Monthly Archive: August 2016

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Our First Day of School! :)

Today was our first official day of school. After all the planning I did this summer, it was fabulous to finally just jump in and start off the year!! This year we’ve set up a more structured schedule for ourselves… at least to start with.  Other years, we covered all of our subjects, but each day was different. This year we’ve decided (together, this wasn’t just my idea) to have...

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History: Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, Songhai

We’re so excited to officially be back in school! Last week, I shared some of our science plans.  For history we will be doing a big unit on Slavery and the Civil War.  As we ease back into our routine, we’re going to spend some time learning about history West Africa just prior to the onset of the slave trade.  We’re going to talk about the salt and gold trade...

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Friday Freebies: Missing Numbers 1 to 20 for PreK or Beginning Language Learners

Missing Numbers (1 to 20) Activity Pages for PreK or Beginning Language Learners (Scroll down for the free download!!) Hi Everyone! This fall, I have a number of free file folder games to share with you.  I’ll be sharing those on Fridays!  I have also teamed up with Sra. Morato at  homechoolspanishcurriculum.com [By the way, if you are using Firefox you might get an error message. It’s being worked on...

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Our Science Plans for This Year

The last couple of weeks, we had our Back to School Challenge, but I didn’t write specifically about our upcoming plans.  In today’s post, I’m going to talk about our plans for science this year. The kids are going into grades 3, 6, and 8. When planning out for the new year, I think back over the units we’ve covered the past few years. I try to make sure that...

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Last Day of the Back to School Challenge – First Days of School!

We’ve done it — we’ve talked about our systems, routine, and chores. We’ve double checked that we have the books and supplies we need.  We’re primed and excited for the new school year.  Now… just one thing left… to be ready to jump right in!! Have you decided how you want to mark the first day of school? Will you take back to school photos? Write a time capsule letter...

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Why You Need a Family Meeting!

Back to Homeschool Challenge: Day 9 Family Homeschool Meeting There are so many positive things about holding a family meeting. They give everyone – including the kids- a sense of belonging and ownership of the rules. We want the kids to know that they have a real and important voice in the family. Family meetings give everyone a platform for making your family a better team. And one reason to...

homeschool mistakes to avoid 0

5 common homeschool mistakes to avoid

Back to Homeschool Challenge: Day 8 As we begin the year, don’t let any of these ruin your homeschool day… Comparison – Every homeschool is unique.  Don’t worry about what your friends are doing. Don’t feel like your homeschool has to incorporate every project on Pinterest.  Don’t compare someone’s best day to your worst day.  Remember that when someone tells you about their homeschool day or writes about homeschooling online...

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Sick Days for Home Educators!!

Right now you’re healthy, you’re excited, you’re energized… Motivation is at an all-time HIGH.  But let’s be realistic… there are times when we don’t feel up for homeschooling.  It might be because of a seasonal cold. It might be because we have a series of errands/appointments that fill up the morning. It might be because we’re downright *tired*!! So what do you do when you feel it coming on? When...

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Taking Care of Ourselves

Welcome to Day 6 of the Back to Homeschool Challenge! Last week our challenge was to work on some of the nuts and bolts of our homeschools: Our first challenge was just to spend a few minutes reflecting on the journey we’re on and being grateful for the opportunities we have as homeschoolers Then we spent time Organizing our Homeschool Work Space And we made sure we’re *actually* ready to...

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How Does Your Family Handle Chores?

One of the huge challenges for me is not necessarily the homeschooling itself… It’s keeping on top of everything. Today, your challenge is to think about how your family will handle chores this year.  In this post, I wanted to share a variety of chore systems that other families have tried. Maybe one will work especially well for yours this year. Each year our kids are just a little older....

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Back to Homeschool Challenge, Day 4: Homeschool Shopping List

I love this time of year… fresh pencils, new binders, and colorful fun writing journals.  And apparently I’ve given my joy and excitement of office supplies to my kids.  Today your challenge is two-fold… check to see what you need, but being careful not to OVERSHOP!!!  This is a voice of experience saying this!! 🙂  One year we wound up with so many glue sticks we had to donate a...

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Homeschool Planning: Subject Area Checklists

Welcome to Day 3 of the Back to Homeschool Challenge!! Today, let’s tackle the Subject Planning… I don’t know about you, but I really mull things over in the summer.  I generally have tentative plans at the end of the year for the new school year, but given some time, I often change course slightly. Do you need to add in a different topic?  Last year in history, for example,...

Homeschool Organization - Dealing with our Homeschool Stuff 0

Strategic Homeschool Organization!!

We all hear a lot about getting organized and keeping the clutter down.  But today I want to talk about becoming organized in a strategic way… a way that helps our homeschool day run smoothly.  It’s not really about making the pencils and markers look pretty and organized, though that definitely has its appeal.  It’s about making sure our days flow smoothly. That the kids have some sense of what...

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Back to Homeschool Challenge – Day 1

Up until the last minute, I knew exactly what our first challenge would be… You know it, I know it… We should discuss organization, right?  It’s at the core of keeping things running smoothly during the year.  But then much to my surprise, an idea popped into my head.  I realized there was something more important to tap into first… and this post kind of wrote itself! Cartoon graphic purchased...