Tag Archives: homeschooling

Aviation Week Learning Resources

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aviawk

According to Special Days in August , “Aviation” is one of this month’s themes.  And, “Aviation Week” is the week with the 19th.   The reason behind “Aviation Week” is in celebration of the accomplishments of Orville Wright who was born Aug. 19, 1867.

The following links are to the online resources and activities to learn about the Wright Brothers and aviation.

A biography of the Wright Brothers along with printables – http://gardenofpraise.com/ibdwrigh.htm

Learn about the Wright Brothers. See their house and shop as well as their famous flight in Kitty Hawk, NC. with this old and brief educational movie.  http://www.havefunwithhistory.com/movies/wrightBrothers.html

We’ve been watching some of the animated series Adventurers – Masters of Time so we’re excited to see a Wright Brothers episode  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJud1QjUvo8&list=PL608A5B35B7419A93&index=15  If you haven’t seen these before, I recommend you start with the first episode so you’ll understand the theme, then you can skip around to match them with your studies.

Aviation history timeline, projects, and more for kids –  http://www.aviation-for-kids.com/

Exhibits from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum  http://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/

Airplane parts and functions – http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/k-12/airplane/airplane.html

Victory Through Air Power – by Walt Disney – A History of Flight from the Wright Brothers to  WW2 Aerial Defense Campaigns –  (produced in the1940s, this contains some war propaganda that may seem wrong by today’s standards, but adds another historic learning element.)

 

Step-by-step instructions and videos of varying levels of difficulty for folding paper airplanes  – http://www.foldnfly.com/#/1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-2

A Bible based lesson which uses paper airplanes as a object lesson http://www.christianitycove.com/youth-bible-study-lessons-object-lessons/854/

Awesome links to aviation themed interactives  and games  http://www.2learn.ca/kids/listSciG6.aspx?Type=57

Airplane coloring pages and craft projects  http://www.artistshelpingchildren.org/artscraftsideaskids/coloringpages/airplanescoloringpages.html

Airplane Party Ideas 

So often I feel that our learning plans for a week are left “up in the air” and we just follow where the week takes us….

However, this time “up in the air” is all planned out!

betty jo

 

Current Events Resources

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Current-Events-Snapshot

“Oh, you homeschool?  Your children won’t know about the real world…”  Blah, blah, blah.

As home educators we have a huge advantage when it comes to teaching world events as they unfold.  We are not limited to only an occasional news study.  We are not tied to a lesson plan that leaves no room to learn about something important happening.  Homeschoolers (for the most part) are highly aware of the “real world”.

For our family, world current events always has a part in our weekly studies.  Current events lessons can inspire prayer projects, set the stage for discussions/debates,  lead to geography/culture studies, and make great essay/report assignments.  It’s so very important for all of us to know what’s happening in the world.  Even as we “shelter” the children,  through current events studies they will gain knowledge of the world.  Also, they will understand some of the reasons why we are “sheltering” them.

For record keeping purposes, current events counts towards social studies and will often include other subjects such as reading comprehension, geography, arts, science, history, politics, and religion, too.

This past week  I was asked to share some resources for adding current event studies to the homeschooling curriculum.  Below are the links  to free online current events sites for kids .  The ones with the * in front of them are sites that our family frequently uses, the others were recommended by other homeschoolers.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/

http://www.cnn.com/studentnews/

*  http://www.timeforkids.com/

*  www.studentnewsdaily.com

* http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/news/

*  http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/

*  http://www.youngzine.org/

*  http://www.dogonews.com/

http://magazines.scholastic.com/

http://news.discovery.com/adventure/tags/kids.htm

http://htekidsnews.com/

K-12 Current Event Resources from the Smithsonian  http://tweentribune.com/

Daily News Videos for Kids (You can view without signing up, but sign up is free and you can receive more resources.)  http://www.channelone.com/

And here’s a couple of  additional links we like to follow with our current event studies.  Sometimes we just need some good news or at least know what those of Christian faith are actively doing about the bad news.  (Sometimes I choose not to include the younger boys, as the articles can occasionally be mature and graphic.)

*  http://www.persecution.com/

*  http://www.samaritanspurse.org/

*  http://gospelforasia-reports.org/

There’s a few free current event printable worksheets and templates to choose from  here (you’ll need an account, but it’s free and a site that will be good to have for resources for any subject or grade level)  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Browse/Search:current+events/Grade-Level/Homeschooler/Price-Range/Free

For updates and articles concerning teaching, parenting, and education, The Native Speaker’s Academy has awesome weekly posts.  http://us5.campaign-archive1.com/?u=8fb495371ca5be23e1601ecc0&id=44fb271459&e

Do you have a favorite resource for current event studies?  Do you have a neat way your family includes current events into the homeschooling week?  Please share in the comments, inquiring minds will want to know!

betty jo

A New Kid, Birthdays, and Year End Events

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It’s been a few months since I’ve actually written a post about our family and our homeschool.  Normally, that would mean that all is just mundane and not blog or photo worthy.  However, that’s not what my blog absence has been about,  I haven’t been able to find the time to share about all that’s been going on.  Today, I’ll try to fill you in some.

First, let me introduce you to MJ!  She’s our family’s new job.  Actually, she is a homeschool girl who is with us four days a week for tutoring while her grandmother works.  These photo are of her and Z at the last homeschool fieldtrip of the school year, Stewardship Day at Shawnee National Forest.

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We have a new chalkboard wall mural that goes along with our Lewis and Clark, Oregon Trail, and Westward Journey studies.

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We’ve been working on improvements to our key hole garden.  The stone looks wonderful and made the best Mother’s Day present!  The flowers are quite nice, too.

10352584_636762289738960_4574333442912914450_n 1920199_636762126405643_399865237555379097_nThis next photo is E and B with SALT, (our homeschool support groups drama co-op) at the final performance of the year.  And, it’s sad that this was E’s very last performance with them.  Now that she’s graduating, she’ll not be in the troop.  Being involved with creative ministries and drama certainly has been one of her favorite activities of her homeschooling career.

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And, here’s a few of the pics from the spring formal.

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Both of my youngest boys had birthdays!  Z turned 9 and J turned 11.

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These next photos are of Silver Lining (homeschool color guard) at their spring show, “Storms of Life”.  Though, this was E’s last performance with them, she is planning to stay involved with the group as an assistant coach.

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1625591_628980850517214_1221519875084586621_nAnd Silver Lining’s honor and awards banquet

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There’s just one more event to add to this year’s homeschooling year, graduation and achievement night.  The plans are set and all will be ready for the big night, this coming up Friday.   I’ll be sure to share those photos then.

betty jo