If you are interested, you can go to How to Teach Kids to find out about the origin of Valentine’s Day which was interesting to me. One part I thought was really interesting was that the first mass production of Valentine cards was in 1847 when they produced paper lace Valentine’s.
There are also activities for kids, a children’s DVD about Valentine’s Day and a long list of children’s books about Valentine’s Day.
Need some tips or techniques to add to your teaching materials? I have started a new site called How to Teach Kids to share ideas that I have used in my 19 years of public school teaching and also ideas from teacher friends. Hopefully, you will gain a new idea or technique to use if you are teaching your own children or a classroom of students.
Every child is different, and so a teaching method that works with one child might not work with another child. Sometimes it’s a matter of trial and error until the right teaching technique is found that will work with that child. Some children are visual learners, some are auditory learners, etc. There are, of course, some general things that work with most children. For example, children benefit from having phonics in their reading program. The key for overall learning is finding the best teaching method for each child.
Brightstorm helps high school students improve their grades and their test scores on the SAT. Using online video courses, creative teachers present the material in a clear manner and highlight key information. This makes it easier for students to understand the subject mattter. Study guides, practice problems, and interactive quizzes guide them through their homework so they will be ready for the SAT or a test in the classroom.
There is no cost for registration and no credit card is necessary. After registering, students can sample 19 courses free before they make a decision on which teacher-created courses to purchase. What’s really neat is that students can choose which teacher they like. They go at their own pace, choose their own order, fill in gaps in their knowledge, and master critical concepts. Sounds like a great program to me!
At Brightstorm, “Great learning starts with great teaching.”
I think personalized things are so neat, and having taught school for several years, I think personalized books are really great! What can capture a child’s interest like having their own name in the book and actually being the main character in the story. This would make a wonderful gift for a child anytime of year and be a gift that would really be special to them.
Now that it’s time for school to start and time to start thinking about school supplies, it’s also time to start thinking about school lunches. Elizabeth has some fantastic ideas in her post, “Brown bag lunches your kids will eat!” When I used to make school lunches, I would make the homemade lunchables sometimes, but I never had themed lunches like Elizabeth does. These lunches are very creative!
How many of you have been organizing and getting ready for school to start in a week or two? I know I’ve been cleaning out shelves and drawers, filing, and trying to get everything organized. There’s just something about this time of year when it seems natural to do that. I guess it’s the teacher in me.
Things used every day need to be easily accessible and labeled for efficiency purposes. The Dymo Label Maker is a perfect tool to help get everything organized. File folders can easily be labeled. Plastic storage bins and plastic tubs need labels just as well.
For children, it helps to have things labeled by type or maybe by the child’s name if there are several children in the family. For teachers, the classroom is a great place to use a label maker to get everything in top notch organization. Students can label their book covers, folders, and other supplies. And we can’t forget college students who have files and all sorts of things that need to be organized.
There are more uses for a label maker besides household or educational purposes. Those who sew or enjoy a craft know the importance of keeping things sorted and easy to find. And even husbands can benefit by having their nails, screws, and hardware organized. The uses for the Dymo Label Maker are limitless!
…….Here is an awesome site where you can get a huge assortment of free, high-quality educational materials. These materials were written by an experienced teacher. In fact, she and I used to teach school together many years ago, and I know what wonderful teaching ideas she had back then. Her site is filled with a wealth of teaching materials that are all absolutely free. I highly recommend that you check out her site, Garden of Praise!
While traveling, we stopped in Waco, Texas, and visited the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame. We all enjoyed it, but my husband especially enjoyed it. The museum not only shares the history of the Texas Rangers along with artifacts, but it also memorializes 30 Texas Rangers who gave their lives in the line of duty or served with great distinction.
Our family thinks this museum is truly worth visiting! Boys will especially enjoy it. Check here for Visitor Information.
Let me tell you about a museum we really enjoyed! Our family (my husband, our daughter & s-i-l before they had kids, our son, and my mother-in-law) went on a day trip from my m-i-l’s to visit the Lincoln Museum and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Dana-Thomas House.
Traveling through Illinois, or traveling Route 66, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield is definitely worth taking time to visit. It opened in April 2005 and is truly a world-class museum and library. The museum “communicates the amazing life and times of Abraham Lincoln in unforgettable ways.” It really is an unforgettable museum, located where Lincoln lived for 17 years and where he was buried!
In the Plaza, which is the central hub of the museum, you and your family can have your picture taken with Abraham Lincoln and his family. The life-size figures stand in front of the White House portraying the Lincoln family shortly after their arrival there in 1861. We took pictures of our family with the Lincoln family which was a lot of fun!
This is truly a fun and fascinating museum to visit. The mistake we made was not allowing enough time to tour the whole museum. There is so much to see and do, so I would recommend allowing several hours for your visit. They also have a Cafe which is open from 9-5. We ate lunch there and enjoyed it. Or if you just need a break for a snack, the Cafe is a nice place to rest and relax. To fully enjoy this experience, allow several hours to tour the museum.
I love to visit historical sites, especially houses where people lived. It’s like taking a step back in time! I try to imagine what it would have been like to live in that era and try to learn about the lives of people who lived in those houses.
The W.H. Stark House is a great example of a beautiful, historical house built in 1894. Designated as a National Historic Landmark and a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark by the Texas Historical Commission, this 15-room Victorian mansion is located in Orange, Texas, and has been a community landmark and point of interest for many visitors through the years.
Now let me introduce you to the family who built the house:
When I read about this family, it sounds like a family who cared about other people. They had a tragedy in their life, the death of their young daughter, but they didn’t let that keep them from being a productive and helpful family.
Visit the W.H. Stark House website to learn more about this beautiful house and family.
Tours are available Tuesday – Saturday from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Admission is limited to individuals who are ages 10 years and older. Part of the tour includes stairs.
Consider the city of Orange, Texas, for your travel plans, a city that has a lot to offer!
With Earth Day being this month, a lot of people are thinking about ways they can become more environmentally friendly. I went to a teacher’s workshop back in 1988 and learned a few tips to teach my class…just remember the “3 R’s.” (Check to see what your community does.)
There are a lot of other things you can do that I haven’t mentioned or haven’t thought about. If you have a good idea, I’d love to hear about it!