Seeking Educational Books and Websites for a 3Rd and 7Th Grader.

I don't know the exact web sight but if you google Writing without tears it has some great info there

I have home-schooled my kids every summer. I get most of the workbooks from Lakeshore Learning. It is on the 410 frontage road across from the North Star Mall. I also TiVo shows from the Learning Channel or Discovery Channel and then find worksheets online corresponding to the subject. We watch it together and then have a little lesson. This year, my kids teachers sent home tons of textbooks and workbooks from school. They must be buying new books for next year, so we're already set.

Hello K.,

You could try looking at my website. It has education books & activities for all ages.
www.ubah.com/t2705

Thanks,
M.

http://www.marcopolo-education.org/SearchResults.aspx?sub...

I went to this website (http://www.marcopolo-education.org/home.aspx?ShowIndex=Yes) and under the Student tab, I clicked "Mathematics" for subject, "Grades 6-8", for grade and "Interactives" for type of lesson. It came back with 113 selections. The URL for the 113 results to my query is above.

Hope this helps. There is SO much out there online.

The American Library Association has a great website with all kinds of recommendations on books and websites for kids. Go to www.ala.org to check it out.

For the 3rd grader, my advice will require you doing the same for 7th grader in reading. Go to your local library and ask about their summer reading program and what type of rewards the kids can earn for reader a certain number of books...then ask the librarian to suggest good chapter books for boys in his age group...I know there are several out there that are geared towards kids. If the summer reading program doesn't offer enough incentive you can add a cash or reward incentive of your own to help him along...My parents paid my brother and I a dollar per book over the summers...They would have gone broke off of me alone if they hadn't imposed a limit on mine...the idea was to get my brother to read more.

For writing, I believe that the summer reading program requires a short paragraph about each book as proof they read it and to place in random drawings.

For your 7th grader though. I am not sure what to tell you. I do know that my internet company offers a package for 6.95 per month that includes learning games for all ages and grades. It also has the encyclopedia brittanica dn other learning tools and appears to be a generally fun environment. You could see if your internet company offers something similar or search online for educational games...

Good Luck... ;-)

There are some great websites out there. I use funbrain.com in my classroom. You can google math games or a specific math concept(multiplication.com is good, too). Also, check out if the kids' schools have any websites listed. There use to be a series called What Every ___th Grader should know. These might give your sister an idea what your niece will need to know. Sometimes the district website will tell you what they should have learned in the previous school year (and the upcoming one) to help you both know what type of things to work on. She might ask the teacher if there are any board games that will reinforce the math skills. I know for my grade level, we recommend Monopoly and Battleship. Many games are coming out with learning versions that can be adjusted by grade - including turbo extreme, leapster, etc. I use turbo extremes in my class with the appropriate grade level cartridge.

As for reading, I agree with the suggestion about the local library. The hardest part is finding books that boys are interested in. He may enjoy the Series of Unfortunate Events or the Magic Treehouse series as many of the boys in my class read these. If he is more interested in nonfiction - allow him to read books on whichever topic he decides. They are often more difficult, but are more interesting to boys. I have known many boys to find biographies of sports figures or books on WWII more interesting than fiction. Another thing is to read a book that corresponds to an upcoming movie. Then when they have finished the book they can see the movie and make a comparison (don't choose books that are based on the movie - it must be the movie based on the book). For example, comparing the movie Prince Caspian to the book, which might lead to an interest in reading the rest of the series. The story could also be one that is read together, each person takes a turn reading (one person each night, or a different person each chapter). One fo the most important things you and your sister can do is model - read each day. If you show that it is important to do and you set aside to do it, the message will be received. There are all kinds of ways to make reading fun.

Either way, having a time set aside each day to work on this might help. If the third grader would rather be outside, maybe his time should be after dark or during the middle of the day when it is much too hot to be outside. Allowing both children to choose when they would rather spend the time focusing on these issues changes the focus from if they will to when they will.

Another way to build interest for both of them is "field trips" to the zoo, museums and theatres. There are so many great places in and around Houston. Many have half price days or even free activities. These can lead to research of things that spark their interest.

It is great when everyone is involved and can have fun together. Have a happy summer.

hi K.,
the public radio station has a good set of links to online educational resources http://tpr.org/programs/teachingtools.html
good luck!

Hi, I know that the floresville school district website website has wonderful educational links. My daughter is in the 2nd going to 3rd grade and loves to play the math games. I am not too sure about 7th grade. Both of my babies are still elemen. Tell your sister to try looking at the educational stores, I know there is one at the quarry, it is a wonderful store with lots of ideas to help keep the kids entertained and from falling behind. I know lots of moms I will see what else I can find out. Hope this helps

Hi K.,

My son is weak in reading to and he loves to go to Starfall.com. It has great things for kids and reading.

Here's one of my favorites... http://www.criticalthinking.com/index.jsp

I'm homeschooling my little ones... and they need "thinking outside the box" and distractions. It's good stuff.

e-mail if you have any other questions - I've gotten workbooks for all my kids there (ages 3-12)

Good luck and God Bless!
K.
____@____.com

I found www.time4learning.com to be very helpful for our homeschooled 8th grader. Several families use it for additional help during the year. You will love it! It's only $20 per month, use it as much or as little as you want. The games are helpful as well, and the kids love the easy navagation of the site. Good luck

K.,

I've found a set of books that are great. Stuart J. Murphy writes Mathstart books. These books have stories but teach math at the same time. His website is www.stuartjmurphy.com. The books have different levels and teach different concepts. Check them out.

