If you are a teacher and interested in getting Kids Maps for your school as a learning tool for Pre-K through elementary, it’s FREE!! Check out the linked website

It’s goal is to make make geography fun with educational puzzle games. My little one (and all my kids) like puzzles and I am certified (of all things) in map making with some software called GIS so this is an app I had to check out.  There are lots of free apps out there, so it always makes it tough for me to recommend a paid app.  I usually look for apps that are free and do not bombard me with adverting.  If though you are looking for an app that is educational, fun and you are willing to pay a little for it, I can recommend this app.

Some reviews from the iTunes store included (The reviews for Android were also great):

Great game!

My five year old loves this game. Its great for younger kids because it doesnI’t require reading. I hope you do the countries next!

My class loves it!

I used this game in my preschool class today for the first time. The kids really enjoyed it and insisted on playing several times. Easy for children to use on their own with clear directions.

To see a demo of the app check it out on youtube.

The description from Kids Maps Making geography Fun website:

The Kids Maps App for iPad and Android Honeycomb tablets is intended to help kids as young as 2 years of age learn geography through a fun, interactive, puzzle game which uses colorful artwork, voice, sound and animation to teach.
This first edition includes:

• Complete map of the United States
• Fun factoids about each state
• The ability to help kids develop motor skills and hand/eye coordination
• The ability to help kids develop shape & color recognition skills
• Drag & drop functionality
• Colorful state graphics, which utilize vivid primary colors & state abbreviations
• A guided tutorial to help children learn the interface
• Settings for alphabetical order (teaches children the letter a state starts with)
• Settings for random order (includes fun sounding animations)
• The ability to “skip” and grab a new puzzle piece (in random mode only)
• “Hints” system which helps point children in the right direction
• Encouraging messages to build confidence.
• Voice on/off settings
• Tips on/off settings
• Fun “reset” feature which breaks the map into pieces again

 

For some great worksheets check out Boggles World – When I went to the home page it was really tough to find anything – So the link takes you right to the ABC worksheets.

The sheets include tracing and coloring sheets for each of the letters (upper and lower case).  They are down-loadable in a .doc (MS Word) format.  The format makes them a little more difficult for some people to use (if you do not have Microsoft Office) but they are great worksheets.   These are the type of worksheets that I like to  print and laminate.

The site also contains word searches (my favorite) and several other items.  I wondered around for a little bit, but my favorite things on the site are definitely the tracing and coloring sheets.

Homeschool Share (HSS) is a on-line cooperative effort of several homeschooling moms to provide free but quality literature-based unit studies and resources.

Check Homeschool Share out on their website or on facebook.    The Homeschool Share is a pretty basic website.  I had a little bit of trouble finding things, but there is a search. I wish the search was a little easier with someway to filter for downloadable content. The site isn’t the prettiest and I had trouble finding things quickly – but there is some great content to download.

I also noticed that if you share resources they now become the property of homeschool share.

Anything submitted after January 1st, 2009 may not be shared elsewhere.  It will be property of Homeschool Share.

If you are homeschooling or looking for resources on a topic for lesson plans I would say it’s definitely worth wandering around.  There is even an astronomy giveaway going on this month.  I’m following the site to watch for other great things and have been collecting some lapbooks that fit with topics I would like to explore.  There are even sections divided by grade level.  I’ve already downloaded several things on astronomy.

Related articles

• Homeschooling Mother with Big Plans Inspires Other Homeschooling Parents (prweb.com)
• Introducing the How to Home School Guide – A Tool Written By Homeschoolers for Homeschoolers (prweb.com)
• Announcing a New Resource Dedicated to Homeschool Fiction (prweb.com)
• Homeschooling on a Dime (savingwithsisters.wordpress.com)

It apparently lets you lay out roads and then add cars and scenery to play.  Scenery is the instrument and cars are the players.  You can have up to three roads laid out.  Additionally many have already been created.  While they were playing with the site I heard everything from Move it, Move it to the Scooby Doo theme song.

This site is definitely worth checking out!  What a fun way to create music.

My middle son said he found it on Pointless Sites .com – I’m going to have to check that one out soon and see if there are more great sites.  I have to wonder why Isle of Tune was marked as pointless – Music ties very closely to Math and this site looks like fun.

The site lets you play for free but the app is actually $2.99. So far the app has great reviews and I can recommend the web site based on watching my kids play with it!

Isle of Tune HD App

‘Occasionally, there comes an iPad app that can take away hours of your spare time. Isle of Tune HD is the latest game to do just that’

Wired – ‘Every so often an app comes along that makes you quietly sit back and make this face: “:O”. Isle of Tune is just such an app.’

Kotaku Gaming App of the Day – ‘Time to let your inner composer (slash-city-planner) take center stage—Isle of Tune HD gets my unequivocal endorsement.’

#1 music game in over 40 countries!

The addictive multi-award winning music making game arrives on the iPad with NEW features, NEW sounds and enhanced controls!

Create your own unique musical journeys from street layouts. Roadside elements are your instruments and cars are the players.

Can you construct a tune that will get to the top of the island charts? Share your islands for others to view and earn ratings and Game Center achievements!

★ Add up to 8 cars with their own individual speed settings
★ New sound effects and instruments with access to full keyboard mode for advanced tunes
★ New controls: set road delays, rotate and reset your cars
★ Save, load and share your tunes with other users and directly with Game Center friends to earn ratings and achievements
★ Access to all 125,000+ islands already created using the online version

Get creative and join in the world’s only music-making town-planning construction game!

Feedback and ideas for future updates? Let us know…

Twitter: @isleoftune
facebook.com/isleoftune
youtube.com/isleoftune

Pumpkins and Posies has a post with Free Printable Valentine Cards.

The come in a zipped folder with both the Jpg (graphic) and the PDF of the cards.  I’m planning to download the file and save it for next year.  (Both graphics link to the site)    I love to have this sort of files saved for those times when I just didn’t make it out to get cards.

Related articles

• 15 Free Printable Valentine Cards (thecraftycrow.net)
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• Free Valentine’s Day Mailbox Printable (forthemommas.com)