Homeschool MOMS: Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all of our Homeschool MOMS! God Bless you for all
that you are and all that you do to care for your loved ones, being a
wonderful homeschool MOM, and so much more!

Homeschool News - Nancy Bo Flood to Speak at IRA Meeting

Nancy Bo Flood

Nancy Bo Flood will be the featured speaker at the May 15 meeting of the Guam Council of the International Reading Association at the Guam Reef Hotel. Ms. Flood is the author of Warriors in the Crossfire, a new young adult novel set on Saipan during WWII. The meeting will begin at 8:00 am with registration and breakfast. Dottie Winterle will have copies of her new book, Silent and Forgotten, The Legend of the Navajo Warrior, available and the book's illustrator, Viktoria Sayre, will be there, too.

The program includes the induction of new officers for the Guam Council, a scene from "Little shop of Horrors" presented by the National Forensic League of Okkodo High School, and a special recognition of our gracious sponsors this year, Continental Airlines, MCV Cable Cares, The Pacific Daily News, and The Bank of Guam.
The meeting will conclude at 11:00 am with door prize raffles, including books, teaching materials and a laptop computer for those who sign up for IRA membership for next year 2010-2011.

Homeschooling - Promoting Healthy Habits

We must be mindful of the harms of obesity. It's also important for us, as homeschool teachers, to teach our children about the importance of eating healthy and exercise. In the information below, you can see that Lois T. Gumataotao and I integrated literature to impact student learning on this topic.

2010 Professional Leadership Conference Presentation: Dr. Matilda Naputi Rivera and Lois Taitano Gumataotao received a certificate for their workshop presentation titled Using Literature to Promote Healthy Habits during the Child Care Givers 2010 Professional Leadership Conference themed “Beyond Quality Care: Promoting Healthy Behaviors in Young Children.” Rivera also presented a technology workshop titled Using Digital Storytelling to Promote Healthy Habits. The conference was sponsored by the Guam Child Care and Development Association, Association for Childhood Education International, and UOG’s School of Education Early Childhood Program, on April 9 and 10 at the University of Guam’s School of Education and Lecture Hall.

Pictured L-R: Gumataotao and Dr. Rivera.

IRA Resource for Homeschooling - April 2010 Newsletter

The Guam Council of the International Reading Association helps educators and parents alike discover the wonder and the worlds to be found in books. Guam IRA is a professional organization for individuals who are genuinely concerned with the development of reading programs for children and adults. It is a group of people who work together to improve literacy and reading instruction in Guam and Micronesia.

Click on the image below to view the Guam IRA April 2010 Newsletter, which I'm sure many homeschoolers will appreciate. If you are unable to view the newsletter, visit Guam IRA's website at http://iraguam.blogspot.com. Enjoy!

Reaching Out to Our Children - Celebrate Child Care Givers Appreciation Week & 2010 Professional Leadership Conference

When homeschooling my son, I always aim to promote healthy habits and quality education. This is because promoting healthy behaviors and teacher quality are essential for our children to receive the quality education that they deserve. Employing innovative instructional strategies can empower our children to be engaging learners in an environment that authentically promotes cultural diversity, healthy living, and academic excellence.

Moreover, to have a brighter future in this world, we must start from the foundation. We must start from the early childhood years to foster our young children to succeed in life. As such, the Guam Child Care Givers Association will be holding its annual Professional Leadership Conference in celebration of Caregiver's Week. Please see the details below. You may also visit the GCCDA conference website at http://guamchildcare.blogspot.com for additional information.

Child Care Givers Appreciation Week
and
Guam Child Care and Development Association (GCCDA)
2010 PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
“Beyond Quality Care: Promoting Healthy Behaviors in Young Children”
All local and military child care and family providers, parents, owners/directors, educators, Head Start teachers, and Home School parents are invited to attend.

Friday, April 9, 2010
6 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
University of Guam
Lecture Hall

Saturday, April 10, 2010
7 a.m. – 5 p.m.
University of Guam
School of Education Building

Download Pre-Registration Individual Form

Downlaod Pre-Registration Group Form

Download Presentation Form

For early registration contact Anita Palomo at 735-2400/2440 or email atpalomo@uguam.uog.edu
UOG School of Education Building (2nd Floor) or
Rose White at Kiddyland in Dededo (cell: 483-7073 wk: 632-7677).
Early registration deadline is March 26th.

CREDITS AND CEUs will be offered for the conference contact Dr. Matilda Naputi Rivera email mnrivera1@yahoo.com


Additional note: Although many of the workshops will be aimed for early childhood, I will certainly find them useful, as I know that I can also modify the strategies to meet the unique needs of my son.

Homeschooling Resource: PBS & PBS KIDS, free website resources at-a-glance

The following are PBS links that I've explored to get additional homeschooling ideas for my son. Of course, I've had to modify some of the activities to truly meet his needs. Nevertheless, I'm confident that you will be pleased with what you find.

PBS's trusted content reaches all of America's children - a diverse and growing audience. Because kids, parents, caregivers and educators access media in different ways with different needs, PBS offers a variety of resources online and over-the-air.

To further your child's development and encourage their growth through exploration and discovery in a safe environment, check out www.PBS.org.

PBS KIDS, URL: www.pbskids.org (2-5 year olds)
PBS KIDS GO!, URL: www.pbskidsgo.org (6-9 year olds)

The above websites offer access to all of PBS's children's series and Web-only games, activities, resources and streaming video, covering all curriculum areas with quick links to Parents and Teachers sections for each program.








PBS Parents, URL: www.pbs.org/parents

PBS Parents features extensive information about children's development from birth through the school years, as well as educational resources and activities for children to help get them ready for school.









PBS Teachers, URL: www.pbs.org/teachers

PBS Teachers is designed for PreK-12 educators and includes more than 9,000 local and national standards-based teaching activities, lesson plans, blogs, on-demand video assets and interactive games and simulations.







PBS TeacherLine, URL: www.pbs.org/teacherline

PBS TeacherLine offers PreK-12 teachers quality, affordable, and accessible professional development courses. It offers courses in critical curriculum areas, including reading, mathematics, science, instructional technology, curriculum mapping, and instructional strategies.


VISIT PBS GUAM AT www.pbsguam.org TO LEARN MORE!

Source: PBS Guam

Pacific Mathematics Activities

My son completed a wonderful mathematics activity on Map/Distance/Time/Measurement/Estimation, Word Problems. As part of this activity, he used estimation strategies and problem solving. He explored the concept of time and made decisions with justification of his reasoning. He was able to make connections between problems.

In particular, here's an excerpt from the novel used as part of this activity: "Tomi left his house as soon as it was light and when the curfew was lifted. It took him less than an hour to walk to the harbor from his house. From the harbor, Sand Island was less than a 1/4 miles. When Tomi was apprehended, he said he lived about 3 to 4 miles from the harbor. It was already pass curfew time..."

Here is the procedure my son engaged in:
-Go on a fun journey and locate the distance from Pearl Harbor to Sand Island.
-Note down the distance and time.
-Estimate the location of Tomi's house
-Discuss the scenario of Tomi's journey and generate 2 addition/subtraction word problems.

Overall, this was an engaging activity and shows how integrating literature with mathematics can do wonders!