Tag Archives: family

April Fool’s Day – Learning Resources

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April-Fools-Day2April Fool’s Day isn’t the type of holiday that warrants a day off from homeschooling lessons.  However, it is one of those holidays that can be a homeschooling lesson theme.  Here’s some resources for teaching and learning on April Fool’s Day.

History –  “As April Fools’ is celebrated in different ways throughout the world, it is unknown exactly how the tradition originated. Some cultures saw it as the first day of spring, celebrating with general merriment and feasting, and certain calendars may consider it the first day of the year. One theory for the terming of an April Fool was that some refused to follow these calendars that recognized April 1st as the first day of the year, which resulted in being called an April Fool.”  And more history and information from here  http://wilstar.com/holidays/aprilfool.htm

Bible –  Study of “the fool” based on Proverbs 26  https://bible.org/seriespage/fool-proverbs-261-11

Language Arts – Worksheets and Word Game Printables  http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/april-fools-day/printables/

Science – Videos and Experiments  http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/blog/informal-science-education/celebrate-april-fools-day-with-floating-paper-airplanes-three-cup-monty-and-the-dangers-of-dihydrogen-monoxide/

Math – Magic Trick instructions using numbers – http://easycalculation.com/funny/tricks/trick1.php

Yes! I have some googly eyes in the craft box. My kids look in the fridge about 100 times a day (hoping the food selection has changed?) . This will be funny!

1522066_528375657279404_2026485770_nLast year we had some fun pranking each other.  Here’s the resources we pulled some ideas from.  I checked, and it seems the links are still good.  https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/03/31/foolish-studies/

Have a fun day of foolish studies!

betty jo

 

 

Spring Cleaning

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spring-cleaning-road-signHooray!  It’s finally spring.  Now if our weather would just act like it!   So while we’re waiting for spring to actually make it’s appearance outside our door, we can get on that “Spring Cleaning” thing.  Our house NEEDS it.  Even though we “tidy” several times a day, it’s not deep, serious cleaning.  The windows, walls, corners, and baseboards have been sadly neglected for several months.

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I’ve found a couple of links to follow as guides as we work in some extra projects throughout the next week (or however long it takes).

Printable room by room cleaning check list  (there’s some items here that I had not thought of)  http://richlyrooted.com/2014/03/deep-spring-cleaning-game-plan-with-printable-checklist.html

Some times it’s best to separate during clean up instead of all of us working in the same room.  These task cards will work well for when we aren’t working well together.  These also will work well all through the year when we only have a few minutes “heads up” that company is coming.  Everyone draw a card and ready set go!   http://www.upsidedownhomeschooling.com/cleanup-blitz-cards-a-free-parenting-and-housekeeping-tool/

Over the past several months we’ve been making our own cleaning products.  I’ve counted this in with lessons in economics, chemistry, environmental science, home ec., and lifeskills.  If my kids were a little younger, math and reading comp would be lessons covered too.  This link takes you to  67 recipes!   http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2013/06/homemade-all-natural-cleaning-recipes.html.

And here’s a little more  to go with this spring cleaning theme.  “Why We Spring Clean” from a scientific view point, and some history and geography as the possible origins of spring cleaning are examined.   http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/home/spring-clean-in-spring.htm

We won’t be forgetting the music!  Cleaning is much more fun when there’s music!

Top 10 pop songs for spring!  http://top40.about.com/od/top10lists/tp/springpopsongs.htm

A few others with “Spring” in the lyrics.  http://www.songfacts.com/category-songs_with_seasons_in_the_title.php

betty jo

Learning Resources for St. Patrick’s Day

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For the past few years, we have spent a couple of weeks every March studying all things Irish and St. Patrick. Here are the wonderful links we have learned from.

