favor-“ette”: education.com

When Noah started elementary school, things felt so different from when Chelsea and Conor were there. Kindergarten felt more like 1st grade, and 1st grade felt more like 3rd.

Noah’s ESES means that – even though he is in remission – he experienced a significant learning gap. The support program in his school – coupled with our wonderful tutors – is helping to close that gap, but we still have a ways to go.

So in addition to the support program – and those wonderful tutors – I am always on the hunt for educational tools that we can use to further assist Noah. In a perfect world these tools would be lessons “disguised” as games, to encourage Noah to use and stick with them.

Oh – and a combination of worksheets and computer games to keep things fresh.

Truthfully it’s been a struggle to find exactly what I’m looking for. Workbooks are usually only good for a few pages here and there, and I’d need to have a phone full of games to have all of the skills in one place that I’d like.

Enter Education.com.

I was really pleased when these folks reached out to me for a review. It is one-stop shopping for pretty much any educational tool/game/resource that you could possibly want.

It can be a bit overwhelming when you first visit the site, as there are literally thousands of options to choose from. Games, worksheetslesson plans, stories and more.

Make Your Own Abacus

But the thoughtfully created filters make it easy to hone in on what you want to focus on – by grade, subject matter, and the type of lesson you need at the moment.

I love the guided lessons option (premium feature, more on that in a bit), as you can work sequentially through a particular subject, and target a skill that your child may need extra help in.

And while there are many, many free resources on the site, I think that the Premium Membership is well worth the relatively low fee.

For as little as $5 per month you get access to 30,000 digital resources – including worksheets, games, activities, songs and stories. You also get access to all of the guided lessons (which work on desktops, laptops and tablets). And you get teaching tools that allow you to create customized puzzles and worksheets.

Liquid “Fireworks”

The nice folks at Education.com have created an activity exclusively for Donuts, Dresses and Dirt readers, to give you a taste of what they’re all about!

Household Fraction Help

When first introduced to a child’s education, fractions are often intimidating and difficult to understand. Make the concept easier to grasp by applying the idea of fractions to an everyday, familiar situation such as cooking and meals. By involving your child in activities that you do on a daily basis that involve fractions, you will help familiarize him with this big idea in a non-threatening, encouraging way.

To understand the basics of fractions, your child must begin to gain knowledge about the idea that things can be divided evenly, and that objects and numbers can be expressed as parts of a whole. Understanding this essential principle will form a foundation for learning concepts such as measurement, time, and money, which are all discussed in terms of parts of a whole.

What You Need:

  • Round or square food items such as sandwiches, bagels, cookies, donuts, pies or pizza.
  • Measuring cups and spoons

What You Do:

1. Encourage your child to cut sandwiches, bagels or other food items into halves, quarters and thirds.
2. Invite your child to help you in the kitchen, especially when you are measuring. Talk about cups, 1/2 cup, 1/4 teaspoon and so on.
3. Give your child a plate of cookies and encourage him to divide them equally among friends.
4. These are some vocabulary words that can be used to enhance your child’s understanding of fractions:

  • Divide
  • Equal
  • Fourth
  • Half
  • Part
  • Fraction
  • Share
  • Whole

5.  Next time you visit the library, check out one of these books:

  • Moonbear by Frank Asch. Simon & Schuster, 1993.
  • Half a Moon and One Whole Star by Crescent Dragonwagon. Macmillan, 1986.
  • The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins. Greenwillow, 1986.
  • Eating Fractions by Bruce McMillan. Scholastic, 1991.

I love that this activity doesn’t require a PhD, or a warehouse full of art supplies.

Noah and I have already done a few of the games and activities, and I have a bunch of worksheets printed out and ready to go in our “busy bag”, for down times in restaurants, waiting rooms, etc.

Find out more on Education.com, and follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. What are your favorite educational resources?

Note: I was not compensated for this post. All comments and opinions are – as always – completely my own.

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2 Comments

  1. Brittney on March 28, 2017 at 9:57 am

    What a great site! Printing out some worksheets now.

    Also put requests at the library for those books….another favorite about fractions:

    http://amzn.to/2o7eMcG

    • sherisilver on March 28, 2017 at 10:47 am

      I knew you’d love it. And that book looks like a keeper!

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