Homeschool - UnSchool

Post Card Exchange

2007-07-05T08:51:00.000-07:00

A post card exchange is always a fun project for kids of any age group. We did a world wide post card exchange with my children several years ago. We sent out photos post cards of Mt. Rainier. The kids addressed the cards and wrote a little note on each one. They were excited to check the mail each day to see where the next post card was coming from. When we received the postcards in the mail, we'd look up information on the town, state, country, etc...

It's a great project. If you are in a homeschool group you can suggest it as a project. If you blog, you can start an exchange with your blogging buddies.

For safety reasons, don't publish addresses publicly.

Summer Vacation

2007-06-08T08:10:00.000-07:00

Yay it's finally summer! Maybe you have a few more days of school left, or maybe you ended your school year a month ago. Any way you look at it, it's summer vacation time!

There is an endless list of things you can do to continue your child's education throughout the summer and they won't even know they are continuing their education.

Here are a few ideas:

Games - for example, the vintage game of racko helps kids learn sequencing - you can find the game on amazon or ebay.
Open an updated version of the lemonade stand - buy sodas, bottles of water, and bottled juice and keep it cold in an ice chest full of ice. Having a yard sale? The little ones can sell the beverages during the yard sale.
Gardening - it's never too late to plant something and watch it bloom! Even just a container with a couple plants is fun for any child.
Check the library for summer time activities.
Some of the local fast food and pizza chains have summer reading challenges. Or set up your own. For example; 30 minutes of reading every day for a month = a personal size pizza. I know, food as a reward isn't always a good idea, but once a year I think it's okay.
I'm a huge fan of scrapbooking, give your child a camera for an outing and then print and scrapbook the pictures. Be sure they write some journaling into the scrapbook. It doesn't have to be a lot, this is a fun project, not a term paper.
Go camping - rough it for a full day. It can be fun even in your own back yard! They can pretend they are out on the wagon trail back in the 1800s.
Have them help bake a cake, cookies, or brownies. Instead of food you could mix up some playdough, or slime. Look online for recipes or check out the Crazy Concoctions books on ebay or amazon. Make it a fun mommy and child time so they don't feel like it's "fractions 101" during their summer break.

Those are just a few ideas. Remember, you don't need to tell them the project is about a particular lesson. Keep it simple, make it fun, and let the kids enjoy summer!

Library Thing

2007-06-04T21:14:00.001-07:00

Library Thing - catalog your books online.

Book List

2007-06-03T18:34:00.001-07:00

Classical Christian Education 1000 Good Books List

Kindergarten Registration - Considering Homeschooling?

2007-05-19T15:04:00.000-07:00

Homeschooling your child is a decision not to be taken lightly. There is a lot to take into consideration before deciding what the next step in your child's future will be. Here are a couple of excellent resources for you to check out as part of the decision making process.

The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook by Dr. Raymond Moore and Dorothy Moore helped me with my decision to homeschool my children. If you are undecided about homeschooling your children this book is a must read. You will learn how to run your home school around your families schedule and set up a low cost curriculum that will make learning interesting for your individual child.

State History Unit Study

2007-05-17T19:23:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite end of the school year unit studies is our annual day trip to a point of geographical and historical interest in our state. The whole point of the trip was to put the skills they learned all year to the test.

I had the kids take out a state map and as a family we chose our destination. Without using the internet or computer I had them map out our trip. They figured out how many miles per gallon our vehicle would travel then estimate out how much gas it was going to take to make the trip.

They figured out how long we would be gone, how many meals and snacks we would need. I had them use the grocery ads to figure out meals and snacks and estimate how much it was going to cost for food.

Our trip always included a ferry ride so they had to figure out how much it was going to cost for the ferry ride.

When we were on the trip they each had access to a camera and a journal to take notes in. We stopped at historical places here in Washington state so the kids learned about our state history along the way. During the week or so after our day trip we spent time scrapbooking and journaling about our day out as a family. It is an amazing learning experience.

I loved our end of the school year day trips! It makes for great family time and it is educational!

A Science Study In The Backyard

2007-05-10T17:07:00.000-07:00

This spring a robin chose our front porch for her nesting place. We didn't even really notice her nest until one day she was startled by movement on the front porch. She built a nest and hatched her eggs fairly quickly. She is very protective of her babies. She dive bombs us every time we step close to her end of the porch. Today I saw three little baby bird heads bobbing up and down with their beeks wide open waiting for mommy to come feed them. It is so cute! A little bit annoying with the dive bombing mommy protecting her nest, but very cute!

We live in the middle of a small forest so we have a lot of wildlife in our backyard including a wide variety of birds. I've been taking photos and journaling about the robin nesting on my porch. It would be a great project for a home school family.

It is fairly easy to attract birds to your backyard garden area. They need water, food, and shelter. Attracting birds to your own backyard is a good unit study for home school families. For example, building a bird house involves math skills, following instructions, and reading blueprints. How involved you get with the project is up to you. I have a friend with a back yard habitat recognized by the national wildlife federation. It is a beautiful garden area but it takes a lot more effort than my own backyard science project.

