Prior to homeschooling, I was a middle and high school science teacher. Creating my own "stuff" to go along with science lessons is just what I do. I came up with a few additions to go along with the science unit we just started, Kingdoms and Classification by The Good and the Beautiful. The unit… Continue reading Creating Additions to the Kingdoms and Classification Science Unit from The Good and the Beautiful
Category: Curriculum
Planning for a year of Magic School Bus
I have been wanting to do this since last year: design a complete year's hands-on science curriculum based on Magic School Bus books and videos. My oldest kid is going into fifth grade. It's now or never. The science lessons for each topic are based on the 5-E method: engage, explore, explain, elaborate, evaluate. Engage… Continue reading Planning for a year of Magic School Bus
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Sewing a sampler
My kiddos are sewing their first sampler. While reading a biography about young Betsy Ross with our Beyond Five in a Row unit curriculum, we started on this sewing project this week. So far, it is a hit. Pinterest provided the idea of using a gingham material for a grid to make stiching easy. I… Continue reading Sewing a sampler
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Online art lesson resources (free!)
I discovered a gem earlier this year, but did not get around to actually trying it out until last month: online art lessons at ourhomeschoolforum.com. The series is called "Art Through the Year", and now in its second year, there are more than a dozen video lessons to choose from. Each lesson focuses on specific… Continue reading Online art lesson resources (free!)
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Mensa for Kids and next year’s Pi Day Plan (because we did nothing this year)
I sometimes wonder if I could have handled homeschooling pre-Internet. There are some seriously cool resources online. Free resources. So, so many, cool, free resources that it boggles the mind. So many things that are amazing, and yet I will never get around to using them, but I like having those resources in my pocket.… Continue reading Mensa for Kids and next year’s Pi Day Plan (because we did nothing this year)
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Why and how we use Life of Fred books
When we first started homeschooling three years ago, I was not sure about anything. I was a high school science teacher teaching first and second grade to my own kids, with no experience with elementary teaching, just a deisre to offer my kids...more. I decided I could do it all on my own, come up… Continue reading Why and how we use Life of Fred books
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Homeschooling Austism: Social-emotional learning
My ten-year old is a petite, loving, social, creative, extremely intelligent child (I am not biased, of course, ha!) who happens to have high functioning autism. Homeschooling allows her to have a caring instructor (me) who is deeply committed to a rich education while trying to help her to grow her ability to handle strong emotions, sensory overloads… Continue reading Homeschooling Austism: Social-emotional learning
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Friday Game Day
On Fridays, we take a break from our regular curriculum in spelling and math. In spelling, we play Spelling City games at http://www.spellingcity.com. The website has free and paid-premium options, however we have always just used the free games. It is easy to add lists. In fact, at the beginning of the year, I just… Continue reading Friday Game Day
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Dollar Tree Find
I have desired an alphabet strip for our classroom a couple of years now, and look what I finally found at Dollar Tree for $1! Now if I could only find one in cursive for my third grader.
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School Day #137
Today is school day 137 of our first homeschool year. My pre-K daughter still has a little fever from the cold going through our house. My first grader is still coughing, but mainly over it. My poor second grader is coming down with it. And yet, we had school today. We had calendar time and… Continue reading School Day #137
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