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….
Category: Homeschooling lifestyle
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….
Unschooling for the Summer
We finished our year “early” ending in mid-April this year. That we can have the best of North Florida’s weather off, and we committed to starting mid-July. Late summer it heats up, and no one wants to be out in the heat anyway unless they are near water. Our homeschooling doesn’t really stop, however. It…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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-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…
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…
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,…
Slowing down for the Winter Season
When September rolls around each year, I have a sense of anticipation. The long hot summer days of Florida have started to wear on all of us. We’ve retreated into the recesses of our air-conditioned home to escape the bugs and humidity. So when September hints at the possibility of cooler weather, which is actually…
5 Ways to Liven up your Homeschool Journey
Homeschool feeling bogged down. Here are 5 ideas to help. These techniques will help to solidify the information your children are learning.
Seasonal Traditions
This time of year holds so many family traditions for us that make my heart grow warm at the start of the fall. I came to realize recently that these traditions serve as guide posts and memories for my children. I hope they seed a deep core of being cherished that guides through rough patches…