Hi K. L.

I'm P. B.

Your sister may check into the school districts website for parents. On the school district website. There are suggested reading and math activities, as well as suggestions for over the summer youth activities. If this is not an option, the local libraries have great books for reading and mathmatics review. I hope this helps.

Have a great day

P.

This is a great website for educational books. I have purchased from them and I think you might find them helpful for your niece and nephew. It is www.ubah.com. The company name is Usborne Books and they have a wide selection to choose from. Good luck. B.

If your niece is going into Algebra, make certain that she understands graphing. She will also need a firm understanding of how to work equations. She most certainly will use positive and negative numbers, fractions, etc. Providing you all can present them properly, it will be much to her advantage to have a good general knowledge. There are grade appropriate programs on the computer, and as you said, your sister will be talking to her teachers. My only word of caution is, be certain that your sister can explain correctly any function should a question come up.

K.-
My husband and I were having the same discussion just last night. We usually but the Summer Bridge books from the teacher supply store or Barnes and Noble. They are filled with so much information but are presented in an easy and fun way to learn. My mother and mother in law are both elemtary school teachers and they recommed these to all of their students. My girls are 1st and 4th so we are actually goig to but them today!
They even have some that focus on the subjects that you mentioned! I hope that this helps, have a fun summer.
M.

My son is moving on to 7th this year too and he enjoys www.funbrain.com. There is different grade levels to the games and your nephew may even enjoy it. My son also said to see if the school would get an account with study island if they don't have one. If the school gets an account with study island, any of the students can be given a user name and password. That site helps with all core subjects to prepare them for TAKS. The school has to pay for it, but it is well worth it, www.studyisland.com.

Find a Teachers Supply near you. The public is welcome at these places. You can find everything you need there. What you need are developmental skills books. They come in all grade levels. There are alot to choose from and alot are fun. I buy my 4yr old niece these books and she loves them. Find more than one store so you will have a variety. You can also find some of theses books at Barnes and NOble, Borders, even Toy R Us.
Have fun
Lupe

I am the same way about my kid's education. Every year around April, I go to the local teacher supply store to purchase study guides and specific skill lessons for my girls. The employees have always been very helpful and they know which guides are the best ones based on what the teachers have told them. I have found that studying the TAKS study guide works well for on of my daughters and my older one needs a more skill specific guide. Good luck. It is much easier to keep them in tune in the summer than start from scratch again with the heavy schedules in the Fall.

I order books from the school called Summer Quest Adventures. They send info home every year. The books come as 5th to 6th or what have you. It is a program put together by school teachers. You probally can order on line try Summer Quest Adventures. It is workbooks with all subjects in one spiral workbook. Also on Cyfair's website their is links for learning in the summer I saw the other day when I was logged on.

My son is eight and loves www.brainpop.com. It has mini movies on tons of subjects done in animation with two very engaging characters. I have even learned a few things. Check it out.

K.,

Check out this website: Mathusee.com it is amazing. We have been useing it with our son and the level of understanding math before he started useing it was so low compared to now. He's confidence in Math has increased to an all time high, and now math is fun for him. We are two books away from the Algebra, so if you don't want to order it because of the cost, I will order it now and you can make copies. It is so wonderful. It has a dvd with the teacher and he is the same teacher for every grade level and he has a way of teaching that is eye opening for kids and adults. Call me on my cell phone and I will speak with you personelly about shareing the book with you if that's the way you want to go. ###-###-#### and my name is pronounced Laura but spelled L.. Talk to you soon, and just remind me when you call "this is K. from Momma Source." lol By the way I'm a stay at home mom of two. A 14 yr. old daughter and a 12 yr. old son. been married to my high school sweety for 15yr.

www.eteachersupply.com has some great resources. Also, there is a store called Crystal's Teacher Supply (one in Sugar Land and one in Houston by Buffalo Speedway (I think). They have lots of summer activity books that aren't overwhelming and get the job done. Corliss, in Houston, and Rachel or Susan in Sugar Land can help you out. :D good luck!

try www.rocknlearn.com they have great dvd's that my 7 and 8 year love. Maybe to young for the 7th grader though. They also have DVDs on taking Reading, Math and Writing tests to help kids test better too.

Hi Kim!!

Well, if you are close to Tomball, there is a store called Love2Learn. It is geared toward homeschooling, yet they do have books and projects for students of all grades. I would look them up and give them a call. If you aren't close I'm sure they could offer another location in your area. There is also a web site called "Cafe Mom" and you could hook up with other moms who are seeking to get their kids together a few times a week for activities like those you seek. Hope this helps! I have also seen fun math kits and other educational projects at Hobby Lobby!
A LITTLE ABOUT ME: I am a SAHM and I work from home as well. I have 2 children 20 & 17. My new company helps me pay my daughter's college tuition at The University of Tulsa. It also helped me get the caustic chemicals out of my home and GO GREEN!! I is a company for perfect for SAHM's. The best part, there is NO Selling, NO Inventory, NO RISK. For information, visit my web ____@____.com It is a new way to shop and get extra cash just for introducing others! I love it!! B.

i have an idea for your nephew, it worked well with my kids when they were younger. in the heat of the day, when it is too hot to play outside, i would have them spend some time reading. there are great books at any library. i made sure to get books that would be interesting, on grade level, and also have a movie based on the book. after they finished the book, they got to watch the movie. then spend some time writing how the movies and book were the same, and how they were different. for a 3rd grader, i would keep it simple, but it's a great way to help them organize their thoughts and put them down on paper.

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