Holiday Gift Ideas for Homeschoolers

Looking for gift ideas for a homeschooling family you know?
Perhaps one of these 10 categories will help.

Or, maybe you have been directed here by a loved one, like your daughter-in-law. {Hi Ma! Just a shout out to my mother-in-law.}

Either way, read on for homeschool gift ideas. All items on the listing have been chosen for their potential educational value.

Books - Always a great place to start for the homeschooling family you know. The possibilities are endless with categories of all sorts to ponder. A few more specific ideas might be

• classical literature {Some books never go out of style. One online listing of classics is found here.}
• audio books {Jim Weiss has numerous titles available and his audio CDs are a favorite among homeschoolers.}
• nonfiction selections {Usborne, DK, and Kingfisher are some publishers to check out.}

Games - Most games have at least some educational value to them.

• classic games {Just like books, some games are always a hit. Most people enjoy Monopoly, Life, Checkers, Chess, and Scrabble to name a few.}  
• solitary games {Think Fun is a great company for solitary games with games like Rush Hour, Solitaire Chess, and Path Words. Other solitary game ideas include Colorku, which is Sudoku using color balls on a wooden board, Screwball Scramble, and Simon.}
• games for two {Goblet, Square Up!, Nine Men's Morris, and Fox & Geese will offer fun for two.}
• group games {Rummikub, Blokus, and Quoridor are fun for almost any age.}
• card games {A regular deck of cards can be used for numerous games, but some other card games like Phase 10, Blink, Skip-Bo, and Uno might be worth the purchase, too.}

Movies -

• classic movies
• musicals on film
• documentaries and educational {Some documentaries can become family favorites. I'll readily admit when my oldest was four, he was given two videos, and  I thought, really? However, over the years they have become favorites of all our children. What are they? The Living Desert and Play Along Games and Songs}
• biographies and true stories
• Netflix {Don't know which movie would work the best? Give a subscription.}

Toys -

• building toys
• marble mazes
• buildings {Castles and farms are two ideas.} 
• train sets
• household toys {Kitchen sets, tea sets, tool sets and the like are fun for younger children.}
• puzzles {Ravensburger and Melissa & Doug offer great puzzles.}

Science Kits -

• Chemistry {for younger scientists and for older}
• Physics {for beginners and advanced}
• Biology {Insect Lore has numerous kits to observe live creatures.}
• Weather {for the very young and elementary ages}
• Geology {Rock kits like this one could bring out the rock hound in any family.} 

Models & Craft Kits -

• Solar System {for the one who loves the stars - these can usually be found at craft stores and online}
• Moon {Moon in My Room illuminates the various phases of the moon by remote.}
• dinosaur bones {for the budding archaeologist - find one here and here}
• robot kits {find one here and here}
• transportation vehicles {cars and planes}
• weaving looms
• knitting, crocheting, and sewing kits

Memberships - Family memberships can be a gift that keeps giving.

• museums
• State parks
• zoo
• public gardens

Educational Supplies -

• globes and maps
• backpacks {Even homeschoolers cart books to and fro places.}
• pencils and pens {Most children like stylish pens and pencils, and they make great stocking stuffers.}
• erasers {Find one in the shape of a favorite character.}
• posters {Gear it toward their upcoming lessons or interests.}

Technology - In today's age, technology can be a huge blessing. Just be sure to check with the parents for what is acceptable in their family.

• graphing calculators
• e-readers
• digital cameras
• musical devices
• cell phones
• internet access
• notebooks
• lap tops

Time - The best gift of all may just be you! Giving of your time and talents will be greatly appreciated by your loved ones.

• volunteer at the co-op {teach one class, be a guest speaker, help as an assistant even for just one day}
• field trips {plan one, take the children for a day out, or offer to go along}
• read with a child {Select some of your personal favorite children's books to share. Read aloud to them, or have them read aloud to you.}
• bake or cook a meal together
• tend a garden together {plant, water, weed, harvest, shell peas, or can fresh vegetables}
• pick fruit together {maybe make jam or juice with the fruit}
• sew, knit, or crochet
• build something {A birdhouse, rabbit cage, or mailbox could be a useful construction project.}

No matter what you give this year or in the years to come, your sincere desire to help, support, and encourage a homeschooling family is the greatest gift you can give.

