Teaching Ideas

I understand only too well how hard it can be to keep your children interested at lesson time, particularly in subjects that may not be their favourites, so here are a few ideas that have worked for myself and others to help get lessons flowing!  If you have any ideas of your own or tips that you would like to share with us, then please email your ideas to Teacher's corner or post your ideas on our Guestbook, we would love to hear from you. 

The Art of History

My children are especially interested in art be it drawing, painting, sculpture or even the dramatic type, so what i try and do is to incorporate this into as many of their lessons as possible.

An example of this is a lesson we did in history about the Greeks.  Now to many a look into an ancient civilisation could be facinating but to my 10 and 6 year old the facts and figures were a real bore. When i told them however that they were going to build a Trojan horse out of cardboard, glue and paints and be able to make soldiers to go inside it, the response could not have been more different and they were eager to start.

I find with a great incentive like this, not only do they take in the facts far more readily but they also seem to remember them too. If you can focus on your childs strengths and interests, then you may also find that you can take the chore out of some of the more mundane of lessons!   

For a great website that can help put the fun into any Art lesson and humour into your time with your children then visit:

Fun Family Cartoons  Here you can take alook at some fun cartoons for the whole family - where smiles are guaranteed. You can laugh away anxiety, have fun with your children with games, color in picture books, smile at funny cat pictures and even gain a few easy lessons on how to draw pictures.

For some great craft ideas to incorporate into your art lesson visit:

Busy Bee Kids Crafts Free instructions to make unique kids crafts for all occasions. All of our crafts for kids are inexpensive (often free) and are clearly explained with easy to follow directions and pictures. Most importantly they are fun crafts to make!

For some great help and advice on teaching your preschool age children visit:

Preschool ideas Just want to share with you some great ideas on
Preschool lesson plans and activities, including notes on childhood development, homeschool and the Montessori method.

Fun with Maths

Maths is always a problem for my daughter, she just has a mental stumbling block about it, although she is more than capable of mathematical work she lacks confidence as it does not come as naturally to her as some of her other subjects.

What i try to do to compensate for this is to build up her confidence by introducing fun into her maths lessons by playing maths based games to lighten the mood. A great one that seems to work for us is the Treasure Hunt. 

The idea of the game is very simple and i find very effective. Get yourself some maths problem cards either bought or home made, lots of hiding places and a some treasure to find at the end, possibly a voucher for an extra squirt of bubble bath, a hot chocolate with marsh mallows or a trip to the library, it doesn't have to be elaborate or expensive just a small treat that your child would like. Make a list of all the hiding places you have and place a card in each one, holding back one for the starting question and placing the treasure at the last hiding place on your list, now you are ready to begin.

Ask the first maths question, make it an easy one to get the game going, when the child answers correctly send them to the first destination on the list, there they will find the next maths question card. The idea is that every time the child answers correctly they get sent to the next place and so on and so on until they reach their final destination and win the Treasure!

My advice is be flexible and give them lots of help and encouragement, the idea is for them to get all the questions right eventually, so let them take their time, they will get there in the end and by the time they do their confidence will be sky high and they will have forgotten all about that fact that it was a maths lesson at all. If you have a problem with one particular lesson with your children this game can be easily adapted to suit other subjects just use different cards and a

Try to include maths in your everyday life while out shopping, get your child to use a calculator to work out the running total of the bill while going round the supermarket and then check the total at the end to see how well they did. Doubling or halving recipies when making cakes and dividing x number of pizzas into equal portions for x number of people. If you are a keen gardener get your child involved, then when planting rows of lettuce etc, measure the distance between rows and/or plants, to work out how many rows will fit in your given veggie patch; working out how many strawberry plants we will have by the end of the season if we start off with 8 plants and each one produces 3 runners, etc. 

Maths-no problem  An official distributor of the Singapore Math programme for the United Kingdom and Europe. Ideal for home-schooling, tutoring and to supplement the school curriculum. 
 

Cool math 4 kids  A flashy website that is sure to put the FUN into maths. It's a well known fact that children learn best when they are enjoying them selves so give it a go.

