Search Results for: blog creatively homeschooling

Home School Blogger Spotlight: Kindergarten Works

Kindergarten Works is a blog written by a real live Kindergarten teacher. Leslie makes the sacrifice of time to show us how a traditional Kindergarten classroom works. Now, I used the term “traditional” loosely. Traditional from the standpoint that her classroom is in a school building and not a dining room like many homeschooling Kindergarten moms, however, if images of students seated at desks with their little hands folded in front of them quietly listening to the teacher enter your mind quickly dismiss them. Leslie brings lessons to life. This teacher is the one. The one you want for your … Continue reading →

Homeschool blog week in review: Feb 24 – Mar 02 2007

This past week, the families.com homeschooling blog included a bit about issues, as well a wealth of information. From a Homeschool Legal Defense Association discussion to the beginnings of a homeschool glossary, the homeschool blog as definitely a must read. Feb 24: We took a much-needed day off Feb 25: You will find reviews of the wonderful articles of the previous week. Feb 26: Julie Gentry wrote about Homeschooling and Scouting and accusations that homeschooling gave her kid an unfair advantage over other scouts. In The Cost of Summer Homeschooling , I discussed ways to creatively “homeschool” in the summer … Continue reading →

Go Pond Dipping This Spring!

Ah – it’s going to be spring soon, I can feel it! This year, use a small pond to learn about aquatic insects, and use pond invertebrates to learn about the health of a backyard pond. Whether you have a pond in your garden or you like to visit one in a local park, here are some tips that will help you explore this coming spring. Dancing dragonflies and speedy beetles – are they a reason to squeal in horror, or are they an important part of the pond ecosystem? Well, some might dislike them, but aquatic invertebrates are hugely … Continue reading →

Create a Sun Catcher

The sun is coming! The sun is coming! We’re halfway through winter time already, and even though it may seem dim out there, it’s really, truly going to get brighter soon. Celebrate the return of the sunshine by creating a sun catcher! Sun is the power that fuels life on earth. It’s the source of energy for plants, who use sunshine, water, and carbon dioxide to create sugars through a process called photosynthesis. This is amazing! People and animals eat the plants and get energy from them as well. Other animals eat those animals, and an ecosystem is born. In … Continue reading →

Creating a Child’s Vegetable Garden

Here, the soil is starting to stir. I’m sure all of those sleeping earthworms are starting to make their way to the surface, moving up through the runoff that comes from the melting snow. Ah, spring. It gets me thinking about gardening. My daughter has a small garden in our yard. Since our yard is itself quite small, her garden is fairly tiny, but it seems to suffice. Since we have many visits from the usual array of urban animals, including dogs, cats, raccoons, and skunks, our solution to gardening is often to place gardens in containers. My daughter’s garden … Continue reading →

On This Day in History – February 13 – February 17

Looking for fun ideas for your homeschool this week? Give these a try. February 13th – on this date in 1991, the original manuscript of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn was found. Read excerpts of this story aloud, or, if you have younger children, tell them a simplified version. Lash together a raft of sticks and thread, and float it in your bathtub. February 14th – of course today is Valentine’s Day, but many other important things of note have taken place. For instance, on this day in 1920, the League of Women Voters was formed, which changed the face of … Continue reading →

Amish Themed Copywork

Those who incorporate a Charlotte Mason method use copywork daily. As I have stated in another article, copywork is can be used to teach a variety of lessons such as sentence formation and memorization. Many times, I am contacted by new homeschooling moms or moms who do not take a Charlotte Mason approach yet want to add in copywork for ideas. So, I thought it may be fun and useful to give some copywork ideas for those interested. Sometimes I assign copywork by theme. I have used hymns, poems, famous quotes, math rules, and grammar rules and so on, as … Continue reading →

Free Range Learning

Free Range Learning is born from the idea that a child learns best naturally. If one is able to harness a child’s natural bent toward learning then one can instill not only a love for learning but a curiosity about the world. Children and teenagers blossom academically when the restrictions are lifted and they are free to learn. This book also emphasizes how homeschooling takes center stage in allowing this type of academic freedom. While the author does an excellent job explaining her position she is backed up by an array of experts from neurologists, historians, child development experts and … Continue reading →

The Magic School Bus: Creepy, Crawly Fun (1994)

I can’t think of any other children’s television show that illustrates science so creatively as “The Magic School Bus.” You can get most of these awesome episodes on video and DVD to watch whenever you like. Today my children and I took a look at “Creepy, Crawly Fun.” It was creepy. It was crawly. And it was fun. The DVD contains three episodes. In the first, “Inside the Haunted House,” Carlos is trying to invent a new musical instrument that will really knock the socks off the competition at the band tournament. But no matter how he tweaks his invention, … Continue reading →

Our Failed Lapbook

I wrote quite some time ago about how I would include you all in our process of creating lapbooks for our co-op science class. Then our co-op changed gears a little due to a variety of reasons, and I stopped lapbooking with them. Then I started to study the Arctic circle with my children. We decided to lapbook it. I had visions of beautifully scrapbooked blue, and silvery lined pages teeming with information. Ahem. . .we are finished with studying the Arctic circle. . .and there is no lapbook. Yep, our lapbook project failed. At first, I didn’t really see … Continue reading →