Create Great Memories with Thanksgiving Crafts

If you’re a teacher, you know your students are preparing for the Thanksgiving break.  Soon there will be Christmas/New Year’s break and… wow, the school year is almost half over! Some of my fondest memories are from all the fun crafts we created during the holiday seasons. 

I distinctly remember how my school days would be spent as a child the week before Thanksgiving. In class, we would create lots of Thanksgiving crafts, projects and art work. I particularly remember making turkey drawings by tracing our hands and then coloring them in to look like turkeys. Sometimes we even made turkey cut-outs or puppets this way.

Having said this, I decided to do some research and find craft website sites that have a lot of Thanksgiving crafts and project ideas.  My last blog provided my 12 favorite teacher resources websites, so finding a few exceptional craft sites was easy.  Here are three that I particularly like:

My favorite is from EnchantedLearning.com  -  http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/thanksgiving/  - It has a large number of cut-out crafts and printable items.  Many of the printable items include lessons on Thanksgiving so your kids can color and learn at the same time. This site is best for K-3^rd grade.

My next favorite site is “Familyfun” by Disney - http://familyfun.go.com/thanksgiving/ - Their Thanksgiving section is filled with a wide variety of projects ranging from Thanksgiving recipes to crafts, printables, games and traditions. Everything on this site is first class and fun to explore.

My last choice is Educatation.com Thanksgiving Central. - http://www.education.com/seasonal/thanksgiving/ -This site has lots of kitchen crafts showing you how to make a table runner, table fruit art and more. There are printables, coloring pages, activities, and a Thanksgiving history section that is concise. The last item worth mentioning is a section called “How to Make the Most of Thanksgiving.”  It’s filled with ideas for creating Thanksgiving traditions.

There are numerous websites that include Thanksgiving materials for teachers. What I have included is just a small portion of what’s out there. However, these three sites have the most, and best that I have found to date. Best of all, every craft and printable idea they offer is free.

Do you know of a terrific Thanksgiving website that offers free crafts? Are you willing to share them with us? Please provide your comments, and tell us about the resources you use. I’m sure our readers would love to know.

Until next time, this is Hector Cisneros for A Quantum Leap, wishing you and your family many Thanksgiving blessing.

My Top 12 Picks for Educational Resources Websites

As a former teacher, I always found myself looking for great material to use when teaching my students.  I found that I had to perform a lot of research when preparing new curriculums for my classes.  I also wanted to keep up with current events and news in my profession.  This kind of research is much easier now because of the wide-spread use of the internet.

Today, I still tutor math, reading and science part time (as I love teaching).  I do a lot of writing both in education and in many other fields.  My current profession as a writer requires me to do a lot of research.  One of my duties is to post cool, useful and interesting educational websites I find to Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites.  The purpose of this article is to share with our readers my top picks for useful educational resource websites.

I actually use hundreds of sites on a monthly basis.  I easily investigate about 1000 sites each year.  With so many websites to choose from, I found myself with a selection dilemma.  Knowing of so many sites made my choices even harder.  Therefore, I came up with a selection criterion to narrow my choices.  My choices are based on these criteria: the information needs to be free, it needs to be useful, and it needs to stand out in some way.  I will provide the reader a short synopsis of each of the sites along with its URL so you can check them out personally.

My top 12 picks cover a variety of categories, including news, curriculum planning, class management, student material sites, craft sites, article sites, and blogs.  I hope you take a few moments to visit and explore these sites.  Please comment on the sites you liked.  Tell us about any site you know of that we should add to this list.  Your insight will be shared with our readers and could provide them the help they are looking for.

General Educational resources:

1) Teacher Link - http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/ - This website provides free lesson plans for teachers covering a wide range of subjects.  The material is specific and compressive to each subject listed.

2) Study Guide - http://www.studyguide.org/teacherlinks.htm - This site also provides free material for teaching and classroom management.  Particularly, I like their resources for writing strategies and idea creation.

3) Sites for Teachers - http://www.sitesforteachers.com/ - This site provides a large list of teacher resource links.  Here, you will find links to just about any imaginable subject, craft or lesson plan.