There are many books and websites about attracting birds to your backyard. Here are a couple of websites I found helpful: Backyard Nature, Backyard Birding - Baltimore Birding Club, Birds Forever

A Lesson In Giving

2007-05-09T11:56:00.000-07:00

The town of Greensburg Kansas was destroyed by tornados last week. This is a good time to teach our children about giving to others in their time of need. Along with prayers for comfort and safety we can help them financially. Here is the link to the Red Cross Press Release.

All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of disaster. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster, please do so at the time of your donation. Call 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org.

Sonlight - On Sale In Time For The Next School Year

2007-05-04T08:15:00.000-07:00

With Sonlight, you get . . .

All your homeschool books and supplies in-stock and ready when you need them.

Sonlight has invested in a multi-milliondollar inventory to meet your needs at a moment's notice.

Easy-order CONVENIENCE. You can get everything you want or need for a full year's education . . . in one place . . . at the click of a mouse.

Saves you time.

You don't have to spend hours, days, or weeks hunting through used book sales, mail order or library catalogs, or searching online hoping to locate the books you don't yet own! Put another way: you'll have more time to spend with your kids and husband, or doing projects that bring you real satisfaction or fulfillment.

If you value your time at all, then you'll want to buy from Sonlight for that reason alone.

Saves you money.

Sonlight saves you a few dollars here and there on things like the science supply kits we offer. But the savings mount higher and faster as you consider the gasoline you won't need to burn running down to the library, bookstore, or used book sales . . . or the money you will have to pay for shipping titles from used book dealers all over the country. . .

Relieves you of frustration. No more fruitless trips to the library, bookstore, or hardware supply. No frustrating waits in the checkout line. And no tension filled hours in the car as you fight traffic with kids in tow.

With your complete book list in hand, why should I buy from Sonlight?

Saving Our Earth

2007-04-24T23:06:00.000-07:00

Did you manage to work some sort of recognition of Earth Day into your lessons this year? I'm late with my post, but it is never too late to teach our little ones about living green.

Here are a few basic things we can do that will make a big difference:

Turn off the lights when we leave a room.
Take a walk in your neighborhood park with the intention of picking up trash. Plan ahead, take gloves and two trash bags. One bag is for trash and one bag is for recycle. Time yourself as to how long you will pick up trash or plan to pick up a certain number of items to throw away or recycle.
Start a compost pile for your vegetable scraps. Here are directions for a worm bin. Its a fun project involving dirt and worms. What child wouldn't love that!
Recycle. If your city doesn't have a recycling program at least recycle your aluminum cans and newspapers. For a larger scale project, plan on organizing a recycling program.
Turn off the water as you are brushing your teeth.
Teach respect of life. We can go out and shoot photos or draw pictures of butterflies and bugs. There is no need to catch them and put them into collections.

Teaching respect of our earth is an important lesson and so easy to work into everyday lessons and unit studies.

Unit Study - Secret Garden

2007-04-17T17:25:00.000-07:00

I found a mini unit study I think looks fairly interesting. The unit study is based on the book by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The unit study is on the Easy Fun School website. The Secret Garden -- A Literature Mini Unit

Spoken For

2007-03-30T00:15:00.000-07:00

I forgot to post this the other day... The National Geographic magazine with the article about the Amish in Lancaster County has been spoken for.

Thank you for your interest!

Bedtime Stories

2007-03-26T13:47:00.000-07:00

One of the very best ways to teach your child to read is by reading to them. I have just listed The Usborne Book of Bedtime Stories in the General Store n Book Shop. Written by Philip Hawthorn, illustrated by Stephen Cartwright.

This book is like new, the pages are crisp and clean.

Kids in The Kitchen

2007-03-24T13:31:00.000-07:00

Kids In The Kitchen
Cooking with your children is one of the best hands-on lessons in fractions you will find anywhere. Have them double a recipe or cut a recipe in half and there you have it. Fractions made easy! We were in the kitchen a lot when I was homeschooling my kids.

I have Kids In The Kitchen up for auction right now.
This 1996 copyright soft cover spiral bound book is in excellent condition.

Included in this cook book are recipes for library paste, clay, homemade "plastic", flubber, silly putty, crystal garden, etc... the list goes on!

By the way, I haven't had any takers on the National Geographic magazine with a photo essay of the Amish in Lancaster County by Jerry Irwin. If you want it, it's yours free. It's a beautiful photo essay with a great article and a lot of photos. Leave a message here or send me that email. I promise to not share you email address or spam it ever. Thanks!

Amish of Lancaster Pennsylvania

2007-03-23T19:28:00.000-07:00

I have an old National Geographic magazine with a photo essay by Jerry Irwin. The magazine is well used, but the section about the Amish is in excellent condition.