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Dorie and her drummer husband, Jerry, began their homeschooling journey over ten years ago. Currently, they home educate four children ranging from early elementary to high school. Dorie can be found at Homeschooling Just Next Door, Facebook, or Pinterest.

Should You Join?

Staring at the sign, we couldn't believe it.

Two choices were before us.

Either pay $125 for all six of us to enter the museum and take a guided tour, or
pay $120 to gain admittance for the day with the guided tour and become members for an entire year. Our membership would allow us to revisit anytime over the following year and take select guided tours for free. We would also receive two guest tickets with our membership.

My husband looked at me and said flatly, "We'll save $5 just by becoming members."

"But will we use it?" I asked trying to formulate some counter argument, because I just couldn't believe the pricing.

"I don't care if we ever use it. We'll save $5 by getting it today. Then, if we do want to use the membership, we can. It will already be paid for."

His logic prevailed, and we became members for one year. Over that year, we would visit two more times. On the second and final time, we shared our guest tickets with my parents and took a guided tour with them.

For our family, three visits to this museum over the course of one year for less than the cost of one visit was definitely worth the price.

And, honestly, this wasn't the first time we had gotten such a deal.

We've joined an art museum for a year We timed it to see three special exhibits including Rembrandt and Van Gogh exhibits. Not only did we see the special exhibits at no extra cost, we toured the entire museum of three floors and three wings over the course of that year, one wing at a time.

For several years, we were members of a public garden which we visited throughout the changing seasons. Our children became acquainted with numerous plants and trees, discovering how their appearances changed each season. The garden hosted numerous concerts, fireworks, and cultural events which we attended, because they were free for members.

One year we became members of a science museum. Two visits would have paid for the membership, but we timed our membership to overlap three special exhibits we wanted to see. At this particular museum, members received special pricing for these exhibits. Over that year, we saw some of the Dead Sea Scrolls, artifacts from the Titanic, and learned about espionage in addition to touring the regular exhibits.

A Few Benefits of Becoming a Member

• If used enough times, a membership can more than pay for itself {you must calculate the cost for your individual family}
• Special discounts or tours are often included in memberships
• Sometimes, your family can attend off hours or special hours just for members
• You can plan your visits and see portions of the facility. You won't have to 'see it all' because you can make multiple trips for the same price.
• Some memberships are eligible for a tax deduction (Please refer to the specifics of your membership.)

 

If your family is anything like ours, you don't have an endless supply of money. Where and how you choose to spend it are serious considerations. For each membership, we carefully calculated the financial cost. If we deemed a membership worthwhile, we then researched the best time to join. We want our memberships to be as beneficial as possible. From our experience, I have comprised a brief list of how to select memberships.

How to Choose Where and When to Belong

1. Know your family's interests. If you love paintings, then an art museum may be a great fit for your family, but if you don't it may torture to have to keep visiting an art museum.
2. Look ahead in your children's academic lessons. Will you be studying Ancient History? A museum of archaeology and anthropology may be a good fit for that year.
3. Discover museums in your local area which correspond to your family's interests or your children's academic lessons. Be sure to look for places you will want to visit more than once.
4. Narrow the choices by eliminating those museums which are too far away or too inconvenient. If your family won't, or isn't able to make the trip during the hours the facility is open, then a membership would be foolish. You'll never use it.
5. Research those museums or places on your shortened listing. What does each place cost for membership? What are the specific benefits members receive that one-time visitors don't? What is the upcoming exhibit or future show schedule? Is there anything on the calendar which you would want to see or do? Will these visits and events fit into your family calendar? Can you time the membership to view or participate in all the upcoming events you would like to see or do?
6. Do the math!* I cannot stress this one enough. It still may not be cost effective to join. Perhaps you can visit the museum on a free day, or take advantage of a coupon offer. Sometimes a better deal is available, and a membership is not necessary.
7. Eliminate the choices which don't work well for your family, and pursue those which do on your own timetable.

*When considering the cost of visiting, include the cost of travel, tolls, parking, and food. Also, if you will want some type of souvenir, include this into your cost as well.



All the photographs featured in this post originally appeared on my personal blog. They highlight a visit to a special event at our local art member. We were privileged to attend for free, not because we were members, but because the event and the museum were free to the community that day. It really does pay to research and calculate the costs.