Crafts for the home and classroom:

4) The Crafty Classroom - http://www.thecraftyclassroom.com/ - This site has numerous craft projects covering all the seasons and a multitude of events - all free!  The crafts include paper crafts, modeling, and much more.  I think you will like it.

5) Disney Family Fun - http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/ - This site is owned by Disney and provides plenty of free craft ideas and projects.  You can look up ideas by age, type, material and more.  Did I say it was free?

6) Enchanted Learning - http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/ - This site provides a list of free crafts for children of all ages.  Subjects are listed alphabetically, making it easy to find what you're looking for quickly.  You will find many crafts from A to Z, including seasonal crafts for Thanksgiving, Christmas and more.

Online News and Magazines:

7) News4Jax.com, Education Section - http://goo.gl/9x2fn - (I used a link shortener to save space).  For local educational news in Jacksonville, I like News4Jax.com.  If you’re not in Jacksonville, every city has news sites and most offer local educational news.

8) U.S. News and World Report, Education Section - http://www.usnews.com/education - For educational news on the national level, my pick is U.S.N.W.R.  Their educational section is second to none.  Check it out.

9) Education Week - http://www.edweek.org/ew/index.html - Education Week provides a wide variety of articles, topics, blogs and more that I always find interesting, current and comprehensive. It’s definitely worth looking at.

Educational blogs and Article site:

10) Buzzle.com - http://www.buzzle.com/chapters/archives-226.asp - Buzzle’s website is an article portal. It offers a wide variety of articles.  Their education section is chock-full of interesting articles that are helpful and useful in today’s ever-changing classroom.

11) Education.com - http://www.education.com/magazine/articles/ - There are more than a dozen educational article databases on the internet.  I had a tough time choosing my favorite in this category.  I had to close my eyes and pick one, and my finger landed on Education.com.  The other two websites I liked were http://www.articlesbase.com/ and http://www.edarticle.com/.  Here, you will find articles covering every subject imaginable.  Check them all out and enjoy.

12) Clear View Education - http://goo.gl/DgmEo - (I used a link shortener here to save space too).  I really could not pick just one blog, so I decided to let you choose from 100 different ones.  Clear View Education blogs' main purpose is to share what they believe are the top 100 blogs on the web. Here, you will find educational blogs covering resources for teaching, technology, blogging teachers, special-education blogs and much more.  If you're looking for good educational blogs, you will find them here.

There you have my top 12 educational resource websites.  These sites will provide you with countless links to literally hundreds of useful educational websites.  Enjoy exploring these sites.  Please take the time to tell us what you liked, and which ones are useful to you.  Add your favorite site to our list by commenting on this blog entry.  I sincerely hope you find at least one new website to help you with your educational needs.  

Until next time, this is Hector Cisneros for A Quantum Leap signing off.

It’s October. Help your kids have fun, learn about Halloween and create some new traditions.

It’s October and the kids are focused on fall, Halloween, and dressing up for trick or treat, so they can get lots of free candy. Wouldn’t it be neat if this year they learned how Halloween got started? Wouldn’t it also be neat if your kids participated in the giving of candy (instead of just getting and eating it)? What if you could address both these issues at the same time and start a family or classroom tradition of your own. Here are some suggestions which will engage your kids in some fun learning, help them experience the joy of giving, and at the same time create some traditions your kids will remember for the rest of their lives.

Before you get started, you will need to do a little planning. Pick a day about a week or two before Halloween when you want to have your fun day. Next, you will need to do a little research on the history of Halloween and Halloween snacks. Make sure you get input from your kids. Start by asking them what treats should be made that day and what activities they want to participate in. Give them a list to choose from. For example, hang decorations, carve a pumpkin, play a Halloween game, or watch a fun Halloween video. The point here is to get them engaged in the event.

To help teach your kids about the history of Halloween, search the internet or go to the library and check out a book on how Halloween got started. A Google search on the phrase “The history of Halloween for kids” brought up 92 million hits. This is more than enough information to provide a brief history of Halloween. If you are a teacher, you will even find lesson plans already created for you.

