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Printable Spanish Flashcards: Spanish Community Words Flashcards

April 11, 2019 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Learning about the community is a big part of preschool education. Remember when you were in nursery school and you learned about “community helpers”?

It’s also a key part of learning a foreign language. After all, you live in your community, so learning how to talk about it in your new language can really boost your vocabulary skills.

So I’m excited to share our newest set of printable Spanish flashcards: Spanish Community Words Flashcards!

These are great for kids and adults alike! And, since they come with a pronunciation guide, you and the children will be able to practice reading and saying each word.

Want more practice talking about community helpers in Spanish? Don’t miss our printable Spanish community helpers lesson!

Printable Spanish Flashcards: Spanish Community Words Flashcards

To use these Spanish community words flashcards, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links are provided here. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Printer (with ink)
Printer Paper
Laminator (if you want the cards to last for a while)
Scissors

This set of flashcards includes the Spanish and English phrases for:

Apartments
Bakery
Farm
Museum
Airport
Library
House
and School!

There’s also a Spanish pronunciation guide to help you get used to saying the Spanish phrases!

Use one set to help kids identify each building or place in their native language. Then use the second set to introduce the new vocabulary. You can even play a matching game!

Scroll down to get your Spanish Community Words Flashcards!

Don’t miss some of our other printable Spanish flashcards!

More Resources for Learning Spanish Community Words:

If you want even more help to learn Spanish, try these great Spanish learning resources!

See more printable resources on my Homeschool Printables Pinterest board!

To get your set of our Spanish Community Words Flashcards, sign up for our email newsletter! You’ll receive access to these printable Spanish flashcards, plus lots of other printables, in our exclusive Subscriber Library!

How to Plan a Science Summer with Your Kids

April 8, 2019 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Science is one of those homeschool subjects that I always end up putting off.

When I first started homeschooling, I would push it towards the end of the day when we’d finished all of our other subjects.

Science takes a while, because you have to gather up your supplies, set up any experiments, conduct them (which takes a considerable amount of time with kids), and then discuss what you learned.

After a few years, though, I really wised up and started saving science until after the homeschool year ended. So, instead of having school from August to May, we became year-round homeschoolers and planned a science summer with the kids.

I love saving science for summer, because I don’t have to worry about rushing through it after we’ve done our other subjects.

And what’s more, we have more time in the summer to explore the kids’ scientific interests with summer camps, field trips, and outdoor experiments.

Read on to see how you can plan a science summer with the kids this year!

Disclosure: I am a BookShark brand ambassador and am receiving free curriculum as part of my role.

Images c/o: Wavebreakmedia & pressmaster / depositphotos

How to Plan a Science Summer

Choose simple science experiments to try.

Is anyone else out there a chronic overplanner? I am. I can spend countless hours trying to research experiments for the kids to try and then run out of steam right when it’s time to actually do them.

That’s why I love BookShark. All of the science experiments are already planned for you. And what’s even better is that the experiments are age-appropriate, so you won’t have to test it and see if it’s too advanced for your child.

Plus, the experiment instructions are on DVD and you can see the experiment performed, which will give you an idea of what to expect after it’s done. A great way to avoid unexpected messes!

Schedule your experiments by week or concept.

Once you’ve chosen your simple science experiments, it’s good to plan how many you want to do each week or how many you want to for each scientific concept.

The BookShark InquisiKids science curriculum (for Level 1) has 100 different science experiments for kids to try, which is a LOT. So we’ll be narrowing down our choices to about 25 or so.

That way, we can conduct two science experiments per week of our science summer.

Do a science experiment supply check.

Now that you have all of your science experiments planned, you’ll need to do a quick supply check. It’s always better to have your supplies set aside now than try to do it right before you conduct an experiment.

Trust me on this. I’ve had to shelve several science activities over the years because I *thought* I had something that turned out to be missing.

With BookShark, you receive the needed supplies for your experiments along with your science curriculum, which is super handy.

But if you’re using a different program or your own experiment ideas, make a quick list of your needed supplies and head to the store before you get started. You’ll thank yourself later.