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Dorie and her drummer husband, Jerry, began their homeschooling journey over ten years ago. Currently, they home educate four children ranging from early elementary to high school. Dorie can be found at Homeschooling Just Next Door, Facebook, or Pinterest.

Creating a Unit Study

There are plenty available. Just do a quick search and you are bound to find more than one unit study for the very next topic in your lesson plan. Some will cost you. Some are free.

One of them may just be perfect for you and your family. The topic, lessons, and activities are spot on. It couldn't get any better. After all, the work is done for you. You just have to implement it.

But what about those of us who actually want to plan our own? Maybe customize it completely? How do you plan a unit study?

Today, I'll walk you through a few quick steps to planning your own unit study. These steps will work for almost any unit study, whether it be a multi-subject unit study or a simple history unit.

How to Plan a Unit Study

1. Pick a topic. Perhaps you'd like to study a time period in history, a specific culture, or science topic. Maybe you would like to build a unit study around a book you will be reading with your children.
2. Find one main reference book, resource, or website. This resource will serve as a guide or starting point, depending how you choose to use it. Generally, if you want to build a unit study based on a piece of literature, this becomes your reference book.
3. Create a list of subtopics. Good reference resources can be used to glean subtopics or areas of further study within one main topic. Some can be used as spines for the entire study. Usborne, DK, and other books like them lend themselves well to this usage. Their typical one topic per two page layout easily creates an outline for more in depth study. Unit studies based on literature, might use elements from the plot, characters, setting, and author. For instance, a unit study on Charlotte's Web could include subtopics like farm life, barns, spiders, farm animals, rats, and fairs.
4. Collect {or create your own} ideas. Find books, projects, activities, and worksheets for each of the subtopics. Be sure to include ideas below, at, and above grade level. Generally, anything can be altered a little, and sometimes you may want an activity to serve as a review or a challenge for your child. In the past, before Pinterest, I used to collect all my ideas in a file. Now, I simply pin the idea onto a board.
5. Find field trips. List local places and events which could relate to one or more of the subtopics. Check into virtual tours as well. Sometimes it may not be possible to visit a place, but students can 'tour' it through a website.
6. Outline the order of study. It may seem backwards to place this step so far down the list. However, once you have the details collected, then you can decide which of the subtopics you'll likely spend more time covering or which are more important in the unit study.
7. Assign a schedule for the unit study. Judging by the ideas you have found or created, you can decide how much time to allow each one. Be sure to keep it flexible and include a few extra days for topics of interest. Children often want to explore a specific topic further. Allow them the freedom to do so, by setting aside extra time.

If you are creating a unit study which is cross curricula, then you will need to pay careful attention to include subtopics, activities, and field trips which are indeed cross curricula. Balance your unit study by finding or creating lessons which include all the areas of study you want to cover.

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Dorie and her drummer husband, Jerry, began the homeschooling journey over ten years ago. Currently, they home educate four children ranging from early elementary to high school. Dorie can be found at Homeschooling Just Next Door, Facebook, or Pinterest.

You Gotta Have Friends

We were five moms seated around two squashed together tables at Panera Bread one Friday evening. All of us, over thirty with multiple children, laughing like teenagers. Each mom had her own story to tell and her own story to live. But for one Friday evening those individual stories intersected in fellowship, friendship, food and fun.

Sharing from our hearts, we encouraged one another in this journey of motherhood and wifehood.

Interestingly enough, that night, the majority of women who gathered homeschool, but not all. Did this leave us at odds, resulting in an educational war? No, of course not. We weren't there to critique each other or compare ourselves to one another. Our hearts were joined in our common roles as mommas and wives. We were there to share, to learn from one another, and be encouraged.

As I returned home, I thought about how long it had been since I had experienced a night like this. Honestly, it had been a long time. Too long. I had needed this evening out with friends.

When the schedule gets demanding, finding time for an outing with other wives and moms can almost be impossible. Yet, it is vital that we try to connect with others in real life.

Having connections online is wonderful. This is not a bash or rant about online support. Honestly, sometimes due to geography or circumstances, the online community is the only support one can have. For those of us with no geographical issues, who are surrounded by other
families within a reasonable driving distance: this post is for us {because some days I need the reminder too}.

We need real life in our face momma friends.

We need another seeing with their very own eyes our mess and lovingly encouraging us anyway.

For you see, we all know we can hide our junk from the online world. We can crop the pic just so, give it the right angle, or change the tone of our words with editing. We can highlight our children's accomplishments, presenting an illusion that they never struggle.

