Featured Post
Making a 100 Chart for Math
I adore Grimm’s Counting with Wooden Number Chart, but I couldn’t move past the $140 sticker price, though I think it’s well worth it. Still I really wanted a 100 chart like this, because we will be using the 100 chart a lot this coming school year for my youngest. I wanted something “whole brained” where the numbers could be moved and played with. I decided to try making one myself. Though it’s not a Grimm, I’m happy with the results. Here’s how I did it.
Latest Posts
Overview of Factoring
An Exploration to its Relationship to Multiplication and Division This week I’m touching on factoring. In math, I think it’s important to show children many different angles of a concept and to make as many connections to what they already know to facilitate their understanding of that concept. An example of this for factoring is…
Spinning with a Drop Spindle
Early Colonial Crafts for our Homeschool Handcrafts for our US History We’ve just started our first history block of the year for US History. The block will cover early colonialization. To go along with this block, I’ve chosen a few early colonial skills needed to serve as our handcrafts. The first one is spinning fiber.…
The Silly Sentence Game
My Favorite Way to Play with Grammar and Language in our Homeschooling I just want to say that I am silly-excited about making this game for you. I hope that if you don’t play with anything else I send you, you will play with this. I started this game with my daughter early on in…
Gattegno’s Place Value
Making a Place in Homeschool Math for Place Value Gattegno’s chart is an intuitive way to look at place value. It shows every digit possible in every place value, allowing us to break numbers down into their expanded form and manipulate them accordingly. This week, I’m providing you with a few different versions of the…
Home Systems that Help Support Us in Homeschooling
Introduction When the house is in total disarray, I personally find it difficult to homeschool. I’m not the only one. I know that many wonder how to I keep the house clean, everyone fed, especially with all the snacks the kids are eating, and still homeschool. Today I’m going to talk about the different systems…
Place Value Go Fish
Place Value Go Fish is a game that I first saw Denise Haskins, the author of the book, Let’s Play Math, play. In this game, players take turns asking each player for the digits 0 through 9. If the other player has the number, they will tell you which place value it resides. This play goes…
Wet Felting an Autumn Garland
I am over here dreaming about Autumn though it is the hottest part of summer here in North Florida in August. That tends to happen for me when I start thinking and planning for our next year of homeschooling. With that in mind I have a fun project that can be used to bring in…
Choosing a Microscope for Your Homeschool
Magnification, Resolution, Lenses – We’re Going to Chat about it All. Hello there, Friend, Let’s talk Microscopes! This is a question that I get quite regularly, especially when there is any story or picture that has us doing microscope work. The question usually is, “Do you like your microscope? Would you recommend it?” The short answer…
An Overview of Multiplication
Looking at the Progression of Multiplication from Skip Counting in Quality of Number all the Way to Multiplying Expressions in Algebra. INTRODUCING MULTIPLICATION When I started this post, I had meant for it to be shorter than it quickly became. I would have preferred to give this in smaller chunks, but I do think an…
Language Arts Overview
An Overview of our Language Arts through the years of our Homeschooling Journey There is so much contained in language arts that I feel I couldn’t possibly show everything that we do in one post. Instead, today, I’m going to try to give an overview of what language arts looked like as a whole over…
Using Monopoly for Math
The Different Ways that You Can Use the Game Monopoly to Get in a Little Math Practice in your Homeschooling. Introduction I’m pretty community and collaborative-oriented, so the idea that I might suggest Monopoly as my all-time favorite math game might surprise you. It is not in the same field as Prime Climb or 24,…
Sewing a Pumpkin Patch
A Simple Hand Sewing Project for your Homeschool Read Alouds or Lessons Handcrafts have been a large part of our homeschooling. Not only do handcrafts provide fine motor skills used in so much of our school lives, such as handwriting and typing, but they also give us something to occupy our hands and hearts, as…
Healing Math Trauma
Including Non-Conventional Math Activities as Part or All of your Homeschooling Math Curriculum It happens easily enough. A concept is a little too challenging, there is one too many wrong answers, or the worst, it’s easy for someone else and a child thinks it should be easy for them too. Trauma or just a bad…
Putting together a History Block
My Process when Composing a Waldorf-style History Block – hint, we use a lot of Charlotte Mason too… Hello There! Welcome to The Beauty of Play. This post is for my subscription members. I currently have two subscriptions: One for all things homeschooling and another for all things math.You can learn more about them at…
Rooibos Rainbow Tea Activity
A sensory math activity for homeschooling. Not only is making tea a wonderful sensory activit… Hello There! Welcome to The Beauty of Play. This post is for my subscription members. I currently have two subscriptions: One for all things homeschooling and another for all things math.You can learn more about them at https://thebeautyofplay.com/membership/ . If…
Modeling with Beeswax
Some Tips, Tricks, and Techniques in using Beeswax Modeling in your Homeschool Beeswax model… Hello There! Welcome to The Beauty of Play. This post is for my subscription members. I currently have two subscriptions: One for all things homeschooling and another for all things math.You can learn more about them at https://thebeautyofplay.com/membership/ . If you…
Keeping a Math Journal
A Look inside our Math Journals from 4th-6th Grades Introduction Keeping a math journal can b… Hello There! Welcome to The Beauty of Play. This post is for my subscription members. I currently have two subscriptions: One for all things homeschooling and another for all things math.You can learn more about them at https://thebeautyofplay.com/membership/ ….
