How do our ears detect sound? How do our brains interpret it?
Today we return to the Neuroscience for Kids website created and curated by Dr. Eric Chudler to focus on the Sense of HEARING, and learn about the parts of the auditory system and how they work.
Click here to go to the introduction about the sense of hearing.
Click here for a collection of experiments all about your sense of hearing.
And the PDF Lesson Guides: The Teacher’s Guide is HERE. The Student’s Guide is HERE.
What does your NOSE tell you? Like your other senses, it tells you such things as:
Today we focus on the Sense of Smell, with this great activity guide and lesson plan from the Neuroscience for Kids website, created and curated by Dr. Eric Chudler.
CLICK HERE to go to the “Smell Experiments” page.
Then for the complete Lesson Plan/Unit Study…
CLICK HERE to go to the Teacher’s Guide
CLICK HERE to go to the Student’s Guide
Delicious, scrumptious, delectable, mouth-watering, yummy.
Stale, awful, terrible, unsavory, bland, unpalatable.
These are just a few of the many words to describe how food tastes.
Today’s freebie resource is this neat collection of lessons and activities about the sense of “taste”, from the site Neuroscience for Kids, curated by Dr. Eric H. Chudler for students and teachers who would like to learn about the nervous system.
Start with this COOL INTRODUCTION TO THE SENSE OF TASTE
Next, check out this COMPLETE LESSON PLAN (WITH LAB EXPERIMENTS) ON TASTE
Here are lots more short, fun HANDS ON EXPERIMENTS to try
…and there are more links to other “tasty” resources in these pages! Bon apetit!
Washington Irving was an American short story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” published in 1819.
In “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, you’ll hear his famous story of a mean spirited, dim-witted schoolteacher named Ichabod Crane and the events leading up to his meeting with the headless you know who. Oooo! Great fun! (28 minutes)
Click the above link to play the story online, or right-click and “save” to download it.
Next, here’s a link to the unabridged audiobook version of Washington Irving’s story.
It’s only 1.5 hours in length, and the reader is great! If you like the above dramatization, be sure to have your kids listen to this excellent reading of the original!
Today we have the third audiobook in the wonderful Betsy-Tacy series, read by Kara Shallenberg. Here’s her description of this volume:
Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill: the third book in the Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace. The series is based on the author’s life; her family and friends have been renamed, but they really were just like the the people in the books! In this book, Betsy, Tacy, and Tib all turn ten years old, and they’re obsessed with Kings and Queens.
Click here to go to the download page for this audiobook!
Here’s the second book in the Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace, and read by Kara Shallenberg! Kara writes about this volume:
Betsy-Tacy and Tib: the second book in the Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace. The series is based on the author’s life; her family and friends have been renamed, but they really were just like the the people in the books! In this book, Betsy, Tacy, and Tib, who are now eight years old, play just as well together as Betsy and Tacy did, and they never quarrel. They get into a little more trouble in this book, though!
If you ever wondered what child life was like in 1900, you’ll love this series. Highly recommended!
Click here to go to the download page for this audiobook!
Kara Shallenberg, one of our favorite Librivox audiobook readers, recorded the wonderful Betsy – Tacy book series, and this week we are featuring the first three volumes of this delightful series by Maud Hart Lovelace.
Here’s what Kara writes about this first book:
Betsy-Tacy is the first book in the Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace. The series is based on the author’s life; her family and friends have been renamed, but they really were just like the the people in the books! The first book starts in 1897, when Betsy and Tacy meet, just before Betsy’s fifth birthday. (The series grows with the characters, so please don’t be put off by the relative simplicity of this first book.)
Give these a listen… they are great!
Click here to go to her listening page!
40 G. A. HENTY AUDIOBOOKS!
George Alfred Henty (8 December 1832 – 16 November 1902), was a prolific English novelist best known for his historical adventure stories that were popular in the late 19th century. His books are still read and enjoyed today and are a terrific way to bring pivotal events from history to life for young readers and listeners. Today, we bring you a link from which you can download all these classic unabridged “living history” Henty audiobooks:
Among Malay Pirates
At Agincourt – White Hoods of Paris
Beric the Briton: A Story of the Roman Invation
By Pike and Dyke
The Cat of Bubastes
Dragon and the Raven: or The Days of King Alfred
In Freedom’s Cause
On the Irrawaddy, a Story of the First Burmese War
One of the 28th – a Tale of Waterloo
Saint George for England
St. Bartholomew’s Eve
Through Russian Snows
Through the Fray
The Tiger of Mysore
True to the Old Flag… AND MANY MORE!
Courtesy of Librivox.org, you can download and enjoy these complete, unabridged audio reading of one of Henty’s best historical adventure novels. These are read by different readers and the quality varies from acceptable to truly excellent (By Pike and Dyke, The Tiger of Mysore).
Our link takes you to the Librivox results page for ALL their G. A. Henty audiobooks. Just click on the titles you wish to download, and you’ll be taken to the individual download page for that book. You’ll be able to download these audiobooks a chapter at a time, or each complete title all at once. Bookmark the page if you need to come back to it later!
Tip: The 64K mp3 versions sound just as good as the 128K mp3 versions — and is half the size. These are huge files, so plan accordingly!
Well, today we’re off for a return visit to the countryside where a delightful stack of fun, classic children’s records from yesteryear awaits us.
First up, join in on a jolly version of the classic children’s song, “Oats, Peas, Beans” by Roger White, as we quickly follow Mr. Farmer through his very busy day.
Next, we stop by the house of “The Little Crooked Man” (of the Mother Goose rhyme) with his crooked cat and crooked mouse, and then visit “The Old Woman Who Lived In a Shoe” in a fine record by Roy Hallee.
Next, we travel with Uncle Don Down On The Farm where we meet all the animals in a fun musical adventure from long ago Sonora Records.
And last but not least, we join Uncle Lumpy as he tells about one of our favorite characters, Little Orley in a couple of fun musical adventures… as he is first unexpectedly serenaded by a little mouse and his friends in the Barnyard… and then puts on his own great barnyard concert you’ve just got to hear to believe.
All of the above = loads of fun for kids of all ages. Enjoy your visit down on the farm!
Here are your download links. You can click these to stream online, or RIGHT CLICK these and “save” to your computer:
Oats Peas Beans & Barley
(.6 megs, 3 minutes)
There Was a Crooked Man /There Was An Old Woman
(1.3 megs, 6 minutes)
Uncle Don Down on the Farm
(2.3 megs, 12 minutes)
The Barn Dance
(3 megs, 3 minutes)
Orley’s Big Concert
(7.4 megs, 8 minutes)
And finally…
Here’s one more little treat from us to you… one of our favorite fall songs… and certainly the catchiest song about a pumpkin ever! This song does mention Halloween in passing, so if that bothers you, don’t download it. But if you just want a fun, old fashioned pumpkin song, check it out and your kids will soon be singing along!
To download this MP3 song, RIGHT CLICK HERE and “save” to your computer. To just play it online, click the link.
Let us know if you enjoy your musical visit to the countryside!
HOME HAIRCUTS AND HOW TO GIVE THEM (PDF guide)
By request, we’re reposting this great resource from our email several months back. Enjoy!
It’s not nearly as hard as you might think it is to cut your family’s hair! Just learning the very simple basics will save you hundreds of dollars every year (and you won’t have to drag the kids to the barber shop every time they get shaggy, either). Just follow this great guide from our Homemaker’s Mentor Library and do it yourself. Yes, you! Easy peasy! Like a boss!
Click here to download this PDF ebook:
