DSi compared to the PSP

Video games are very popular today, especially the hand held systems. When it comes to hand held gaming there are two very popular systems, the DSi and the PSP. They’re both very good systems. The DSi and the PSP are very similar gaming systems but they have some differences.

The things that you can do with the DSi and the PSP are very similar. The DSi and the PSP both have very good video games. You can also game share, which means you can share games with your friends, with both of the systems. Also you can listen to music if you have a SD card for the DSi or a memory stick for the PSP. They both can go online and go to their shops where you can by more video games at the DSi shop or the PSP shop. Also, these systems can go online with Wi-Fi connection and surf the web. They both work great. Last, but not least, you can also update the systems every few months.

On the other hand, the DSi and the PSP also have some differences. The DSi can take pictures with its built in camera, but with the PSP you can only view pictures. The DSi games are mostly E for everyone but the PSP games are mostly T for teen and M for mature adults. With the DSi you can record your voice for up to ten seconds but with the PSP you can not. Also, the PSP can watch movies but the DSi does not allow this feature. The DSi has more action games, but the PSP has more shooter games.

It is hard to decide between a DSi and a PSP because they have a lot of similar things, but some things are different. If you are more interested in E games and characters like Mario and Nintendo characters then the DSi is right for you; but, if you don’t like E games and like movies the PSP is right for you. The decision between the two systems should be based on what you feel is most important.

written by Kid #1

United States Travel Guide

Boy! The summer was too short!:) Of course, I have been playing and planning.:) We are off to travel the United States of America!

I found this great Yahoo group called Postcardkids. Once you join you can swap postcards with other home school families from around the US or the world. It is a lot of fun! We have almost all of the states in the US and for our geography lesson in school the kids are making a United States Travel Guide.

I made a sheet for each state listing what I thought was important information: statehood, famous people, fun things to do, etc... . On the upper right hand side of the page is a block for the child to glue a map of the state. On the bottom of the page are three blocks for the child to glue pictures of the state bird, flower and flag. I found a great US state flag poster at the local School Box store for $1.50 and the kids are just cutting out those flags and gluing them on to the page. For the bird and flower pictures, I used the web site 50states : http://www.50states.com/us.htm

http://www.50states.com/flower.htm

My plan is to have the kids glue the postcards that we have received from Postcardkids onto the facing page. While I was trying to figure out what to do with the states that we have not received postcards from, I decided to order free travel guides from the various states' tourism departments. I became addicted and ended up getting one from every state! Kids love mail, right? Besides getting the travel guide, we also are getting a free state road map. To find the travel guides, I just Googled "State Name Tourism". Here are a few of the sites I found:http://www.wyomingtourism.org/overview/Free-Wyoming-Vacation-Packet/61846

http://www.travel-vermont.com/common/request.asp?vwg09

http://www.exploreminnesota.com/travel/brochures/index.aspx

I figure that the kids can look through the guides and cut out the pictures that they like and glue them on the page with the postcard.

I also thought that it would be fun to include recipes from the different states. On the Yahoo Group, there is a file of different recipes from each state.

While looking for things to do related to US Geography, I stumbled on quite a few interesting sites. Maybe this can help anyone else narrow their search.

http://www.travelforecast.com/htdocs/cams.asp

http://www.squidoo.com/UnitedStatesUnit

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/kids_usa.htm

http://www.classbrain.com/artstate/publish/

http://www.eduplace.com/ss/maps/usa.html

http://www.50states.com/bird/

http://www.prosserschools.org/walker/spelling/spelling.htm

http://www.kidzone.ws/geography/usa/index.htm

http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com/WebLinks/weblinks-geographygeology.htm

http://www.travellerspoint.com/pcindex.cfm

http://www.notebookingpages.com/index.php?page=Free-Outline-Maps-Geography-Notebooking-Pages

http://www.squidoo.com/50statesnotebook

Hopefully, this will prove to be a fun and interesting way for the kids to learn geography. Who knows- maybe will will conquer the world next year!

Apologia Botany and Astronomy Noetbooking Journals

Apologia is now producing notebooking journals that accompany each of the elementary science books. Both Botany and Astronomy are now available.

