DreamBox Learning®» homeschooling tips

Math Learning Field Trip Ideas for Homeschoolers

Alyssa — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:11:35 +0000

When it comes to math field trips, homeschooling has an advantage over public school: no permission slips! Homeschoolers can decide to take a field trip at the drop of a hat. Planning is still important, but if you have the right resources a quick trip to the park can easily be turned into a biology lesson. Some trips can be planned out well in advance and some can be sparked by a sudden weather change. Below are some fun field trip ideas that also offer math learning lessons.

Architecture

Tour a landmark building that has a great view of your city, like the Empire State Building or the Space Needle. Take a good look around at other major buildings, landmarks, and geographical features in the area. Bring math into the experience by discussing how to estimate the height of a building, when it was built, and how many people it took to build it. When you get back: Compare the building you visited to Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world. You can even research some of the challenges of designing tall buildings.

Sports

One, two, three, go! Whether it's baseball, football, ski races or bowling, sports and games offer wonderful math learning opportunities. Even if you don't live in a major league city, minor league or local high school and college games offer fun, accessible choices. Your kids can record scores, calculate batting averages or free throw percentages, or compare win/loss records. When you get back: Organize your data in an easily readable way, like a graph or a chart, and discuss what the data means. Or you can compare a player or a team's performance in this game to their average scores in all games. Considering baseball is a game of averages, what can you derive from the day's performance?

Museum

Of course museums are rich with learning activities. But you don't have to live near the Goudreau Museum of Mathematics and Science in New York to get math out of your trip! The key to a successful museum field trip is in finding an exhibit that sparks your children's interests. It's great if the exhibit is math oriented, such as optical illusions or the drawings of M.C. Escher, but there are many ways to integrate math learning with other topics. Consider having each person in the family or group rank certain pieces or exhibits you see, then find the average rating of the group. When you get back: Start your own collection of small objects at home that your child can sort and arrange in different ways. Your child can even put on his own exhibit, making sure that everything in it is related to a common idea.

Factory Tour

Tour an interesting factory, whether it is Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream in Vermont or Basic Brown Bear in California. Enjoy seeing how small pieces of raw materials come together into a great final product. You can even explore math concepts by discussing the steps needed to make the product using ordinal numbers. When you get back: Make your own ice cream or teddy bear. And don't forget to have your child measure the ingredients or materials that you use!

Agriculture

Get outside and pick your own fruit! You’ll have some fresh produce to bring back with you, and you’ll learn a little about where your food comes from. The kids will love the treat, and you can even make the experience into a math game. For younger children, have them pick ten, counting correctly, before they can eat one. Older children can estimate how much their fruit will weigh at the end. When you get back: Bake a yummy dish or dessert using your fresh produce, with your children helping to measure ingredients as you bake. For a long term project, buy some seeds to grow at home. Children can research facts such as average yield and growing time. At the end, see whether it was a good investment. Consider how much fruit you grew, how much it would have cost from the store, and how expensive the seeds were.

Local places to check for more ideas

public libraries
local historical society
parks and recreation department

Share your favorite homeschooling math field trip lessons with others

What field trips have worked for you? Lessons? Share your experiences by adding your comments. Want to write an entire post about a recent field trip? Send us a comment and we'll contact you. We'd love to feature a few math-related homeschooling field trips from our readers' perspectives.

Announcing The Free Homeschool Math Ebook

Tracy — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:43:31 +0000

Free eBook

We are very excited to present "Helping Children Be Successful in Math. A Homeschool Math Learning Guide." This free eBook offers tips on how to help your child develop a positive attitude towards math, goals from the National Mathematics Advisory Panel, and homeschool math learning activities. It's a must-read before you start this year's math curriculum. Get our free homeschool math eBook! We realize that homeschooling is a huge financial undertaking. That's why we made this eBook completely free and no registration required! We are also working to create more homeschool resources to make DreamBox Learning your number one destination for homeschool math support.

What Can a Homeschooling Parent Do When Math Isn’t a Strength?

Alyssa — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 22:06:38 +0000

We’ve heard from some homeschooling parents that math was not their strong subject, so they’re less confident about teaching it to their children. Some have found that sharing teaching responsibilities with other homeschoolers, where each parent is teaching to their strengths, is a great way to share resources and expertise. And joining a homeschool co-op or group can bring more breadth to the curriculum mix for your students, as well as bringing socialization and other benefits.

What is a homeschool co-op?

A homeschool co-op is a group of homeschooling families that gather together to enrich their children’s education. But every group is different with huge range of activities offered, member requirements, and levels of commitment.

