All posts by NerdMom

Children's Apps, Frugal Homeschooler, frugal homeschooling, Games, Homeschooling, Homeschoooling

Fun with Coding

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What can be more nerdy than coding games? By that I mean games about coding, not writing games in code. That would be a different post entirely. I am a huge believer that every one needs to learn how to program in today’s day and age. It isn’t just for kids who someday want to be engineers but for anyone who may use a computer and do business. But it isn’t boring to learn at all. 

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A look at the Code.org site on my Lenovo Yoga!

I started putting together a fun list of coding games and activities and then I realized that there was a hub that had them all, Code.org. So let me go through the list of great coding activities that they have!

Star Wars:Building a Galaxy with Code, Minecraft Hour of Code, and Code with Anna and Elsa all deal with blocks of code that you arrange into features, environments, and structures in the various worlds. I believe that these were all released specifically for the Hour of Code. 

Then you get into the tutorials games in Javascript. Tinker has a great game with their Code Monsters. They build in logic steps to fight. There are different levels of difficulty. There is also the Khan Academy tutorials. My kids are big fans of their Javascript tutorials. 

Thinkersmith has a full unplugged activity available. It has to do with students putting together simple instructions and then having them followed exactly. It teaches the programming thinking without a computer. Something commonly refereed to as a low level computer science;).

 Have a tablet or phone? They can try Lightbot. It deals with developing the logic for programming, especially dealing in loops. 

 

So have your kids check out Code.org for some programming fun and learning. 

10daysbutton This is part of the 10 Days of Nerdy Fun!!! Make sure you hop over to see what other great post of nerdy fun that will be shared! 

Hardware, tech, Tech Tuesday

Tech and Homeschooling

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hp printer(This post is sponsored by HP but all thoughts and opinions are mine alone!)  

Everywhere I turn lately it seems people are both attached to their tech and bad mouthing it. About how there is life beyond the screen. I agree but technology is a tool and tools are something that are used to create. I have been homeschooling now for 11 years and my #1 tool beyond books is tech. So I thought I would go through some of the ways we used tech in our homeschool. 

Desktop computers: One of the biggest things we use a desktop computer for is media! We run our tv off of a desktop computer. Back when the kids were little, they all started preschool on a desktop. They played dexterity games and did early reading activities. 

Laptop computers: As the kids have gotten older (and laptops have gotten cheaper) they now work a lot more on laptops. When they started moving to laptops we started moving to online curriculum.  Laptops have definite advantages. #1 they are mobile! This means the kids can easily work in a variety of places without plugs so I don’t have to have a ton of tables set up for only computers. We use Khan  Academy a lot and when kids get stuck, they can bring their laptop to me and we can work together. It also means great family time when all 6 of us can play Minecraft in the same room. 

Tablets: We love tablets for the fun and reference side of homeschool. There are a ton of learning apps that the kids can play. But, it also means you can look up tutorials, wikepedia, etc to place along side an activity. 

Readers: We love our Kindles and Nooks! Books are the basis of so much and Kindles and Nooks are just great conduits. You can get all the books in public domain on them and we all love them so much. 

“Get Tech is a tool, utilize it and control it! It can enrich your children’s education no matter how they are schooled! To make it a little easier run over and use the coupon at HP!!!

(Disclosure: HP sponsored this post but all thoughts are mine!)

fun, Games, Geeky, Geeky Stuff, Things & Travel

Concept: Entertaining for Kids, Engaging for Adults

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Finding games for the whole family can be very challenging. They are either too hard for the kids or super boring for the adults. What? Am I the only one? We are always on the hunt for games that the parents can play with the kids and with our adult friends. We found one of those games in Concept. 

ConceptplayConcept is a party game. It is sort of like Pictionary or charades but without the acting or drawing. You can compete individual or in rotating teams.

First the player (or team) draws a card. On that card are a variety of words or concepts. They are organized into easy, intermediate, and hard categories. You pick one of those items to describe to the rest of the table. 

