Posts Tagged ‘drawing’

Free Offline Math Games & Much More!

January 21st, 2013

Hi!  It’s Monday, January 21, 2013 and time for Math at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:

EllenMcHenry.com: Math (and much more)

Age Range: 5-16 (approximately and varies by topic and activity; with parental supervision)

This website provides free downloadable games and curricula for a wide range of subjects to be used offline. I’ve focused on math for this review. The free math games and activities teach various math strands and concepts in a fun, hands-on way. The game instructions and materials can be printed out and assembled for play offline.

The games were designed by a homeschool mom and illustrator named Ellen McHenry.  When she couldn’t find resources that were really what she wanted and needed, she got out her old college texts (she majored in drawing and minored in math), did some review, and started inventing her own stuff, much of which she makes available on her site for free.

When you get to the site you’ll see a menu of the math games and activities that include:

*Storm the Castle! – Players (ages 5-8 or so) pretend to be medieval soldiers attacking a castle. They must cross a field and a bridge using math skills, find the difference between two numbers, find coordinates on a grid, and solve simple word problems. 

*Loot the Pirate Ship! – Players (ages 8-11 or so) use and practice multiples of numbers, prime numbers, and divisibility rules to capture ships and loot them.

*Sheep Herding Math Strategy Game – This is a two-player game that is fun for all ages. One person plays the sheep, the other is the border collie in this classic strategy game that is similar to “Hares and Hounds.” 

*Professor Pig’s Magic Math (a mini-curricula) – Professor Pig teaches his students (ages 5-8 or so) to see patterns with numbers that will allow them to easily do addition without any memorization. There is review and practice built into the activities eliminating boring drill worksheets! 

These games are not only great for elementary students, but are helpful to older students who struggle with math or need remedial work.

But that’s not all!  Ms. McHenry has also created free educational games and lessons for students of all ages, in the following subjects:

  • Plants
  • Animals
  • Human Body
  • Earth Sciences
  • Chemistry
  • Physical Science
  • History/Social Studies
  • Geography/Maps
  • Language Arts
  • Art
  • Drama
  • French and Latin

You will be astounded at the innovative ways she has developed, and ingenious materials she has created to help students of all ages learn. Words simply can’t do it justice. Bookmark this site, you’ll want to return often.

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Dissecting Daffodils!

February 28th, 2012

Hi!  It’s Tuesday, February 28, 2012 and time for Science at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
DaffodilUSA.com

Age Range: 8 and up (with parental supervision)

This website, sponsored by the American Daffodil Society, offers free, downloadable botany lessons using daffodils, as well as a free “Daffodil Dissection Guide.”

There are no bells and whistles here, just terrific information that you can use to enhance learning the sceince of botany through the common daffodil flower.

When you get to the site, you’ll see a menu of numbered links. Click on link #7 titled, “Youth Daffodil Projects and Award” or just scroll down the page to that section where you’ll find another menu that includes:

*Parts of a Daffodil – Download and print out a black and white daffodil botany drawing with each part of the plant clearly labeled.(pdf) Makes a great coloring page too!

*Parts of a Daffodil Text Description – Use this in conjunction with the drawing (see above). It explains the function of each part of the plant.

*Daffodil Lab – Get free instructions on how to lead a daffodil dissection. This is easy to do at home and the whole family can learn together. Includes ideas and questions that encourage discussion and enhance learning. Use with the “Guide” below…

*Daffodil Dissection Guide – Print this out to assist you in the dissection. It includes terrific photos, explanations, and a pronunciation guide for those scientific terms.

*Directions to Make “Tissue Daffodils” – A fun art project for kids!

And don’t miss the Daffodil Coloring Pages – Print out 14 pages depicting a variety of daffodils with information about each one. Assemble them all into a fun activity book for your kids – great for home learning or carschooling! 

 

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Learn to Speak Japanese!

October 29th, 2011

Hi! It’s Saturday, October 29, 2011, and time for Foreign Languages at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
Kids Web Japan

Age Range: 4 to 12 (with parental supervision)

This website, created by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), is designed to foster appreciation of Japan among American children and introduce them to the Japanese language!

The simple artwork, the openness of each page, the soft color scheme and intuitive navigation, are all immediately attractive to young ones. And the content is top-notch! Here’s what you’ll find:

*Lessons 1-8 – Nicely illustrated formal language lessons, complete with audio examples, English and Japanese text, and pronunciation in text form. (Typical lessons contain dialog, vocabulary/grammar, and an exercise.) 

*Animated Japanese – There are 3 scenarios on this page with 3 menu choices each. The 3rd link in each scenario is the ONLY one that works – but it opens terrific interactive cartoons. Click on the numbered speech balloons sequentially (as many times as you like) to hear the dialog in Japanese and read the captions in English, Japanese, and phonetic transcription. Learn fun sentences like, “Welcome home, Master!” and “Let’s play together until our spaceship gets fixed.”

*Quick Kanji – Here you can play with a fully interactive drawing of a scene in Japan. Click on any part of the scene to watch the picture evolve into a Japanese/Chinese character. This is a winner!

*Hiragana and Katakana Charts – Japanese alphabets. Click any letter to hear it pronounced.

*Numbers – Learn to speak and read the numbers from 1 to 100.

And under Related Articles:

*Language – The older kids and adults will appreciate this clear article about the Japanese language.

*Hiragana Matching Game – Click and drag the Japanese word to the picture. If you guess correctly, you hear the word pronounced and learn to write it correctly. Even if you are just guessing wildly, you will still learn something by playing this game. (You probably won’t want to play it past level two, tho ugh, unless you already know some words and letters.)

And last but not least:

*Gesture Game – This hidden gem is listed under “Games” in the left column. Look at the gesture and try to guess what it means. These gestures are also used in Japanese Sign Langauge.

You may also wish to spend some time on the rest of this website; some additional Japanese vocabulary (origami, manga, ninja,..) is presented in the context of the culture and history of Japan. Parents, as always, should preview the site and supervise Internet use.

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Free Coloring Pages, Dot-To-Dots, Puzzes, And More!

September 17th, 2011

Hi!  It’s Saturday, September 17, 2011 and time for Electives at ClickSchooling!

Recommended Website:
Coloring4All

Age Range: 4-10 (approximately, with parental supervision)

A ClickSchooling subscriber suggested this Google-ad supported website that offers a range of fun, free, creative activities for kids. When you get to the site you’ll see a brief introduction, an icon menu of online coloring pages, and a horizontal menu that includes:

*Coloring – Children can virtually color pictures of cartoon and storybook characters as well animals and everyday things.

*Printables – Print out black and white drawings of favorite storybook and animation characters as well items like flowers and a snowman – and color them offline.

*Puzzles – Put jigsaw puzzles together online. Choose from a selection of images, then click a button to cut it into jigsaw pieces. Drag-and-drop the pieces into place. 

*Drawing – Virtually draw anything you like online. Simply select the colors and tools you want to use and create your very own masterpiece.

*Dot-to-Dot – You can play these games online or print them out to do offline.  Simply draw a continuous line, following a sequence of numbered dots, to reveal a picture of a rabbit, mushroom, elephant, and more!  A great way to practice number and counting skills!

Because there are randomly generated Google Ads on this site, parents should preview the site and supervision Internet use.

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Posted in art, electives

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