Category Archives: Educational Ideas

(Once a teacher, always a teacher)

Low-Cost Vacation: Austin, TX

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Austin is a fun place to visit and can provide an inexpensive vacation.   It really is a pretty area, and one part of the vacation can include driving on the west side of Austin and enjoying the beauty of the hills and the Colorado River.

There are several free things to do while visiting Austin.

Freebies:

* Texas State Capitol – open daily.  It’s 14 feet taller than the National Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., and is recognized as one of the nation’s most distinguished capitol buildings.  It is definitely impressive inside and out.  The view from the ground floor looking straight up to the top of the rotunda area is awesome!   Children enjoy going up the beautiful staircases.   Located at 1100 Congress Ave.  (512) 463-0063

* Austin Nature and Science Center – provides families, individuals, and also groups with recreational and educational experiences including a “living museum,” trails,  interpretive exhibits, programs, and collections. Open on Saturday 9- 5 & Sunday 12- 5.   Located at 301 Nature Center Dr, Austin, TX.

(512) 327-8180

* Texas Memorial Museum – a natural history museum which contains exhibits about Texas’ geological and zoological history.  Children especially enjoy the first floor.  They are open on  Saturday from 10 –  5 & Sunday from 1-5 and are  located one block north of the UT football field at  2400 Trinity St.  Austin, TX  (512) 471-1604.  Free admission.

OTHER ATTRACTIONS WITH ADMISSION FEE:

  • Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum – an excellent museum worth visiting!  Located at 1800 North Congress Avenue.  (512)-936-8746
  • Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum – also a museum worth visiting.  Located at 2313 Red River Street.  (512) 916-5137
  • Austin Children’s Museum located at 201 Colorado Street.  (512) 472-2499

* Texas Rowing Center located on the Hike and Bike Trail on Town Lake – a fun place to rent canoes.  They are open 6 AM until dusk every day.  (512) 467-7799.  (We have done this a couple of different times, and it’s a fun activity for the whole family.  Town Lake provides a great view of downtown Austin.)


Happy Cinco de Mayo!

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In case someone doesn’t know, Cinco de Mayo means “May 5” in Spanish.  When I think of May 5, I think of when I used to teach school and a lot of teachers would wear Mexican dresses (two of my dresses are in the picture), we would do Cinco de Mayo activities with the students, and the Hispanic teachers there would treat the faculty and cook authentic Mexican food for lunch.  The food was awesome!

If you would like to read more about the origin of Cinco de Mayo and about activities for children and the family, then visit Cinco de Mayo: Origin, Activities, & Books for Children on my site, “How to Teach Kids.”

Valentine’s Day: Origin, Activities and Books for Kids

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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.

Teaching Kids

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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.com Helps Improve SAT Scores and Grades

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Brightstorm
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.”

Code Of Ethics

Frecklebox Personalized Books & Gifts for Kids

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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.

Creative Back-to-School Lunches

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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!

Back to School – Time to Get Organized!

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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!

Attention Teachers!

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…….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!

Texas Ranger Hall of Fame & Museum in Waco, Texas

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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.

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois

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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.