Back in business

I have been so busy writing paid blogging assignments and beginning my custom blog header business that this poor blog has been shamefully neglected, but now I'm back, and I intend to do a much better job of posting regularly. My friend Karen has been giving me some ideas for posts, and she may even guest blog for me sometime. Thanks, Karen!

Helpful ideas

I love Moms Niche. Tracy just has the best ideas. Here are some recent posts that I think are worth reading:

• ideas for getting kids to eat their "greens"
• inexpensive Easter gift ideas for kids
• Easter candy alternatives
• 7 cardio exercises for 7 days of fun with your kids

Do you have any helpful ideas to share?

A Beka Book

My mother home schooled each of her five children until we turned seven, at which time we began attending a Christian school. My youngest sister did not do well at school and ended up being home schooled from elementary all the way through high school.

All five of us kids started out in a school that used the A Beka Book curriculum. When I entered sixth grade, we began attending another Christian school which used the A.C.E. (or School of Tomorrow as it is now known) curriculum. I attended Pensacola Christian College, founded by Dr. Arlin and Mrs. "Beka" Horton (who also founded A Beka Book).

My little sister's materials all came from A Beka, and in high school, she became part of A Beka Academy (more information about that to follow).

As you can see from my background, my practical experience lies mainly with A Beka Book and A.C.E. Therefore, I choose to begin this curriculum series by presenting A Beka Book.

A Beka Book publishes materials for nursery-12th and includes all the normal subjects necessary for college preparation. One of this curriculum's strengths is their focus on review. I can tell you that I had mastered the phonics rules and will never forget my multiplication tables!
A Beka Book offers several options for homeschooling:

1. A Beka Academy DVD program - this option means the child learns by watching DVD's. All report cards and transcripts are created and maintained by A Beka Academy, and this is a fully-accredited, college prep course. This option is available for K5-12th grades. DVD's, textbooks, tests, answer keys, and other necessary materials for the school year are all included.
   
2. A Beka Academy non-accredited DVD program - this option means that the child uses the DVD's, but the parents keep all records. This option is available for K4-12th grades. DVD's, textbooks, tests, answer keys, and other necessary materials for the school year are all included.
3. A Beka Academy traditional parent-directed program - all teacher and student materials are provided for the year. No educational experience is required of the parent. All report cards and transcripts are created and maintained by A Beka Academy, and this is a fully-accredited, college prep course. This option is available for K5-12th grades.
4. A Beka Book - all teacher and student materials are available for purchase in kits or individually. Materials offered cover nursery-12th grade. This program is ideal for the parent who wants to use different publishers for different subjects.
   

To read actual homeschooler reviews of this curriculum, visit the A Beka page at Home School Reviews where you will find links to reviews for particular subjects and options offered by A Beka Book.

Good to hear

I recently heard of Critique My Blog, a blog devoted to reviewing other blogs (upon receipt of the owner's request). I submitted this blog for review, particularly wondering how the template appeared since I had recently created my own header. I am pleased with my review:

"... it is a great place for me and my wife to get good ideas. (What did we all do before the Internet?) As for the blog itself it is beautifully done with a catchy template and good design. Nice job and continued success! ..."

You can request a review of your blog by submitting your blog via e-mail. (Click on my "submitting your blog" link or visit Critique My Blog and click on his link in the sidebar.)

Early teaching for accelerated learning

I have seen this premise acted out in real life. As I said before, babies and little children are sponges, soaking in their surroundings each day. As a parent, I can potentially create a child that others will label "smart" or "intelligent." This is accomplished by "educating" my child from the earliest days of infancy. (Please do realize that having a "smart" or "intelligent" child is not the reason for educating a child in this manner.)

I must admit my real-life illustration does not come from my house but rather exists in my brother's house. From the moment his daughter was born, he and his wife have read alphabet and counting books to her, pointing out the different numbers and letters. They constantly talked to her - in adult language, for the most part, although they would occasionally use baby-talk as well.

What were the results of this unintentional education? At 6 months, my niece was saying, "I love you." Oh, it wasn't perfectly enunciated, but it was certainly repeated often enough and clearly enough that there was no doubt as to the baby's verbal intentions. By age 2, she could recite her alphabet and count to 10. She also knew her full name and the name of both of her parents. Her vocabulary was also astounding, evidenced by the quirky adult words and phrases that issued from her lips. Today, she is 3. She has been speaking in complete sentences for quite some time now. The education that started at birth is continuing with obviously good results.

I realize that not every child is gifted with the same measure of native intelligence, but this post really isn't about native intelligence. It's about the results of teaching your child from birth. Don't wait until you feel your child can "understand" before you attempt to teach them something. Everything they learn is new to them anyway. With repetition comes understanding.

Do you have any anecdotes about something you taught your child at an early age?