In some ways, I agree with doing all of this. Love covers the mistakes of others. I am not in to publicizing my children's mistakes {Believe me, they make many. They take after me.} And, for the record, I tend to naturally be a positive person. My glass is almost always half full. I know, it is kind of irritating to those half empty glass people.

However, online interactions don't always offer what a IRL (in real life) friend can. IRL friends can tell from the tone of your voice the day you've had. They can see the weariness in your eyes, and come aside you to help. Sometimes, they can offer another perspective, because they have seen the whole situation.

If you don't have any IRL friends, then seek them. Befriend another. You may not 'click' instantly, but don't write them off immediately. We are each part of our own story, but a bigger and better one is written when our stories intertwine. Those other moms/wives are seeking to live their best story too - and that might just be where you find your first common thread.

~ Dorie

Oh, and if you make your way to Panera Bread one evening, try the Autumn Squash soup - delicious!

How to End a School Year

It's the end! Well, almost.

You and your children have completed, or are about to complete, an entire school year. Looking back, it has been a long trail to walk, but you have done it, together.

Whether you feel like you are sailing across the finish line or limping with a few faithful friends helping you walk, you will finish and this calls for a special celebration.

Ten Ideas to Celebrate or Mark the End of a School Year

1. Year End Presentations - Show family members and friends all your children have accomplished this year with a year end presentation.
2. Plan a Picnic in the park, backyard, or living room.
3. Serve a Special Dinner - Serve your child's favorite meal or go to their favorite restaurant to eat.
4. Make a Special Dessert - When our oldest finished Kindergarten, I made a cake to look like Green Eggs and Ham to celebrate.
5. Take A Trip - Go somewhere fun, like a baseball game or an amusement park.
6. Spend the Day Outside at the beach, lake, or pool.
7. Give a Special Memento or Gift to each child. Perhaps something that will remind them of the school year.
8. Have a Party complete with balloons, cupcakes, and friends.
9. Play A Round of Mini-Golf or Frisbee Golf.
10. Do Something Daring - Try out a zip line or climbing wall.

Whatever you choose to do, remember to take the time to celebrate!

Planning a Homeschool Year with Pinterest

Are you on Pinterest?


How do you personally use Pinterest?

• Do you pin great ideas to later incorporate into your homeschool lessons?
• Have you pinned full lesson plans or resources?
• Do you pin all of the homeschool ideas onto one board?

Whatever way you use Pinterest, it can be a great organizing tool for homeschoolers. In fact, last year, Sam wrote an article listing ways homeschoolers can use Pinterest to help find and organize ideas. You can read it here. I'll wait.

Personally, I use several of her suggestions. Many of my boards are set up for subjects, units, and special days.

The more I use Pinterest, the more ways I find to use it. I have even started using it to plan our next school year.


Using Pinterest to Plan for an Upcoming School Year

I know it sounds a tad crazy. It is only February and I am planning next school year!

However, I keep running across some great ideas which I want to remember for subjects we will be studying next year.

Not only that, I opted to create curriculum boards for each grade I will be teaching and another for multiple grade classes. On these boards, I pin curriculum or ideas which will be helpful in planning the upcoming school year.

I consider these boards my brainstorming. I add to them when I come across an idea or book I could use. My goal is not to have a million pins, but actual useful-to-me pins.

My plan is to have one place to store all these great ideas. Then, when I do begin the hard work of making actual decisions for next year, I can weed through the pins and decide which ones to include and which ones will not be used.




A word of caution: Pinterest has a lot of ideas and resources. One can easily get swept up in all of it. I try to pin only ideas and resources that my family could actually use and do. Though that trip to Australia does look mighty nice...and it is summer there now...

Making Mid-Year Adjustments

In two weeks, we'll usher in a new year.
With bells, whistles, toasts, and well wishes another year will start.
The new year promises much to many:
a new start
a chance to do things better
a fresh year

But, it isn't really a new school year for most of us. The majority of us will be about half-way through our school year when 2013 begins. However, just because you are half way through a school year, it doesn't mean you can't make any changes or make things better. It doesn't mean you can't have a fresh start in your homeschool.

In the following two weeks, evaluate your school year.
How is it going? Be honest.