Now this is where it gets really interesting, how you describe it. The board has a ton of squares on it. They have themes, colors, arrows, and so much more. (You have a sheet that give ideas as to what every square represent. ) Then you put markers on the board to try and communicate the item on your card to everyone else. The key is you get to pick out of the card. When they adults play we start with intermediate but the keys start with easy. 

It could be something as simple as rain or as hard as something like “Its not the end of the world”. You can used some markers to signify the primary idea and something else to bring in related ideas. You can really do all kinds of things. But you can’t talk. The only thing you can say is the word no. So that can help the group eliminate wrong guesses if they ask the right questions;). 

If someone guesses your word, concept, or quote you get 2 points and the person who guessed correctly gets one point! So this is a game where you want everyone to succeed. And you just keep going until you want to stop as a group, there is no “winning score”. It is so much fun! And with the adults playing the hard level, it is beyond hilarious. 

So on the nerdy side: Concept isn’t just a fun game. It really helps you learn a lot of communication skills. You have to think about your audience. What are your shared experiences that you can call on? What methods of logic and communication will they get? It is an awesome way to learn about knowing your audience, which is key in communicating with anyone. 

We absolutely love Concept and highly recommend it for families and parties of all ages. 

10daysbutton  This is part of the 10 Days of Nerdy Fun!!! Make sure you hop over to see what other great post of nerdy fun that will be shared! 

Games, Homeschooling, Homeschoooling, house management, household, Smart Living Strategies

3 Steps to Puzzle Storage Zen

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Puzzles sound so old school, I know. But puzzles are great for so many reasons. They develop logic and problem-solving skills. It helps kids (and adults) to sit and focus therefore develop that stick to it attitude that helps people succeed in life. And it de-stresses so many. But I hear complaints all the time about puzzles. But most of those complaints are about storage and trying to figure out where found pieces go. It doesn’t have to be that way!!!

We love a puzzle here in the NerdFamily. But not in the rainy day, sit for 3 hours, and just do puzzles kind of way. Instead, we grab those hidden moments that would other be lost. We put up a folding table and throw a puzzle on it. This is when we use those big puzzles that you just don’t have a lot of time for. We only do this when we can leave it up for a few days. Then we take those minutes that pop up through the day and head to the table. Maybe we are watching tv and working on it. That time when dinner is almost ready and you don’t have time to do anything, puzzle time;). Those minutes when half the family is ready to go somewhere and they are waiting on the other half? Puzzle time.  

I hear it now, “How do you not lose all those little pieces? How to you keep them all together?” That is easier than you think! And when you find that random puzzle piece you will know right where it goes! 

WP_20150408_11_28_11_Pro1)Get a marker or a stamp. Stamp or write a letter (or code of some sort) on the back of every piece. Yes, I know it sounds tedious. It really isn’t that time consuming. With smaller children use a color as part of your code. Then they don’t have to read!

2)Cut out the front picture from the box. Be honest, those boxes never last very long anyways. On the back of the picture write the code for that puzzle and how many pieces there are. WP_20150408_11_29_25_Pro

3)Put the whole mess into a ziplock bag! Throw the bags into a bin and put the bin on the shelf. If you have a lot of puzzles, like some of us, you might want to have different bins for different sized puzzles. That way if your 4-year-old goes to grab a puzzle they can just access their smaller ones;). 

That is it! 3 steps to storing your puzzles! Now go have some fun!!!

 

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   This is part of the 10 Days of Nerdy Fun!!! Make sure you hop over to see what other great posts of nerdy fun that will be shared! 