Issues to consider

Most co-ops offer some combination of classes, clubs, field trips, potlucks, and parent discussions. Co-ops range widely in the types of resources that are shared or activities that are offered. Many co-ops offer advice and forums on their websites for everyone, not just members. Some co-ops exist just to use group purchase power to obtain lower prices on curricula. There is also a lot of variety in membership requirements. Some co-ops follow certain religious affiliations or homeschool philosophies. Other groups have restrictions about age ranges or locations for their members. While many co-ops are free, some have fees to join. Co-ops also vary in the levels of commitment required. Almost all co-ops require parents to stay on-site while their children are taking classes or attending events, so do not expect to just drop your child off and leave! Larger co-ops tend to have members sign up for the activities that they are interested in, while smaller groups might expect members to attend every event. Also look at the expectations for parents – how often should you be organizing an event, or could you work on a newsletter instead?

Pros and cons of joining a homeschool co-op

Co-ops can be a great experience for both students and parents. Children interact with and learn from a group of their peers. They are exposed to new ideas and different viewpoints. Parents share talents, each leading activities or classes in their area of expertise. Parents also gain a supportive community, and some offer opportunities to take a break with events such as Mom’s Night Out. However, there is also a flip side to homeschool co-ops. When you join, you are making a commitment that will take time and energy, and you have to be sure that the co-op you join is worth it. You may feel that some co-op activities have little educational value, some field trips may go awry, and some classes might even remind you of why you decided to homeschool in the first place. You are dependent on others following through on their commitments to attend and share in the work of creating classes or events. Therefore, a lot depends on the co-op you choose to join. Each one has a different focus, values, and group dynamic. You might attend several events before making a commitment to join, especially if there is a fee for joining.

Finding a co-op near you

First, consider what you want out of the co-op experience. Are you looking to share teaching responsibilities, or are you more interested in socialization opportunities for your students, field trips, or a chess club? How much time do you want to be committing to the co-op? Make a list of your top priorities to help you in your search. Here are several online databases and resources to help you identify homeschool co-ops and groups in your area:

Homeschool World (http://www.home-school.com/groups/NY.html), the website for Practical Homeschooling Magazine, which lists co-ops from around the nation organized by region and state with a little information about each one.
A to Z Home's Cool (http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/regional/Region.htm) lists homeschool organizations and co-ops by region.
Check out Homeschooler Buyers Co-op http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/, which claims to be the world's largest purchasing cooperative for homeschoolers.
Finally, talk to other homeschoolers in your area about groups they might have some experience with organizations that you might consider joining

Starting one yourself

Can’t find a homeschool co-op in your area that fits your needs? You might consider launching your own. Talk with other homeschool families you know to see if you can all agree on your shared goals. Be aware, though, that you have to make sure everyone is on the same page about the needs and the level of commitment for the group. This will be a lot more work than just joining an already existing co-op, but it can also be the best way to find exactly what you need, and it can be very enriching for your whole family.

10 Tips for Homeschooling Beginners

Tracy — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 00:36:25 +0000

So, you've decided to homeschool your children. You've talked to all types of parents, made your pros-and-cons list, and envisioned your media room transformed into a great little classroom. You've also probably awakened in a cold sweat once or twice wondering how you're going to be both parent and teacher, how you're going to socialize your kids, and what they might miss out on. It's back-to-school homeschool stress! Even if your kids won't be headed off on the big yellow bus, you can still join in on the back-to-school fun. DreamBox Learning presents 10 tips for homeschool beginners.