These journals are beautiful spiral bound notebooks that will save you time and money. You won't have to print and keep up with your child's notebook pages, buy and maintain page protectors, or purchase and compile binders...everything that makes notebooking time-consuming and labor intensive for mom. Also, your child will adore having their own notebooking journal.

Each of the notebooking journals include:
A daily schedule for those who like to have a plan or would like their children to complete the book on their own
Templates for written narrations, the notebooking activities and experiments
Review Questions
Scripture Copywork, with both print and cursive practice
Reading lists and additional activities, projects, experiments for each lesson
An appendix with beautiful, full-color, lapbook-style Miniature Books
Field Trip Sheets to keep a record field trips
A Final Review with fifty questions the students can answer either orally or in writing to show off all they remember and know at the end of the course.

See the sample pages here:
Botany: https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=128

and
Astronomy: https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=127

Jeannie is giving away four Astronomy Notebooking Journals and four Botany Notebooking Journals to bloggers who post about this on their site. Visit her blog to learn more about this contest: www.jeanniesjournal.com

First Language Lessons Lapbook- Year One

I created this lapbook to be a companion to First Language Lessons- Year One by Jessie Wise.

Resurrection Eggs Lapbook

This is a cute little lap book for Easter. It centers around Resurrection Eggs. I downloaded it off of this site:http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jaminacema/500883/ . This lady has great lap books!

Happy Easter!

Astronomy Lapbook

Well, we just finished Exploring Creation with Astronomy by Jeannie Fulbright and this is the culmination of our work. I downloaded this lapbook from the Yahoo Group Notebooking2Learn. It is a wonderful lapbook created by Jessica (the moderator of the group). After each chapter in the book, we completed the corresponding mini books. It was a great review of the chapter for the kids.

In case you are interested, here are some great science web sites:

http://www.earthsunmoon.co.uk/

http://www.gamequarium.org/dir/Science_Interactives_for_MO_GLEs/

http://www.jeanniefulbright.com/notebookpages.html

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forkids/kidsclub/flash/games/levelfive/KC_Solar_System.html

http://www.gamequarium.org/dir/SqoolTube_Videos/Science/Space/Moon/Phases_of_the_Moon/moon_phases_4656.html

http://www.gamequarium.org/dir/SqoolTube_Videos/Science/Space/Solar_System/planets_3775.html

http://www.gamequarium.org/dir/SqoolTube_Videos/Science/Space/Solar_System/

http://www.gamequarium.org/dir/SqoolTube_Videos/Science/Space/Space_Exploration/

I hope you enjoy!

Art/Famous Artists Lapbook

Well, this is another idea that I had in the middle of the night when I could not sleep! I hope it is a good one.

There are always so many things that I want to do with the kids but cannot find time for- art is one of them. Theoretically, I was going to do this with the kids over the summer, but the list of things to do over the summer seems to be growing fast! We will see how it works out. Anyway, I used these books that I picked up from the used book store titled Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists. Our library has corresponding DVDs to go with them.

The first section I made a color wheel, light, major artistic movements, and little matchbooks that each focus on a different mode of art. I used an Usborne art book- Children's Book of Art- for this information and Homeschoolshare for the templates.

In the following sections, I highlight a few of the famous artists that I want to focus on (Monet, Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Picasso, and Van Gogh). I made little books on the artist, their home country, and famous artwork. I also wanted a place were the kids could try to mimic the artwork itself and where they could do a bit of narration about the art.

Here are a few of the sites that were helpful:

http://www.first-school.ws/activities/artapp/collage.htm -Picasso

http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/elem/elemlessons.html- so many great ideas

http://pixilatedschoolnotes.blogspot.com/2007/09/learning-about-art-van-gogh.html - Van Gogh

http://www.first-school.ws/activities/occasions/vangogh.htm- Sunflower/Van Gogh

http://www.first-school.ws/activities/artapp/impressionism.htm - Monet

http://ebeth.typepad.com/serendipity/2008/07/a-is-for-art.html - Da Vinci

I think we may add to this once we get started because there is so much out there that we can use, but this is a good skeleton to start with.