Where in the World are you?

Did you ever play or watch Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? I LOVED that show and the game was pretty cool too! I love geography! I love knowing things about countries, I love reading about the life there, the wildlife, the people, the culture. Being that I am terrified of planes....I guess reading about them is my way of going there in my mind! And I think kids need to know WHERE things are in general! Then when you are reading an article in the newpaper or watching the news on TV and they tell you about an uprising in Afghanistan or a Tsunami in Japan, you KNOW where it is! Now, I do not require my boys to know where every little city and town is in each place but I want them to have a general idea of WHERE that country is! The State they live in, that is a different story! I think knowing lots about your State is important! You live there for goodness sakes! You should know the capital, the State bird, the State song, the State flower, etc. I also think kids should know about the COUNTRY they live in! Know the history, know the basic facts, just know! And you may say, boy this Mom is demanding! How does she expect her kids to learn all this? Well, geography games online is a good place to start! This year we are combining Math with geography using a new program, plus we are studying Oregon...the State we live in, in depth! I found these great fill in books at the teacher store as well as an activity book of Oregon facts that looks pretty cool! They are high schoolers this year but we are still doing things like that to break up our more studious day plus they are learning while having fun answering questions about their world!!

LOVE me some Spelling City!!

Ok, I am gonna just say it! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Spelling City! Though they are called Vocabulary/Spelling City now! We have been fans of theirs since we started homeschooling in 2008! Well, technically we didn't discover it until early 2009 but we have used them every year for our online spelling test needs! And despite that I have 2 high schoolers, we are once again using them! Not only can I plug in whatever words I want for my boys, but I also have the option to use premade lists which is what we will be using this year for high school! And then the boys get those words and not only do their spelling test online but also play games with those words! Which in my opinion further enhances their learning the word and spelling of it! Has their spelling improved? YES! Emphatically, YES!!! Is there a fight to get them to do their spelling? NO! They love it because it is easy, it is fun and it makes my life easier! And it is either free OR you can get a yearly premium membership for under $30! Oh and the best part, I can take their spelling words and have them printed out as a handwriting worksheet! Either in block or cursive and several sizes to choose from!! So.....they then get to practice their cursive AND mentally charge their brains with their spelling words! If anyone asks or posts about wanting a spelling program, I recommend Spelling City EVERY time! And since the new school year is upon many of us...I wanted to bring it up for my followers! Check it out, you and your kids will LOVE it!!