This Day in History with Benjamin Franklin

On this day in 1706, Benjamin Franklin was born. Anyone who studies science, history, or has frequented a library, has encountered the ideas, the works, and discoveries of Benjamin Franklin.

Whether you find his fascination with electricity equally as fascinating, or his love for books a complete sheer and utter delight; the man accomplished enough in one lifetime to pass on enough material for months of lessons.

Get your kids and students, or you for that matter, involved at a hands-on level with these freebies that will save you time and money. After all, as Benjamin Franklin would say:

Time is money 

Spend your time learning with your children because the legwork of research has already been done for you in gathering this list of information. Following are some links to some awesome sites across the web that deliver free lesson plans and printables to make your job as a parent and/or educator that much easier:

Why Benjamin Franklin Made the History Books
Free Benjamin Franklin Lesson Plans and Printables (There are links to tons of freebies in this one!)
Free infographic memes and quotes to use for handwriting or memorization

Create Custom Lesson Plans With New TED-Ed Videos

This new site is amazing!  It allows teachers to customize lesson plans and use videos and slides from this site - TED-Ed http://ed.ted.com/lessons/ .

There is something for almost every subject.  I just looked at it to check it out and have not delved deeper.  However, I saw lessons on science, art, Business, health, math and more.

Check out this lesson plan and video on the size of an atom:

TED-Ed | Just How Small Is an Atom?

Kids Learn, Move and Stay Fit: PE Is Not The Only Place To Move

I saw a news report tonight that showed a school who is taking a proactive approach to childhood obesity.  They are incorporating exercise in with their learning.  For instance, no more just sitting at your desk with hands crossed while quietly listening.  Instead, they may learn the names of the months of the year by putting them to rhythm and dance.  They line up in the hallway and do pushups to warm up.  Other methods they use include sitting on workout balls, or bounding off of a workout balance ball.  It got me thinking of other ways to teach facts while moving and staying fit.

• Count 1-10 with situps
• I love the exercise ball as kids seems to have trouble sitting still as it is.  Why not put their energy to good use.
• Use good old line dances to teach facts.  The Macarena is one that can be multi-purposely used.  Put the facts to rhythm as you dance.
• Raise your hands, or raise your foot to answer a question.
• ABC jump - Jump after singing each pair of 3 letters.  Like this:  ABC - Jump - DEF  - Jump - GHI - Jump and Spin - JKL - Jump - MNO - Jump PQR - Jump and Spin - STU - Jump - VW and - Jump XYZ - Jump and Spin!

Use your imagination.  The sky is the limit to how much learning can take place while getting little bodies into shape and preventing childhood obesity.

Growing Interest in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics Girls in STEM

Female workers make up half of the workforce. But, when STEM programs began, they made up less than 25% of careers workers in science, technology, engineering, or math fields. The US has lost ground with other progressively-moving countries in the fields of Science and math. While these subjects are taught in school, little progress seemed to have been made. That's where after school programs stepped in. These programs make learning subjects like science, technology, engineering, and math fun. Not only fun, but promising. With the downturned economy, careers in IT technology have remained a viable option. However, without the training, these jobs are difficult to land.
Started out of an effort to draw girls, in particular minority girls, into careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), after school programs were started. Today, interest in the programs soar. Read more at:

Out-of-School Time Drawing Girls Into STEM

Snow-Making Science Project

"Is it snowing yet?  Snow, will we get snow?  Snow, tomorrow?  Why didn't we get a white Christmas?"  These are all questions my 9 year old asked this year as we continue to experience an unseasonably warm winter so far.

If you were lucky enough to have a white Christmas, you may not need (or want) to produce your own snow.  For the rest of us (who rung in the new year at 60 degrees), you just might want to experiment by making your own pretend snow.

Try this experiment from the folks at Kinder Art.com.

All you need are a few items (mostly found in your kitchen or bath room).  You might not be able to build a snowman, fort, or have a snowball fight with your home-made snow.  However, it will be a fun learning experiment.

Lakeshore Learning Offers Free Learning

Lakeshore Learning is an online resource center that offers learning toys. Their toys look amazing. But, they also have online resources for teachers.

There are hands-on vocabulary boosters that teach word blends and other phonics.