Keeping a Portfolio
A Sampling of our Homeschooling Portfolios through the Years: from Early Elementary through High Sc… Hello There! Welcome to The Beauty of Play. This post is for my subscription members. I currently have two subscriptions: One for all things homeschooling and another for all things math.You can learn more about them at https://thebeautyofplay.com/membership/ . If…
Doubling and Halving
How using doubles and halves can help us in simplifying math. Doubling and halving are such inte… Hello There! Welcome to The Beauty of Play. This post is for my subscription members. I currently have two subscriptions: One for all things homeschooling and another for all things math.You can learn more about them at https://thebeautyofplay.com/membership/…
Water Colors in Homeschooling
Exploring Waldorf water colors, especially wet-on-wet, through our Homeschooling Journey Let’s t… Hello There! Welcome to The Beauty of Play. This post is for my subscription members. I currently have two subscriptions: One for all things homeschooling and another for all things math.You can learn more about them at https://thebeautyofplay.com/membership/ . If you are interested,…
Exploring Long Division
Taking a look at the Long Division Algorithm Today I’m going to try to tackle the process of lo… Hello There! Welcome to The Beauty of Play. This post is for my subscription members. I currently have two subscriptions: One for all things homeschooling and another for all things math.You can learn more about them…
Putting Together my Planner for the Coming Year
An Inside look into my previous planners from 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade, and a look at our past Middl… Hello There! Welcome to The Beauty of Play. This post is for my subscription members. I currently have two subscriptions: One for all things homeschooling and another for all things math.You can learn more about…
Math Circles
How the Waldorf Pedagogy uses Circles in their Math Waldorf uses circles throughout their ye… Hello There! Welcome to The Beauty of Play. This post is for my subscription members. I currently have two subscriptions: One for all things homeschooling and another for all things math.You can learn more about them at https://thebeautyofplay.com/membership/ . If…
Thinking about Time in our Homeschooling
Rhythm and Scheduling What I see most of the time in my homeschooling clients is ove… Hello There! Welcome to The Beauty of Play. This post is for my subscription members. I currently have two subscriptions: One for all things homeschooling and another for all things math.You can learn more about them at https://thebeautyofplay.com/membership/ ….
Memorizing the Multiplication Tables
Different Ways to Help our Children Memorize the Multiplication Tables One of the most common qu… Hello There! Welcome to The Beauty of Play. This post is for my subscription members. I currently have two subscriptions: One for all things homeschooling and another for all things math.You can learn more about them at https://thebeautyofplay.com/membership/ ….
