Search Results for: blog a unit study starter on castles and medieval life

The Best Ways to Save on Party Supplies

This year, my six-turning-seven-year-old wants a castle theme party. Since this will be our third castle theme birthday party (it seems to be a tradition with the kids in our family), I may just have this one down pat. Of course, things have changed a little bit since the first party of its kind. I’ve noticed that party supplies are a bit more expensive. When I first started with party planning, my first and sometimes only stop for party supplies would be one of those party stores. While they can be great for finding exactly what you want, they tend … Continue reading →

A Unit Study Starter on the Vikings

The Vikings are a very interesting people to study in part because so much of their history is related to them pillaging and thieving from other peoples. They were particularly fond of picking on monasteries–presumably because monks were not so feisty. However, if you read extensively on the Vikings, what you discover is that they were a deeply family oriented people. They were also fairly religious although it’s notable that they stopped raiding surrounding areas when they converted to Christianity. Here are a few ideas for studying the Vikings. Geography Vikings, as you probably are aware are from the Northern … Continue reading →

A Unit Study Starter on the New 7 Wonders of the World

Before I gave up home school blogging to move to the baby and food blogs, on occasion I would post a unit study starter. A unit study starter can be used as a ‘diving board’ to jump start your unit. I generally include links and resources for each subject area and of course you are free to add your own as needed. To get more details on planning a unit study see this blog. Critical Thinking An organization called The New 7 Wonders began by holding a world wide vote to elect 7 ‘new’ wonders of the world. Begin the … Continue reading →

Renaissance Fair Family Fun

Good Day my Lords and Ladies! We just returned from the Colorado Renaissance Fair. These festivals are held all over the country. I urge you to take the kids and go to one. They are great fun, and are even a little educational. You will see people dressed in period costume – knights, lords, ladies, fairies, pirates, and even dragons. The workers even talk in accents. None of it is perfectly historically accurate. I’m pretty sure they didn’t have “Ye Olde Cash Machine” in medieval times. But all of that can raise a lot of questions about history. Why did … Continue reading →

2006 in Review: Homeschooling Blog at a Glance

As a new homeschooling blogger at Families.com, I wanted to know everything that has been discussed to date. In response to my own curiosity, and in an effort to make perusing our articles easier for you, our readers, I have compiled all of the blogs for the year 2006. Deciding to Homeschool Why homeschool Am I qualified for this? Reasons that Homeschooling Works! My Most Important Advice for Homeschoolers. The Cost of Homeschooling Instead of standing up for their own kids, why not stand up for all kids? Disclaimer: I am hardly an expert in education. Did You Know? ‘Empirical … Continue reading →

The Homeschoolers’ Advent Calendar: The North Pole

While your kids are writing those wish lists out for Santa, take some time to visit the North Pole. . .via the web that is. Go ahead–make your hot chocolate, sit back, relax, and spend some time learning about the very interesting Arctic circle. I have to tell you that as I was writing this article, I was so fascinated by the things I found that it took me twice as long to write it. I kept stopping and reading and stopping some more. I hope you find it as fascinating as I did. Our first stop in our Arctic … Continue reading →

Homeschooling Days: Recess

Please, please, please tell me that you regularly, daily encourage your kids to go outside and just play. If I have a pet peeve with the home schooling community this is it. I have met parent upon parent who seems to be convinced that physical education, is secondary to the “real academics.” Going outside and letting the kids just play, after all, may take up time from the curriculum. Almost as bad, are the parents who think that little league or soccer practice once a week is sufficient to meet the need of getting enough exercise and free play. If … Continue reading →