Taking home education to the next level. Sharing ideas, tips, and "how-to" on eNotebooking http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/eNotebooking/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Mon, 31 Mar 2008 09:18:00 -0500 Mon, 31 Mar 2008 09:18:00 -0500 I have created a list of internet links that the girls will use for their studies.  This is just a small list, but it gives them the information they will need. You can have the best laid plan but sometimes the library will not have the books you are looking for OR they will sometimes be checked out.  The internet sites will help the study stay on track and progress in a nice manner.  They can read the information and take notes, just like with a book.  They can write their reports or essays that will be edited first then recopied (if needed) for their notebook or eNotebook. Here are some of the internet sites that I have found Ancient Egypt Internet Sites I hope these will help you. Blessings, Lisa http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/eNotebooking/507837/ Mon, 31 Mar 2008 09:18:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/eNotebooking/507837/ My girls are reading Jane Eyre for their Classical Book Club.  I was thrilled when our library offered this.  It's an activity that helps me with their schooling and they LOVE it!  Even if there were not part of a book club, Jane Eyre was on my MUST read list. We have a booklist, some they actually would like to read and some they MUST read.  This system has worked well for us over the years.  It keeps us focused and they loved to try and finish the list. Here is a site that offers a FREE Study Guide for Jane Eyre http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmJaneEyre02.asp   If you are looking for another book, google the title or free study guide and look at the results.  You'll even find books (the whole book) that you can read online for FREE! Blessings, Lisa http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/eNotebooking/491404/ Mon, 3 Mar 2008 05:28:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/eNotebooking/491404/ I received a coupon in the mail from McDonald's, where I got a FREE cup of their new "Iced Coffee" (Regular, Vanilla or Hazelnut).  I'm NOT a big McD.'s fan but my husband and I LOVED coffee!!!  We liked it. It got me thinking about taking a field trip to HAWAII.  Pack your bags and come along with me!!! Hawaii may be best known for producing pineapples and macadamia nuts.  Did you know that Hawaii also produces coffee?   Kona coffee groves thrive near the world's largest volcano, Mauna Loa, on the big island of Hawaii.   You can see how Kona coffee gets from bean to cup by taking a tour of the Kona Coffee Mill!  You'll see the coffee groves, coffee flowers, unripe coffee "cherries," and see how the beans are removed from the coffee fruit. Through text and photographs you'll learn how the beans are processed, sorted, and roasted to produce Kona coffee.   Website: Lion Coffee: Tour Kona Coffee Mill   You don't have to let the learning stop here.  You can do a study on Hawaii and their volcano, the other islands of Hawaii, pineapples and macadamia nuts.   The best part of this field trip is that I can enjoy another iced coffee!!! Blessings, http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/eNotebooking/490713/ Sat, 1 Mar 2008 13:22:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/eNotebooking/490713/ Step 2  Library time!! TruthQuest gives me a ready to use booklist with grade level reading (see why I LOVE TruthQuest).  If your curriculum does not offer this, this is where you may need to make your own.  You really should have one.  It will save MAJOR time in the library.  Remember most libraries have their data base online so make use of your early morning or late night surfing by requesting or looking up books on this subject.  1. I make sure that each child has their copy of "checklist for writing an outline".  They will use this checklist to help them take notes on the books they read. 2. Each child gets a copy of the Book Log form.  This helps them with organization skills.  They keep track of the books they check out of the library (with due date) and they can make notes if they need to check a book out again at a later time. Let the fun of learning begin!  When the girls and me get home we take some time to go through the books we have found.  I will assign to them the ones they need to read on their own and some will be for group time.  We use our study outline to help us stay focused.  The girls are to use their checklist outline while reading their books and listening in group time.   Some families like to go through the whole study first then build their notebooks.  We like to study a section and then build at the end of each section.  There is NO right or wrong way here.  It's what works for you family.   While the girls read they will make notes also of pictures they would like to have scanned to use in their work.  I also make them use their own drawings throughout their project.  Every report or journal entry MUST be handwritten FIRST!  I will edit their work.  They will then type their entry into the computer or sometimes they like to scan their paper in to be used in their creation.   If you are doing just a regular notebook project, all the same steps I use.  All reports have a first draft, goes to the editing room (that would be me!).  The second draft is for book entry, unless their work is not neat.   Remember.  You are NOT on a timetable here.  This is your project.  What works for one family may not work for yours. Blessings, Lisa http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/eNotebooking/487212/ Mon, 25 Feb 2008 07:13:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/eNotebooking/487212/  How to start   We are using TruthQuest History “Ancient Egypt & Ancient Greece”.  Below is a link to their site. http://www.truthquesthistory.com/   The reason I chose TruthQuest: · Michelle Miller has a great layout that works well for our family. · Booklist is provided · She includes her famous “Big 2 Beliefs”   Remember:  If you don’t have TruthQuest, don’t worry, eNotebooking can be use with ANY curriculum and so will the steps I share with you.    I map out on paper first the things I need to do or set up like: · Software I use:  Publisher, Word, PDF 995, Scrapbook Factory and PrintMaster · Regular notebooks, pens and pencils · Library Book Log {I will give you the form I use that you can download} · My guide to our study—TruthQuest has this mapped out for me (thank goodness, now I can spend my time with other items that must get done!)  This is something you will need to do if your curriculum does not provide this.  It will help you stay focused on the study.  TruthQuest offers the table of content for download if you would like to take a look at it.  http://www.truthquesthistory.com/store/pdf/EgyptGreeceTOC.pdf     Step 1   1. The first thing I like to do is set up our school Icon on my desktop.  This is where I store ALL information on our subjects.  2. I then create a folder called Ancient Egypt.  Inside this folder, I start out with folders labeled “pictures” and “websites”.  Our family LOVES to cook, so I also include a folder labeled “recipes”.  At the end of each notebook we create, we make a cookbook for that study.  This is just something we do, you DO NOT have to do this.  3. Now I go to work collecting pictures to put in my file.  I start with Google images first (WARNING:  I would not recommend you letting your children google images.  Sometimes it will pull up some very inappropriate pictures).  Since this will be used for just our own personal use, I don’t have to worry about copyright issues.  You don’t have to find ALL your pictures in 1 day.  I take several weeks gathering images of our notebooks.  You can add to your folder whenever.  Also don’t forget programs like PrintMaster, Print Shop, etc.   They have some great clipart that you can use.  Also Microsoft Clipart online had some great ones as well. 4. How about those websites.  I make a folder in my bookmarks/favorites file and label it.  Then I google ancient Egypt and go to work.  Not all sites will be suitable, so just save the ones that work for your family. Download Items: Book Log Checklist for Outline   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/eNotebooking/486908/ Sun, 24 Feb 2008 14:45:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/eNotebooking/486908/ For those who are thinking of trying eNotebooking and those who have been eNotebooking, I wanted to share our project with you.  I will be blogging a step-by-step from start to finish for those who would like to join us.       We will be using TruthQuest for studying Ancient Egypt.  The girls wanted to do an "Indiana Jones" style journal.  I made the Title page for their journals.  This outlines what we will be learning about.     http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/eNotebooking/486814/ Sun, 24 Feb 2008 09:39:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/eNotebooking/486814/ If you are trying to find something interesting for science let me share this site with you.   Museum of Vision: Educational Resources   An educational program affiliated with the American Academy of Ophthalmology. The Museum of Vision has published on its website 3 curriculum guides which focus on the human eye, perspective and how the brain processes images like optical illusions and 3-D." When you get to the site you'll see the 3 guides that are in pdf files: Eye Openers — Describes the basic concepts of vision, anatomy of the eye, optical illusions, binocular vision, etc. Art and Vision — Describes how artists create the illusion of 3-dimensions by exploring the basic concepts of vision, size scaling, overlapping, atmospheric perspective and linear perspective. Animal Eyes — The animal kingdom is full of amazing eyes. Discover eyes that look like yours, and eyes that are wildly different. Join scientists on their exciting quest to understand how animals actually see. Click on any one and the pdf file opens to reveal a well-formatted education guide with interesting text and colorful photos and illustrations. You can review it online or print it out to use offline. Every guide provides interesting discussion points and fun interactive activities. In addition to the free guides, this website houses online exhibits. From the menu on the left side of your screen, under "Ophthalmic Heritage & Museum of Vision," click on "Exhibits." A new page opens. Look for the words "Online Exhibits" and click. A new page opens with a menu of online exhibits to explore. Blessings, Lisa G. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/eNotebooking/485600/ Fri, 22 Feb 2008 07:25:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/eNotebooking/485600/ I would like to share Jan Brett's site with you.  http://www.janbrett.com/activities_pages.htm This site is FULL of great activities that you can print out and build lapbooks/notebooks with your preschooler or even older children (I love her pages).  She has everything catagorized and you will spend quite sometime here downloading and printing out pages of WONDEFUL fun and learning. Blessings, http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/eNotebooking/484747/ Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:38:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/eNotebooking/484747/ Does your child struggle with penmanship?  Mine would rather type it out than print it out.  So I need to make sure they get their daily helping of penmanship.  I wanted to share this site with you.   Handwriting for Kids This website offers basic instruction and free practice worksheets for learning to print and write in cursive. It has links to additional websites that contain information, hints, printable practice worksheets, different styles and methods of printing and handwriting, as well as shopping carts for handwriting books. This site really provides everything you need to teach your kids how to print or write cursive.   eNotebooking tip:  If you have a child that just has horrid penmanship not matter what they try or do, why not download a special font just for them to use to type out their papers.  There are TONS of cool fonts that can be had for FREE!!  There are even fonts that look like handwriting.  Remind the student to get creative with their work.  Here is a link to a great site with free downloads and their fonts are catagorized which makes for easy finding!  http://simplythebest.net/fonts/ Blessings, http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/eNotebooking/484198/ Wed, 20 Feb 2008 06:14:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/eNotebooking/484198/ Have you thought of a family Blog? This is a WONDERFUL way to not only keep intouch with family but your children will develope great writing skills plus manage and maintain a blog. I have my children write out on paper their newsletter. I will edit it, then they type it on Word, after one more edit from me, we then copy and paste it into our blog spot. Don't forget to add pictures to your bolg. Let your family see the SUPER projects your children are doing. Since I save all their newsletters in Word, I print them out and make a nice "Year Book" for our family. To Blog or Not to Blog....This is the question! Have FUN everyone!! Blessings, http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/eNotebooking/483513/ Tue, 19 Feb 2008 08:02:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/eNotebooking/483513/