 

Entertainment, Homeschooling, Homeschoooling, Movies

10 Movies Based on Books to Watch with Your Kids

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10 Movies

Nothing is better to relax than movie night with the family. It is a traditional holiday must have. But even watching movies can be a little nerdy. Here are 10 movies that are based on books! (And I didn’t include sequels but that doesn’t mean they aren’t good)

 

  1. Hobbit: Tolkein, do I really need to say more? Seriously, it was a well done adaption that will cause a lot of good conversations about what is true to the book and what isn’t. 
  2. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: This is also just a classic. C.S. Lewis told a great tale that is so much more than a story! 
  3. Emma: Now the Gweneth Paltrow version may be well known but I highly recommend the Romola Garai/ BBC version. It is truer to the book and all the characters have more depth. It is longer but all Austen movies are better longer;). Nerdpie delighted when it explained why Emma’s father was so protective. 
  4. Much Ado About Nothing: I absolutely love every version of this play I have seen be it Whedon’s, Branagh’s, or Tennant/Tate. But my absolute favorite is the Tennant/Tate version. It is the funniest and most family friendly version too.  All 4 of my kids loved it! 
  5. Wizard of Oz: People often forget that the Wizard of Oz was a book and it was part of a large series. The movie is a classic and a must see for every book and movie lover. 
  6. Harry Potter Series: The movies were great, the books were great. What more can be said? Except it is a wonderful voyage to take with your kids and is part of a cultural phenomenon. 
  7. Heidi: This is truly a heart warming tale. I remember reading the book and crying as a kid. But the movie seemed hopeful and a little happier. It was a great tale that shows relationships and family in its own form. It may seem cheesy to think about but it really was good!
  8. Ella Enchanted: I don’t remember people talking about this being a book but it is! My kids loved the book but the movie has music and dancing so they love it even more! It is fun and light. The author of the book has also written quite a bit so it might be a great introduction to a whole lot of reading. 
  9. Little Women: Family, life, and defining who you are. Those are big themes of Little Women. This is one of my all time favorite books. The Katherine Hepburn version is my favorite movie version. That may be because Jo is my favorite so I might be biased;). 
  10. Pride and Prejudice: Did you think Jane Austen would only appear once in this list? The Bennet sisters are a lesson to girls on how to be yourself and not get lured by bad guys. Mr. Darcy is a lesson to tween/teen boys on how important communication and being open is! I like many versions but Colin Firth is the only Mr. Darcy;). 

Those are our favorite book based movies. How about you? What are your favorite family literature based movies?

 

10daysbutton This is part of the 10 Days of Nerdy Fun!!! Make sure you hop over to see what other great post of nerdy fun that will be shared! 

Frugal Homeschooler, frugal homeschooling, Homeschooling, Homeschoooling

Directed Lego Play

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Lego Glasses

What can be nerdier than quality Lego time? Nothing! But even with the geekiest kid sometimes they hit a wall. The whole “I’m bored” and “I don’t know what to do” happens even with Lego fans. So what is the nerdy parent to do?

Directed Lego play

The idea of directed play is the idea that you lay out a road map or help your kids develop a road map. When they are toddlers directed play often means things like a play schedule where you play with the kitchen set for 30 minutes and then 30 minutes with the toy animals. But what does that look like with older kids?

Ideas. It is all about helping them have ideas. Yes, you could just buy them a set of themes Legos but that doesn’t last forever;). Help your kids find their inspiration and figure out a building project before they sit down. You can go through your house or life and come up with ideas. For example, most of my kids wear classes. So that inspired my oldest to make Lego glasses. So come up with an idea and have them go work on it! 

LegoAdventureBookThere are also tools you can get to help! My kids received a copy of The Lego Adventure Book. It has blueprints of how to build a variety of things, many of which are real life items.

My kids loved it because it gave them a starting point to make more complex things.

My daughter made a restaurant. In it she put an ice machine that she saw in the book. She has also used a lot of other components to create a whole scenario that she then made a story and played it all afternoon.  

There are a bunch of these books in the series! 

 

If you don’t have books you also have the Lego site! They have all the building instructions online for free! So if you are scouting around looking for ideas you can actually get the instructions for free. Then just pair them with the blocks you have and adapt from there. 

So help your kids find a project, inspiration, and a focus!!! 

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 This is part of the 10 Days of Nerdy Fun!!! Make sure you hop over to see what other great post of nerdy fun that will be shared! 