Ready to tackle a science summer with your kids? Take a look at BookShark’s complete curriculum options, including science, to make summer science planning a snap!

Don’t miss these other science learning ideas for the kids!

And see even more ways to make science fun on my It’s Science Pinterest board!

Free Printable Flashcards: Addition Flashcards 0-10

April 4, 2019 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

We’ve been working to help our kids memorize addition facts for the past few weeks, so I thought I’d make a new set of free printable flashcards: addition flashcards 0-10!

But the thing about addition facts is that they’re pretty boring, right? Naturally, I had to add a little fun to these cards. What’s more fun than a trip to the state fair?

Read on to get your set of these free state fair-themed addition flashcards!

And, for more flashcards to make math learning fun, try our printable polygon flashcards or our fraction flashcards!

Free Printable Flashcards: Addition Flashcards 0-10

To use these addition flashcards 0-10 with your kids, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links are provided here for convenience. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Printer (with ink)
Printer paper
Scissors
Laminator (if you want the cards to last for a while)

This pack includes 30 pages of addition flashcards, featuring problems from 0+0 to 10+10.

There’s also an Answer Key included!

Try to play a game where kids can match up even sums and odd sums.

Or have the kids match similar sums to find how many ways they can add numbers and reach the same answer.

You could even challenge kids by giving them an answer and seeing if they can find the math problem that will result in that answer.

Scroll down to get your copy of our free printable flashcards addition flashcards 0-10!

Check out some of our other math learning ideas below!

For more ideas for teaching math, follow my Math Mania board on Pinterest!

To get your set of our Amusement Park Addition Flashcards, subscribe to our email newsletter using the widget below!

You’ll get these printable addition flashcards, plus lots of other freebies that are exclusively for subscribers!

NOTE: If you don’t receive the welcome email in your inbox, check your spam folder. Sometimes it ends up in there. 🙂

Monster Truck Measurement for First Grade Printables

April 1, 2019 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

Now that we’re winding down first grade with Roo (yay!), I’ve been looking through the math objectives to make sure we touch on as many topics as possible. One of the major math concepts we still had to discuss was: measurement.

For Roo, though, life begins and ends with movement. So I wanted to make learning about measurement as fun as possible. Time to add in some monster trucks with a fun set of monster truck themed measurement for first grade printables!

These are a wonderful way to practice using rulers to measure to the nearest inch, half-inch, and quarter inch, especially if you have active kids who love all things transportation.

Check out our printable Monster Truck Measurement lesson and get a set of your own for FREE! And, for more ways to make math fun, take a look at our outdoor sidewalk chalk math game!

Monster Truck Measurement for First Grade Printables

To use these monster truck measurement for first grade printables, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links included in this post. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

All you have to do is print the worksheets and then follow the instructions!

Kids can choose from measuring to the nearest inch, the nearest half-inch, or the nearest quarter-inch. So these work well for teaching measurement for first grade, but also measuring skills for second grade and rising third grade students.

This product also includes a full answer key, so kids can check their work!

Monster Truck Measurement for First Grade Printables Lesson

Since it was Roo’s first time working on this topic, we started with learning to measure to the nearest inch.

After we talked about the importance of lining up the first line on the ruler with the start of the object, Roo was off and running!

I encouraged him to draw a line from the start of the object to the point at which it lined up with the ruler, and then the same with the end of the object.

The instructions say to measure to the nearest inch, so it was also a good time to talk about estimation. After Roo measured each line of trucks, he wrote down the number on the lines. Easy peasy!

Since Pooh is in second grade, he worked on measuring to the nearest half-inch.

And he ended up learning that .5 and 1/2 are the same thing! (We’re already working on third grade objectives, albeit unconsciously…lol.)

Scroll down to get your copy of our Monster Truck Measurement for First Grade printables!

Don’t miss these other math activities you can do at home!

Plus, learn more about teaching math to kids by following my Math Mania board on Pinterest!

Get your copy of our free Monster Truck Measurement for First Grade Printables when you subscribe to our email newsletter! You’ll get these printables, plus lots of other freebies, in the Subscriber Library!