Are you and your children in a comfortable routine?
Do they still have an excitement for learning?
Are your children challenged, but progressing well?
- or -
Have the days become laborious?
Is there more stress and strain than joy?
Is your schedule cramped, allowing no time for hobbies or free time?

Aren't sure? Ask your children. They will give you valuable feed back.

Perhaps your days are a combination of good and bad.
Some variation is normal. On the other hand, if you find your school year is slowly (or quickly) crumbling into a monotony of strain with no joy, then might I suggest you make a change?

Find out what is wrong.
Do you need to change your curriculum, approach, or method?
Do you simply need to slow down and find a better rhythm for your days?
Do you just need this Christmas break to refuel and refresh yourselves?

Make a change.
Take that needed break.
Alter your schedule or lesson plans.
Chose a new curriculum, approach or method.

Whether you need to make any changes or not, a mid-year review is always beneficial. After all, how will you know if your homeschool needs adjustments or not, if you don't evaluate it from time to time? A mid-year break offers an ideal time to evaluate and make adjustments.

Growing Independent Learners

In parenting, it seems like you almost immediately begin working yourself out of a job.
First there is potty training, independent eating, and simple chores.  Then, soon enough, your child is bathing on his own, making sandwiches, and completing helpful tasks around the house.  Each of these successfully learned lessons leads to increased responsibility and independence for your child. 

It is the goal.  Each child needs to become responsible and independent of you, because eventually your child will be launched into adulthood.

The same can be said of homeschooling.

From the first few months of homeschooling onward, you are working yourself out of a job. 

• Teaching a child to read and comprehend leads to individual pursuits of books and processing of ideas.
• Teaching a child to add and subtract leads to life skills necessary for budgeting, handling money, and business.
• Teaching a child how to write letters and words leads to creating reports, resumes, business letters, and essays.

So, why, when it comes to homeschooling, do many of us cringe at the idea of giving our children more responsibility for their own education?  Is it the regulations which clearly outline what has to be done and sometimes when?  Is it our own educational backgrounds which deemed the teacher responsible until graduation?  Is it fear of failure on our child's part?

Moving Children Toward Independent Learning

Teacher Led or Directed Learning -  In the very early stages of education, all learning is teacher led or directed.  You provide the lessons, materials, time, or experiences for your child to learn.  Maybe your child has some say over when he does math, or which books you read to him, but ultimately, you are still in charge of all his learning.  Lower elementary grades are filled with a lot of this type of learning. 

Teacher Facilitated Learning - After the child matures and learns to read, the teacher's role, while still important, lessens slightly.  The child is now able to read and understand increasingly harder works.  However, the child still needs you to facilitate his path.  You are still in charge of all his learning, but he is beginning to work on some of it by himself.  Maybe he reads a few of his lessons on his own and you help him through the troublesome areas.  You, his teacher, are facilitating his lessons, making sure he remains on task, and helping him progress.  Typically, the upper elementary grades are when a child starts to slowly take more responsibility for his own learning.

Student Led and Teacher Supported Learning - Once the student is able to begin directing his own learning, he should start.  He will still need guidance and accountability.  There will still be times when he has questions and needs taught.  You are not giving up your role as teacher.  You are simply allowing him to navigate through his lessons with your support.  Middle school is a perfect time to start transferring responsibility to your child.  Perhaps your child will begin using a syllabus for a course.  He begins to check his own listing daily, instead of relying on you to lay out his work.  Maybe he will transfer to weekly assignments where he must decide what is done on a specific day to meet these weekly deadlines.  Maybe instead of walking him through every step of a research paper, you simply assign the paper with a due date.  There are many different ways your child can begin to take the lead in his own learning.  However, your role is still vital.  You will need to hold him accountable, and when necessary help him get back on track. 

Independent Student - Eventually, this is the goal for all individuals.  An independent student is able to look over an assignment or course, break it down into smaller tasks, schedule the tasks, and complete them.  He can study for a test on his own.  He can research the answers to his own questions, checking various sources, navigating through propaganda, and discerning author's intentions and motives.  He can analyze statistics and studies, recognize when a publication is simply promoting an agenda, and realize which sources are dependable.



These stages of independent learning can be progressed through at different paces depending on the student, style of learning, method of homeschooling, etc.  Regardless of when or how your child becomes an independent student, who is able to learn on their own, it should be the goal of every homeschooling parent.  Someday, they will no longer be in your school.  Someday, they will need to teach themselves.  Helping them learn to become independent students now, while in your homeschool, will help them greatly.