You can also use the internet to look up healthy Halloween snack ideas. A Google search on the phrase, “healthy Halloween snacks for kids" returned over 2 million results - more than enough healthy snack ideas for even the most ambitious parent or teacher.  

Once your fun day is scheduled, make sure everyone is ready to make it an enjoyable family/class event. On the day of the event, start by baking or creating your fun snack. At my house, we carve a pumpkin and roast the seeds for a tasty snack. In your home or classroom, you may choose to bake some Halloween cookies, cup cakes, create a spooky fruit display, or make some other snack. This is also an excellent time to decorate your home or classroom with some personalized or creative Halloween decorations.  

As part of your history lesson, I would discuss how and why candy is given out to kids during today’s Halloween celebration. Ask your kids this question: Do they think it would be fun to hand out candy to people visiting their family?

Coupling a brief history lesson with your Halloween snack or pumpkin carving project will make for a memorable tradition. It will probably be remembered for years to come and be passed on to your children’s children.

When Halloween night comes, get the older kids to participate in giving out candy to the younger kids who come for trick or treat.  In some instances, younger siblings will want to join in too (because big brother/sister is doing it).  This is an excellent way to help them learn and appreciate the joy of giving instead of just getting as much candy as they can.

By planning a fun pre-Halloween event with your family or classroom and coupling that event with a brief history lesson of how and why Halloween exists, you will start a new tradition that will be remembered by your kids for years to come.

If you have some exciting ideas for coupling fun events and learning, we would like to hear from you. Your ideas could help create new traditions for families around the world.  Please share your comments with us and our readers. We look forward to reading your ideas.  

Until next time, this is Hector Cisneros for A Quantum Leap signing off.

We Have a New Face of A Quantum Leap Tutoring!

A Quantum Leap just had a contest to choose our next model for our website and some of our print materials. Meet Zander! Here are a few things about Zander and his photo!

"My Name is Zander I am 7 years old. My parents Mr. and Mrs. Eddie and Aquilla Redding. I have 3 Siblings, Lekelvis, Brandee, and Quenton. My favorite subject in school is Math. My favorite thing to do is play football. I have been playing pop warner football for 2 years. I also like to play soccer. Thanks to my BonBon (Carol Edwards) for telling us about the contest. I would like to thank all that voted for me and making me the next face of A Quantum Leap!"

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Lesson Learned??

We just celebrated my son's 5th birthday. Like most kids these days, he's already well-versed in technology. My husband and I are self-proclaimed techies. We each have an iPhone and an iPad so it wasn't unusual for my mother-in-law to offer her old iPhone as a birthday gift to my son.

Initially, I scoffed at the idea. What 5-year-old needs a digital device of that magnitude? However, after comparing prices on products aimed at his age range, we decided it was cheaper to just utilize the old iPhone and load it up with kid-friendly apps. We also included a couple of his favorite apps right now which are Angry Birds and Weather.com. What can I say? He's diverse.

Well, with electronics comes responsibility. Somewhere along the line, (not from his parents, of course) my son thought he needed to take the new phone into the bathroom with him. You can imagine the disaster that ensued. Yep, into the toilet went the phone. My son was traumatized. The morning was extremely difficult after this incident.

Of course, we put the phone in rice and we are "seeing what happens." Grandma and grandpa believe they should replace the phone because the event was his lesson learned. I lean toward the mindset that had he been following the rules where he must ask permission about using the phone, then the incident would not have happened. Grandma and grandpa believe we all make mistakes. What do you think?

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First Day of College

The first day of college is a big change, and preparation, organization and time management will be very important. Following are some tips for preparing for this huge milestone in your life. 

1.  Orientation.  One of the best things you can do is attend orientation. At orientation, there will be college students telling you what's going to happen and giving you guidance.  There will also be advisers who will assist you with your schedules and provide tours of the campus and the dorms/apartments.  Orientation helps to relieve a lot of stress for both you and your parents.