Dying with Natural Plant Dyes
I love dying our eggs each year, especially the batik style eggs we do with beeswax resist. There i… Hello There! Welcome to The Beauty of Play. This post is for my subscription members. I currently have two subscriptions: One for all things homeschooling and another for all things math.You can learn more about them…
Window Stars from Squares
There is something about window star transparencies that bring me such joy. One of the moments of p… Hello There! Welcome to The Beauty of Play. This post is for my subscription members. I currently have two subscriptions: One for all things homeschooling and another for all things math.You can learn more about them at…
Window Star Math
Window stars are one of my favorites, because of their beauty. I hardly ever use them for math, but… Hello There! Welcome to The Beauty of Play. This post is for my subscription members. I currently have two subscriptions: One for all things homeschooling and another for all things math.You can learn more about them…
Density Lab
Exploring Density’s Role in our Grade 6 Earth Science Study We’ve done this lab before in her Chemistry Block for G3, but you know how I feel about repeating things – it’s a great idea! Density plays such a big role in the formation of the Earth and of the Earth’s atmosphere. I felt we…
An Overview of Cuisenaire Rods
Cuisenaire rods are my favorite math manipulative. This is because they translate the math so clear… Hello There! Welcome to The Beauty of Play. This post is for my subscription members. I currently have two subscriptions: One for all things homeschooling and another for all things math.You can learn more about them at https://thebeautyofplay.com/membership/ ….
Convection in our Earth Science Studies
Exploring the Causes of Plate Tectonics, Currents, and Climate in our Grade Six Science. Convection is a strong theme in our Earth Science studies this year. We are seeing it in tectonic plate movement. We are also seeing it in the water and air currents. To make sure that we had a concrete understanding of…
Tools for Learning
What Different Tools of Learning Look Like within our Homeschooling When I first started homesc… Hello There! Welcome to The Beauty of Play. This post is for my subscription members. I currently have two subscriptions: One for all things homeschooling and another for all things math.You can learn more about them at https://thebeautyofplay.com/membership/ . If…
Winter Ice Lanterns
A Tutorial on the Ice Lanterns that We Made during Christmas Break. Winter break from homeschooling this year brought record lows with the historic arctic blast storm. We had three straight days of hard freezes. That’s unheard of in North Florida. It very rarely snows here (maybe once in the 20 years we’ve lived here)…
Making Maple Candy
An Activity for our Native American History and Literature Study – The Anishinaabe Nation As part of our Anishinaabe study under our Native America History and Literature block we attempted making maple syrup candy. It was surprisingly simple and easy to make with only one ingredient – maple syrup. I wanted to use an Anishinaabe elder’s…
Language Arts for our Grade Six of Homeschooling
Resources We Are Using for Sixth Grade English. Things are changing a bit for us for language arts this year. In previous years, I’ve relied on BraveWriter style copy work and dictation for language arts in addition to our Waldorf/Charlotte Mason-style narration process. We’ve had some Michael Clay Thompson grammar thrown into the mix, and of course some Grammarland. We’ve…
Developing Number Sense for Fractions
Adding Fraction for Game Points in our Homeschooling We’ve been playing a RightStart matching game for percentages and fractional equivalencies. The way that we have been calculating our scores for this game has been by adding all the fractions from the pairs. There are many activities that I have in my math curricula Fractions Year…
A Homeschooler’s Review of the Book Painting and Drawing in Waldorf Schools
How we are using the book Painting and Drawing in Waldorf Schools to teach art in our homeschool. My daughter and I just started her sixth grade year of homeschooling. One of my favorite aspects of this year for our family is the introduction to charcoal in art. An interesting part of Waldorf pedagogy is…
Botany: Rate of Photosynthesis Experiment
In the experiment, the rate of photosynthesis is explored. This is a fun experiment, because the first time a little leaf disc rises to the surface there is so much excitement. What is being observed is the rate of photosynthesis determined by how much oxygen is being produced. When enough oxygen has been produced in…
Grade 5 Botany: Root Observation Lab
This has been one of most cool projects of our botany block. In this lab, we used a polymer from Miracle Grow, promoted as water crystals, as a germination and growth medium. These polymers are marketed at hydration crystals that help keep soil from getting too moist or too dry. They do this because they…
