Need to find some ideas? Learn to use the internet, not just Facebook. You can do a broad search such as, “Science Experiments” but I like to be more specific. How about “Science Experiments for children”? That’s a great start. Let’s try again, “Science Experiments for Pre-Schoolers.” Just to see what I could come up with, I just tried, “Science Experiments for toddlers at home.” I had a number of sites to check out. I also tried “science experiments for 6th graders at home.” Again, an abundance of sites to pick from.
Just to try it, I also searched for books: “easy readers for kindergarten.” Of course you can enter whatever grade level you want. The first few sites on the results page were for booksellers, e.g. Amazon. But then I found a great website specifically all about books and book lists.
I recommend internet searching and not just posting on Twitter or Facebook because you have more choices and can drill down to just the right activities for your child. One day, I was looking for something for my enrichment classes I teach (for homeschoolers) and found a great site for what I needed. I discovered that one of the Facebook groups I’m on had mentioned it before but not with a description that made me realize what it could do for me.
I find that internet searches are also better on a computer (desktop or laptop) rather than a device. Small devices don’t give a full picture of the possibilities on a search or on a site.
Remember to click on “Images” and “Videos,” circled in this picture:
Sometimes, I find what I’m looking for as I’m looking at images. I’ll click through and see if the website works for me and many times, it does.
But I confess that sometimes it can be overwhelming to do internet searches IF I let myself look at page after page. As thrilling as it is to see the richness of educational opportunities out there, we only have 24 hours in a day and not all of that can be spent on research. Here’s what I (try to) do when I’m looking for ideas:
Kewl!
*I have a Pinterest folder that I call “Teaching Units,” with sub-folders for some of the classes I teach. You’re welcome to view the eclectic subject matter there, but if you don’t need any of them, please don’t go because I don’t want you to get stuck in Pinterest land. My subfolders are: Flippity.net; USA; Space; Surviving the Oregon Trail; Riordan: LightningThief RedPyramid SwordofSummer; Wright, Earhart, paper planes; Volcanos, Travel, The Future That’s NOW; Preschool; Ocean; Medieval Times; Meaningful Math; French; French Songs; French Stories; Aztecs, Incas, Mayas; Ancient Greece; and then I have a smattering of links to projects and games that aren’t categorized...yet.
Just to try it, I also searched for books: “easy readers for kindergarten.” Of course you can enter whatever grade level you want. The first few sites on the results page were for booksellers, e.g. Amazon. But then I found a great website specifically all about books and book lists.
I recommend internet searching and not just posting on Twitter or Facebook because you have more choices and can drill down to just the right activities for your child. One day, I was looking for something for my enrichment classes I teach (for homeschoolers) and found a great site for what I needed. I discovered that one of the Facebook groups I’m on had mentioned it before but not with a description that made me realize what it could do for me.
I find that internet searches are also better on a computer (desktop or laptop) rather than a device. Small devices don’t give a full picture of the possibilities on a search or on a site.
Remember to click on “Images” and “Videos,” circled in this picture:
Sometimes, I find what I’m looking for as I’m looking at images. I’ll click through and see if the website works for me and many times, it does.
But I confess that sometimes it can be overwhelming to do internet searches IF I let myself look at page after page. As thrilling as it is to see the richness of educational opportunities out there, we only have 24 hours in a day and not all of that can be spent on research. Here’s what I (try to) do when I’m looking for ideas:
- Get a clear idea of what you want before going online.
- Have a folder in your bookmarks bar for your theme or subject. You can also have a folder ready on Pinterest (or wherever) to save your valuable finds there.*
- Decide in advance how many pages of results you’re going to look at and how many sites you’re going to click to. I usually look at 3-4 pages of results, and about 10-15 sites.
- Make your search parameters as specific as possible, such as [activity or subject] for [grade level] at [location such as home or outside].
- Set a timer and GO!
- On the search result pages, right click on the sites you’re interested in. On the small window that opens up, click on “open link in new tab,” usually at the top.
- Once you’ve gone through your predetermined number of result pages, start looking at the windows you’ve opened. Just glance. If it’s almost okay, move on. You can keep it open just in case it’s better than the other sites but look at the other sites.
- Bookmark the ones you are going gaga for. Now, QUICK! - close extra tabs including your search results; otherwise, you’ll be tempted to look at “just one more page.”
- You can stop there and return later to look at the sites you bookmarked or open the one you liked the best and read it or watch it, if it’s a video. Now put it on your calendar or go for the activity right then and there. Because you bookmarked several sites, you can come back to them and add them to your calendar for another day.
Kewl!
*I have a Pinterest folder that I call “Teaching Units,” with sub-folders for some of the classes I teach. You’re welcome to view the eclectic subject matter there, but if you don’t need any of them, please don’t go because I don’t want you to get stuck in Pinterest land. My subfolders are: Flippity.net; USA; Space; Surviving the Oregon Trail; Riordan: LightningThief RedPyramid SwordofSummer; Wright, Earhart, paper planes; Volcanos, Travel, The Future That’s NOW; Preschool; Ocean; Medieval Times; Meaningful Math; French; French Songs; French Stories; Aztecs, Incas, Mayas; Ancient Greece; and then I have a smattering of links to projects and games that aren’t categorized...yet.
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