 

Frugal Homeschooler, frugal homeschooling, Games, Homeschooling, Homeschoooling

5 Free Online Math Game Sites

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5MathGames

 

Here in the Nerdfamily house we love both math and video games! It is a great way to get your math skills sharp, develop new ones, and have a ton of fun. I thought I would put together a list of great free games but I thought it would be better to have the Nerdster do it! So this list is all written by him!

Shepard software is an educational site that has many games of all sorts of themes. I really like how they have fun games that really make you think. And there are quiz’s that test what we know.
Hotmath is a site with a few math games. I like how it has just a few games but all of them can be set to suit you. You can play math games of different types. (note from NerdMom: This has junior high and up games)
Funbrain is a site with a bunch of games for kids young and old. It is cool how I can do something young and easy or at my level. It also leads to one of my favourite games: Poptropica!
MathBlaster is a game that needs a profile but be warned . . . Unity or FireFox is needed to play. I like how they have space themed games and non-math activities. And you can play with friends!
MathPlayground is full of games. I really like how it has equation creations that use math to draw and animate. I also really like sugar sugar, where you use drawing to solve problems.

10daysbutton     This is part of the 10 Days of Nerdy Fun!!! Make sure you hop over to see what other great post of nerdy fun that will be shared! 

frugal homeschooling, Homeschooling, Homeschoooling

10 Days of Nerdy Fun

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I am so excited that I will be hosting 10 Days of Nerdy fun in conjunction with a great group of homeschool bloggers. Every day, starting July 11th, I will be posting another idea for some nerdy fun on NerdFamily and will be posting a link here! So make sure to come back everyday to see what nerdy goodness I have for you. 
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Day 1: 5 Free Online Math Game Site 
Day 2: Directed Lego Play 
Day 3: 10 Movies Based on Books to Watch with Your Kids 
Day 4: 3 Steps to Puzzle Storage Zen 
Day 5: Concept: Entertaining for Kids and Engaging for Adults! 
Day 6: Fun with Coding  
Day 7: Fun around the Lego Site 
Day 8: How to be like the Avengers in Minecraft: Costumes 
Day 9: 10 Math Games with Playing Cards 
Day 10: 10 Fun & Educational Youtube Channels & Playlists

And make sure to check out all the other great tips, tricks, and ideas for homeschoolers (and the rest of the world) that are linked below!!!

 

Contesting Monday

Contesting Monday 7/11

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Contesting Monday2

Have some great giveaways going on over at your site? Want to enter some fabulous giveaways and win great stuff? Either way, that makes this the place for you!

So here is the deal. If you are hosting a giveaway or have a post about someone’s giveaway just leave a link. Make sure this link is to the giveaway post itself and not just the blog or it will be deleted. If you listed it last week but your giveaway is still open, list it again! Also your link must be to something family friendly or it will be deleted.

So now you need to add your giveaways and go enter some giveaways! Let them know that Contesting Monday sent you! Make sure you share Contesting Monday with your fans and followers so that they can see all these fabulous giveaways!!!

Remember this linky is also being hosting over at Robyn’s Online World! You only have to add it once to be seen at both sites!

Contesting Monday

Contesting Monday 7/4

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Contesting Monday2

Happy 4th of July!!!! What better way to celebrate the birth of our nation than winning things??? 

Have some great giveaways going on over at your site? Want to enter some fabulous giveaways and win great stuff? Either way, that makes this the place for you!

So here is the deal. If you are hosting a giveaway or have a post about someone’s giveaway just leave a link. Make sure this link is to the giveaway post itself and not just the blog or it will be deleted. If you listed it last week but your giveaway is still open, list it again! Also your link must be to something family friendly or it will be deleted.

So now you need to add your giveaways and go enter some giveaways! Let them know that Contesting Monday sent you! Make sure you share Contesting Monday with your fans and followers so that they can see all these fabulous giveaways!!!

Remember this linky is also being hosting over at Robyn’s Online World! You only have to add it once to be seen at both sites!