I hate to toss this in the recycle bin. If you are interested in using this in your homeschool or for any other educational purposes contact me here: magazineoffer@lilbitgabby.com I'll mail it to you, all you have to do is email me!

*note to spammers* Don't bother spamming the email box. As soon as someone asks for the magazine I'm deleting the mail box.

Sonlight Curriculum

2007-03-23T11:22:00.000-07:00

Literature-Rich Homeschooling
Make learning exciting and fun with Sonlight Curriculum's literature-based homeschool packages.

Straight Forward Math Series

2007-03-20T23:23:00.000-07:00

I love - love - LOVE the Straight Forward Math Series! Mastery of the basic facts is key to success in advanced math.

A simple, straightforward approach to learning mathematical operations. The series is systematic, first diagnosing skill levels, then practice, periodic review, and testing.
Builds new math skills and enriches existing ones. It is ideal for one student or many. Progression through a particular math skill is thorough and complete.

Mastery of basic math facts with the series provides success for subsequent math skills. The advanced series begins where the first level left off.

I have Straight Forward Math Series, Subtraction and Advanced Subtraction for sale at a very reasonable price for new workbooks.
General Store n Book Shop

I also have a few other math workbooks in my store.

Weather Station

2007-03-20T18:49:00.000-07:00

It's spring. It doesn't seem to matter what season it is though. It snowed here today. Here's a cool weather website. Weather Underground There are a few interesting weather related articles on the site. In the tab of links across the top of the page you'll see a tab named 'education'.

Happy Spring.... brrrr! I hope it warms up soon!

Spring Has Sprung...

2007-03-19T21:23:00.000-07:00

At least it's suppose to be springing forth tomorrow!

Here is a list of first day of spring lesson plans.

Here is a fun project, tye dye shirts from home grown plants.
It's a unit study lesson plan for grades K - 12.

Test Your Motor Skills

2007-03-18T23:32:00.000-07:00

While sitting in a chair, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles with it.
Now, while doing this, draw the number "6" in the air with your right hand.

What happens? The answer is below, but try it out for yourself and see what happens.

Your foot will change direction. And there's nothing you can do about it.

You Can Teach Your Child Successfully

2007-03-17T20:59:00.000-07:00

If you are thinking about teaching your child at home, here is a book with practical information. Learn to use regular books to teach history, reading, writing, spelling, and other subjects.

Written by Ruth Beechick, it's a *must have* for every homeschool. I kept this invaluable book in my library right up until this past year when I sold it on eBay.

As you can see, it's available for less than 50 cents!

Beyond the Math Books

2007-03-15T09:22:00.000-07:00

MathStarts is a series of books incorporating basic math skills into illustrated story books fun for your little one to read. The MathStarts were written by Stuart J. Murphy. It's a series of 63 books divided into 3 levels. Here are a few of my favorites.

Gardening With Kids - Hands On Science

2007-03-13T15:29:00.000-07:00

When I was homeschooling I used Make a Garden as part of our science curriculum. Gardening with the kids helped carry our homeschool lessons all the way through the summer months.

I love hands on lessons! This is one of those hands on lessons that is invaluable. If you are homeschooling more than one child this is a perfect project because it's something kids of all ages can be involved with.

Start out planning your project, big or small. Choosing the plants, buying the seeds, or taking cuttings of plants and watching them grow. Taking photos of the progress, drawing pictures, and keeping a journal. WOW! Several subjects covered with one simple project. Learning doesn't get much more fun and teaching just doesn't get much simpler!

You can find this book, Make a Garden - A Children's Guide to Making Things Grow by Susannah Bradley in my ebay store! General Store n Book Shop

From the back of the book:
"Make a Garden is specially designed to introduce children to the fun involved in growing their own plants and herbs.
The book contains basic gardening information on tools, growing flowers from bulbs and seeds, taking cuttings, garden pests and, most important for all young gardeners, safety do's and don'ts. There are also a number of step-by-step projects to try including a garden in a bottle, a strawberry tub, and indoor tomatoes.
Every chapter contains delightful full-color illustrations which complement the clear easy-to-read text.
This book will enable all young readers - whether they have a large garden or just a window box - to enjoy a fascinating and ever-changing hobby."

Brain Booster

2007-03-12T00:11:00.000-07:00

I found a website I absolutely love. Discovery School. I found it when I was searching for a science project. Not only did I find a science project or two... or many for that matter. I found this list of fun brain boosters.

Creative Challenges For Group Activities

2007-01-13T13:25:00.000-08:00

Homeschooling groups, church youth groups, anyone with a group of kids in need of an activity... here's a great blog. Okay I'm just copying the description word for word. It's a great blog! Check it out!

Great Solutions to Team Challenges
A group of friends. One task. Ten minutes or less. How will you solve the problem? Build a bridge out of toothpicks, marshmallows and straws, or a tower from packing peanuts. See photos of some fun solutions and submit your own!