Five Things I Wish I Had Known

...before I started homeschooling.

We have been a homeschool family for almost a decade.  Over these years, our children and I have learned a lot!  As their primary teacher, I have made mistakes and grown because of them.  Now, when a new homeschooling mom asks for tips or advice, I pause and think about what I would have liked to have known before I started homeschooling.  Today, I'm sharing my top five.


Struggles will happen, and it is OK.  These struggles help teach my children perseverance, persistence, and diligence.  Additionally, they help stretch my teaching abilities and allow me to become more patient.

There are many, many choices.  Pick and choose what is important to you and your family.  You can't possibly do everything.  If you later find out you made the wrong choice, then make a change. 

Homeschooling days will change as your child ages.  This is natural and logical.  You are helping your child grow and mature.  Their needs at age 15 are different from their needs at age 5.  Make adjustments to your schedule, plan, or days to meet their current needs.

It won't always look pretty and good.  Some days are hard and some are down right ugly.  Bad days happen in life, and they will happen in your homeschool, too.  Learn to evaluate.  Determine what went wrong and why.  Make changes if possible.

Your relationship with your child and your child's heart are of primary importance.  All other items, even academics, are secondary.  You will always be your child's parent.  Eventually, you will stop being their primary teacher.  No matter how long the days seem, the years will go by quickly.  Soon enough your little elementary student will be graduating from high school.  What kind of relationship do you want with your child in the future?  Start cultivating it now.  What kind of heart attitudes would you like to see in the future?  Start planting those seeds now.

As I glance over this listing, I wonder, what will my top five be in another decade?

Time Management Helps for Homeschool Students

Does your child seem to take forever to finish a day of school?  Does he/she get frustrated looking at a pile of work to be done each morning?  Instead of stacking the books beside or on the table, why not try a few of these organizational helps.

~ OR ~

Are you having a hard time keeping track of the work accomplished each day?  Does your state require you to journal each day, recording specifically what was accomplished when?  Perhaps one of these systems would help you.

1. Folder System or Box System - The work for each subject of the day is divided into separate folders or boxes.  The child progresses through them one at a time until all the folders or boxes are completed.  This works well for younger children and those children who are motivated by seeing a box or folder emptied.

2. Assignment Books or Check Lists - Older students may prefer a planning book of their own which lists what assignments are to be worked on each day.  The child can simply cross off what work they complete.  These work wonderfully for older elementary to middle school aged students.

3. Weekly Schedules or Monthly Schedules - Depending on your homeschool method or style, a weekly or monthly calendar may suffice for your student.  We have used these for chores, family events, field trips, and co-op days.

4. Syllabus - Sometimes, a semester or full year can be outlined in a syllabus form.  This is similar to a check list, but is for specific class.  Our oldest child uses a syllabus for his science co-op class.  It works wonderfully to guide him.  With it, he easily keeps up to date with his work.  A syllabus can be a great guide for middle school aged to high school students.

5. Time Records - For those homeschoolers who must know exactly how much time was spent on which subject, a time record is an easy way to keep this vital information.  Some people work within a spread sheet, listing the date, subject, what was accomplished, and time spent doing the work.  Other people use a planner and write the times within the individual blocks. 


What time management or organizational tools do you use in your homeschool?

Pumpkin Painting Ideas

Who says you can't incorporate a little pumpkin decorating into your academic work?

A few ideas for combining pumpkin fun and learning -----

• Literary Pumpkins (literature) - Create characters from a story, like Humpty Dumpty, or this familiar set of friends.

• Planets (science) - Do you have quite a few pumpkins? A whole solar system could be made with them.  Want to be even more technical, try to coordinate sizes.  Make the largest pumpkin Jupiter and a smaller one Mercury.
• Globe (geography) - Just want to paint one planet?  Why not try to draw the rough outlines of the continents and paint one pumpkin to resemble the earth.
• Georgia O'Keeffe style flowers (art) - Are you currently studying a particular artist?  Earlier this year, we learned about Georgia O'Keeffe and her large scale paintings.  When it came time to paint pumpkins this year, we simply turned a pumpkin over and painted one large scale flower similar to her painting style.