2.  Acclimation.  When you visit the campus, be sure to explore available parking, eating places, entertainment, etc.  Decide (with your parents) whether you will live in a dorm or apartment and make the necessary arrangements.

3.  Money.  Have a discussion with your parents regarding budgets and money management.  Set a clear understanding of their expectations and agree on a monthly budget.  

4.  Textbooks.  When you go to class on the first day, your professors are going to give you a syllabus, and tell you what you’ll need in the way of supplies and textbooks. 

5.  Supplies.  As far as supplies go, you need a durable backpack that can accommodate your laptop.  Other than that, some notebooks, pens and highlighters are the basics. 

6.  Accountability.  Probably one of the most important things you need to be aware of is that in college, you're on your own. You've got to stay on top of deadlines when signing up for classes and paying the tuition. 

So stay organized, manage your time, and be sure to meet your deadlines.  If you do these few things, you’ll be prepared for that first day of college and it won’t be so intimidating!

This is from a guest blogger, Jodi Okun of College Financial Aid Advisors (CFAA)

They help families with professional preparation, support and navigation of the college financial aid process. You can check our here website here. 

As always, check out our website for all your tutoring needs! We offer test prep for getting into college as well as college-level tutoring.

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Are You an Adult Going Back to School?

Study Skills for Adults

If it’s been a while since you were in school, a return to the academic life can be a big adjustment. College classes cram a great deal of information into a semester. When was the last time you had to remember so many details? Understanding some basic tenets of adult learning theory can help you develop the study habits you need to be successful:

Adult learners need motivation to learn. As children, we are naturally curious little sponges absorbing everything we can from our environment – unless someone comes along and kills our enthusiasm for learning. By the time we reach adulthood, we’re caught up in a world of work and responsibility that leaves little energy for learning. The first thing you need to do, then, is clarify for yourself your motives for going back to school. What short- and long-term goals do you hope to achieve as a result of going to school? How will you feel when you earn that degree or certificate? How can you benefit from what you learn in a particular course? Reminding yourself of your most driving motivation is critical when you need to pull yourself out of a slump.

Adult learners need the right study environment. This is Study Skills 101. Like children, we need a regular place and time to establish the habit. The space should be well-lit and organized. Whether you prefer quiet or listening to music, do what feels best for you. Television and talk radio are not recommended because conversation pulls too much of your focus away from the material.

Adult learners need to interact with the material. Listening to lectures and reading alone are too passive. You need to involve as many senses as possible, and take a more active role. Try developing a set of questions, or reading the ones at the end of the chapter, before you start to read. As you read, stop and reflect each time you find material that may answer one of your questions. You’ll get even more out of the study session if you actually write out the questions and answers. This brings a tactile element to your learning experience. Are you studying a complex theory or required to retain a great deal of facts and data? Try organizing the information visually; that is, draw a model, illustrate the idea with pictures, or create charts and graphs to show the relationships between the details. By thinking about your material in a structured way, you reinforce higher order thinking and create a visual aid in the process.

Adult learners need practice. In order to do anything well, we need practice. You should quiz yourself regularly, or enlist the support of a study buddy to quiz you. No cheating! If you do that you won’t discover the weak areas where you need to focus more. Keep track of your performance on each “quiz”. If you are truly applying the techniques described in this article, you’ll find your performance improves significantly with repetition. This will help build your confidence for testing day. 

If you need any help building skills before you return to school or even GED prep, give A Quantum Leap a call! 1-877-295-5327

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How to Choose an SES Tutoring Company

You have been told your child is eligible for free tutoring through the SES program, but what does that mean? Your child’s school will take care of telling you the details of how to apply but we are going to summarize what you need to know to choose a great tutor!

1.   

    How do I know the tutor is qualified? SES providers are not required to hire certified teachers, but you should inquire from the tutoring company what their standard is for hiring tutors. The company should be able to let you know their verification process and all tutors must have a background check.

2.   

    Where is the tutoring? Tutoring can be done in a number of locations. At the child’s school, a library, a learning lab run by the tutoring company, a church or even at an afterschool program.

Sometimes even having the tutoring at your home is a good alternative.

