Category: Homeschool Den

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American History Textbook/Curriculums We Use

Last week, I talked a lot about our civics and government unit.  Today, I thought I would briefly mention the American History books the kids have been reading this year. As many of you know, we started off the year with a unit on Native Americans (We shared a number of notebook pages that are free to download for that unit): Native Americans of the Northeast (Part I: Algonquins) Native...

Outdoor Treasure Hunt 1

Outdoor Treasure Hunt with QR Codes – Free Printable!

Every spring for years now, I’ve sent the kids out to do a Nature Scavenger Hunt. This year I thought we’d add in something new… an Outdoor Treasure Hunt with the QR Code reader. We’ve been having a lot of fun with these QR Codes and this is a way to get the kids outside and enjoying nature at the same time. How does it work?  Well, someone needs to...

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Our Homeschool Language Arts, Spelling, and Grammar Curriculum

So, what does our family do for our homeschool language arts curriculum?  I’ll share what we’ve been using for 1st through 6th grades. Over the past week, I’ve gotten three separate emails and FB messages asking about what we use for language arts — spelling, grammar and literature. It must be that time of year again when we start thinking about our plans for next year. 😉 I’ll start with...

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First Grade Math – Games for Math Fact Practice

Over the past couple of weeks, ED and I have been having a lot of fun with her math and she’s made some really good progress with her subtraction facts and with her skip counting. I thought I would share some of the activities she’s been up to. It had been a while since we pulled out our Fast Track math board game. That definitely infused a lot of energy and enthusiasm...

Civics and Government Unit 0

U.S. Civics and Government Unit (3 Branches of Government and More!)

This Civics and Government Unit covers the 3 Branches of Government The Constitution & Bill of Rights The Presidential Cabinet Positions How a Bill becomes Law Civics Review (symbols, landmarks) Federal vs. State Governments and more! We are doing a Civics and Government Unit.  I made this packet for the kids because I couldn’t find a homeschool unit that covered everything I wanted to include. Not only are we covering the...

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Homeschooling Detour

Sometimes homeschooling is a delicate balance of Mom’s energy, the kids’ energy, and all the other things we have going on. It’s not unusual for us to take an abrupt, unscheduled detour along this educational journey of ours! As many of you know, we are studying the Middle Ages this semester. But, with everything else we had going on we stepped away from history for a couple of weeks. (We had...

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Weekend Chit-Chat

A lot of the time I share our latest homeschool activities, but sometimes I like to share a bit about what’s going on for us. 🙂 Despite the high traffic on the blog now, it’s still the place I tend to chronicle our family’s adventures! March is usually a very busy one for our family.  A couple of weeks ago, DD had her aerials showcase. Aerials is a neat sport because it...

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Video Update – What in the world is semi-circular canal dehiscence?!!

Today we’re off from school because I’m on my way to Baltimore — to Johns Hopkins  — for a six month follow up after my 6th ear surgery last year!! (Okay, in reality I’ve had about 15 ear surgeries in my lifetime, but six of those were last year!!). I had a terrible year last year which resulted in my becoming deaf in that ear, but it has a good...

Cell Packet - Cell Unit Homeschool Curriculum 20

Cell Unit: Cell Organelles and their Function, Animal vs. Plant Cells, Eurkaryotic vs. Prokaryotic Cells, and more

This Cell Unit Packet is over 100 pages and includes worksheets, interactive notebook pages and even a “Build Your Cell” game! We have had such an amazing time with this cell unit. The goal has been not only to help the kids learn the parts of the cells (organelles), their function, and the difference between animal and plant cells, but also to understand the process of protein synthesis (on a...

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Montessori Subtraction Pages (with borrowing)

I made this set of Montessori-Style subtraction pages for ED to practice borrowing.  She started using these last week.  I know lots of people have downloaded our Montessori Style Addition pages and thought some of you might find these pages useful too!  They are free to download: Montessori Style Subtraction with Borrowing   Other Montessori Style Math Worksheets You Might Be Interested In: Free Montessori Style Addition Sheets (Without Regrouping)...

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Middle Ages: King Arthur, Charlemagne

The last week or so we have learned a lot about King Arthur and Charlemagne. Last week, I shared our monasteries worksheets. This week we finished reading a fabulous book about King Arthur.  I’ve read a lot of King Arthur stories/books over the years, but this one was absolutely perfect for our homeschool… with rich exciting tales that the kids and I all loved! I mentioned it last week, but it’s...

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Dinosaur Packet for 3-7 Year Olds – Dinosaur Lapbook, Montessori Cards and More!

DD had an amazing time with this Dinosaur Unit!  She did everything from learning many of the dinosaur’s names, to finding out what they ate, what period they lived in, and a number of dinosaur games along the way! This packet covers 15 dinosaurs: Allosaurus, Ankylosaurs, Apatasaurus, Brachiosaurus, Herrerasaurus (one of the earliest dinosaurs), Iguanodon, Parasaurolophus, Plesiosaurus, Pteranodon, Quetzalcoatlus, Spinosaurus, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Velociraptor. There are Montessori 3-Part cards...

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Note Taking and Research Skills in Our Homeschool

How are we introducing note taking and research skills into our homeschool? One skill that middle and high school students (and beyond!) need is the ability to take notes–either by picking out important key points from books and resources they read or from listening to a speaker or lecturer.  In the elementary years, I’ve slowly been trying to help the kids build these skills. I wanted to write this post...

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10 Posts From the Past

Hi Everyone, Not everyone uses Facebook and  with the way Facebook works now, the majority of my readers don’t see what I post to Facebook.  So, I thought that I’d highlight some of my older posts here on the blog as well every now and then. 20+ Thoughts for the Busy Homeschooling Family: 11 Year Old Shares Her Thoughts About Homeschooling Last winter on a snowy day like this one, I...