Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Xmas Vacation Activities

We have been out of school for almost 2 weeks and my kids are bored. I am not. I have always things to do. I usually use these 2 weeks for planning and searching for options regarding improving our curriculum. I use this week reading threads from the Well Trained Mind site to learn and get pointers when it comes to new or old curriculum. And of course, I use this week to do all the chores and stuff at home that I never get to do when school is going on.
But again as I said the kids get bored. Well, I finally decided to go to the library last week and get some educational dvds for them to watch. And I am glad I did. Things went well around here. The whining started to go down and it seems more peaceful considering it's vacation time. Here are some of the dvds we borrowed, watched and enjoyed.


Basic Number Concept is a very good source for reviewing Gr.4 -6 kids in their math skills. It gives you a quick run down of topics (fraction,decimal,exponents,etc.). I sat with my kids as we listen and do exercise (5 items) in each lessons. One dvd has about 8 lessons. It is a good way to cement math information to kids.
This is below my son's level in math. But it is fun to see how he does every item quickly. That means that he really gets the concept. It is also a good way to check how well kids have learn their basic math concept.
This one we had fun watching. We haven't tried watching any of their dvd version. We only usually read the book and study the paintings. But I would definitely watch other dvds. They are fun to watch. Even the younger dc(4 & 5) enjoyed watching it. They definitely like Mary Cassatt's mother and daughter's paintings.

Reading Rainbow is one my favorite show for my kids to watch. They learn so much things. This dvd is very interesting to watch. It holds the attention of my kids. It's not just about reading the 2 books but it also has some wonderful information in it. In this one, they showed how crayons are made and how much crayons they make. It's like going in a field trip but just watching it. It also has book recommendations your kids can check out in the library that they might enjoy.

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