What are some of the most confused words in the English language?  Do your kids know when to use each of the words below?

• Their–There
• Our–Are
• Loose–Lose
• Accept–Except
• Compliment–Complement
• Adverse–Averse
• Your–You’re
• It’s–Its
• Affect–Effect
• Lay–Lie
• Allusion–Illusion
• Me–I
• Assure–Insure
• Than–Then
• Who’s–Whose

If your kids know how to use all the above words–congrats to you–you’re a very good teacher!

Remember, fun learning is forever learning.

Ann Simpson

Babies are born ready to learn.  Think how much a child learns in his/her first year of life.  Think how much your child learns by age five.

From the moment a child is born, family plays a crucial role in the child’s learning and how the child sees him/herself as a learner.  Parents can start their children on a successful academic path by–

• Placing a high value on education
• Telling their children they believe in them
• Expressing high but reasonable expectations
• Celebrating their children’s successes

And remember, fun learning is forever learning.

Ann Simpson

Have you checked out the educational opportunities at your local zoo lately?

Many zoos have special field trips for homeschoolers, on-line courses, on-site classes, Zoomobile Outreach opportunities, Borrow a Zoobox programs, Self-Guided Safaris, Night Safaris, Feast with the Beasts events , day and week camps and even overnight camping opportunities.

Almost every zoo website that I visited had extensive educational and event opportunities perfect for homeschoolers.  So, check it out!

Because fun learning is forever learning!

Ann Simpson

Would you like a little more help from your mate when it comes to homeschooling your children?  Here are some ideas on how to get Dad more involved–

• Sit down together and choose educational goals for the upcoming year–do this together as parents.  Dad might have different views/goals.  His input is valuable.  Maybe he’d like your kids to learn about radio transmission or construction techniques.
• ASK Dad how he’d like to get involved.  Have Dad pick a subject or two that he is willing to teach your children.  Perhaps he can teach auto mechanics, build a fort with the kids or  be in charge of baseball practices.
• If Dad has a job where he can take the kids to work–let the kids learn what Dad does, the education that’s necessary, etc.
• Have Dad go on as many field trips as possible.  Make field trips both a learning time and a bonding time for your family.

I’m sure Dad is a great resource–so get him involved!  Maybe he’ll realize that fun learning is forever learning.

Ann Simpson

Our friends at Homeschool Buyers Co-op report that homeschoolers have only 11 more days to purchase the immensely popular Thinkwell curriculum at deep discount (45% off!).  After that, Thinkwell will require all resellers to offer Thinkwell courses at the list price ($120 and up).

Great teaching begins with great teachers, but unfortunately, not everyone has access to the best teachers.  Thinkwell changes that by using the latest technology to bring these great teachers into your homeschool via the Internet.  Instead of reading a textbook, students watch a series of dynamic 10-minute video lectures and then complete interactive online exercises that reinforce concepts and demonstrate mastery of the topics.

Since the Co-op negotiated the BEST DEAL ON THE PLANET for homeschoolers a couple years ago, this Co-op exclusive has garnered enthusiastic testimonials by homeschoolers.  If you are looking for comprehensive math, science, and civics courses for your 6-12 grader, Thinkwell could be just the ticket!

Remember–fun learning is forever learning!

Ann Simpson

It’s important for our children to understand the rules of paragraphs and topic sentences.  Someone that writes well tends to do well in educational endeavors.  Later in life, someone that writes well has many career opportunities.  Writing well–writing in an organized manner, matters.

A well-organized paragraph supports/develops a single controlling idea.  Paragraphs help the reader understand the organization of an essay and its main points. Paragraphs help the writing flow.  The topic sentence is the first sentence in each paragraph that explains the content of the paragraph.

Work with your children so they understand the importance paragraphs and topic sentences.  Maybe they can write something fun….because fun learning is forever learning.

Ann Simpson

Our world is getting smaller. People travel across continents and interact with one another as they have never done before. Because of this, it’s beneficial for our children to speak more than one language.

What additional language should your child speak? That might depend on where you live, the languages that are spoken in your family and in your geographical area, as well as your child’s aptitudes and interests. But fyi–here is a breakdown of different languages and the number of people that speak them throughout the world–

• English is spoken by 443 million people.

• Spanish is spoken by 341 million people.

• Russian is spoken by 293 million people.

• Hindi is spoken by 442 million people.

• French is spoken by 121 million people.

• German is spoken by 118 million people.

• Japanese is spoken by 125 million people.

• Arabic is spoken by 197 million people.

Languages can be fun, and fun learning is forever learning.

Ann Simpson

How do you make hearts and other cool symbols show up when you clearly don’t have these keys on your computer?  There is a way!

If you have Windows, put your keyboard on NumLock, hold down the ALT key and enter the numbers below on the numeric keypad–

for a  happy face–1
for a heart (my favorite)– 3
for a diamond– 4
for a club– 5
for a box/circle– 8
for a clear circle– 9
for a single music note (very nice)– 13
for a double music note (doubly nice)–14

Have fun with this–because fun learning is forever learning!

Ann Simpson

We teach our children how to read, how to drive a car, how to get a job. But do we teach our children about money management? Do they know how to balance a checking account, the pitfalls of consumer credit, or  the importance of savings, compound interest and investment?

Money ToolKits teaches children and young adults about money.

Money TooKits states that teaching kids about money is one of the best legacies we can leave our children–and that this knowledge will stay with them and have a positive impact throughout their entire lives.

So whether you choose Money ToolKits or you teach money management to your children on your own, it is a skill we all NEED to teach our children.

Remember, fun learning is forever learning.

Ann Simpson

Study skills are skills that students can LEARN! Even kids that get distracted, can do better if they follow these simple study guidelines:

• Plan specific times for studying. Stick to your schedule. Studying before everyone else gets out of school may allow you more time with your friends.
• Be well rested and well fed before you start studying. If you’re exhausted, reading might put you to sleep. If you’re hungry, you’ll be thinking about dinner, not about algebra.
• Conquer procrastination.  Cramming is not good for retention.  If you’re working on a project or a paper, time between is beneficial.  When writing a paper, I recommend writing a draft, putting it down for a few days and then re-reading it with a fresh set of eyes–you’ll see more errors and you’ll end up with a better flowing paper.
• Establish a study zone–make it comfortable–make it yours.  This doesn’t have to be the kitchen table or a desk.  It can be your bed….complete with headphones….and comfortable pillows.
• Prioritize your work.  Do the most difficult tasks first–when you are fresh.
• Set goals for your study time.  I use to set goals/rewards for myself–I could call my friend after I read three chapters or after I understood a concept.
• When possible, make studying fun.  Studying for me was always a solitary endeavor.  I couldn’t really study with friends or listen to music–but lots of kids can.  If you can–if you really can–then make studying enjoyable.
• Even if you can’t make studying fun–make it rewarding.  Appreciate what you’ve learned.  Appreciate the dedication and self control that allowed you to learn a new concept.  Be proud of yourself.

Maybe you can think of additional study skills–ones that incorporate fun into the learning process.  Because after all, fun learning is forever learning.

Ann Simpson