Monthly Archive: November 2012

12

Pete the Cat Unit

Last week I asked ED what she wanted to learn about. “Kittens!” she declared. I was thinking I would have her make a kitten lapbook, but the more I looked around, the more resources I found for some books called, Pete the Cat. I hadn’t heard of them before, but they seemed to be all the rage among the early elementary teachers who offered many Pete-the-Cat themed worksheets free on...

0

Ancient Egypt – Hieroglyphic Generator

If you are studying Ancient Egypt, the kids might like this hieroglyphic generator from Discovery Kids.  They can type in their name and see what it would look like in hieroglyphics: Update: Their website has moved no longer works! It now looks like this. You can find it here: Hieroglyphics Typewriter Here are some of our posts from when we studied Ancient Egypt – our projects and activities. I recently...

0

Could the Pyramids and Sphinx be Destroyed?

Since we are studying Ancient Egypt, this story is especially timely. The kids and I had some really deep discussions about this and the actual destruction of the Buddha of Bamiyan back in 2001. Some radical Islamists view the pyramids as symbols of paganism that should be destroyed. In fact, a couple of weeks ago (Nov. 10, 2012), Murgan Salem al-Gohary, the leader of Egypt’s ultra-conservative Salafist party called for the “destruction...

3

Ancient Egypt Death Mask Craft

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Ours was truly wonderful. I love Thanksgiving because its a time to focus on family and the best part is the dinnertime conversation about what we are thankful for. The kids have such precious things on their minds! Anyway, we’re back to school now—and we’re finishing up some pretty fun projects. We had stepped away from our Ancient Egypt unit for several...

Beautiful Star Craft and Other Holiday Crafts 0

Beautiful Star Craft and Other Holiday Crafts

I noticed that people have been viewing some of my holiday posts this weekend. Last year I posted our holiday crafts way too late to be of much use, but wanted to share this beautiful star craft we made last year early enough that you could round up the supplies you need to do this with your kids (toothpicks, gold spray paint). Click here to see the post about how...

2

Explosion of Colors in Milk Experiment and Other Chemistry Fun!

Isn’t this pretty? This was one of our experiments as we finished up our chemistry unit! One of the chapters in our chemistry book (Real Science 4 Kids-pre-level 1) talked about mixtures. It talked first about how how some mixtures dissolve (like salt in water). Then it went on to talk about soap and soap molecules. We read how soap makes things like butter and grease “dissolve” in water. Detergent...

12

Fall and Thanksgiving Themed Printable Activities (Free)

Here are a collection of Thanksgiving resources you might want to use with your kids the next few days: ED has really been enjoying dot-to-dots. I thought these printables from Busy Bee Kids Printables were really cute and wanted to mention them if you are interested. Fall and Thanksgiving Dot-to-Dots Color the Turkey: A handwriting activity from Rowdy in Room 300 Cute Turkey Math Game: This is a game I...

It’s Not Too Early to Start Getting Ready For the Holidays 4

It’s Not Too Early to Start Getting Ready For the Holidays

Can you believe it? It’s just about time to start thinking about the holidays. Unfortunately, we’re not ones who finish our holiday gift shopping in August. No, we often have a painful time of it as activities pick up and the holiday “extras” demand our time. This year, hubby and I really want to be better organized so we can enjoy the holidays more. Besides, if I’m more organized then this...

Home School Blog Awards 4

Home School Blog Awards

Wow! I noticed just a few minutes ago that I was nominated for the HSBA homeschool blog awards in the category of “Best Super Homeschooler 2012.” I am so honored to be nominated, especially when I see the list of incredible homeschool blogs there. There are over 1,000 blogs nominated this year. Voting ends Nov. 18th, you can click here to go cast your vote (or click on the nomination box...

0

More Fun Science Experiments: Watch them Bubble, Bubble Bombs… Acid-Base Reactions

Our chemistry textbook also talked about acid-base reactions.  It explained how antacids can help neutralize the strong acids in your stomach. We contrasted this slow reaction… to the more impressive reaction of baking soda and vinegar! DD was putting her fingers in to see how her stomach would feel. If you haven’t already done Bubble Bombs with your kids, be sure to do that as well! You take a ziploc...

0

Free PreK or K Math Sheets

ED loves math time right now and is whipping through all the sheets she can get her hands on. I haven’t found any math books or workbooks that suits her needs, so I’ve been creating things for her. Here’s one I made for her last weekend. I printed it out and put it in her workbox for when she asks for math time. They include a phone, fall leaves, acorns,...

The Blog-Life Balance – What You Read Doesn’t Come Close to the Whole Picture! 1

The Blog-Life Balance – What You Read Doesn’t Come Close to the Whole Picture!

Every now and then I feel compelled to point out that our blog shows just the smallest snippet of our life. Sometimes we have great things going on, sometimes we’re just doing run-of-the-mill stuff and sometimes we’re overloaded with social commitments and activities. Life has been pretty hectic and crazy the past couple of weeks, especially with Hubby out of town. I’ve/we’ve been going full speed between school, activities, and...

23

The Hardest Lesson of All — Death and Dying

We tackled the greatest lessons of all this past week… life, living, love, dying and death. It was a difficult week for our family… the final days of a beloved family member, the kids’ Great Grandmother, Vovo. Yesterday, she passed away. She was 93 and had lived an incredibly full life. She was well educated (had numerous Master’s degrees), well loved and made an incredible difference in the lives of...

0

Fall Themed Craft: Spaghetti Tree

  The last time we did spaghetti art, we simply colored strands different colors and made a free for all.  This time, we had a specific goal in mind… barren trees.  They turned out well! Cook spaghetti and cool with cold water. Mix glue and paint together. Dip the spaghetti into the glue-paint mixture and form into the desired shape We placed ours on wax paper, but you could also...