Getting your hands dirty with science                            

Hands on learning for me seems, to be the best method of getting lessons to have a lasting effect.   

For a recent science lesson we looked at air. We blew up balloons, made paper aeroplanes, parachutes out of tissue paper and kites and had a great time testing them out on a windy hill. Not only did we get lots of practical science experiments done but also a great day of fresh air and exercise into thbargain. That to me is what Home Learning is all about! 

Gardening is a fantastic way of studying science, not to mention the great health benefits of being in the fresh air. For a fantastic Biology lesson why not try growing plants under different circumstances and charting their progress, eg do cress seeds germinate quicker if left in a dark place or a light place? what happens to a plant if you leave it in a dark place after it has germinated? What difference is there in planting seeds in sand, clay, peat, or potting compost? How does plant growth change if you add liquid fertilizer regularly or not? Measuring the amount of rainfall in a given week or month.

Kiddie gardens  The best way to learn about plant growth is to actually do some gardening with your children, growing vegetables or flowers - the Kiddie Gardens site has loads of ideas on gardening with kids with clear step-by-step instructions designed specifically for the young gardener and their parents! This is a fantastic site that incorporates gardening and learning and have also sent us many of the ideas above on how you can use nature and your surroundings to maximise your childs learning. 

Getting mobile with Geography

Take a walk with your family creating a map of your local area, plotting important landmarks on the map (eg churches, schools, playgrounds, stations, railway lines, etc) not only does it make for a great lesson but it could be invaluable for any new comers to your area and would make a great welcoming gift.

Blooming-Babies This is a great site for educational products such as their range of children's backpacks, ideal for using on a nature hunt or for any mobile home school lesson, so check out their range of unique, creative, and educational lines of baby and children's products.

Here are a few websites that we would like to recommend, that we feel offer great learning ideas and helpful tips and advice to all parents and their children on a wide range of educational subject:

Homeschool-Rewards Homeschool rewards are achieved when you choose the right curriculum, find quality literature and fun games, and maintain order in the home. 
 

Home school ideas - Whether you have homeschool burnout, or you are just looking for free homeschooling help, this fantastic website should kick-start your imagination, with access to free educational online games, homeschooling tips and topics that can be tailored to your own projects, or used as ideas by themselves. Give this site a try, from one home educating mom who is always on the look out for new ideas, i highly recommend it.

Resources 4 Homeschoolers
Not your typical homeschool resources site. Resources 4 Homeschoolers hopes to provide you information and resources, beyond the basics, to help you homeschool better.

Custom-Homeschool-Curriculum  Unlock your child’s genius with a custom homeschool curriculum. Find out why building your curriculum around your child's learning style eliminates learning problems, increases learning retention and improves motivation. Customize your homeschool curriculum in 3 easy steps!

If you are looking for a fresh new idea to liven up any school week then look no further than Quiz at School.

This weekly quiz is enjoyed by thousands of students across the United Kingdom and is available for both Schools and Homeschoolers. each quiz consists of 10 multi-choice questions drawn from a wide range of topics including current events, UK society, history, literature, sport and pop culture. They are ideal for competitions, Wednesday morning warm-ups, Friday afternoon challenges, research projects and much much more. Here at 'The Home School' we highly recommend this fun, interactive learning experience!

Build vocabulary lesson plans using Latin Roots. Tap into the power of Latin and Greek to help your students discover the root meaning of thousands of English vocabulary words.

How important is educational computer software? Here you will find software developed to assist in your child's education. Applications combine self paced learning with vivid graphics and animation. It's fun and your child is learning!

BBC Learning  Online learning, support and advice covering all aspects of education. This site offers a whole host of lesson ideas, fun interactive educational games and bags full of further educational resources.

Scholastic Packed full of free printable educational resources and a chance to register free to their online magazines.

If you have any tips about how you get through some of your more difficult lessons or just some fun lessons that have worked well for you, then email us at Teacher's corner or post your ideas onto our Guestbook and we will be happy to print them in our next issue.