3.        

When is the tutoring? SES Tutoring can take place anytime outside of school hours. Some programs are before school but the majority take place after school. Each tutoring company has their preferences for how long the sessions last and the frequency.

4.        

Does the program have transportation? If the tutoring will not take place at the student’s school, you should ask if transportation is provided. Sometimes it’s difficult for families to pick up a child once the tutoring is complete. This is why tutoring can take place at an after school program or at the home.

5.        

What other accommodations may be necessary?  For some children English may not be their first language. In this instance, bi-lingual tutors may be necessary. For other children, a more specialized tutor may be necessary in the case of a learning disability. An SES provider should be able to incorporate an IEP into the learning plan in that case.

These are the key things to keep in mind while choosing an SES tutor. For more information about SES tutoring, please check out this informative website.

http://www.tutorsforkids.org/families/infoforfamilies.asp

5 Tips for An Upcoming College Freshman

By: Caitlin Woods, a college student working her way to success

With the excitement of high school graduation dying off, a newer, more nervous excitement is settling in among many soon- to- be college freshmen. It can be overwhelming to think that in a few months (or sooner for some) you will no longer have the comforts your teenage years brought you. It can be hard to be to look to your near future as a young adult student without a sense of fear, but hopefully this article will help!

As a college student and a young adult, I can understand the feelings, thoughts, and emotions that may be rattling around your head as you enter this new season in your life. I have put together the five most important tips that I feel a new college freshman should know as I have just experienced it.

1.       Enter college with an open mind.     

Although college is just another school, it certainly is different from high school. Make sure that you realize and have come to terms with the fact that everything will be different. You will be leading your new adult life. Teachers will treat you differently. The campus will be much larger. The work load will be more daunting and intense. You may even experience living on your own for the first time! Enter college knowing that you are an adult now. You will be treated as such. 

2.       Set yourself up for success!

“My behavior is my responsibility. No one can make me do or say anything that I don’t want to do.” This was a motto that I had to say after the Pledge of Allegiance every day in elementary school. I never knew what meaning it would have until I reached college. In college you are the only one who can control what you do. There will be no one there to remind you to do your homework or to go to bed on time. Make sure to surround yourself with others who want to succeed and won’t pressure you into not studying or staying out too late. Also having the mindset that you are there for a purpose and you expect to meet your goals helps. 

3.       Communication is key!

If you are having trouble, a problem, or find yourself in a tough situation NEVER BE AFRAID TO TALK TO YOUR PROFESSOR! Most professors are very understanding and will do whatever it takes to help you, find you help, or understand a situation. Many of your problems can be solved if you just let them know what is going on. If you feel like you’re doing terrible in class they can tell you if you are or not and let you know what could help. They are also the ones who can help you if you need to miss class because of a family emergency for example. Professors understand that they are there because you want to be there. They understand that they are providing a service that is being paid for so they do their best to help you.

4.       Find ways to make Studying and Homework enjoyable.   

You are always more likely to do something if you enjoy it. Put that mentality into your studies and it could be very beneficial to you. Try getting a group together from class that could meet to have a study session over lunch or something of the sort. This way you’ll make friends and adapt to your new environment and be productive at the same time!

5.       Show up and participate!

This may have been preached to you throughout your years in grade school but it is especially true in college. When your professor tells you that tomorrow’s class “is going to be an easy day,” it shouldn’t be taken as a ticket to get a few more hours of shut eye.  You should take advantage of any opportunity presented to you, whether it is optional or not. Take in every bit of information you can and you will benefit in the long run. Plus, it shows your dedication and your professors will be more inclined to work with you if something negative happens such as missing an exam. 

So, on your first day, when you walk onto that large campus; take a deep breathe to clear your mind and remember these tips. College is truly one of the best times of your life, even if you are studying hard. As long as you work hard and act responsibly, you will exceed your own expectations! Good luck and remember to contact A Quantum Leap Tutoring and Educational Consultation if you need that extra boost! We can help you with everything from College Algebra to organizational and test-taking skills.

“Success Feels Good”

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