iPhone for Homeschoolers

I am the proud owner of an iPhone 3gs.  I know, I know, I am so behind on technology.  Probably most of you have had one for a while.  But since the new release of the iPhone4, the 3g and 3gs versions have really come down in price and we were finally able to afford a 3gs. (being a one income family, we have to fore-go some things and the latest in technology is most usually it.)  Anyway, I have been blown away by the wonderful educational apps that are available.  I've only had my new phone for 3 weeks, but I have already discovered many things that is helpful in teaching my daughter in a fun way at home, or when we need to fill some time in the car, at a restaurant or the doctors office.  The following is great for beginning math and word recognition.  It is called  "Teach me kindergarten."  Another App that I downloaded is "Sight Words".  This is 300 of the most frequently used words in the English language.  You can flag which words you want your child to study.  There are one letter, two letter, three letter and four letter words.  Also if you are just now teaching your child to tell time, I found a wonderful app called "Jungle Time".  It is a cute little animal face clock that starts with hourly increments and then goes to half hours and quarter hours when you tell it you are ready.  These are just a few that I have found really helpful with a kindergartner and I have seen many more apps for the more advanced student.  I can't wait to see what else there is to help me bring in some fun to our homeschool.

Backyard Nature Walk

A few days ago my daughter and I went on a morning nature walk in our yard. (we live out in a very rural area.) We spied a wild rabbit nibbling on grass in our backyard. So, we sat down and was very quiet and watched it for a long time, and I was able to snap a few pictures.

 Then about a week later we were walking on another morning nature walk in our yard and we saw a beautiful hawk in a pine tree in our front yard.  I snapped a picture of the hawk before it flew away. (I guess it was camera shy.) Then I immediately reviewed the picture on my camera and zoomed in on the hawk and to my surprise he had breakfast clutched in his talons. (possibly our little rabbit that we saw the week before.)

 Before we started doing our nature walks as part of our homeschool I would have never believed all of the activity that goes on in our own yard!