Grammar Wonderland and Word Wonderland. They were both free- can’t beat that! And Boy Chick actually found them to be a bit of fun.

Other favorite iPad apps are some oldies, but goodies! They’re still playing Toontastic. This app is absolutely amazing… It is art and language arts… Kids can draw, direct, produce and narrate their very own cartoons. The app is free, but there are add-ons for different characters and scenes. But, if you’re anything like me, you’re ~~cheap~~ frugal and won’t splurge on them. I can use the excuse that it is developing their imaginations and their drawing capabilities. Teehee.

Scribblenauts is another that is well loved. What is not to love about this one? If you don’t have this one and you have an elementary aged child, run – do not walk, and download this app. Girl Chick (who is 4) also loves this app! And she’s learning how to spell words! She doesn’t necessarily play the game, but she enjoys writing words and watching them appear! Plus, she gets to work with her big brother and they need all the cooperation practice they can get.

So, yes, we use the iPad in our homeschool frequently. Every day, in fact. Now, what I want to know is… will someone please come up with a complete homeschool iPad curriculum? That would be awesome-sauce. And epic. And all the other things Boy Chick says that means Cool.

What apps do your youngin’s love?

Our favorite IPad apps for homeschool and education

On May 10, 2012 / Homeschool, Kids Activities, Our Chicks / Leave a comment

It’s no secret that we are an iPad family… We have 2. But, one is for my photography business… one is for the chicks.

Girl Chick and Boy Chick love the iPad and we use it as a reward as well as a homeschool resource. There are lots of great learning apps to be found… Here are a few that we use for early education and love…

Girl Chick’s Favorites:

1. Curious George at the Zoo ($.99 each) (Great for Preschool through early Elementary)

Girl Chick LOVES this one. Boy chick will play it from time to time… but Girl Chick loves all of the puzzles and stickers. Lots of learning opportunities… including matching, memory and problem solving. This app is a no brainer for preschool kids. I cannot wait for the expansion sets!

2. Teach Me Kindergarten and Teach Me First Grade ($.99 each) (Great for age range 3-7)

While we’re not very big on sight reading – we taught Boy Chick to read phonetically with multiple resources, but mainly the book, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. (I highly recommend this book to ANYONE with children – not just homeschoolers!), the sight words are great for budding readers! Girl Chick tries to sound out words – she’s only 3! The beginner math uses visual objects that the kids can “throw away” for subtraction or add extras for addition. There are lots of fun rewards – including a virtual fish tank and stickers with different backgrounds. I love that I can control the number of correct answers needed for coins (used for rewards). This one is my favorite for Girl Chick.

3. Starfall ABCs ($2.99) (Preschool Age)

The same Starfall ABC that your preschooler uses on your computer can now be used on the iPad. Yeah, we had to pay for it, but now we can take it with us to use in the van or at a restaurant.

4. UmiNumbers ($2.99) (Preschool Age – Kindergarten)

Some may say this is overpriced – Some might be right. But if your kid loves Umizoomi like mine does, it might hold their attention. The math games are fun and the animation is as beautiful as the cartoon itself. I wish there was a different reward system – kids earn trophies. I also wish there were more levels. But, Girl Chick loves it, so it’s included.

5. Dora’s Skywriting ABC’s ($3.99) (Preschool Age)

Another app in which you are paying for the character, but don’t let that stop you. This app is great for early writers and letter recognition. Girl Chick loves it because it’s Dora; I love the report card. A must have for Dora fans.

Boy Chick’s Favorites:

1. Scribblenauts ($.99) (Elementary Age – Adult)

Do you have this app? If you don’t, go get it. Right now. I’ll wait….

This is, without a doubt, my (and Boy Chick’s) favorite educational app. If you have no idea what Scribblenauts is all about, here’s the breakdown: Lots of fun puzzles that the user gets to solve by writing nouns and sometimes adjectives. For instance, you have a character that needs items for a beach party. You need to spell out the words, and the objects appear! I love that you are only limited by your imagination. Boy Chick loves to sit and create scenes in the playground area – he’ll sometimes ask for help with spelling, so he’s learning to spell plus problem solve. This one gets my star on Boy Chick’s faves – I even love playing this game! Don’t forget to add on the expansion set for more levels!

2. Rocket Math ($.99) (Elementary Age)

Boy Chick loves this one – He gets to build his own rocket and have test flights using money “earned” by solving math equations. The math equations difficulty ranges from simple addition and subtraction to square root. A definite must have app.

3. Everyday Mathematics Addition Top-It (FREE) (Early Elementary)

A fantastic counting game using virtual cards. Cards are dealt, added then the larger amount must be selected. Girl Chick even loves this one, although she needs help counting. It’s free, so another no brainer.

4. Everyday Mathematics Tric-Trac ($1.99) (Elementary)

We like this one. A lot. Another math game with multiple players – Players roll 2 die, add the numbers, then use them to cancel out numbers 1-10. So, if you roll an amount that adds up to 8, you can use any combination of numbers to add up to 8 – knock out the 3 and the 5 or the 2 and the 6 and so on. The person with the fewest numbers left wins! Girl Chick doesn’t quite get this one yet, but Boy Chick loves the problem solving.

5. Big City Adventure NYC ($4.99) (All ages)

Not educational, per se, but Boy Chick must read to solve the puzzles. It’s a classic hidden picture game, but the pictures are beautifully done. There are tons of levels and little mini-games to keep the player hooked. Don’t let the price scare you off, this is a great game for kids of all ages.

Honorable Mentions

Learning to Tell Time is Fun ($1.99) (Early Elementary)

I used this app alone to help Boy Chick learn to tell time. I believe the State Standard for Boy Chick’s grade is to tell time to the half hour. Boy Chick can tell time to the minute. I found it to be very useful. It’s very hands on – I’ll use it with Girl Chick when I choose to teach her as well.

Do you have a favorite educational app you use with your kids? What is it and why do you love it?

BEST TOP IPAD APPS FOR KIDS

Homeschool Fun Stuff ~ Exploding Sandwich Bags

On May 1, 2012 / Homeschool, Kids Activities / Leave a comment

This is a great teaching activity for spring and summer – take the mess outside!

Assemble your cast:

1/2 cup of vinegar

1 Heaping tablespoon baking soda

1 press and close zipper style baggie

1 paper towel cut in half

Place the baking soda in a nice neat pile in the middle of your paper towel piece.

Now, fold it all up nice and neat. If you’re an old lady like myself, you’ll remember a time when notes were passed in school… not text messages or Facebook messages…. This experience will come in handy. Fold that puppy up so no baking soda can escape without your prior approval.

Pour 1/2 cup or so of vinegar into your sandwich baggie. Go ahead and take the bag and the perfectly folded paper towel outside or wherever you feel like having a huge mess.

Now this next part is a little tricky. You need to close up the bag before the vinegar reaches the baking soda in your paper towel note. So, I ended up closing up the bag halfway, placed the paper towel at the top, held onto it not letting it drop in and zipped the bag shut. That was a lot harder to explain than it was to actually do.

After you have it in, shake that puppy up and run for cover!