Unschooling for the Summer
Repost: This post was from last year. As my children become older, they have their own projects and their own interests. I try to facilitate their interests as much as possible. My high schooler has a job now, and is pursuing his interest in drones and videography. He rarely participates in our read aloud. My…
Grade 5 Freehand Waldorf Geometry: Ellipse Exercise
We’ve been working on our freehand Waldorf Geometry block the last couple of weeks. Check my Geometry highlights on Instagram for more. We are using pushpins as string to first draw a circle from the center, and then moving the focus outward from the circle to see the changes in the circle. It’s a cool exercise just by…
2022 Wax-resist Naturally-dyed Eggs
You likely realize by now that I love dying eggs. I have at least two different blog posts on it. Well, we did it again this year, and it may be my best year yet. Last year, I really felt that we could use a little more pinks and purples in the mix. You can…
Artist of the 1800’s and 1900’s
We do not usually do artist study separate from our regular studies. With our intertwining of Charlotte Mason (CM) and Waldorf, artist study is usually incorporated into a short CM-style lessons themed to accommodate our main lesson. Since we do history chronologically, this means most of our artists have reflected what we were studying in…
Grade 5 Botany: Dissection of a Flower
One of the activities that we did last week for our botany block was to dissect a flower and find all its parts. We looked at some of those parts under the microscope. As it was spring here in North Florida, we took a little walk around our yard and picked some flowers. Most of…
Exploring Rules of Divisibility through Patterns in the 100-chart and Digit Sums of Multiples
Rules of Divisibility. How did we decide what they were? That’s where we are headed in our math journey at the moment. I’ve talk about going back, reviewing, revisiting, or doing an activity more than once. This repetition brings depth to our math journey. We are doing just that again in preparation for reducing fractions…
Botany (Grade 5): Celery Stalk Demonstration of the Vascular System
Matching scientific demonstrations accurately to the explanation of their concepts is important to me. Science is cool, fascinating, and amazing! But even more amazing is scientific literacy and why these demonstrations work the way that they do. It’s essential to match those concepts with clear, accurate concrete examples. Dying the leaves of celery or carnations is…
An Introduction to Genetics through Botany
Our Botany Block offered the perfect opportunity for an introduction to genetics with the work of Friar Gregor Mendel. Mendel is the person that bred several generations of pea plants to discover the basic understanding of genetics. In this book Gregor Mendel: The Friar Who Grew Peas, the story of Gregor Mendel is told and…
Some Favorite Books for Black History Month
I know I’m a little late to the ballgame, but I wanted to add to the wonderful collection of books that I am seeing for Black History Month. Not all of them are historical necessarily, but there are a couple that I just needed to add anyway. These are not affiliate links. I, Matthew Henson…
WWI History Block
When planning this block, I was not sure how I was going to approach it. Neither my daughter, nor I really have much interest in war, tactical strategies, or even military planes or equipment. What she does love is animals, and it turns out that World War I had the most animals ever used in…
Waldorf Wet-on-Wet Painting Supplies and Resources
Wet-on-Wet paintings is one of my favorite aspects of Waldorf art. I love the exploration of color theory by play. The release of the expectation of having any kind of a real product combined with meditative nature really appeals to me. I enjoy the emergence of the form from the color. Even with all this,…
Industrial Revolution
We recently finished our block on the Industrial Revolution. This was such an interesting block in the time period, and innovations had a diversity of impacts on so many people – some good and some bad. I used The Industrial Revolution for Kids as a spine of sorts, reading from it on a regular basis….
A Time-Sequence Graph
When my son was in eighth grade, I compiled several resources to make a “How We Learn/How to Study” course in preparation for High School. It went over thinks like memory recall, reflection, interleaving, and notetaking. One aspect that we spent some time on were graphs and using them for study, understanding, and notetaking. In…
The Shapes of Numbers — The Curve
Earlier in our Shapes of Numbers block, we explored triangle numbers, square numbers, and primes. We looked at the different ways they related to each other by exploring their sums and differences. Next up — curves — a particular curve — the parabola. I think I only mention the word once though, at the end….
