My kids are making up Mad-Libs on their easel in the living room...in their pajamas. "Give me a thing...a common noun thing!" Game Day has started without me, or even breakfast. Yesterday, I received the used teacher manuals I ordered off ebay for a grammar curriculum that I am considering for next year. My Type-A… Continue reading And the games have started already
Fun cloud painting
This afternoon, we are mixing up shaving cream and white school glue to make clouds on blue cardstock. After reviewing types of clouds in our Children's Weather Encyclopedia, we read Little Cloud by Eric Carle. The girls then mixed up their cloud paint, and shaped cloud pictures using plastic spoons and big paint brushes. Easy… Continue reading Fun cloud painting
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Sweet discounted field trips plus extra 20% off on Groupon till 3/8!
Groupon currently has deals for Austin Zoo, Space Time in New Braunfels, and glass bottom boat rides at Meadows Center in San Marcos, all perfect for field trips this spring. Plus, today and tomorrow, use coupon 20NOW to save an extra 20% off! Having these already-paid-for Groupons are incentive to schedule in relaxing field trip… Continue reading Sweet discounted field trips plus extra 20% off on Groupon till 3/8!
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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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Field Trip: Homeschool Day at Bullock Museum
On this gorgeous February day, we packed our picnic basket and braved Austin traffic to attend the Homeschool Day event at Bullock Museum. The event offered free admission to the museum. Parking was $8 for the attached garage, so still not a bad price to pay for our family of five to spend a day… Continue reading Field Trip: Homeschool Day at Bullock Museum
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Taking a week off
We all need regular breaks, both homeschooling kids and homeschooling moms. The first two years of homeschooling, we started in July and went through the end of May, taking a one week break each month, with a longer break for Christmas and all of June off. Those breaks were essential to planning and preparation of… Continue reading Taking a week off
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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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State Bar of Texas Educator Resources
Remember that Texas requirement that homeschoolers must teach citizenship? The State Bar of Texas has several excellent resource websites for educators. With President's Day around the corner, the Vote for Me! site comes in handy. This website has short little bios of famous citizens, including George Washington and Abe Lincoln on the Presidents Day link… Continue reading State Bar of Texas Educator Resources
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Valentine’s Day & Electricity? Watch “The Magic School Bus Gets Charged” on YouTube
What we are watching this afternoon: a Valentine's Day lesson on electricity with Ms. Frizzle and her class. Shared here on YouTube, https://youtu.be/8k-ON5ChBaw
North Star Homeschool Resources 