Special Connection Homeschool

Like games , exercise can be beneficial to learning even when you are not doing a lesson.  Exercise gives oxygen to the brain and stimulates brain plasticity which makes it easier to grow new neuronal connections.  In other words, physical aerobic exercise works out the brain as much as the muscles! Whether I am teaching Gess at home or a bunch of kids at church I have noticed that if they do not seem to be engaged in the lesson taking an exercise break can help get them back on track.  It not only helps them refocus but using that energy gets the oxygen moving again and their brain just simply seems to turn back on.  So if your child is struggling with a lesson, getting frustrated, seems disengaged or even just tired, stop the lesson and take a break.  As little as 5 minutes of a physical exercise can make a big difference. Ideas for quick breaks in class are bouncing or dribbling a ball, hula hoop, running laps, jumping rope, skipping, jumping jacks, pus...

Games are a fun way to get our hands-on learning and there are many ways to implement them into your educational program.   One thing you can do is find games that are meant to be educational but I am not usually willing to drop my money on those as they can be rather pricey.  So what I do is either use what games we have or make up my own.  If necessary I change the rules or add my own twist to help my daughter who has special needs. For instance Yahtzee was a good way to learn adding, especially when we were learning our doubles math facts . Gess does great if she uses the large print Yahtzee score card from BoardGameGeek . To help with money we made up a game called Can I Buy That ? War is an easy but excellent way to teach greater than and less than.  Gess was really slow when she first started playing but now she is pretty quick to grab her cards when she wins! Crazy 8 is another good game.  It took Gess awhile to figure ou...

Manipulatives are a great tool to enhance learning and retention.  There is something about putting your hands on an object that helps you remember.  As I mentioned in my first post it really turns a lesson into an experience.  There are lots of ways to incorporate maniplatives into a lesson.  Some curricula come with them but if they don't you can always make or buy your own. Blocks are a great way to put your hands on learning.  Of course we all know about the alphabet blocks and those certainly helped Gess learn her letters.  But they can also be used to learn lots of things.  Here is Gess learning her books of the Bible . All they did here was write the books on the blocks.  Arranging them in order was a fun way to practice. Speaking of alphabet blocks, the other day at the library we saw they had letters made out of cloth.  You can also find puzzles that have letter and number shapes.  They can be pretty cheap.  Thos...

Yesterday I talked about Why Hands-on Learning is Important .  Today I want to share some ways that you can take a lesson and add some hands-on elements to it.  This will make the lesson more interesting and aid in your child's retention of the material. Manipulatives, such as blocks are a great way to get your hands-on something.  Handwriting Without Tears uses blocks to teach how to write letters.   They also use chalkboards, sponges, and play dough as well.  You can also teach a child by having them write in sand, salt, or other textures to feel the writing process. Memorizing Scripture and other facts is easier with motions.  Gess learned this large passage of Scripture with the aid of motions to help her remember the words. Another activity that works well is matching words to definitions or pictures.  We learned  The 10 Commandments by matching the image with the name.  You can do this with spelling and vocabular...

I think one of the fundamental keys to learning is to involve as many of the senses as possible.  However, hands-on learning is more than just adding the sense of touch to a lesson.  It's about turning a lesson into an experience.  You are more likely to remember something when you experience it.  That is why field trips are so important.  My daughter learned more about the Civil War in one afternoon at Civil War Days then she did studying about it.  Seeing President Lincoln in person was much more memorable than reading an old book. Think about it in this context.  You probably know several recipes by heart.  Which ones do you remember the most, ones you have cooked several times or ones you have only read about? The recipes you know by heart are most likely the ones you have cooked yourself.  You have measured them out, felt them come together, smelled their aroma and tasted their flavors. A road trip is somewhat simil...

I have been working on my posts for the 5 Days of Blog Hop from the Schoolhouse Review Crew which is coming up August 5-9 .  There are several topics that will be addressed by other writers.  I am looking forward to reading them.  Some that are on the top of my to read list are: Science Fun Homeschooling with Special Needs A Learning Lifestyle Dad Friendly Homeschooling Being His Hands and Feet. There are several more topics of interest from homeschooling styles, curriculum selections, beginning the homeschooling journey, field trips and so much more. I wanted to let you know what my posts will specifically be about.  Here are my topics for 5 Days of Hands-On Learning. Day 1 - Why Hands-on Learning is Important This explains some reasons hands-on learning is important and how it is helpful for children of all learning styles whether or not they have special needs. Day 2 - Adapting Lessons to Hands-on Learning This post gives some basic examples ...