We're getting into a pretty good routine, but I think I need to mix things up just a bit to keep my kids interested. What simple, easy to implement ideas do you have? Lately my boys are loving reading in the closet with headlamps. For a reward tomorrow they get to choose one subject to skip and do bananagrams instead. I'm looking for other ideas along these lines to keep the kids excited. Got anything?
Throw in a craft or art lesson on whatever you are learning about. Today we made a paper model of a living fossil. Gives them a break from writers cramp We also will have days where we bake for math and reading. I have my eldest who is a really excellent reader read the directions and then they have to measure and mix and so on. Of course getting to eat the results is always nice for kids. When teaching try to throw in some humor here and there. I know a dry lectures are never fun especially at a young age. So when I am talking to them I use silly voices or act like on of the items we are talking about. Today was sharks a little to easy to have fun with
One thing Grace likes is to add things into her "My America" binder. Once a week when we study American history she draws a narration from the story and then does some copywork at the bottom of the page. She always picks the most disturbing part of the story too. For instance she has drawn some French explorers as canibals, John Smith blowing up his ship, a man at the gallows, etc. She thinks it is funny and hey that's great because it gets her excited about history! My Gracie likes to move and is rarely still. When I see she is having a rather bouncy kind of day I will stop in between subjects and have her do silly things to get the wiggles out. She looks forward to these times. Sometime I will say "Ok you finished math now go do front rolls all the way down the hall and back" or "jump like a frog around the kitchen island, then stand on your head". When reading we use character voices and that can get really silly depending on the book.
Mine would say their favorite fun thing is lunch at McDonalds on Fridays. I love doing Ken Ken with them. They think it is boring.
It is a logic math type game sort of like Sudoku but I like it a lot better. You can look it up online and play for free or buy books of it like those Sudoku books you see in Walmart. It is easy to get hooked on it so watch out!
We do reviews pasting pictures and whatever on a poster about a topic that we went through. We do it together, and finding pix and even construct a collage is a fun project. And one more fun part of it - showing off; and one more - no pressure, no rules, no grades only fun
My son hates to write. We are using Sequential Spelling this year and he is learning, but he doesn't like writing all the words. We now do spelling on the refrigerator with magnetic letters or I let him write on a whiteboard. I also use the words in silly sentences about him. We've been battling about math lately, so I decided to take a break from our regular curriculum and work on basic math facts. He got a Hot Dots math set for Christmas and he giggled all the way through math today with each new sound. I print out flashcards from quizlet.com about our science studies and he likes to act out the answers.