Nursery rhymes

My girls received a video of Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes. Some rhymes are simply animated while others are both animated and set to music. All three girls love that video!

After seeing their enjoyment, I realized that I had neglected to teach them the nursery rhymes I took for granted: "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep"; "Old Mother Hubbard"; "Old King Cole"; "Jack and Jill"; "Rock-a-Bye, Baby"; "Little Boy Blue"; and many others recall fond memories of my childhood.

Nursery rhymes are great tools for teaching a young child basic facts such as counting, ABC's, body parts, and vocabulary. The use of rhyme and rhythm aids memorization. If you can't recall or just never learned the classic nursery rhymes, I can show you where to go for help.

• Enchanted Learning offers many Nursery Rhymes at their Mother Goose-Rebus Rhymes page. Click the desired link for the individual page devoted to that rhyme.
• MotherGoose.com offers a fabulous Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes page which not only offers a link to A Mother Goose Nursery Rhyme Collection with 362 rhymes but also offers a link to The Only True Mother Goose Melodies (160 rhymes published in 1843). Additionally, this site offers a One, Two...Color, Cut, and Glue page where you will find free crafts, mazes, coloring, and activity pages.
  
• At The Mother Goose Pages you will find age-related guidelines for reading nursery rhymes to children, a master list of rhymes, recommended books and sources, and more.
• Mother Goose Rhymes explains why and how to use nursery rhymes in educating your child, a short read but worth taking the time to read.

What are some of your child's favorite rhymes?

clip art of Humpty Dumpty courtesy of fotosearch.com

From the lips of "littles"

Don't our children say the cutest - often unexpected - things? The other day, my 2 year old middle child, whom I call Miss Muffet, apparently decided I had been on the computer long enough. She walked up to me and sternly said, "Mom! Turn. It. Off. RIGHT. NOW!!!" It cracked me up, but I realized that I had spent too much time on the computer so I did turn it off.

What is something that your child said that amused you?

Adam Names the Animals

What a job that would be, and what creativity Adam displayed! Although I realize that our English names are different from the original names, I like the names hippopotamus, rhinoceros, aardvark, and emu. What are some of your favorite animal names?

Here are links to help you as you teach this story to your child:

• Calvary Kids Pages offers a printable activity sheet where your child will get to help Adam name the animals.
• Kids Sunday School Place offers a cute puppet skit titled (what else?) Adam Names the Animals.
• e-BibleTeacher.com features a complete and simple lesson plan for Genesis 1-2. This covers the whole creation story, not just this segment about Adam naming the animals.
• ChristianAnswers.net offers a ton of free Lesson plans, including a whole section of lessons about animals. Look at "C" is for Creatures to find the lesson plan about the naming of the animals. Also offered is this coloring page (with a cute rhyme at the bottom) that corresponds with the lesson.
• Sunday School Fun Zone offers multiple activities and resources for this lesson. The catch here is that you have to register to have access to all their materials.
  

It's time for The Ultimate Blog Party!

Janice and Susan of 5 Minutes for Mom had the great idea to have a week-long blog party. It is quite simple to participate: simply write your own post about the party, link back to 5 Minutes 4 Mom, and sign the Mr. Linky at their post announcing the start of the party. Even if you don't want to participate in that manner, you can always visit their site and browse the participating blogs. When I signed the Mr. Linky for my post from The Porch Light, there were already more than 400 other signatures! This is a great way to get your blog noticed and to find new blogs to enjoy!

Who am I? I am Revka, happily married to Mr. Incredible and mother of Pookie Bear, Miss Muffet, and Baby Bear. I teach piano and get paid to blog. Since this site is targeted to a specific subject, I opted to add Google AdSense; but at The Porch Light, I get paid to write posts for payu2blog.com. I enjoy blogging and think that getting paid for it is deliciously unfair. *grin*

Here at Little Fun; Little Learning, I focus on fun activities and educational ideas for children ages 0-5. I came up with this idea when I searched the Web for worksheets for my (then) 3yo daughter. I had a really hard time finding useful sites! Here, I do the research for you and offer both original content and links to other sites. You will find ideas for family fun time, cooking with kids, teaching the alphabet and numbers, and many other topics.

I hope you enjoy the party. Thanks for stopping by, and do drop in at Party Headquarters to see all the different parties you can visit.

Head to Play Library for resources and ideas

I thought I would share another great resource with you guys. Play Library offers product reviews, game and activity ideas, links to valuable resources, and more. It was at Play Library that I first learned about Toy Story 3, which is due to be released in 2009. Hurrah! We love Buzz and Woody! Another post I enjoyed was Playground Games We Love, wherein is listed eight games that have stood the test of time. Follow the links for instructions for playing the games.

Play Library logo from PlayLibrary.com