Using Paper Dolls in History

As part of our The Good & The Beautiful History Year 2 curriculum, I read aloud from a chapter book of historical fiction for whichever time period we are studying (ancient history, Middle Ages, explorers, modern history). We have discovered that paper dolls are a great addition during history read aloud time! I have several…

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A Blessed Friday

It is an absolutely beautiful Friday! We spent the morning doing our Friday school work, but then spent a couple of hours outside in the sunshine this afternoon. Does it get any better than beautiful spring Fridays when homeschooling? We began our day with an ending. We read the last story in our "Kingdom Tales"…

Artist Study: Georgia O’Keefe

(The included Amazon links are affiliate links. If you use the links to make a purchase, you help to support this blog. Thank you!) Last summer, when I asked my kids what electives they would like, my youngest replied, "Art!" We had used the World's Greatest Composer study from Confessions of a Homeschooler last year…

Nature Study resources for Texas homeschoolers

Nature study is one of the coolest things about homeschooling and one of our favorite weekly activities. We go on a hike around the neighborhood or an area park and look for something: wild flowers, clouds, trees, acorns, insects, birds, animal tracks, rocks, or fossils. We talk about weather, life cycles, ecosystem, man's effect on…

I finally made my binding machine dreams come true

(The included Amazon links are affiliate links. If you use the links to make a purchase, you help to support this blog. Thank you!) Once we started homeschooling, we began taking stacks of printed pages to local print shops or office supply stores to have them bound into spiral books. Through the years, I have…

Making Plant Cell T-shirts for The Good and The Beautiful Botany Unit

(The included links to products at Amazon and Teachers Pay Teachers are affiliate links. If you use the links to make a purchase, you help to support this blog. Thank you!) We are still working in our Kingdoms and Classification science unit from The Good and The Beautiful, however I have started planning fun activities…

Things to Consider When Shopping for Curriculum

No matter whether you are new to homeschooling or a seasoned pro, there is a period of every year when the homeschooling parent must look forward to the next school year. Deciding on curriculum can be a daunting task. There are so many options: textbooks, living books, workbooks, video lessons, teacher-led, co-op led, etc. First,…

Adding in P.E. (Again)

(The included Amazon links are affiliate links. If you use the links to make a purchase, you help to support this blog. Thank you!) When school starts in the late summer, everything is fresh and new, including ideas for incorporating physical activity into homeschool. In previous years, we would do a nature hike or P.E.…

Simple Weekly Lesson Planning

Each year, about this time, I start thinking (i.e. planning) about next year. Big picture planning. Shopping for curriculum options. Scouring Pinterest. Dreaming big. The fun stuff. However, at the end of each week, I do a different type of planning. I grab my pencil and and a big eraser, and go to work making…

A Delicious DNA Model

I feel like we have had a little "model mania" in science lately. Today was a favorite though, mainly because it involved CANDY! Since we are learning about cells, I added in a lesson about DNA, even though our current unit is about classification and not genetics. First, we reviewed cell organelles and their functions…