Are you wanting to homeschool your child(ren)? Wondering how to get started? Today, I have something just for you: 10 Steps to Start Homeschooling. 1. Look up the homeschooling laws for your state. HSLDA has an online resource here: https://hslda.org/legal/ 2. Contact your child’s school or local school district and perform necessary steps to officially… Continue reading Tip #33: Ten Steps to Start Homeschooling
Teaching Tip #32: Fall Evaluation Time
The days have turned cooler. Fall décor fills the front of our local Hobby Lobby. My kids are excited about Halloween. We are eight weeks into our school calendar, about a quarter of the way through our 34-week year. My daughter has completed two exams in English and Spanish and one each in Geometry and… Continue reading Teaching Tip #32: Fall Evaluation Time
Popular Fall STEM Activity: Pumpkin Chunkin’ Catapults
It's been my experience that students LOVE labs that involve candy. Whether you are teaching one on one with a homeschool student or a group of students in a classroom or co-op, the moment that the rustling of a bag of candy is heard, all eyes are on the prize. One of my most popular… Continue reading Popular Fall STEM Activity: Pumpkin Chunkin’ Catapults
Biology Isn’t Boring Finale: The Ultimate Biology Toolkit! How to Teach Full-Year High School Biology at Home Without the Stress
Welcome to the finale of our "Biology Isn't Boring!" series! Over the past ten posts, we’ve covered every major high school biology topic, from cells, protein synthesis, and genetics to ecology, botany, and human body systems. We've explored how hands-on modeling, interactive review games, and inquiry-based labs can transform biology from a dry, lecture-heavy class… Continue reading Biology Isn’t Boring Finale: The Ultimate Biology Toolkit! How to Teach Full-Year High School Biology at Home Without the Stress
Biology Isn’t Boring Day 10: How to Make Animal Kingdom Diversity & Human Body Systems Unforgettable
Biology Isn’t Boring Day 10: How to Make Animal Kingdom Diversity & Human Body Systems Unforgettable
Welcome to the 10th and final installment of our "Biology Isn't Boring!" series! Throughout this series, we’ve tackled everything from cell organelles and protein synthesis to ecology and botany. To wrap up the series with a bang, we are diving into the ultimate student-favorite topic: the Animal Kingdom and Human Body Systems. When teaching animal… Continue reading Biology Isn’t Boring Day 10: How to Make Animal Kingdom Diversity & Human Body Systems Unforgettable
Biology Isn’t Boring Day 9: Unlocking Botany! How to Make the Plant Kingdom High-Engagement in High School Biology
Mention plant biology to high school students, and you’re often met with a collective groan. To many teenagers, plants seem stationary, passive, and buried under an overwhelming avalanche of terminology: monocots vs. dicots, xylem vs. phloem, gymnosperms vs. angiosperms, pistils, and stamens. However, botany doesn't have to be a dry exercise in memorizing diagrams. Plant… Continue reading Biology Isn’t Boring Day 9: Unlocking Botany! How to Make the Plant Kingdom High-Engagement in High School Biology
Biology Isn’t Boring Day 8: Mushrooms & Microbes! How to Make Protists and Fungi Hands-On in High School Biology
When high school biology hits the Protist and Fungi units, engagement often takes a dive. Students are frequently met with endless classification lists, complex life cycles, and abstract terms like pseudopods, cilia, hyphae, and mycelium. Because protists are a diverse "junk drawer" kingdom and fungi are often misunderstood as mere plants, teaching these organisms strictly… Continue reading Biology Isn’t Boring Day 8: Mushrooms & Microbes! How to Make Protists and Fungi Hands-On in High School Biology
Biology Isn’t Boring Day 7: Microscopic Monsters! How to Make Bacteria and Viruses High-Engagement in High School Biology
Mention bacteria, archaebacteria, and viruses to a classroom of high schoolers, and many will immediately picture memorizing structural diagrams, memorizing the lytic versus lysogenic cycles, or taking tedious notes on bacterial classification. However, microscopic organisms don't have to be abstract concepts on a screen. From bacterial structure to viral replication, prokaryotes and viruses offer some… Continue reading Biology Isn’t Boring Day 7: Microscopic Monsters! How to Make Bacteria and Viruses High-Engagement in High School Biology
Biology Isn’t Boring Day 6: Beyond the Food Chain! How to Make High School Ecology Dynamic, Interactive, and Hands-On
When high school students hear that it’s time for Ecology, many expect to spend days drawing simple arrows between organisms or memorizing biomes and symbiotic definitions. While understanding food webs and ecological relationships is foundational, ecology shouldn't feel like a passive vocabulary lesson. In reality, ecosystems are dynamic, interconnected systems filled with energy transfers, species… Continue reading Biology Isn’t Boring Day 6: Beyond the Food Chain! How to Make High School Ecology Dynamic, Interactive, and Hands-On
Biology Isn’t Boring Day 5: Ditch the Dry Timelines! How to Make Evolution and Natural Selection Dynamic and Hands-On
When high school students hear they’re starting an evolution unit, many expect endless lectures on geological time scales, memorizing anatomical terms like "homologous structures," or reading textbook summaries of Darwin’s finches. While the theory of evolution is the unifying framework of all biology, teaching it strictly through lectures can cause students to miss the big… Continue reading Biology Isn’t Boring Day 5: Ditch the Dry Timelines! How to Make Evolution and Natural Selection Dynamic and Hands-On


