Tag Archives: teaching resources

Considering the Moon

Psalm 8:3^“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place,”

Sunday, June 23 is the date for the Super Moon and an excellent opportunity to “consider the moon”. .

According to NASA, “The Moon will reach its closest distance to the Earth at exactly 7:32 am EDT (4:32 am PDT) on 23 June, but because it will be peaking in the early morning hours, both 22 June and 23 June will put on similar shows. So either day will be a good opportunity to see the larger-and-brighter-than-normal Supermoon.

This year the Supermoon will be up to 14% larger and 30% brighter than a typical Full Moon is. This is a result of the Moon reaching its perigree – the closest that it gets to the Earth during the course of its orbit.”

You can link to the full NASA article here http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/display.cfm?News_ID=44049

If interested in a moon unit study, I recommend the free lapbook resources Sun, Moon, and Stars. We used these last summer when we studied the moon missions. http://www.homeschoolshare.com/space_lapbook.php

For teachers and older students I recommend this article, The Moon: A Faithful Witness in the Sky. http://www.icr.org/articles/view/150/344/

This site has 200 “moon” related learning links! http://watchknowlearn.org/SearchResults.aspx?SearchText=moon&page=1

And for something a little silly and active try this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EEynvjfljU

betty jo

Flag Day

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“This flag, which we honor and under which we serve, is the emblem of our unity, our power, our thought and purpose as a nation. It has no other character than that which we give it from generation to generation. The choices are ours. It floats in majestic silence above the hosts that execute those choices, whether in peace or in war. And yet, though silent, it speaks to us — speaks to us of the past, or the men and women who went before us, and of the records they wrote upon it.” (President Woodrow Wilson)

Americans have been celebrating Flag Day since before President Woodrow Wilson declared June 14 to be a national commemoration in 1916. We will have a flag and pledge study day as part of our summer calendar studies and a jump start on our upcoming American History unit studies.

Below are the best links I found for our homeschool to follow as we review and learn about our flag.

US Flag Picture Gallery http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagpics.html

Flag facts, etiquette, quotes, and instructions on how to cut a perfect 5 pointed star from the Betsy Ross homepage http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/

About the pledge and why it is important http://www.buzzle.com/articles/why-is-the-pledge-of-allegiance-important.html

pdf for the pledge in sign language http://www.legion.org/documents/legion/pdf/signingpledge.pdf

Flag Day word puzzles, coloring sheets, and more printables http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/flag-day/printables/

Notebooking paper http://homeschoolhelperonline.com/holidays/flag-day/

Flag Facts, Activities, and more! https://www.franw.com/2011/07/united-states-flag.html

betty jo

The Great Barrier Reef

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June 11 is the anniversary of the discovery of the Great Barrier Reef (1770). Also, the third week in July is “Coral Reef Awareness Week”! Here’s the links we will be following in our homeschooling summer school lesson of the day (and maybe tomorrow’s lesson too).

About the reef from the Marine Park Authority of Australia http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/about-the-reef

Photo Gallery https://www.livescience.com/23611-image-gallery-great-barrier-reef-through-time.html

Lapbooking materials http://www.homeschoolshare.com/coral_reef.php

documentary here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_d3LFvc8HQ

It is going to be a “G’ Day” of homeschooling with this Great Barrier Reef Study!

betty jo

Attentiveness

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This past school year I added some character development studies to our homeschooling lessons. These studies have proved to be a great opportunity for our family. Homelife Ministries has wonderful family character quality guides. E and B found much to notebook and journal about and as a family, we found much to discuss, memorize, and put into practice. J, Z, and I made several lapbooks of the same studies from Homeschool Share. The Homeschool Helper Online has some good ideas for character studies, too. (Links are at the end)

I was able to include the subjects of Bible, History, Science, Music and Language Arts into each study making for simplified days with lots of time to pursue elective interests. These charactier development lessons were a welcome break in between topics in our usual history studies. We completed six such studies this past year. We will be adding more next school year.

“Pay attention! ” “Watch what you’re doing.” “Listen.” These are things parents say to their children on a regular basis. I know I say these often during our homeschooling days, whether it is during math, cooking, art, or whatever. If I would listen, I would hear the Father saying those same words to me just as often. Attentiveness seems to be an across the board kind of character trait that both my children and myself need to further develop. Attentiveness was good place to start with our new studies. Though all of our character development lessons were good, this one was my favorite. This one is also the most reviewed one.

This is J’s and Z’s attentiveness lapbook. I covered the back with clear contact paper so they can do the wordsearch puzzle with washable markers again and again.

Below are the free resources I used for this and our other character development studies. These are the links I’ll be going to again as we continue our lessons when our homeschooling starts back full time in the fall.

Hymns, Scriptures, application, examples, and science connections for copywork, notebooking, journaling, and discussion from http://www.characterjournal.com/ (scroll down a little bit then select the character quality from the list on the right sidebar)

Lapbooking and notebooking materials http://www.homeschoolshare.com/character_lapbook.php

A few more ideas from http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/character_studies.shtml

For other posts about character development https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/03/08/keeping-the-code/ and https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/03/10/calling-for-reinforcements/ and https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/05/10/but-he-has-a-good-heart/ and https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/06/10/1654/

betty jo

Happy Birthday, William Shakespeare

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William Shakespeare was born April 23, 1564. And, in his honor, April 23 is “Talk Like Shakespeare Day”! A couple of years ago, we learned about his life and works as part of our Renaissance Unit Studies. Below are online Shakespeare resources for today or any day.