Monthly Archive: May 2015

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Homeschool Happenin’s! (Outer Banks, Jam Making… Oh yes, and a tiny bit of school…)

The past week or so we were away from home… enjoying the tranquility and pre-summer crowds of the Outer Banks in North Carolina. Since my sister homeschools (and thus also has a flexible schedule), it seemed the perfect time to meet up with her family and my folks! Homeschool Graduate: Before I share a couple of pictures… let me brag on my niece (who has been homeschooled K through 12)....

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Skip Counting and Multiplication Practice 2s, 3s, 5s, and 10s

ED is just beginning to work on multiplication. She has been practicing skip counting all year, but is only now starting to work on multiplication itself.   I made this bug-themed packet for her for math this week. There are 3 skip counting pages and 5 pages of multiplication practice (using skip counting).  She really liked the bug theme… and that’s perfect as we move into summer, right?! These are currently...

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PreK-K Math Activities (Make 5, Make 10)

I made a cute flower-themed math packet for kids just starting on basic addition through 10.  There are a couple different activities to practice working with the  5s and 10s Number Families. There are two worksheets for kids to supply the missing number for the 5 and 10 Number Families. My kids always loved games and would beg to play games like the one below over and over!  This is basically a...

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Finding a Homeschool Math Curriculum

What math homeschool curriculum works well for your family?  We have tried out many different homeschool curriculums.  I tried to come up with a fairly comprehensive list of math curriculums that are available. This week, I updated and added to last year’s post on Choosing a Homeschool Math Curriculum.  That post was so meaty and has so many good links, I’m going to send you straight there! Just let me add,...

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Fraction Dominoes Game

We’re trying to fit in some fun schoolish activities as the year winds down. It has been quite a while since we pulled out the fraction dominoes and the kids all enjoyed playing this game.  Even ED, who hasn’t done much with fractions yet quickly caught on and played with us!  You can either match up equivalent fractions or you can match fractions that add up to 1.  Below, we’re...

Skeletal System Worksheets 0

Skeletal System Worksheet Packet & 6 Hands-On Activities About Bones

 90+ Page Skeletal System Packet! This 90+ page packet covers the following topics: Identify the bones of the body Basic functions of the skeletal system (support, protection, assistance in movement, the storage and release of minerals, blood cell reproduction), How bones grow and repair themselves, bone remodeling, bone marrow, and the spine Bones and Cartilage Activity How the skeletal system is divided (axial and appendicular skeleton) Types of Joints Bone disorders Note: This was...

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Writing Workshop Discussion Questions

At the beginning of the week, I thought it would helpful for the kids to think about some fundamental questions about writing… Why do we write? Why do we read? What makes for a good story? What makes a story interesting? What inspires you? What kinds of techniques can we use in our writing? What writing habits work best for you? And finally, I had the kids brainstorm alternative words for...

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Language Arts Homeschool Checklist

What skills do I want the kids to have in order to become successful writers?  For this post, I shared a list of some of the language and literary skills I want the kids to build in elementary and middle school.  These are topics and terms I want the kids to be familiar with.  As they get older I hope they are able to use and incorporate these naturally into their own...

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Considering Homeschooling Next Year? A Post about Planning Ahead

I got an email from someone a few days ago from someone who said they were in “full blown school panic.”  She is  considering homeschooling next year and is wondering how to start planning. And not only that, she wondered, “How do you even know what to teach?” I thought it was about time to write about planning again… especially as I start looking ahead to next year. How do you decide what...

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My 911 Call — And what I did totally wrong

Let me start off by saying that everything is just fine, though I am still quite tearful simply because I was so scared. The unexpected happens… it comes out of the blue and you’re never quite prepared. In our case, we had just hopped into the car for afternoon activities.  I was rumbling up our very steep driveway. But suddenly I could tell somethings was wrong with ED… she was...

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Middle Ages – Notebook Pages on England and France (800-1200)

Last week all we did for history was continue reading The Adventures of Robin Hood. (affiliate link).   The kids are really loving the book (and so am I!). Each chapter is a complete adventure unto itself. This week we’ll be going into a lot of detail about feudalism (and I created a simulation that I think the kids will really love!), but before we do that, I really wanted to review all...

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German Family Vocabulary Practice — die Familie

die Familie The kids have been having a lot of fun building their German vocabulary for family terms such as father, mother, son, daughter, grandma, boy, girl, etc. etc.  The kids learned (reviewed) some of the terms such as die Familie (the family) das  Mädchen (the girl) der Junge (the boy) die Tante (the aunt) der Onkel (the uncle) die Tochter (the daughter) der Sohn (the son) die Schwester (the sister), etc. etc....

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20 Reasons Why We Mothers Are Amazing! Happy Mother’s Day!

For all the Moms out there, I hope you are pampered and swamped with love today! We have so much to be proud of as Mothers. We are one hard working lot! We juggle meals, laundry, clean up, jobs, schooling (whether we homeschool or juggle the paper work and demands that come home from public schools). We tend to sniffles, stomach viruses, achy legs, boo-boos, broken bones mostly our children’s but sometimes our...

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It Feels GRRrrreat… (and other Ramblings & Random Things… Like a Pumpkin Muffin Recipe, Hiking Pics)

Hooray! We’re done with standardized testing!!  The kids are really happy! In those hours and hours of sitting by witnessing the kids toil, I have a come up with a bunch of hands-on activities and blog post ideas! Hope to get those written up soon. But in the meantime, I just came on to celebrate!  Jumped through that hoop… Now back to our fun stuff… like our Middle Ages Unit, Human...