Posts Tagged ‘kids’

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Children’s Classics Audio Books

April 6th, 2022

It’s Wednesday, April 6, 2022, and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling!

Librivox

(librivox.org/search?primary_key=0&search_category=genre&search_page=1&search_form=get_results)

All grades, with parental supervision

Now that the weather outside is getting nicer here in the Northern Hemisphere, send the kids outside with some audio books! They can perch in a tree, skip rope, start a garden, have a little picnic, or even play hopscotch while listening to these wonderful classics.

Or keep a supply of titles handy for those days when you’re unable to read to them. With hundreds of completed works listed under the “Children’s Fiction” or “Children’s Non-Fiction”categories, there is more than an entire year’s worth of bedtime stories and read-alouds here, including the works of such well-known authors as:

  • Aesop (Fables)
  • Alcott, Louisa May (Eight Cousins, Little Women, etc.)
  • Baum, L. Frank (Oz books)
  • Burnett, Frances Hodgson (Little Lord Fauntleroy, Little Princess, Secret Garden, etc.)
  • Carroll, Lewis (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, etc.)
  • Collodi, Carlo (Adventures of Pinocchio, available in English and Italian!)
  • And many, many more.

Click any title to see a brief synopsis before downloading/listening. But that’s not all! Parents may like to browse the other categories as well:

  • Adventure
  • Animals
  • Biography
  • History
  • Spy Stories
  • Teen/Young Adult
  • and many others

This site can be searched for a specific book by title and author as well.

Note: There is an overlap between these books and the ones you would find in Project Gutenberg or Archive.org. This is because Librivox allows both of these sites to house their entire collection of completed works. However, Librivox maintains the best-catalogued and most easily searchable list of these titles. Also, only Librivox itself includes a brief synopsis for each completed title, lists the works currently in progress, allows you to request email notification upon completion of desired books in progress, allows you to request specific titles, and allows you to participate in the recording and editing process and their lively forum as well.

Additional Note: This review focuses on the “Children’s” books. The rest of this site is not specifically geared for children, so parental preview and guidance is, as always, advised. Books are continually being added to this collection, so bookmark it and return often.

NOTE: As always, parents should help select material appropriate for each child.

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Posted in language arts

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Explore NASA’s Cassini Spacecraft

March 29th, 2022

NASA: Solar System Exploration – Cassini

(solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/cassini/overview/)

All grades, with parental supervision

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft arrived at Saturn in July 2004 and, along with the European-built Huygens probe, opened a window into a world never seen before.

When arriving at the website, read the Overview to learn about Saturn and the Cassini mission, lasting over two decades. Make sure to scroll down to see the 10 Ways Cassini Mattered. Next, hover your mouse over the menu in the middle:

  • The Journey – Timeline, Spacecraft, Grand Finale
  • Mission – The Saturn Tour has photos and videos.
  • Science – Learn about Saturn and its largest moon, Titan, and its tiny moon, Enceladus.
  • Galleries – Images, Videos, and more

After exploring all that this website has to offer, check out the “Kids” link under the “More” menu at the top for coloring pages and activities.

If you know someone interested in astronomy, particularly Saturn, this website is a down-to-earth resource for an out-of-this-world study.

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Explore Math with Music!

March 28th, 2022

PhilTulga.com: Music Through The Curriculum – Ingenious Music & Math Activities!

(www.philtulga.com/resources.html)

All Grades, with parental supervision

Phil Tulga is a professional musician and music instructor. He has developed educational programs that weave music through the curriculum in almost every subject. As a complement to his music programs, Phil has developed a series of FREE, interactive math and music activities that are available on his website.

When you get to the site you will see a menu that includes:

  • Math and Science – Phil takes popular math manipulatives and enhances them with rhythm and music. You’ll find:

  • Unifix Cube Drum Machine – This shows students how famous composers have used repeating patterns to create music. Students can make their own rhythm or drum patterns with popular Unifix cubes.
  • Musical Fraction Bars – Mathematicians like Pythagoras discovered that musical pitches are derived from fractions. In this activity, students compose and play their own songs using Musical Fraction Bars. Not only that, you’ll find instructions for how to build a homemade musical instrument that is based on these fractions.
  • Pattern Block Rock – Song melodies are patterns of short and long sounds. In this activity, students compose and play their own rhythmic songs using geometric shapes.

After exploring the math activities check out the “Language Arts” section. Get Phil’s tips for how to encourage a love of reading in your child. Then, use the innovative “Cucumber Pickle Machine” to show your kids how to make rhythmic meters by combining two and three-syllable words! Phil uses the musical score of “Peter and the Wolf” to teach storyline components complete with story maps!

