December 1, 2009 by homeschool10x
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November 2, 2009 by homeschool10x
I have been asked to assess to help some teachers build class home pages. I thought that I would start by reviewing whether there are any useful templated homepages out theret:
Ikeepbookmarks.com – Is this still hot?
Classnotesonline.com – a site for teacher homepages. Easily confused with a classnotes.com which has a goodlooking front page but seems to be 100% ads after that.
http://teacher.scholastic.com/homepagebuilder/ – By Scholastic, they key elements:
email me, lists of links, homework, photos, scholastic news headlines, no advertising other than that by Scholastic.
http://teachers.net – Teachers community. Unaffiliated. Privately owned?. Sleepy. Accepts advertising.
http://www.teacherweb.com/ – Entire focus is teacher websites. Accepts advertising.
http://www.myteacherweb.com – nearly identical to teacherweb.com
Create Websites – like wordpress & blogger etc
http://pinchysplace.tripod.com/index.htm
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September 21, 2009 by homeschool10x
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September 20, 2009 by homeschool10x
I, as a parent, have found it hard to understand all the new emphasis on standardized tests created by the NCLB effort. I asked on a parent education forum for info and was directed towards the following (I also heard about it on Learning Today), which I quote, with permission:
By now, there isn’t a U.S. household with school-age children that hasn’t experienced a standardized test, be it national assessments like the SAT-9, SAT-10,MAT-8,Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS), or TerraNova Assessment Series (CTBS/5 and CA STAR), or state tests like the FCAT (Florida), TAKS (Texas), and MCAS (Massachusetts).
While each state’s implementation and use of standardized tests has its critics, most educational experts agree that testing is a measure of how well students comprehend and apply knowledge. They also agree that high standards are a worthy goal. So, until someone comes up with a more effective measure of accountability, it looks as though standardized tests are here to stay.
Time4Learning helps improve critical skills through structured lessons and activities that correlate to the educational standards that standardized tests are built around. With Time4Learning, children learn at their own pace, and can work within various levels for reinforcement and challenges.
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September 17, 2009 by homeschool10x
One of the best packages for teaching writing for homeschoolers is Time4Writing’s refined mix of teacher tutorial, automated exercises, and organized curriculum.
Students benefiting from Time4Writing:
A fourth grade homeschool student who, while she liked writing, had become over-sensitive to feedback from her parents about her writing.
A middle school student who was intimidated by the upcoming standardized test that included essay writing.
A gifted high school sophomore who wanted more writing practice and feedback to build his writing skills.
An ESL student who needed to improve his English writing skills.
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August 29, 2009 by homeschool10x
SpellingCity has announced a great new feature: automated student record keeping. SpellingCity is a resource to pay attention to, Check out these resources:
Dolch Words - This collection of Dolch or Sight words is perennially useful. There is both background information and lists ready-to-use.
Compound Words – Kids love studying compound words. Teachers love teaching them. Does your school have a Compound Word Day? It should!
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August 28, 2009 by homeschool10x
I think I’m a good writer. Maybe a great writer. There are times when I don’t think this.
For instance, most of the time when I’m reading anything that I’ve written, I’m forced to confront the reality that my writing is pretty poor.
Here’s the reality. When I take the time to plan, write, edit, revise, and rerevise, I write well. Sometimes I need to re-edit, replan, rewrite….well, you get the idea. Here’s the rub. I’m 50 years old, extremely educated (Ivy League undergrad and grad), and have spent most of my adult career in jobs where writing adn editing were significant components of my job. I still find writing to be difficult. How is the next generation with their tight-budget schools, overworked parents, and digitally-remastered brains going to learn to write? Oddly, I’m very impressed by how much great writing is coming out of this new generation but it’s because they’re learning to write the old-fashioned way. They’re writing, taking courses, and getting feedback. Time4Writing has a great low cost offering online for this. And some good resources: check it out:
Elementary School Writing Classes
Middle School Writing Classes
High School Writing Classes
Writing Prompts
The Writing Process
Types of Sentences and Punctuation
Graphic Organizers
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August 10, 2009 by homeschool10x
I went through Office Depot yesterday as part of my back-to-school buying spree and I was astonished by the rows and rows of $4.95 software. Are those discs worth anything? Are they better than the free websites? Do they run at all? I bought a few cheap discs and one package selling for $29.95 for my kids. I’ll give them all a try and tell you what I find. My suspicion is that cheap is cheap and that the old discs might not even install or run properly. And that the new stuff is great but that most of the real excitement and educational materials are appearing on the web, not on discs.
Oh, and I found some more sites that I like:
homeschool curriculum Homeschool Curricula
Preschool Software
homeschoo lsoftware review
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August 9, 2009 by homeschool10x
I just learning from a site about parenting and education, about a useful site with info on standardized tests. They have so much useful state by state info about the NCLB Standardized Tests that we all worry about so much. Here, for instance, is some info about Alabama:
About Alabama Standardized Testing and Reporting (ARMT Test)
The Alabama Reading and Math Test, ARMT, and other AL high stakes standardized tests have become critical to Alabama students, teachers, and schools future since the implementation of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) programs. Parent’s awareness of their students’ levels of achievement has increased. Time4Learning, an online service that teaches many of the skills that these exams test, provides this page as useful information about parents trying to understand how Alabama schools test their students and how you can help your children with ARMT test preparation.
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July 8, 2009 by homeschool10x
It turns out that there are many software packages that will help build reading skills. This is not so surprising for phonics and learning letters and vocabulary. There is definitely a drilling element to this. And of course, many of us remember the saturation marketing of Hooked on Phonics and the Phonics Game. There exist many websites that will teach you the alphabet with songs & games and vocabulary words with games. But, would you believe reading comprehension skills? To name a few:
Reading Recovery
Time4Learning
CompassLearning
SuccessMaker
Reading 180
Plato
Earobics
Scientific Learning
Discovery Reading
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