You can make your own awards.

There are also fun projects for free. Today's project is Life Cycle Frog. All it takes is a paper plate, stapler and a few other craft materials.

New Study Shows Teacher Is Not The Reason For Good Grades

A new study is out that shows the way kids learn things that really stick may have a lot more to do with the teaching method than the teacher.

Here's the article that describes the findings!

It's very interesting yet not surprising to me.

History of April Fools Day

It's April Fools Day! Did you have some fun today? Did you fill up the salt and pepper shakers with cayenne instead? Did you loosen the lid on the milk carton to watch an unsuspecting family member pour milk aimlessly over the entire kitchen floor? Did you come up with a doozy?

Personally, I never have enjoyed this particular day of revelry. Perhaps my personality is simply too serious and realistic. Or, maybe I don't see laughter among pain caused when you play someone for a fool. Maybe I am over the edge and simply need to lighten up on this one. But, this has got to be the worst holiday ever thought up, in my humble opinion. What other holiday allows you to play jokes on someone making them out to be foolish? What other holiday allows you to out right "lie" in the name of a day. I'm paying off all of your debt - April Fools! Look, you get a raise - April Fools! You're the most beautiful girl I've ever laid eyes on? Really! No! April Fools! Hah hah the joke's on you! What kind of fun is found in such cruelty?

O.K., O.K., I get it! April Fools Day is not all that serious. Put on a happy face and buck up and just have some good, clean innocent fun! Somehow the day still bothers me. Where did it come from? Who originated April Fools Day?

In searching for the answer to this question, I came across this write up on April Fools Day!

The best anyone can tell the day either has to do with a Gregorian calendar change, switching the date of January 1, or a Roman celebration to the god Attis. Neither description endears me or encourages me to embrace the day of laughter.

Learning About Japan For Kids

What do you know about Japan? With all the recent events in Japan, I started thinking about Japan. What do I actually know about the country and what my kids know? Or, I should say what they don't know. Geography has never been my strong point, so teaching it to my children is - well, interesting. Without a globe, your guess is as good as mine on many regions of this world. But, I found there are some things I know. And, what I don't know I can learn and teach my kids. In case you're like me and want to know more about Japan, here's some sites I found helpful:

5 Facts About Japan For Children

Kids Web Japan

Time For Kids - Japan

Enjoy the new discoveries you'll learn from these sites. And, Sayonara (Goodbye)

Free Learning/Teaching Video Site WatchKnow From The Co-Founder of Wikipedia

You can now have access to over 20,000 free learning through videos! That's right - Absolutely free! Take the ceiling off of your learning and teaching opportunities by this non-profit site. The co-founder of Wikipedia has launched a brand new site called WatchKnow.org.

Every subject and every age group is covered for K-12.

I explored this Website today and found it to be so exciting. I have placed a permanent link to the site on this blog. You can enjoy all the learning videos at any time with no commitment and no expense. It's all free!

Elephant Education Crafts

We're launching our new Website, Elephant Ears Education. So, I put the kids to work coming up with ideas of educational tools, learning aids and items we could even sell on the new Website. The idea is to come together as a family and make and sell our ideas and merchandise. In the process, we hope to help others learn and enjoy the process.

Here's what we made today. Which ones do you like?

Also, please check out the new Website. It's a work in progress, growing everyday. Let me know what you would like to see added.

You can find the new Website Here!

You can Like the New Facebook Page Here!

Welcome To Eliana's Elephant Ears Education

I have a daughter. We call her our miracle because she came to us after losing 3 pregnancies to miscarriage. She is our youngest child and keeps us hopping. From the time she was about 2 years old, she fell in love with elephants. The moment she laid her eyes on her very first WebKinz elephant, she was hooked. Now, she claims her mission is to go from thrift store to thrift store rescuing all of the elephants in the world. Our house needs an additional room to fill her collection.

Throughout the course of elephant collecting, it dawned on me how elephants have a huge (no pun intended) impact on learning.

They are said to never forget (memory is a part of learning)

They have large ears (listening plays an important role in learning)

And, there are probably countless other connections I have yet to discover. But, for the time being, this blog is being prepared to share learing in many forms. So, sit back, open your large elephant ears and get ready to add some education into your memory so you never forget...