Search Results for: blog first trip to the science museum

First Trip to The Science Museum

The other day, I had planned to go to the grocery store. Lately, I have been taking the boys to a playground near the grocery store for a few hours before going shopping. That arrangement has made everyone happy and makes for a fun day trip because it is about a 45 minute drive in each direction. When we got up in the morning, I realized that there would have to be a change in plans because it was raining. Rather than rescheduling grocery shopping to another day, I decided to find a rainy day activity in the area near … Continue reading →

The Ultimate Children’s Museum

My five-year-old has been to more than a dozen children’s museums in her short life. She’s loved every one of them, but apparently, she doesn’t know what she’s been missing. According to a recent survey, the City Museum, located in St. Louis, Missouri, is the ultimate children’s museum. In addition to having a second-floor, 13,500 square foot aquatic waterworld where kids of all ages can get up-close and personal with more than 10,000 sea creatures (from sharks to stingrays, and seahorses), the museum also boasts a five-story jungle gym with two real-life jets that kids can climb on. There’s also … Continue reading →

Harry Potter and Michael Jackson Themed Trips

If your kids are wild about Harry, then hit the road for a literary journey featuring the fictional boy wizard’s favorite haunts. Last week’s release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, has sparked a slew of travel deals inspired by J.K. Rowling’s books about wannabe wizards, including: Skyscanner.net is offering tours of 13 key locations in the Potter Universe, from Platform 9¾ at London’s Kings Cross Station to Romania, home to the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary. Fandango.com is featuring a Summer Movie Road Trips section that offers travelers the chance to visit Harry Potter’s Rolling Green British Isles. Meanwhile, for … Continue reading →

Middle School Homeschool Basics: Science

Middle school science is repetitive and repeats subjects learned during the elementary years. Instead of repeating the same subjects over and over, I feel that homeschoolers should look for experiences that will help the children learn the subject in a hands-on way and in greater depth. Look for experiments, museum and zoo trips, educational movies and things of that nature. With that said, the subjects they should learn are: Learning to classify and discover through science: Students must learn to classify living things, they must learn scientific classification, and must also learn scientific method, scientific nomenclature, and scientific measurement. Laboratory … Continue reading →

Third Grade Science Curriculum Part 1

Here at the topics that should be covered in third grade science, according to the World Book encyclopedia website. The internet holds hundreds of free lesson plans and resources that you can use to teach your student these topics. Some of my favorite sites for teaching third grade science concepts are brainpop.com which is a subscription based website. Kids.gov is has many environmental science activities for your kids and Free.ed.gov has many lesson plans for teachers that homeschoolers can use. Below are the lesson suggestions along with my ideas for teaching them. Animal helpers: Teach children about seeing eye and … Continue reading →

First Grade Homeschool Basics

Some time back, Valorie wrote What Your First Grader Should Know: Language Arts. If you follow this guide, you will be able to map out a first grade reading curriculum for your child. She also wrote: What Your First Grader Should Know Math. This guide will easily take you through the first grade with little more than a workbook from the dime store and the knowledge in your head. What Your First Grader Should Know Science: teaches first grade basics like animals, pets, plants, habitats, and more. You can follow the lessons outlined in this guide with the help of … Continue reading →

Homeschooling the Creative Child: Science and Social Studies

In my first post on Homeschooling the creative child I talked about how my high school chemistry teacher helped me tremendously by making Chemistry three dimensional for me and allowing me to draw pictures all over my test paper. He would often see the panic on my face at test time and say “just draw it… if you can draw it, then I know you know it.” Needless to say, he was one of my favorite teachers out of the many I had. Here are some tips you can use to homeschool your creative child science and social studies: Dioramas: … Continue reading →

2006 in Review: Homeschooling Blog at a Glance

As a new homeschooling blogger at Families.com, I wanted to know everything that has been discussed to date. In response to my own curiosity, and in an effort to make perusing our articles easier for you, our readers, I have compiled all of the blogs for the year 2006. Deciding to Homeschool Why homeschool Am I qualified for this? Reasons that Homeschooling Works! My Most Important Advice for Homeschoolers. The Cost of Homeschooling Instead of standing up for their own kids, why not stand up for all kids? Disclaimer: I am hardly an expert in education. Did You Know? ‘Empirical … Continue reading →

Taking a Trip to Galveston

Galveston, Texas is a wonderful place for a family vacation or couples who enjoy the beach, shopping, visiting historical homes, and other fascinating activities. We took a trip to Galveston a few years back and found it to be a charming city with great people. One of our first stops was to Moody Gardens, which includes a 10-story Rainforest Pyramid, complete with a tropical environment. One of the main features of the rainforest is the largest collection of bats in the southwest. In addition, Moody Gardens had an IMAX 3D, which provided an experience that seemed so realistic. Then, we … Continue reading →

Fun Ideas for a Spring Staycation this Year

  For some families, spring break is almost here.  Having a week or two off from school is the ultimate idea of fun for many kids, but for moms and dads the seasonal vacation can be dreadful, especially if money is tight. Fortunately, you don’t have to drop thousands of dollars to make your child’s spring break memorable.  With the price of gas hitting record highs, millions of families are opting to stay close to home this season.  The idea of taking a staycation is even more tempting when you consider how much money you can save while still having … Continue reading →