Spanish Worksheets for Kids: Spanish Family Words Worksheets

March 28, 2019 by Selena Robinson 3 Comments

¡Hola, amigos! ¿Estan listos aprender más español?

We’re continuing with our study of Spanish as a family. And, of course, there’s no better topic to start with than “the family” itself!

So, I’m sharing printable Spanish family words worksheets that are wonderful for introducing this topic to kids in both English and Spanish.

If you’re just starting to learn Spanish with your kids and you want to learn how to talk about immediate family members (mother, father, brother, sister, etc.), this pack is perfecto!

Read on to see how to get your copy! And for more Spanish learning fun, don’t miss our Spanish A to Z Alphabet Mega Bundle!

Spanish Worksheets for Kids: Spanish Family Words Worksheets

To use this Spanish family words lesson, you’ll need the following: (This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Printer (with ink)
Printer Paper
Scissors
Pencils
Laminator (recommended for keeping the flashcards sturdy)

In this Spanish family words lesson, kids will learn the Spanish words for the following family terms:

Father
Mother
Son
Daughter
Family

This set of Spanish worksheets for kids includes two English and Spanish family words matching activities.

Kids can practice completing sentences about family in both English and Spanish.

And they can practice writing sentences about family in both languages!

Plus, there are eight English and Spanish family word flashcards and a pronunciation key!

Because this set of Spanish worksheets also includes the English words and sentences, it’d be wonderful for ESL students who are working on English too!

Scroll down to get your copy of our Spanish Family Words Worksheets!

Want more practice with Spanish? Don’t miss these other Spanish learning ideas!

To get your copy of our ¡La Familia! Spanish Vocabulary Lesson, check it out below!

How to Teach Kids to Type with Typesy Homeschool Typing

March 25, 2019 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Typing is one of those skills that was expected to die out. After all, no one uses typewriters anymore, right?

But now that so many kids, including mine, use computers at an early age, typing is actually more important than ever.

The faster and more accurately a child types, the more capable he or she is of using a computer to interact with others, complete school assignments, and work online in the future.

Which is why I was excited to try out Typesy Homeschool Typing with my kids!

We’ve used several homeschool typing programs in the past, but my kids have enjoyed this one the most.

Read on to see why? And for more curriculum choices for early grades, take a look at our minimalist kindergarten curriculum picks!

Disclosure: I received access to this program in exchange for this post and I was compensated for my time. All opinions are my own.

How to Teach Kids to Type with Typesy Homeschool Typing

When you first begin using Typesy Homeschool Typing, you have the option to set typing and accuracy goals for your children.

If you’re unsure about their abilities, you can simply use the recommended goals and then adjust as you see fit.

Naturally, Typesy begins with a discussion of correct hand and finger placement, as well as proper sitting posture. What I love about it is that the program uses short videos that do all of the teaching for you.

My kids just started a lesson and were off on their own in no time!

Like most typing programs, Typesy begins with a lesson on home row keys. As kids work on typing those letters fluently, they can simply follow the on-screen prompts.

Since Typesy is completely online, there is no program to download and no special textbooks to buy. Students can simply follow the course and pick up where they leave off each day.

My six-year-old has been asking to do more of it every day since.

What about kids who tend to get bored easily?

Typesy Homeschool Typing has several online typing games for kids that are great for keeping their attention and improving their typing skills.

My most active learner was thrilled to see that they have a game called “Type-Man”, a typing version of Pac-Man.

It was fun, it helped him practice his typing, and it was no-stress. After all, we want our kids to enjoy what they learn, right?

If you’re looking for a simple, no-prep, fun typing program for kids, I can definitely recommend Typesy Homeschool Typing. Check it out for yourself and see how your kids like learning to type with Typesy!

Don’t miss these other homeschool curriculum choices!

And see more choices for your homeschool year on my Homeschool Curriculum Choices Pinterest board!

25 Fun Money Activities for Second Grade

March 21, 2019 by Selena Robinson 5 Comments

Money is one of those math topics that kids generally love to learn about. They all want money, so they usually don’t mind learning how to count it. At least mine didn’t.