The Shapes of Numbers — Exploring Prime Numbers through Eratosthenes’ Sieve
The sieve of Eratosthenes is one of my favorite math exercises to do with kids, and it’s a great intro into prime numbers. It eliminates numbers through the multiples, leaving primes on the 100 chart. We usually use block crayons, because there is a definite pattern on the 100 chart for multiples, and block crayons…
A Day in the Life of a Homeschooler
I recently did a Day-in-the-Life of a homeschooler on Instagram. This is an adaptation of that highlight to live permenantly on my blog. Enjoy! Good Morning! Today I’m doing a day-in-the-life of our homeschooling in posts and stories. I’ll give you an overview of our day-to-day rhythm. I’ll share this in my highlights. I have…
Grade 5 Physics: Electricity
Electricity…it’s electric! We spent two days on the theme of electricity within our physics block. If you are just joining me, there are several blog posts about our physics block. The plan, which has gone reasonably well so far, follows: Introduce Energy, Force, and Momentum 2 days Simple Machines 3 days Waves and Sound 2…
Grade 5 Physics: Magnets
This was the section of our physics block I was most uncertain about. I did not have a clear plan for this one. We did not spend much time in her early years exploring magnets, so my plan was to play and wing it. I did prepare however by going over the material on magnets…
Grade 5 Physics: Light
Next up for Physics – Light. There are two previous post for Grade 5 physic. If you are just joining us, we are spending the following days on each concept of our physics unit. Introduce Energy, Force, and Momentum 2 days Simple Machines 3 days Waves and Sound 2 days Light 2 days Magnets 2…
African Holocaust Block
Because the African Holocaust is a heavy one, I knew that I wanted to sandwich it in-between some ‘good stuff.’ I decided to do this by first exploring the continent of Africa and ending on the accomplishments and achievements of a few African-decent people. This block is a fifth grade history block. Before I continue…
Grade 5 Physics: Waves
We are doing a three-week study on physics, as mentioned in the previous physics blog. I plan on spending a couple of days on each concept. The plan is below. There is a previous post on our introduction to energy, force, and momentum and simple machines. Introduce Energy, Force, and Momentum 2 days Simple Machines…
Grade 5 Physics: Energy, Force, and Simple Machines
Currently we are in a physics block with my younger daughter (fifth grade.) It is an introduction, because I didn’t feel like I gave it enough attention in years past. Physics has so much one can delve into, that I had a challenging time deciding what to include and what to leave out. So far,…
Making a Book
Occasionally my daughter will come to me and ask me to make her a book. We first started out with simple single-signature books, but then I found this wonderfully beautiful book, The Little Book of Book Making. This book has taken our book-making skills to a new level. It shows the art of book-making. It…
Wild Bird Egg Replica Project
When we arrived on birds within our animal block, I knew I wanted to replicate Hana’s, with Pepper and Pine, egg project. Her YouTube video has been so helpful in avoiding mistakes that I’m almost sure we would have made without her wonderful guidance. We made a couple of deviations from her process. We were able…
Dissecting Owl Pellets
We’re in the middle of our Animal block, just about the part of nocturnal animals, and it seemed fitting do dissect an owl pellet. This gives us an opportunity to talk about how owls feed, and a chance to review the information that we’ve gone over on skeletons already, and a great intro to bird….
Trophic Levels and Food Web Lab
I have waited through our animal block so long to get to this lab. It’s messy and a lot of work, but so much fun. Basically we built our own food web. To do so we needed plant, animal, and fungi cards. We used the cards from our game Into the Forest, which worked perfectly….
Sophomore Year in Review
Whew! High school has been a whirlwind for us, but homeschooling high school is definitely doable. I just have to mentally prepare myself by realizing that there will be lots of changes through the years. He shifted gears midway through the academic year, which I talk about in the video. We used a variety of…
Fourth Grade Year in Review
This was such a fun video to make. I had just finished looking through the kids portfolios in preparation for their annual evaluation, and then looked through photographs of the year to add to the video. Looking back at the year allows for me to see how much we have accomplished in the last year….
