“What do you want to be when you grow up?” I suppose that all of us were asked that at one time or another. You’ve probably asked a child that question yourself. I’ve asked my kids and this coming up week, I’ll be asking again. According to the Special Days in April list, this coming up week is “Explore Your Career Options Week”.
Below are the online resources that we’ll be using for our homeschooling lessons as we explore careers, the steps it takes to get them, and how much money they are worth.
As homeschooling parents, we have an unique opportunity to encourage our children about their interests, and developing talents. And, as the kids grow and mature, we can provide learning opportunities that are tailored to helping them prepare to use those interests and talents in their future, whether it be college, a vocation, military, ministry, or a just a job. Though the question, “What do you want to be?” is what we may ask, as homeschooling parent’s we have one to ask ourselves too, “How can I help them become what they want to be?”
The third Monday in February is set apart as Presidents’ Day in honor of the birthdays of our two most famous presidents, Washington and Lincoln. However, this is just one of several Presidents Days in our homeschool. As we work our way through American History this school year, we study the presidents as their birthdays show up on the special days calendar. Below are the links we go to each time we study a president.
We’ve been collecting these presidents layer books on a board. After this school year, we’ll transfer them into a file folder for easy storage and quick reviews.
Ice, Snow, Wind, maybe even Blizzard Conditions! The local public and private schools will be canceling for “snow days” but not us. “Snow Days” make some awesome learning days! Below is a great resource collection for winter studies whether you have snow or not !
Bring some snow inside for observation and experimentation.
A study of snow wouldn’t be complete without some research into the life and discoveries of homeschooled farmer boy turned scientist, Snowflake Bentley. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V1cxjcRXCw
15 He gives a command to the earth, and it quickly obeys him. 16 He spreads the snow like wool. He scatters the frost like ashes. 17 He throws down hail like rocks. No one can stand the cold he sends. 18 Then he gives a command, and it melts. He sends the breezes, and the waters flow.
Snowmen – Netflix has this award winning film. Our local library has it, too. We loved it, (some of the themes were on the mature side, but my younger boys did just fine with it) Here’s a preview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUq8VS6aa9U
Snow Week learning can still happen without actual snow!
“Grow Your Own Crystal Snowflake” Kits. – I used purple pipe cleaner sticks thinking the color would be pretty coming through the crystals. We thought the borax crystals were fun to watch grow and turned out quite interesting!
Add Crystal Comparison Experiments by making Epson Salt and Sugar Solutions. Of course you can make icicles instead of snowflakes. They fit better in smaller jars.
Snow Dough – 2 cups baking soda, 1 cup corn starch, 1 1/2 cups water. Combine all ingredients in sauce pan. Cook over medium high. Stir continuously until it’s the consistency of mashed potatoes. Move dough to bowl and cover w/a towel until cool. Knead well. Store in airtight container.
Sensory Cloud Dough – Baking Soda and White Hair Conditioner also Flour with Baby Oil works well – Just mix until the texture feel right to you
Put tortilla shells goes on the grocery list! These dessert snowflakes are fun to make and really yummy!
Cut round flour tortilla shells into snowflakes, lightly fry in oil then sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.
Homemade Crockpot Hot Cocoa is a delicious warm up to any snow day!
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz)
6 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Combine all ingredients in a 4-quart crockpot. Stir well. Cover and cook on low for 2 hours stirring occasionally. Top with marshmallows or whipped cream. Stirring with a peppermint stick is tasty, too!
We aren’t particularly “sports fans” at our house, but there are some sporting events we are occasionally interested in. The Olympics is our top sports interest. The 2014 Winter Olympics begins Feb. 7th. And, as it happens at my house, where’s there’s interest, there is learning potential.
I have been planning for a Winter Olympic Unit Study and been collecting a stock pile of links for our homeschooling lessons. I have some awesome resources for teaching during the Winter Olympic Games to share with you.