Since Pooh is in second grade, learning to work with money is one of our main objectives for math this school year. So I’ve started using several money activities for second grade to help him grasp this concept as easily as possible.

Plus, I’m sharing a new printable today that can help your kids learn to work with money too!

Take a look at the 25 different money activities for kids below to find some super cool ways to get your kids counting change and dollars!

Psssttt…don’t forget to read all the way to the end to grab a new free resource for learning to count money with your students!

And for more fun with math, don’t miss our DIY Geometry Dice for a quick hands-on geometry activity!

25 Fun Money Activities for Second Grade

This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.

1. Dollars and Cents Concentration Game – Look! We’re Learning!

2. International Currency Collecting – Rainy Day Mum

3. Teaching Coin Recognition – Mosswood Connections

4. Apple Counting Money Game – You’ve Got This Math

5. Coin Scavenger Hunt – School Time Snippets

6. Money Smarts Math Game – Left Brain Craft Brain

7. Discovering Money Lapbook – Homeschool Share

8. How Much are Words Worth Game – Homeschooling My Kinetic Kids

9. Caterpillar Money Counting Printable – J Daniel 4’s Mom

10. Money Recognition Busy Bag – 3 Princess and 1 Dude

11. Printable Board Game Savings Worksheet – Artsy Fartsy Mama

12. Piggy Bank Coin Counting Clip Cards – The Art Kit Blog

13. Printable Safari Spelling Game – In Our Pond

14. Printable Coin Sorting Match Activity – Fantastic Fun and Learning

15. Making Change Task Cards – You’ve Got This Math

16. Money Battleship Game – School Time Snippets

17. The Money Game – Teach Beside Me

18. Build an Ice Cream Sundae Money Math Practice – Science Kiddo

19. DIY Spend, Save, Give Jars – Mess for Less

20. DIY Money Box for Kids – Craftulate

21. Chemical Reactions with Pennies from Creative Family Fun

22. Free Money Fractions and Probability Activity from Life Over C’s

23. Money Math Problems for 1st-3rd Grade from Planet Smarty Pants

24. Skip counting nickels and dimes from Sugar Aunts

25. Set up a simple store with your kids! (Directions below!)

Fun Money Activities for Second Grade – Set Up a Store!

What money lesson is complete without a game of “Store”? Usually kids learn about the concept of money when we go shopping.

They ask us for toys and we say “No, we don’t have money for that.” Then they realize: money = the ability to buy toys. 🙂

That’s a great place to start teaching them about money!

To set up our “store”, I asked the kids to go to their rooms and pick three things each. They came back with their most prized possessions. It was actually pretty cute.

Then I just arbitrarily assigned prices to each item using sticky notes. And our store was complete!

Now I might skimp on my store “shelves”, but I try to use realistic play money. (Ours is from Learning Resources.) I think it’s important for kids to learn what actual coins look like so they can recognize them in real life.

It’s somewhat ironic to be teaching with dollars and coins when we almost always use cards now, but it’s so important that kids understand how money works.

That’s a much easier lesson to learn with coins than cards. I mean, you can swipe cards all day without actually realizing how much money you spend. (Ask me how I know…lol.)

When we make “purchases” in our store, we add up the total using a calculator, count out our money, and we’re off!

Another way we like to teach money in second grade is by playing Monopoly Junior. It’s a fun and easy way for younger kids to learn about concepts such as buying and selling, property, and budgeting.

Fun Money Activities for Second Grade – Learning about Money Printables

Want even more practice with learning about money? We have a new set of learning printables to add to our list of fun money activities for second grade and other early elementary grade levels!

To use these learning about money printables, you’ll need the following:

This set includes three money activities:

One “Count Your Money” activity, complete with answer key
One “Let’s Budget for a Party” activity (Perfect for learning to follow a budget!)
And one “What Do Adults Pay for These Things?” activity

A full set of instructions is also included!

These are wonderful for introducing kids to the idea of how money is used in the real world!

Scroll down to get your copy of our Learning About Money Printables!