Making Mushroom Spore Prints
We love to go mushroom hunting. Our mushroom hunts are for spore prints. We do NOT eat our mushrooms. I wish I knew which ‘shrooms were edible and which were not, but alas… Goals! Spore prints are a favorite around here. I do not know how I made it all the way through my college…
Planning our Fifth-grade Freehand Geometry Block
I’m planning my daughter’s fifth grade year for next year, and I’ve gotten distracted by her free-hand geometry unit. Why do I say distracted? Well, that is currently scheduled as the last block of the year with 10, yes I said 10, previous block in front of it. But really, who can blame me?! Waldorf…
My Favorite Educational Apps
The homeschool world abounds with opinions on electronics. Some think that electronics should be limited, while others think that electronics should be embraced. My family falls somewhere in between. We do limit our screen time at my house to encourage and promote outdoor (and indoor) play, but I do use them for educational purposes occasionally, especially on…
Natural Dyes on Cloth
Every year after we dye our eggs I have dye left. I always feel bad about sending them down the drain, because I feel like I’m wasting the dye. This year I saved the dye and tried dying t-shirt material that I scavenged from a friend’s used white t-shirts. I placed a teaspoon of alum…
“Notice and Wonder” with Cuisenaire Rods for Homeschool Math
Today for math we did one of my favorite activities, though I will admit, it is not always my children’s favorite. My daughter, now 10, build a structure with the Cuisinaire Rods, and then we did a “notice and wonder” activity. The structure that she build for today was a pyramid. I could have guessed…
Wax Resist Naturally Dyed Eggs
Dying eggs is just so gratifying, especially with natural dyes. When my children were young, it was overwhelming to use natural dyes and the best that I could do was a kit. As they have gotten older though, I am able to spend the time making the dyes, usually the night before. This year was…
An Inside Look into our Homeschool Math Journal
Some homeschoolers keep a common place book. Some homeschoolers keep a language arts book. We keep a Math Journal. Because I’m not teaching math from a curriculum, keeping a math journal helps us to keep track of where we have been and thus where we are going. When we are stuck on a challenge, we…
Shakespeare Unit
This was a fabulous homeschool unit where everything just came together. There was a lot of interweaving of facts throughout the books and projects. Our Read Aloud books, The Shakespeare Stealer and Shakespeare’s Scribe, both describe events that we read about in our historical books – the coup attempt by the Earl of Essex, the…
Renaissance Unit
Renaissance art is some of my favorite art. I don’t know if it’s the depth of color or the intensity of the scenes, but I find it fascinating. The artists that created them are also fascinating. This has been one of our many history units this semester. And just in case you noticed that Shakespeare…
Finding Perfect Numbers
Yesterday’s was all about Perfect number. It’s not how pretty the number is, or how well you like its form. It’s not even about if the number is your favorite. Perfect numbers have a distinct definition. A perfect number is a number whose factors (not including the number itself) add to give the number itself….
Comparing Rods for Fractional Relationships
In this activity we are comparing each rod to each of the others to see the fractional relationship. It looks overwhelming, but it’s not. The first couple of rows or columns are the most challenging and after a pattern emerges, and it becomes much easier. Having said that, this comparison did take us three to four…
Explorers of the World History Unit
This year in history we have come to the dreaded “Age of Discovery,” which is a misnomer, because all these European explorers really “discovered” nothing at all. These places were already inhabited and well-established, sometimes with populations even greater than any in Europe at the time. A better name for this time period might be…
Paper Quilling a Snowflake
I added paper quilling to our handcrafts back in October with some pumpkins. This was the first bit of paper quilling that we had added to our homeschooling. It is a delightful craft and easy to do with children. The pumpkin is a nice beginning piece, because it goes over a few basic quilling techniques…
Simple Mason Jar Candle Tutorial
For many years our family has participated in a regional art and craft fair that happens every year in our area. It’s a large event that draws in artist and craftsman from around the Southeastern United States. One of our favorite parts of this fair, of course, is that they allow children to participate by…
How Homeschooling is Different than the Brick and Mortar School
My father-in-law, a retired high school science teacher, sat across from me in our living room at their last visit discussing all things education. If you’ve followed me for a while, you’ll know I love to talk homeschool. It was a fun and lively conversation, mostly about teaching science, when the topic of discussion turned…
Making Math Fun
You know I love math! Today I’m sharing some of the best parts of math. So if you and your child are struggling with math, add these in. Don’t dare say, “We are taking a break from math today to do this project.” What I am showing you is real math. What we teach our…
Homeschool Rhythms and Rituals
It’s afternoon. We’ve just finished lunch and are clearing the table. My daughter goes to get a piece of chocolate, her daily treat after she finishes her lunch. I reach over and give her a hug and look into her eyes. “Are you ready for school?” “Sure.” “Want some tea today?” “Yes, please. Can I…
Using Songs and Music for Homeschooling
“Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning to you. Our day is beginning. There’s so much to do. Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning to you.” This song was the song that I sang every morning with each of my children when we started our our circle time when they were young. It was a great…
Homeschool Planning for my Daughter’s Year 4 Journey
We start homeschooling again in not quite two weeks. I finally settled down and finalized with a framework for our year will look like. I say framework, because in homeschooling things change, and it’s important to be adaptable. In the video below I go over the blocks we will be doing and why I scheduled…
Peg Dolls Skin Tones Using Natural Dyes
Recently I was gifted several wooden peg dolls from Woodpecker Crafts. I had seen Hana with Pepper and Pine’s project of using natural dyes to color wooden peg dolls and was excited to try it. I’m hoping to incorporate these dolls in our Explorer’s Unit and upcoming homeschooling year when we focus on some of…
Nurturing a Love of Reading
Learning to read is definitely one of the hallmarks of childhood, and a particularly special on for a homeschooling parent. Not only do you have the joy of a parent watching your child learn to read but also the joy as their teacher. Remembering the point for each of my children reading journey where they…
Games – Late Elementary
THIS IS A 4-PART BLOG SERIES ON GAMES. IT INCLUDES GAMES FOR PRESCHOOLERS, EARLY ELEMENTARY, LATER ELEMENTARY, MIDDLE SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL. THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS THAT WILL HELP YOU FIND THE GAME EASILY. These are my favorite games suitable for late elementary. I really like to have games that cover a range of…
Games-Early Elementary
THIS IS A 4-PART BLOG SERIES ON GAMES. IT INCLUDES GAMES FOR PRESCHOOLERS, EARLY ELEMENTARY, LATER ELEMENTARY, MIDDLE SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL. THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS THAT WILL HELP YOU FIND THE GAME EASILY. We have shifted from our normal structured homeschool style to a more unschooled style of homeschooling for the summer. With…
Educational Games: Preschool
This is a 4-part blog series on games. It includes games for preschoolers, early elementary, later elementary, middle school and high school. This post contains affiliate links that will help you find the game easily. We’ve found ourselves needing a little more family interaction lately in place of all our separate screen time during this…
Golden Age of Islam (Middle Ages) Resources and Activities
Ramadan Mubarak! Though we are not Muslim, we have several friends and followers that are. I am saddened that they have to celebrate their holy month in the middle of the Corona pandemic. In honor of the month of Ramadan I’ve compiled our resources and activities for the Golden Age of Islam Unit that we…
Tree Unit Resources, Games, and Activities
New Blog Post: I’ve just finished a blog post going over the resources, game, and activities for our Tree Unit. This has been such a delightful unit. There is the usual list of games and book with details of our favorites and what each book contains in the post. In addition though, I go into detail about how we incorporated math, geography, writing, poetry, art, and science into the unit with a list of activities. Enjoy and be sure to tell me what you think or what I left out. Go hug a tree today. They are amazing creatures.
Schooling at Home thru the Covid-19 Pandemic
Homeschooling is not school at home. It has a totally different look and feel to it. I think at a time like this we probably have enough stress, that to try to replicate school at home right now would be far too much. But I do have some ideas that can promote, encourage, and continue…
Using Cuisenaire Rods for Fractions
This is a math series follows our unit for introduction to fractions in grade 3. This is one of several. Look for the others by searching “fractions.” This post contains affiliate links. Day 10 It’s was our first day from spring break, so we started out homeschooling slow with only two tasks: nature study and main…
Paper-folding Fraction Activity
This is a math series follows our unit for introduction to fractions in grade 3. This is one of several. Look for the others by searching “fractions.” Though we are not completely finished with the number line work, it was Friday and the end of a busy week, so we were both looking for something…
Fractions on a Number Line
This is a math series follows our unit for introduction to fractions in grade 3. This is one of several, and I’m combining several days into one post. This part of the unit all involves number line. Day 3 My intention for our fraction work was to continue with our circles, but it was so…
Fractions-Circles
This is a math series follows our unit for introduction to fractions in grade 3. This is one of several, and I’m combining several days into one post. This part of the unit all involves circles. Day 1 We opened our fractions unit with cutting circles. I precut 8 different colors of circles, 3 of…
Planning for High School
You know that feeling you get when you feel like you aren’t doing enough for your kids? The one that causes you to panic and doubt yourself, go look for curriculum, and then over-schedule your homeschooling days? Yeah, me too. Even though I’m a well-seasoned homeschooler that has been at this for over a decade,…
Leaf Crown Tutorial
Even though for most of the Country the color of the leaves have faded and snow has fallen on a few choice places, here in North Florida we are just now seeing a bit of color in our trees. Having made our first leaf crown of the season, I thought I’d share our process. It’s…
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