Heart of the Matter

Welcome! I am your tour guide for the month of July. This our third adventure through the WEBworld in 12 links. This month our special destination is the Land Of Art. I hope you find these especially helpful and enjoyable.

Our first stop will be at the local “no membership required” town of Homemade. Yes, you will be able to learn how to make Homemade Toothpaste ,Homemade Butter, Homemade Play Dough, and Homemade Bubbles. Be sure to click on any of these weblinks for more information. It’s always fun to dip our feet in these homemade activities when the day runs slow with the children. Fortunately, you’ll find that most of these homemade roads of fun require you to have ingredients that you probably already have in your home!

Of course, when you’re waiting for your homemade goods to be done, you might need to visit the Land Of Coloring. The best part about these weblinks are that they are also apart of the “no membership required” club! Color-Your-Own is one of my favorite stops during the year. There is a collection of hand created drawings for print and coloring. They are amazing! In fact, if you don’t see something you like, the artist will draw as you request! However, if you are looking for something a little more traditional and educational, Crayon By Numbers has something just for you. Get out your box of Crayola because this weblink will provide you with a great collection of 15th to 19th century works of art. Depending on the age of your child, I promise you’ll find something to fit the age!!! Coloring Pages is more on the relax side of this coloring land. If you visit here, you can download free coloring books with popular characters and good illustrations.

Moving on to our next stop, why not visit the Land of Art Education. For the more advanced student who doesn’t necessarily want to color or make homemade products, you will want to visit this land a few times. Learn about the history of Art at A Lifetime of Color. This is a wonderful site that will help both parent and child discover history through paintings, drawings, clay, etc. This site also includes lesson plans up to Grade 8, or according to subject matter such as Art and History or Art and Science. There is a link for techniques, projects and featured artists, as well as the study of art that includes a glossary, artists and time-line. Lots of great information! Also, Incredible Art Lessons is a fun way to explore Art. This website is a must-see! You can request a free catalog to learn about their Art Lessons on-line. You’ll get ideas from a wide variety of sources with lots of great ideas to incorporate art into your school day.

For our final stop and resting place is the Land Of Crafts. During the summer, you’ll want to take advantage of this land. It seems to keep even the littlest ones busy. You know our modo here, “no membership required” sites are best to spend time in… so, rest assured these are also membership free. You’ll have so much fun visiting Art Teacher . This site is a great resource if you are wanting to teach about other cultures through art. Once you’re done there, you’ll need to get out your scissors and glue because DLTK – Kids Crafts is a popular weblink that provides printable crafts for kids. However, if you like to stay in the kitchen, try justkidsrecipes There are tons of craft and recipes listed on this weblink. Whichever way you choose, you’ll want to bookmark this next stop. It’s called 21 Quick Kid Crafts. You’ll find everything from beads to candles, to holiday crafts. There’s something for every age for every holiday. Lots of fun.

That will conclude our trip through the Land Of Art in 12 links. I hope you enjoyed your trip. Always remember that all weblinks shared are Mom tested and Mom approved through WeblinkEducation.com

Valerie is a born and raised Southern California girl. On her little corner of the beach, she homeschools her three wonderful blessings. Before marriage, she wrote for public television, taught kindergarten, and was a live-in Nanny. She is the Moderator of an International Yahoo group (Just4homeschoolfamilies), as well as Senior Editor of an e-mail monthly newsletter (Words Of Encouragement). For daily happenings, she has a homeschool blog (Homeschooling With Encouragement) where you can read about her personal ups and downs of homeschooling.

Today I am going to take you on a tour that will break the boundaries of the literary world as you know. I want to introduce you to the world of Language. As you know, there are hundreds of different languages that color the world we live in. However, today I am choosing to focus on one that you are very familiar with – The American Language – English. I chose this beautiful language because it seems to be the most difficult language to learn. Not only do visitors from other countries find it hard to learn, but our very own children also struggle with spelling, grammar, and creative writing. Therefore, I thought it would be fun to cover the world of the English language in 12 links. I hope that you will be able to use these special “mom tested” weblinks on your own homeschool journey.