Ireland and Irish Poetry with Notebooking, Copywork, and Activity Resources  https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/03/14/absolutely-no-pinching/

More St. Patrick’s Day Resources and Activities with Music, Dancing, and Language  https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/03/15/irish-prayers-and-irish-jigs/

Tour Ireland Virtually https://www.theirishroadtrip.com/virtual-tours-ireland/

St. Patrick, History, and Celebration Articles http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/subjects/stpatricksday.htm

This year we’re taking a different approach for St. Patrick’s Day learning.  Below are the links that I’ve found for us.

Science and nutrition resources for learning about cabbage from my friend Fran  http://www.franw.com/2012/03/cabbage.html

And, Fran has Shamrocks, too!                                       http://www.franw.com/2018/02/shamrocks.html

2 St. Patrick’s Day Math Lessons  –                                                 https://www.yummymath.com/2017/saint-patricks-day-march-17th/

Rainbow experiments                                                           http://www.weatherwizkids.com/experiments-rainbow.htm

3 Part Video Series, “The Irish in America”  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0sZ_j6WcyI

Famous Irish American Songs  http://www.irishamericanjourney.com/2011/10/irish-american-songs.html

Leprechaun Facts   http://www.livescience.com/37626-leprechauns.html

St. Patrick’s Day themed interactive games  http://www.primarygames.com/holidays/st.patricksday/games.php

We haven’t made a batch of play dough in years.  I wish we had a little one around, the St. Patrick themed mats look like they would be fun for a younger child.   http://www.blessedbeyondadoubt.com/free-st-patricks-day-play-dough-mats/

E showed me this photo from a Pinterest board.  We’ll make a few of these “Pot- O-Gold at the End of the Rainbow” jars as prizes for a follow the clues treasure hunt.  It looks like gold wrapped candy in the bottom followed with layers of M&Ms or Skittles and topped with mimi marshmellows.  Cute!

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Wishing you Irish blessings!

betty jo

Resources for Presidents

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3000348_origThe 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.

US President biographies, printables, word games, and more  http://gardenofpraise.com/leaders.htm

Disney’s The American Presidents short videos  https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=presidents+disney+education

President Quotes – http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/type/type_president.html

Online quiz for each president  http://www.quiz-tree.com/United_States_Presidents_main.html

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.

1383105_589757634439426_1467905323_n Presidents lapbook printables  http://www.homeschoolshare.com/presidents_lapbook.php

President Notebooking  http://notebookingfairy.com/president-notebooking-page/

And because Presidents’ Day is a special day,  here’s extras to take advantage of.

Is it “Presidents”, “President’s” or “Presidents'”?https://www.surfnetkids.com/presidentsday/349/how-to-spell-presidents-day/

The presidents on coins and currency  http://mistupid.com/currency/

For fun Animaniacs Presidents Song  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9KFoqK-yhU

Presidential Salary Math Lesson                                                           https://www.yummymath.com/2017/in-honor-of-presidents-day-find-out-about-presidents-pay/

Free Presidents’ Day resources and printables for all grades and most subjects                   https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Browse/Search:presidents%20day/Price-Range/Free

Arts and Crafts Ideas for Presidents’ Day  https://www.artistshelpingchildren.org/presidentsdaycraftsideakids.html

“Hail to the Chief” Presidential Anthem

Favorite Food of Every President                                                            https://www.wideopeneats.com/every-presidents-favorite-food/

Occasionally we’ll bake a cake on the president’s birthday we are studying.  Most any study is better with cake!

betty jo

Snow Week

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 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 !
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Why it’s good for us to get outside even when it’s cold –  https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2014/01/15/but-its-cold-out-there/
Winter Weather Science Lessons, Safety Tips, and Activities  http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-winter-storms.htm
How to Survive Winter Weather Preparedness Guide   https://thesurvivalmom.com/surviving-severe-winter-weather/
Bring some snow inside for observation and experimentation.
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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
 Bentley Biography, Photos, and exhibits

Snowflake and Snowman Printable Writing Paper for Notebooking/Journaling. (The kids tend to write nicer/better when we use decorated paper.  I appreciate these for not using much ink.)   http://www.teacherprintables.net/free-printable-bp-holidays.html

 Bible Focus –  Psalm 147:15-18

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.

Amazing and beautiful!  Macro Photographed Snowflakes  –http://www.natureknows.org/2013/11/amazing-macro-photography-of-individual.html

Fun Snowflake Resources, Activities, Recipes –
Winter Weather Themed Math  –  http://www.yummymath.com/?s=winter
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!
Printable Paper Snowflake Templates –
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 “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!
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1800413_584443411637515_1941961007_nThis is the recipe and instructions we used for the kits.  http://creativecynchronicity.com/2011/12/crystallized-snowflakes/
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.
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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!
Stay warm and enjoy learning with snow!
imagesbetty jo

2014 Sochi Winter Olympics – Teaching Resources

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Winter-Olympics-LogoWe 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.

The Official Olympic Website – http://www.olympic.org/sochi-2014-winter-olympics

Bible Based Olympic Discussion Guide for the Family – http://whatsinthebible.com/the-sochi-winter-olympics-2014-five-questions-to-engage-your-kids/

Olympic Themed Interactive Games for Kids – http://www.primarygames.com/socstudies/olympics/olympics.htm

Sport Event Coloring Pages –  http://www.classroomjr.com/olympic-coloring-pages/

Support Team USA with a snowflake and a photo  http://www.nbcolympics.com/sochisnowflake?aff=wwlp

Information about the 15 Sports of the Winter Games  http://www.mapsofworld.com/olympics/winter-olympics/events.html

Maps and facts of Russia –   http://www.mapsofworld.com/russia/

Meet the Team USA Atheletes –  http://www.teamusa.org/Athletes

Short videos showing how skis, skates, and curling stones are made – http://www.sciencechannel.com/tv-shows/how-its-made/videos/how-its-made-winter-olympics.htm

A Video Series of the Science of the Olympic Sport Events  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTVqtGTfIc8&list=PLB6B38A6C0540EEB6&feature=share&index=6

Winter Olympic article series from Time Kids – http://www.timeforkids.com/minisite/2014-sochi-olympics

Gold (Au79), Silver (Ag47), and Bronze (Copper-Cu29)  Information from this Interactive Element Chart – http://humantouchofchemistry.com/pages/periodictable.html

Gold, Silver, Bronze Element Videos  – http://www.periodicvideos.com/

Olympic Printables and Activities –  http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/winter-olympics

Teaching Resources and Printables for all grades and several subjects –   http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Browse/Search:winter+olympics/Grade-Level/Homeschooler/Price-Range/Free

Crafts and Games – http://www.makeandtakes.com/winter-olympic-crafts-and-games-for-kids

And finally, the 2014 Winter Olympics Events Schedule and TV Listings – http://www.nbcolympics.com/results-schedule

Know that I’m cheering for our homeschools to have winning Winter Olympics studies!

betty jo

The Winter Olympic Games, But First, The Super Bowl

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Winter-Olympics-LogoWe 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:

Football Music – lesson plans and songs  http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/multimedia/series/AudioStories/touchdown-songs.aspx

Football Science Video Collection –  http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/football/index.jsp

Football Rules –   http://www.nfl.com/rulebook/beginnersguidetofootball

Graphing Math Activity for younger students – http://www.2teachingmommies.com/2014/01/graphing-through-super-bowl.html

And More Football Math –  http://illuminations.nctm.org/Lesson.aspx?id=872

Super Bowl Printables, Crafts, and Activities – http://www.dltk-kids.com/searchresults.html?q=superbowl

Super Bowl Party Games – http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/super-bowl-sunday/

Kid Friendly Super Bowl Recipies – http://chefmom.sheknows.com/articles/822383/kid-friendly-super-bowl-foods

