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Mom Down! Why I’m in Surgery Today…

The past three months have been very difficult.  If you’re a regular reader, you know I had ear surgery in October.  I have more complications than I can count on one hand. Healing was very slow and a couple of weeks after the surgery I came down with something called BPPV in two semi-circular canals (in my ear) which causes vertigo, the entire world to spin, balance issues and incredible...

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How to Get Started Homeschooling (with Unit Studies)

Someone recently asked me how to get started homeschooling. She was interested in creating some unit studies for her kids and wanted to know where to start.  Since I tend to create our history and science units myself, I thought I’d try to share how I pull our units together. I’ve written a lot of related posts about homeschooling things like planning, preparation, assessing our long term and short term...

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Writing Workshop: Dr. Seuss Style

Yesterday I mentioned that we read the Sneetches (while talking about some of the lessons about the Civil Rights Movement: Civil Rights Movement Lessons – Prejudice Stereotypes Groups and More).  We talked for a long time about how it feels to be left out. We talked about fitting in and sometimes how it’s hurtful not to wear the right thing or look the right way. I told the kids a...

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Civil Rights Movement Lessons (Free Packet)

This is a packet I made for the kids to explore some of the deep, underlying issues of the Civil Rights Movement.  Here are some of the topics we are exploring: What are rights? What’s the difference between a right and a privilege? What does it mean to be treated fairly? What groups do you belong to? Have you ever judged anyone by what they look like (by their clothes?...

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Their, They’re, There – Its, It’s Free Practice Sheets

The kids need a bit more practice distinguishing between their, they’re, there and its, it’s.  Here is a quick practice page I made for them. I’ll share that in case anyone else could use the review: You can find these grammar worksheets here: their there they’re – its it’s Practice Pages Other free grammar worksheets you can download: Here’s another similar post that I made for the kids more recently: they’re/their/there, it’s/its,...

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Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott (Free Notebook Pages)

The kids and I spent quite a bit of time on Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. We read a number of books together and also watched two movies that helped bring these events alive. I made a few notebook pages for their history notebooks that you are welcome to download if you find them useful. They are free.:  Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott Free Worksheets  BOOKS:...

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Free Civil Rights Packet: Timeline of Events Leading to the Civil Rights Movement

Yesterday I shared the Civil Rights books we’ll be using in our Civil Rights Movement unit.  Before we go into a lot of depth about the events of the 1950s and 1960s, I wanted to make sure the kids really understood some of the history leading up to this period. I created a photo timeline of events to help my kids review (and/or understand) the events leading to the Civil...

Civil Rights Books and Movies for Elementary Kids 14

Civil Rights Books for Elementary

This semester we are doing a unit on the Civil Rights Movement.   I came up with a long list of books that we can read with this unit.  Most of them I found at our local library. I thought I would share the list I compiled in case someone else might find it useful: Civil Rights Movement Books you may want to read with your students: Elementary (these are...

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German for Kids – (Free Worksheets)

I didn’t talk very much about what we were up to with German this last semester.  With all my health issues it took a bit of a back burner for a while. I mainly had the kids listen to German stories on CD. We are using a German children’s book this year called Bobo Siebenschlafer  (affiliate link).  I bought both the book and the audio CD.  It has been just...

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Beat the Cold with these Science Experiments about Ice, Blubber and More!

Today many of the public schools are closed because of the incredible cold front that has come sweeping through.  I thought I should share some science experiments we did that might really get kids intrigued about the cold weather! Icebergs: Freeze water in a cottage cheese or large yogurt container. In one of the cartons you can place a wooly mammoth plastic creature if you have one! Have the kids...

Why Should Kids Study Languages? 1

Why Should Kids Study Languages?

U.S. students lag far behind in their foreign language capabilities compared to students in much of the world. The U.S. has a lot to learn from these countries. There are so many reasons to learn a foreign language. Learning a foreign language helps increase understanding of other cultures and introduces students to new ideas, customs, habits, and values. Put another way, learning a foreign language increases global understanding. It fosters respect...

You wake up on the weekend with all these plans… 0

You wake up on the weekend with all these plans…

only to find out that making a dog bed is on your agenda!!  ED decided she really, really had to have a dog bed for her pet puppy, Cookie. She and I put our heads together this morning, got out the fabric scraps, sewing machine and set to work! Now there’s a sense of accomplishment for 9am on a Sunday! It turned out pretty cute!  It’s fun to be a...

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Living-Non Living Montessori Cards

Today I have some free Montessori-style Living and Non-Living Sort Cards for you!  🙂  Use these cards to sort into living and non-living groups. Behind the scenes I’ve been getting things ready for our upcoming science units. ED will be doing a bit of animal classification review and I made some new cards for her. I realized, though, that if any of my readers have younger kids in the 2-4...