First, we are going to take a stop at Learning Vocabulary This is a no membership website where you will find it fun to build your child’s vocabulary skills. There are lots of games and interactive on-line worksheets. Fun for all ages.

Then, our second and third stop will be at DiscoveryEducation and Spelling Time. Discovery Education is a no membership site that is easy to use. You can make spelling puzzles and crossword puzzles out of your own spelling words. Spelling Time is also a no membership site designed specifically as an interactive learning tool for your child. This site will change your child’s attitude about spelling by giving them the confidence they need to succeed in school. Both of these sites are interactive online spelling programs for children grades 1 through 5. Enjoy the fun!

Our fourth and fifth stop has to do with Grammar. Although this is probably the most important part of developing the English language, most students/teachers stumble through their workbooks hoping to grasp what they can. Therefore, these two weblinks are so helpful and shared frequently within the homeschool arena. First we have Guide To Grammar. This is one weblink you’ll want to bookmark. This is a free site that will help explain all those mind boggling terms that stump us in grammar. For example, you will learn what is a preposition and how it is different from a direct object and how they used in a sentence. There are even great pin-pointed exercises that you can print. Daily Grammar Lessons is also a free website that offers grammar lesson plans and worksheets. Some worksheets are purchasable products while others are offered free of cost.

Our next stop in the world of the English Language is the land of reading. How wonderful it is to read. So many books take us on adventures we can only dream about. Teaching our children to read is one of the most important things in life. This is why I have chosen to take a longer stay on this island. I have five weblinks to share. Kidsread.com is an excellent website for the younger readers. Lots of helpful advice for parents/teachers with resources about authors, books that have been made into movies and series. You’ll find about new paperbacks and so much more. The Reading Tub is also a great reading site for parent/teachers who have young children. It’s a children’s book review site. Seriously, this site is dedicated to promoting reading and literacy. It’s a great way to find great books you and your children will love to share. In fact, you’ll learn ways to encourage your child’s love of reading. One of the most popular reading sites is TLS Books. It’s no membership website that offers a variety of free printable worksheets for home and school use. It’s a great tool to find supplemental material for your early childhood education program, home day care, elementary school classroom or homeschool. For the preschool child, there is Beginning Reading. You’ll find Preschool material and lesson plans that will help get your child interested in reading. Free printables are available and much more. The last reading weblink that I am sharing today is called Starfall. You’ve probably heard of this site before. It seems to make an appearance on blogs around the world. It’s a great website that is interactive. No membership is required, yet it is so fun. Any student from preschool through 2nd Grade can find fun on this site. It offers help with reading through fun interactive activities.

My last stop is a quick one. In fact, we’ll visit two more weblinks before our tour ends. The first stop is Exhibits Collections. On this website you will learn what makes a good story and how to put your information all together. You will be guided through topics including the atmosphere, oceans, and ecosystems, as well as the impact of human activities and population growth on water and food resources, biodiversity, energy use, and global pollution. It’s a site for the older student in your home, but well worth you stop. Then, our last stop is one that you’ll want to bookmark, too. It’s a dictionary sort of weblink. It’s called Word Central. It’s a website designed by the Merriam-Webster’s dictionary called Word Central. It has superior word power and lots of language fun activities. You can build your own dictionary on-line, create a daily buzz word and even play games! It’s a great resource for student and teacher.

That concludes my guided tour through the American English Language. I hope you enjoyed your tour. Be sure to visit these wonderful weblinks when you get a change. I am sure you will find the most helpful in your homeschooling. For more weblinks in different worlds of study, please visit http://weblinkeducation.com/ – I am always adding more weblinks for more adventure! I will also be back here at The Heart Of The Matter next month for another educational tour in 12 links. Be sure to join me…