We aren’t particularly “sports fans” at our house, but there are some sporting events we are occasionally interested in. The Olympics is our top sports interest . The 2014 Winter Olympics begins Feb. 7th. And, as it happens at my house, where’s there’s interest, there is learning potential. I have been planning for an Olympic study and been collecting a stock pile of links for our homeschooling lessons.
While transferring the best of my link collection to this post to share with you, I received a request for help with teaching Super Bowl related lessons. And I think we came up with a pretty good, quick Super Bowl study.
I have some awesome resources for teaching during the Winter Olympic Games to share with you, but first, here’s some links for Super Bowl related lessons:
This week we began our Thanksgiving unit studies with a couple of Pre-Thanksgiving activities. Below are some of the links we followed as we both reviewed and learned about the early American Settlements of Roanoke and Jamestown.
For the school days from now until Thanksgiving we we will be notebooking, crafting, cooking, reviewing, and researching who, what, when, where, and why – everything associated with the Plymouth Colony. We will keep journaling pages and bulletin boards of what we discover.
Below are the links we’ll be using for resources as we travel back in time to visit early America over the next few weeks.
Plimoth Plantation “Just for Kids” Activities – Coloring, Talk Like a Pilgrim, Virtual Field Trip, History Detective, and more! https://www.plimoth.org/learn/just-kids
According to the special days in September calendar, the 19th is Talk Like a Pirate Day! And on our planner, it’s the last day of our pirate unit study that we have been working on a couple of days a week for the past several weeks. It’s been a fun and interesting study. Below are some of the resources we have been using.
How to tie knots was also a valuable pirate expertise, so we gave that a try as well. This site has step by step knot tying instructions http://www.netknots.com/rope_knots/
September 17th (1787) is the anniversary of the United States Constitution and the start of Constitution Week. So often we hear or read about “Constitutional Rights” and freedoms being debated, taken away, or altered in various ways.
This week my kids will be reviewing, researching, and notebooking all things constitutional so it will be clear to them just what our constitutional rights are.
Below are some of the resources we will be incorporating into our Constitution Week homeschool studies.
This song is from my childhood (from Saturday morning cartoons) and it is how I’ve always remembered the preamble to the constitution. This is also how my older kids have learned it. Now it’s time to pass it down to the youngest two. School House Rock – The Constitution https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EfnNUt_nwY&list=PLKt00sUUapAJAcxUs2rp75ymjPMki6noW
Mini posters of how a bill becomes a law, the Bill of Rights, and branches of government (you will need an account to get the downloads, but it isn’t complicated and it’s free) http://www.kidsdiscover.com/celebrate-constitution-day/
According to my special days calendar, August 28th marks the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.s speech “I Have A Dream” at the 1963 March On Washington.
Below are some wonderful free resources I found to create a one day mini unit study. These resources will cover the subjects of language arts, art, music, and history.
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I have that same dream for my five (not so) little children.
This was our first week back to full time homeschooling! It’s our 16th year of educating at home. We kicked off the new school year with waffles, (according to the special days calendar, it was International Waffle Day)!
No shirt, no shoes, no problem serving up a geography lesson.
We erased the ocean mural from our chalkboard wall. What a dusty blue mess! At least it cleans up fairly easy.
For history we learned about the explorers from the “Age of Discovery” as the introduction leading into our first unit study of the school year, “Pirates”!
Our first library check outs of the school year.
Z’s third day of the third grade!
A movie day with Veggie Tales, The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything, and a remake of Treasure Island.
J’s fourth day of the fourth grade! (Sorry about the blurred photo, but this kid was not able to stand still, nor the photographer, apparently)
These are the prettiest pickings from our science project garden this week. That’s not an apple, it’s a sweet red pepper. We harvested only a few tomatoes, but have dozens almost ripe on the vines.
I hope you had a good week and that the upcoming week will be even better!
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” I suppose that all of us were asked that at one time or another. You’ve probably asked a child that question yourself. I’ve asked my kids and this coming up week, I’ll be asking again. According to the Special Days in April list, this coming up week is “Explore Your Career Options Week”.
Still Learning Something New 