Don’t miss “Homemade Instruments” where you’ll find directions for making your own panpipes, water bottle xylophone, tubular Glockenspiel, and melodic tube drums!

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Design Your Own Opera

March 26th, 2022

The Creative Kids Education Foundation: Hansel & Gretel: Learning about Opera

(goclassical.org/kids/opera/opera-game)

All grades, with parental supervision

The Creative Kids Education Foundation offers this free interactive game called “Hansel and Gretel Design Your Own Opera” that provides players with music education while they pick different settings for the technical elements of creating an opera.

When you get to the site the game will launch. Try your hand at being:

  • A Costume Designer
  • A Choreographer
  • A Property Manager
  • A Lighting Technician
  • A Set Designer
  • A Technical Director
  • A Stage Director
  • A Technical Effects Director

With each scene, as you engage in activities, the music from the opera “Hansel and Gretel” is played and the meaning and nuances are pointed out by a narrator. Not only that, the lyrics that are being sung are on the screen making it easier to understand the storyline.

During Intermission, you get to try your hand at being an orchestra conductor! Learn about the instruments including strings, percussion, and brass.

When the show is over, take a virtual trip backstage and see how the production was put together. Use the spotlight menu to learn all about:

  • The Composer – Learn about the German composer, Engelbert Humperdinck.
  • Opera – Find out what an opera is and explore links to opera websites.
  • Fairy Tales – Get links to sites about Fairy Tales along with some downloadable activities.
  • Voice Studio – Learn the definitions of a Soprano, Mezzo Soprano, Tenor, and Baritone. Visit a Master Class with Placido Domingo. Meet famous opera singers.
  • Teacher Resources – Download free lesson plans for the opera along with games and activities to enhance learning. Take a fun quiz to see what you’ve learned.

This activity takes about 45 minutes to complete. It is SO WORTHWHILE – and fun, educational, engaging, and entertaining for the whole family!

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History of British Kingdoms for Kids

March 24th, 2022

David Nash Ford: History of Early British Kingdoms

(www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/)

All grades, with parental supervision

This website provides the history of the rise of Celtic nations and kingdoms (in what is now England and Scotland) after the end of the Roman occupation in the Dark Ages.

It’s divided into two parts:

1) The main site is for older students about ages 11 and up (grades 6-12) and beyond. Use the link above to access the main site.

2) There is also a section especially for kids ages 5-10 (grades K-5) that you can access through an alternate link that is posted below.

When you get to the main site you’ll see a menu of topics including:

  • Kingdoms – Learn the history and timeline of the early kingdoms and explore maps of the territories they occupied.
  • Arthur – A terrific account of King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table, and the many engaging legends.
  • Archaeology – See the ruins of ancient castles, abbeys, and churches and virtually examine artifacts.
  • Saints – Read the biographies of Celtic saints, and learn about their gifts and sacrifices.
  • Adversaries – Learn about ancient warring Celtic tribes.

Click on any one and a new page opens with a menu that allows you to explore the topic in depth through text, illustrations, and pictures.

As mentioned above, just for youngsters, the site offers a Kids Page here: Early British Kingdoms for Kids

Fun, cartoon art illustrates the answers to questions about:

  • The Dark Ages
  • Why the Romans left Britain
  • Britons, Saxons, Scots, and Picts
  • King Arthur, the Sword in the Stone, and Arthurian legend
  • Other Famous Kings
  • Minstrels
  • Saints, Monks & Nuns
  • Life in Farms, Villages, and Towns
  • Christianity and Pagans
  • Runes
  • Weapons
  • Treasures

And much more! You’ll even find printable coloring pages!

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Posted in social sciences

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Master a 140+ Year Old Math Text!

March 21st, 2022

DonPotter.net

(www.donpotter.net/education_pages/math.html)

Grades 1-8, with parental supervision

This very plain website houses a most unusual math resource. It has a downloadable arithmetic book from 1878! Even if you have a fabulous math program already, it is fun to look at and see what kids learned from over 140 years ago.

When you get to the site you will see a brief introduction explaining that the book, “First Lessons In Arithmetic,” was published in 1878 and handed down from one generation to the next by the Potter family. Don Potter decided to put the antiquated volume on the net because, “This math book will provide home school parents… an incomparable tool from the past to help their students master the fundamentals of arithmetic.”

Chapters on the menu include:

  • Counting & Addition
  • Addition & Subtraction
  • Multiplication
  • Division
  • Fractions
  • Notation and Numeration
  • Advanced Addition & Subtraction
  • Long Multiplication
  • Long Division
  • Money, etc.

Click on any chapter, and a .pdf file opens with problems and instructions, accompanied by illustrations sure to create nostalgia for a bygone era. In addition to the free textbook, Mr. Potter offers a few other links to math resources on this site as well.

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