See more ways to make math fun on my Math Mania Pinterest board!

Don’t miss these other math learning printables for kids!

To get your copy of our Learning About Money Printable Set, just sign up for our email newsletter! It’s free and you’ll get these, plus lots of other learning printables in our exclusive Subscriber Library!

Use the widget below to get started.

Weather ASL Coloring Pages: ASL Weather Fingerspelling Worksheets

March 18, 2019 by Selena Robinson 2 Comments

It’s been a while since I shared some sign language printables with you guys, but no more!

Last week, I shared our set of printable Spanish flashcards: Spanish Weather Flashcards. Today I’m sharing a new sign language resource: Weather ASL Coloring Pages: ASL Weather Fingerspelling Worksheets!

These are fun for practicing sign language fingerspelling, but they’d also be great for a weather unit!

Read on to get your copy! And if you love these, don’t miss our list of American Sign Language resources for homeschoolers!

Weather ASL Coloring Pages: ASL Weather Fingerspelling Worksheets

To use these ASL weather fingerspelling worksheets, you’ll need the following: (Affiliate links are provided here for convenience. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

This Sign Language Weather Fingerspelling Lesson includes:

Four pages featuring weather symbols, along with the English word and the ASL letters for each word
Four coloring pages featuring black and white weather symbols and the ASL letters for each word
Two fingerspelling matching worksheets featuring English words and pictures
And an answer key!

Kids can study the ASL letters on the color printables to learn which letters match up with the English alphabet.

Then they can color the black and white page and write the English word on each blank line under the ASL spelling.

Simple!

Plus, students can get additional practice by matching each fingerspelled weather word to the correct English word and picture.

Perfect for early learners who are working on spelling skills!

If you want to learn ASL weather signs (not spellings), check out our free video lesson: How to Sign Weather and the Seasons in ASL!

Scroll on down to get your ASL Weather Coloring Pages!

Don’t miss our other sign language printables!

Get even more resources for learning ASL by following me on Pinterest!

To get your copy of our Weather ASL Coloring Pages, pick up our ASL for Kids Learning Bundle! It has our ASL alphabet flashcards, our ASL number flashcards, and these weather ASL fingerspelling printables inside!

>>>>> ASL for Kids Learning Bundle <<<<<

Charlotte’s Web Craft for Kids: Fun Floating Spider Craft

March 14, 2019 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Charlotte’s Web is one of the books that I automatically associate with childhood. I listened to it read aloud in elementary school (third grade, I think) and I read it myself so many times I lost count.

When our six-year-old and I started reading it as part of our BookShark Level 1 curriculum, she discovered that she loved it just as much as I did. Some things never change.

So I thought it would be fun to make a quick and easy Charlotte’s Web craft that she could enjoy and that’s how we came up with this floating spider craft!

This only took us a few minutes to make and it gave us a chance to get outside and play. It’s perfect for early grades.

See how to make your own below! And, for more fun with book-themed crafts, check out our Farm Paper Bag Puppets based on Big Red Barn!

Disclosure: I am a BookShark brand ambassador and am receiving free curriculum as part of my role.

Charlotte’s Web Craft for Kids: Fun Floating Spider Craft

We’ve been working our way through BookShark Level 1 with our first grader this year and we’ve gotten to read so many wonderful children’s books the past few months.

I have to admit, though, that when I opened the box and saw Charlotte’s Web in there, I did a little leap for joy.

If you’ve read the book, you probably remember that Charlotte’s egg sac finally hatches and all of her babies venture out into the world. When Wilbur (the pig) sees them shoot out silk and sail off on the wind, he starts to panic.

Three of them end up staying near him and…(I’m going to stop before I retell the entire book.)

Anyway, the idea of spiders sailing off on the wind is what helped us come up with this simple craft.

To make this easy Charlotte’s Web craft, you’ll need the following: (This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

What we’re basically making is a spider wearing a parachute. Easy peasy!

To make this, use a hole puncher to punch a hole in each side of the coffee filter. You want the holes to be directly across from each other.