10 tips for beginning homeschoolers

1. Write out your reasons for homeschooling. To homeschool or not to homeschool? It's a daunting decision. Write out your reasons for homeschooling and goals for your children. Ask yourself : What are the schools like where you live? What do you want your children to accomplish through their education? Why do you want to homeschool? How long will you homeschool? Homeschooling is more than a full-time job and when the schooling gets tough, a written list of reasons will help you recall why you took on the challenge. A homeschooling mission statement will help you stay focused the ultimate goals for your children. 2. Set measurable educational goals.Whether you're teaching literature, math or art, keep specific educational goals in mind. What do you want your child to learn and how will you track their progress? Divide the list into short-term and long-term goals. Short term: "I want Susie to be able to add double digits." Long term: "I want Susie to have a basic understanding of American History." 3. Make it fun. Homeschooling is never what you pictured. It's not always fun and there will be many times when you wondered why you thought you could be both their teacher and parent. But homeschooling can also be a lot of fun. Teach a French lesson and then make crepes as a family. After a unit on the Civil War, watch a reenactment. If you've always wanted to learn guitar or speak a foreign language, now is the time to learn. Homeschooling will stimulate your curiosity and you'll learn new things while teaching your kids. 4. Reach out. You might be the only one on the block who doesn't walk their child to the bus stop each morning. But you can still be a part of the homeschooling community! Try and find a good homeschooling co-op in your area. If you can't find one, start your own. Attend homeschool conferences. Check out this Unschooling on a Cruise Ship conference if you want to combine your conference with a vacation. 5. Learn about teaching. It's not enough to be a math whiz or geography guru. You have to know how to apply your knowledge in a way that the child will understand. Read books on teaching and take teaching courses. Swap resources with your homeschooling co-op. If your specialty is in English and you struggle with math, teach the English course and have another homeschooler teach the math. 6. Prepare financially. With the rising cost of a private education, you might feel like you're making the "cheaper choice." But homeschooling is expensive. Consider the cost of keeping one parent home as the primary educator. Consider the curricula, the supplies, the expense of transforming your home office into a classroom. Budget for everything right down to the #2 pencils. Have a financial plan in place and give yourself a cushion for unforeseen expenses. 7. Set aside a time and place for academic work. Don't try and turn your T.V. room (plush couches and all) into a classroom -- cartoons and serious learning don't mix. Before you begin homeschooling, set up a classroom with chairs, books, desks, and all. Get into a routine. That is, school begins at 8:00 a.m. and at that time, they must be dressed (teeth brushed, hair combed) and ready to take on the day. 8. Get organized. (The dog ate my ...worksheet) Organize your materials, time, and tasks so you don't waste precious minutes looking for worksheets or scrambling to find that storybook. Set up a filing system for all your different subjects and organize your library and homeschooling records. Consider keeping a daily journal and homeschool work portfolio. 9. Don't forget socialization and life skills. If you decide to homeschool, be prepared for the inevitable question, "What about socialization?" Involve your kids in their community. Sign them up for sports, scouts, and home-school groups. Take field trips with other children and make sure to include activities where your child has to work in a group. Be very certain your child's social needs are being met and that they will have a peer group. 10. Review local regulations. Check your local regulations if you're thinking about homeschooling. Most states are subject to home-based instruction regulations. For instance, in Washington you must have earned 45 quarter units of college-level credits, attend a Parent Qualifying Course, meet with a certified teacher once a week, and receive approval from the local superintendent of public schools. Bonus tip: Read about how DreamBox Learning's online math curriculum is ideal for homeschooling families here!

DreamBox Learning’s Top Educational Toys for the Holidays

Tracy — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:59:12 +0000

It probably goes without saying that the people at DreamBox like to give educational gifts to enrich a child’s mind! Education is the gift that keeps on giving, long after the season ends. Dreambox Learning’s holiday gift-giving guide makes shopping for educational toys a no-brainer! We consulted parents, children, and educators to find the top educational toys that make learning fun. And rest assured, not only are these toys educational, they’re fun to play with too. We’ll review a few educational toys a week, so check back soon for the next award-winning toy.

Blokus Classic: Fun Learning Game, Lots of Learning Benefits

Top educational toys for the holidays

Blokus Classic

If you’re going to get your kids (ages 7 or older) a game for the holidays, give them Blokus. Blokus helps develop strategic skills and logic, plus it’s fun to play (even for parents). Blokus starts with a simple premise: each player has to fit as many of their pieces on the board as possible. Kids use logic and strategy as they try to “block” their opponents from expanding territory. When one player gets all their pieces on the board, the game ends. DreamBox Learning isn’t the only one that gives Blokus a stamp of approval; Blokus won the Mensa “Best Mind Game” award in 2003!

Learning benefits:

Promotes healthy brain activity
Teaches strategic thinking
Improves logic
Develops tactile skills

Ages: 7 and up Learn more about Blokus here: http://www.blokus.com/ Disclaimer: DreamBox is in no way affiliated with this product and recommends it solely on its educational merits.

A Four Day School Week?

Lou — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 04:52:56 +0000

Because of rising fuel costs, some rural schools with long bus routes are considering shortening the school week to stay on budget. I remember a similar discussion when I was a kid during the 70's oil embargo. I dreaded the thought of my Mom (the omnipresent teacher) loading me to the gills with rote exercises and makeshift homework while all my friends would be outside playing (can’t you just envision them waving their tongues and moose-horn hands at me).

Homeschooling with Dreambox

Today, if my sons’ schools instituted a four day school week, I’m reminded how lucky they’d be to use DreamBox at home. So lucky in fact, I actually think I’ll recount it for them -- along with stories about my ill-fitting hand-me-down paisley polyester shirts, shoveling snow with a 40 lb rusty spade, and grandpa’s insistence that milk expiration dates were a conspiracy to get you to buy more milk. It’s no wonder I dislike cottage cheese.