Online Student Skills Builder... Math & Language Arts

I'm thrilled to have discovered Sadlier-Oxford's website fully loaded with online skill builders for grades K-8. They are one of my favorite publishers of mathematics textbooks; my children have both used their Progress in Mathematics textbooks, 1st grade and 2nd grade editions. The lessons are well written, colorful, easy to follow, and include great instruction and illustrations and are constructed like workbooks.

A friend recently asked where we had purchased the kid's math lessons, so I went looking online for the publisher's website and found not only the textbooks, but a wide variety of tutorials, skill update exercises, worksheets, and more! This is where my kids and I will be brushing up our math and reading skills this Summer. No doubt about it!

Here's the starting point for your student: Student Pages

Another link provides shopping... if you're so inclined: Shopping Pages

This site offers online manipulatives like an online abacus, online algebra tiles, base blocks, dueling calculators and more! Check out the pages of virtual manipulatives and consider how they could supplement your homeschool curriculum! Very cool... trust me on this... you don't want to skip over this free resource!

Gentle, Loving, and Inspiring Self-Image Booster!

The link to this video was just sent to me in an email and I almost didn't open it! lol I'm so grateful I followed my gut and went ahead to follow the link, as this little number is truly awesome and inspiring! I would love to be a part of such an important and commendable project... building self-esteem in children is something we should all seek to do more of!



Watch this with your children and let it inspire them to love who God made them to be! Awe.... I'm feeling warm and fuzzy all over! :o)

Get Creative with Free Online Flower Drawing Tool!

This website is a great way to kill a few minutes if you just want to relax and play. It provided me with a good 15 minutes of entertainment last night after I put my kids to bed.

What's more... your kids will absolutely love it! Maybe even make it count towards an art class? My 6 year old daughter spent about an hour this morning playing on this site, creating and naming beautiful flowers.

There's not a print option on site, but I think you could probably hit "Print Screen" or you may be able to hit "Ctrl" and "Print Screen" together then paste to another application and print that way!

Another Great Children's Story Site

BBC's CBeebies offers the cutest stories, animated and narrated for you and your early reader's listening enjoyment. I wish I'd paid attention to this website earlier, I didn't know what we were missing! Trust me... these stories are precious!

The user friendly website offers stories, games, poetry and more. Your children are sure to get a few giggles watching these stories unfold. Pay attention to the commands as you'll occasionally have the opportunity to mouse over the image and add to the excitement before you!

Some might say it's better to read to your children rather than relying on someone else, and I do agree with this if you're not reading to your child at all, but assuming you are, this is a fun way to add to your child's interest in story telling and reading. Moving images are fun... we all know that! Keep on reading those books as you always have, but every once in awhile, take a few minutes to let someone read to you and your child. The stories feature the story's text as the narrator speaks, so you could even turn the volume down if you wanted to and just rely on your own voice. Either way... you're sure to enjoy your visit at BBC's CBeebies!

Recommended Link: Storyline Online

If you'd like to watch a famous actor read a book to your child, you might like this website. I just visited Storyline Online (a program of The Screen Actors Guild) and was delighted to find a handful of fun illustrated stories being read by such names as Jason Alexander, Pamela Reed, and Melissa Gilbert. Be sure to pay attention to what you select, some have revealing information, such was the case with Jason Alexander's reading of "Dad Are You the Tooth Fairy?". They'll be sure to warn the parent, but this title sorta says it all. If you're not ready to have that discussion, you might want to use a bit of caution before opening a story.

With that said, I'd visit the site together with your child rather than having him or her navigate independently. The website will allow you to include captions if you're interested in having you child read along with the narrator. Additionally, they offer the parent a downloadable activity guide to accompany the stories.

Sound like fun? I can't wait to share this site with my own kiddos! They love this sorta thing. Be sure to check it out!