Domino Math on Teachers Pay Teachers

I am now on Teachers Pay Teachers.  With the help of my fabulous colleague, I hope to add many more items...some for purchase, some for free.  14-page item.


Domino-Math-Get-Ready-to-Play-with-Dominoes

Download for free.

Valentine's Day Candy Math Activity

Here's a little activity to do for fun and graphing practice.  Open a bag of Sweet Hearts and sort by color.  Your bag may have different colors, so you may have to adjust the graph.    Graph the colors and compete the questions on page two using the graph.   

To download, click on the pictures and drag the image onto your desktop.

Educational Websites Are Right at Your Fingertips

Today you can find hundreds of quality, trustworthy, educational websites to help compliment or create your homeschool curriculum, or to further support your child with the work they do in school.    We have used most of the sites listed below, some more than others.  We'd love to hear about other sites you use, or how you feel about those listed below.  Hopefully, you find something new here.

Click the titles to visit the websites.

Free sites
These sites are totally free.

Magic Tree House (This site has quizzes and games based on the Magic Tree House books.)

Have Fun Teaching (Thousands of free worksheets and activities for elementary grades.)

PBS Kids (Learning and fun games based on kids' PBS TV shows.)

Sheppard Software (Loads of free online games in all subject areas.)

US History (Lessons and stories about our Country's history.)

Khan Academy (Loads of videos and readable lessons in all subject areas, for lower elementary to adult.)

Mr. Nussbaum Learning & Fun  (Site contains hundreds of games, activities, worksheets, videos, etc for many grades and many subject-areas.)

Math Play (Free online math games from grades 1 through 8.)

Houghton Mifflin Math (The publishing company provides online activities and printable worksheets in math for grades K -6.)

Reading Units  (Teacher-created comprehension questions (online and printable) with activities that go to several popular chapter books.  {There used to be many more but she sells them now on TPT.})

National Geographic Kids  (Games, videos, photos, and more on many topics.)

Pay Sites
These sites require subscriptions.

Discovery Education (Homework help, Video clips and full-length episodes, digital texts.)

Reading A-Z (see also all of Learning A-Z's sites:  Writing A-Z, Raz-Kids, Vocabulary A-Z, Science A-Z, ReadingTutors.  For pay site with some free items.  Hundreds of printable and projectable leveled readers, running records, comprehension tests, and activities.)

IXL (Online timed math practice correlated to each state's standards, and the Common Core, for grades K through 8.  Students receive awards for success. Language Arts is coming soon. Free use for a short period of time to get to see what it offers.)

Brightstorm (Quick, explanatory videos on topics in all subjects.)

Time 4 Writing  (Writing courses with some free lessons embedded)

Tumblebooks  (Many libraries have a link for Tumblebooks where you can access it for free.)

Mango (Many libraries have a link for Mango where you can access it for free.)

Animated Atlas (Using animated maps and narration, US History is explained. Growth of a Nation is a free movie.)

Free with some Pay parts
These sites are free, but also have parts that require subscriptions.

Spelling City  (Parents and teachers can create spelling lists that children can practice using quizzes, teaching lessons, and games.  Subscription adds vocabulary and more game options.)

Starfall (Phonics, rhyming, and reading with colorful animations and enjoyable voices.  Subscription adds math activities.)

Brain Pop (Animated subject-oriented videos provide information and fun.  Subscription provides for all content.  Free allows selected videos.)

Curr Click (A large website with hundreds of homeschool and educational resources.  Online classes and courses are also available.  Some free items and classes, including Lego Club.)

App Review: Splash Math

Math is high on the focus of my homeschooling plan.  Never been a big Math-thinker, or at least, never thought myself one, but I do know the importance of at least basic math skills.  I will never forget the day my dad explained to me how we would cut the angle of a deck we wanted to build (never did) by creating a triangle and doubling the sides, adding them and getting the cut side....a squared + b squared = c squared.  The Pythagorean Theorem! Who knew?  Thank you Mr. Oliva!

So, being a 20-year veteran of first and second grade math, I can safely say, I am freaked beyond belief with Trigonometry, Calculus, and beyond.  In fact, I barely passed Calc...had a wonderful, kind, VERY Portuguese Professor (and I am Portuguese) with a very thick accent which, as the class complained, was far too difficult to understand, especially for a bunch of non-math majors.  Reluctantly, we asked for some help, and URI sent a Professor's assistant; a very, nice Chinese man with VERY thick Chinese accent.  And, so, my math career ended with that class.

Luckily, today, there are several wonderful online programs available for a nominal fee to help kids learn math in a fun way.  One that I have discovered is Splash Math.  I have Splash Math for first graders.  It is 10$ to download the app, but you can sign up to 5 students.          I have my twins on this app.  You receive weekly email updates as to how your child is doing on the skills represented in the app.


I like SplashMath because the format is somewhat challenging.  The questions are not the rote memorization of old math but a challenging, variety of simple, but thoughtful math questions.

The app allows children to think about math in an abstract way, but allowing for concrete visuals.  And, if your child cannot read well enough, the app reads the directions for them.

The app covers addition, subtraction, time, money, and more.

Awards are given for correct answers and good scores.  Kids get to play with awarded prizes.  

Check out first grade here at 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/1st-grade-math-splash-math/id463469532?mt=8

Check out second grade here at

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/2nd-grade-math-splash-math/id463471155?mt=8

Check out third grade here at

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/3rd-grade-math-splash-math/id432105525?mt=8