My family’s favorite part of the Super Bowl – Super Bowl Commercials – http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=super%20bowl%20commercial%202014&sm=1

And now, here’s the list of my favorite 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics resources:

The Official Olympic Website – http://www.olympic.org/sochi-2014-winter-olympics

Olympic Themed Interactive Games for Kids – http://www.primarygames.com/socstudies/olympics/olympics.htm

Sport Event Coloring Pages –  http://www.classroomjr.com/olympic-coloring-pages/

Support Team USA with a snowflake and a photo  http://www.nbcolympics.com/sochisnowflake?aff=wwlp

Information about the 15 Sports of the Winter Games  http://www.mapsofworld.com/olympics/winter-olympics/events.html

Maps and facts of Russia –   http://www.mapsofworld.com/russia/

Meet the Team USA Atheletes –  http://www.teamusa.org/Athletes

Short videos showing how skis, skates, and curling stones are made – http://www.sciencechannel.com/tv-shows/how-its-made/videos/how-its-made-winter-olympics.htm

Winter Olympic article series from Time Kids – http://www.timeforkids.com/minisite/2014-sochi-olympics

Wordsearch, Crosswords, and more printables   http://homeschooling.about.com/od/freeprintables/ss/olympicprint.htm

Olympic printables and activities –  http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/winter-olympics

26 teaching resources for all grades and several subjects  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Browse/Search:winter+olympics/Grade-Level/Homeschooler/Price-Range/Free

Happy Sporting and Happy Learning!

betty jo

But, It’s Cold Out There!

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The beautiful days of autumn we spent learning outdoors are only a memory.  The warmth and freshness of spring is only something hoped for.  Nature study and outdoor play are important aspects of our home educating, however I normally would plan outside learning during the warmer months. Honestly, with the days being so cold, damp, and grey,  I prefer to keep our homeschooling indoors.  (Unless there’s snow!  Snow makes wonderful hands- on studies, but that’s another post for another time! https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2014/02/07/snow-week/ )

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Coats, hats, gloves, double socks… can be a bit of a burden to keep up with and just adds more height to Mt. Laundry.  Not to mention the cleanup from wet and dripping boots that make puddles across the hard wood floors.  It is difficult to plan anything outdoors in advance this time of year with wet weather, runny noses and coughs,  crafting and baking to do, excuse after excuse.

The Surprising Benefits of Outdoor Education has convinced me to get our family outside on every possible occasion regardless of my winter themed excuses to stay in.  Spending time outdoors is good for us in any season.  It’s good for our bodies.  It’s good for our brains.  It’s good for our schooling.  https://www.learningliftoff.com/the-surprising-benefits-of-outdoor-learning/

Nature crafts and projects are still possible in the winter months.  I love this idea for a frozen door hanger made from items collected from a nature walk.  https://www.kcedventures.com/blog/winter-craft-creating-nature-art-with-ice

And this suet log  (peanut butter can be substituted) will keep the birds hanging around.  We put our bird feeders in front of our big window so that our nature observation continues once we’re back inside   http://snapguide.com/guides/make-a-suet-log-bird-feeder/

We’ve found lots of fun winter time activity ideas here http://www.naturedetectives.org.uk/winter/

I’m thinking now would be a good time to set up a new weather center.  (Our last one washed away during a flash flood)  The resources we used last time were great.  We will get our homemade weather instrument instructions from here again  http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-experiments.htm

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And something for a little added music while we’re in search of matching gloves and extra socks or for warming up when we come back indoors …

 

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But go out anyway!  But if you just can’t, here’s some activity ideas for inside.

A “Homeschool Mom Approved” Youtube Excercise Playlist (for when we can’t get outside)   https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2014/01/10/get-up-and-move-a-break-time-playlist/

25 Fun Activities You Can Do Inside When It’s Cold Outside!  https://www.franw.com/2017/12/25-fun-activities-you-can-do-inside.html

betty jo