I made one hole on the left and the other directly across on the right. Then I turned the filter around and did the same thing again to have four holes in all.

Then cut about a three foot length of string and cut that into four equal pieces. Thread one piece of string through each hole in the filter.

Connect opposing sides by typing the left and right side strings together with a simple knot. Leave about an inch or two loose at the end. Turn the filter around and do the same thing again. You should end up with four strings tied into two.

Then you just tie each of the tied strings around the spider and you’re done!

Make sure that the length of string is even on all sides. If the spider isn’t hanging directly beneath the filter’s middle, it won’t float.

Also – you want the weight of the spider to be evenly distributed. We tied one set of strings together around the front and the other together around the back.

All that’s left to do is take it outside…

…and watch it float!

You don’t have to throw it or anything. If you hold the filter open and up, the spider should float gently to the ground.

Super neat!

I think Charlotte would be proud.

If you’re looking for a literature-rich homeschool curriculum, I cannot recommend BookShark enough. We have had so much fun reading classic stories, and learning about the vocabulary, history, and science behind them this year.

Take a look at the different BookShark levels to find which one is best suited for your child! And don’t forget to request your free catalog!

If you loved this Charlotte’s Web craft, check out these other simple crafts you can make with your family!

And for more ways to add crafting to your homeschool day, follow my Simple Crafts for Kids board on Pinterest!

Should You Use Standardized Testing with Your Homeschooler?

March 11, 2019 by Selena Robinson 4 Comments

The term “standardized testing” is enough to strike fear into the hearts of most school kids. This process can often mean whether they pass a grade or remain behind their classmates during the next year.

For homeschoolers, though, standardized testing can create other concerns, especially because so many of us have students who are working at different grade levels in different subjects.

If you have a student who is working on fourth grade math and sixth grade ELA, will homeschool standardized testing even work?

In our family, we’ve resisted standardized testing over the years. Since our state only requires us to test every three years, we’ve been able to avoid a lot of the pressure that public school students in our area face.

But, we still have to administer a test, which means considering several factors before choosing an exam. Here’s a look at how we chose our homeschool standardized testing program and how you can use it with your own kids!

Image c/o: VIPDesignUSA / depositphotos

Does Standardized Testing Work for Homeschoolers?

At heart, I’m completely anti-testing. I was a good student in school and I always did well on my tests. But, times have definitely changed since then.

For several years, our local public school system used the CRCT. The test was so difficult that many educators and administrators were sentenced to jail because of providing false test scores in order to keep their jobs.

We didn’t want to place that kind of pressure on our kids, so we only tested every three years, as our state law required.

My husband and I aren’t interested in teaching children to test well. We want them to learn material that will help them in their lives and future careers and, for many years, I just didn’t see how testing would help them reach that goal.

As my kids have gotten older, though, I’ve started to notice some things that caused me to reconsider my anti-testing stance.

For one thing, all of my kids have different skills and talents. One of them is a natural linguist and was bored to tears by studying the ELA material for their specific grade level.

One of them is a natural mathematician who has almost no patience to learn the math lessons assigned to their grade level.

And yet another is so eager to learn that they have already skipped a couple of grades.

It was time to assess where everyone was so I could omit the material they already knew and work on strengthening each child’s weaker areas.

What to Consider When Choosing A Standardized Testing Program

Another reason why I was hesitant to use homeschool standardized testing with my kids was their attention issues. Two of our children have ADD/ADHD and, honestly, the length of some of these tests are a bit much for my ADD as well.

So I knew I would need to choose an at-home standardized testing program that would be simple enough for me to administer and relaxed enough for my children to complete.

Which is why I was thrilled to learn about the Stanford-10 test.

I wouldn’t need to take my kids to an offsite testing location. I wouldn’t need to have someone else proctor the test. And I wouldn’t have to grade it myself. The ultimate low-stress standardized testing option for homeschoolers.

Do you use homeschool standardized testing with your kids? How do you go about choosing your program? Share your experiences in the comments!

Check out these other ways to make learning simple in your homeschool!

See even more ways to plan your homeschooling year on my Homeschool Planning Pinterest board!