• Flags (geography) - Are you studying a particular country?  Perhaps you could paint a landmark or the country's flag on your pumpkin.
• People, Events, or Inventions from the Past (history) - Studying the American Civil War this year could lead to a painting or carving of Abe Lincoln on your pumpkin.
• Animals (science) - Does your child have a favorite animal?  Perhaps he would like to use his pumpkin to make one.  My youngest son is planning how to make a bat out of a pumpkin.  He has decided he will add black construction paper wings to the pumpkin.
• Patterns and Shapes (math) - Perhaps you would rather try something more basic.  How about painting a pattern of stripes or simple shapes?

Two Preschool Pumpkin Painting Tips -----

1. Encourage your preschooler to coat an entire pumpkin with glue using a foam brush.  Then, sprinkle glitter over the wet glue.  Allow it to dry completely. 
2. Securely tape a simple stencil or shape, i.e. a leaf shape, onto the pumpkin.  Ask your preschooler to paint over it all.  Allow the paint to dry and remove the shape to reveal the design.

 

Ideas for Before and After Painting Pumpkins ------

Before you paint, decorate, or carve your pumpkin, use it in your math and science lessons.  Measure the weight and girth of each pumpkin.  Conduct comparisons.  Observe your pumpkins in their natural state.  Are their many differences?

After, when the pumpkin starts to waste away, because they will, try using them for further lessons.  Cut them open and see what was inside them.  Or host your own "Pumpkin Chunkin" contest.  Encourage your children to build their own catapults or pumpkin launchers and hold a contest to see which machine can launch the pumpkins the farthest.



Looking for other ways to incorporate pumpkins into your homeschool days?  Perhaps a look through In a Pumpkin Shell, by Jennifer Storey Gillis, will offer you a few ideas.

Or, perhaps you'd rather just cuddle up with your child and enjoy reading a few pumpkin books?  Then this listing compiled last autumn by Beth will help you find a few good ones to share.

Preschool Creativity with Less Mess

It takes a long time.
The end result isn't always nice.
It makes a HUGE mess.

To all these statements, I agree.  Yes, it does.  Allowing a preschooler time and supplies to be creative can take a long time, the end result isn't always frame worthy, and it almost always makes a huge mess.

The independence your child can have is a direct result of you willingness to take the time, accept the less than perfect results, and clean up countless messes.  However, sometimes, it can be nice not to have as many messes to clean up while they are learning.

 

Learning to work with arts and craft supplies is a lesson for life which preschoolers can learn now.

A few ideas for helping preschoolers express their creativity with less mess...

The Skill of Cutting with Scissors:

• Teach your little one how to properly hold and carry scissors, and how to cut away from themselves.
• Allow them to cut paper into small pieces.  These pieces can be used for paper mosaic crafts later.  Or, better yet, give them the papers you need shredded and let them cut, and cut, and cut.

The Ability to Use Glue:

• Glue sticks and glue dots are less messy, but don't automatically ban the liquid glue.
• Teach your little one how to open and close the tops of the liquid glue.
• Show them how to use liquid glue in moderation.
• Teach them how to clean up glue messes, and how to rub their hands together to remove excess glue.
• Let them coat an entire page of paper and use those paper mosaic squares to create a design.

Sticking Stickers:

• Does your child cover the furniture, walls, or floors with stickers?  You could teach them not to, and give them paper or a sticker book for their favorite stickers.  Or you could hang a large piece of paper on the wall or door, and allow him to display his favorite stickers for all to see.  For the ambitious, create a frame about the sticker page with markers or a mat.   

Sculpting:

• Clay, Play-doh, or homemade dough messes can be immense.  Cover your table with a plastic table cloth before, or take it outside.

Building with K'nex or Lego pieces:

• Use a tray or cookie sheet with edges to contain the small pieces.  

Painting:

• Looking for a less messy alternative?  What about purchasing bath tub paints?  Or using water to paint outside?  Fill a can with water and use the brushes to paint any surface without fear of damage.

Do you have additional ideas?  Perhaps even a whole post?  If so, then please share your ideas or links in our comment section.   

Making Time for It All

The Bad News: Homeschooling takes time ~ lots of time.

The Good News: You have time ~ lots of time.
{If you homeschool from kindergarten through senior year, then you have 13 years worth of time.  During that time you will learn lots of lessons and complete many classes.}

So why are you trying to fit it all into one year?

In one week? 

In one day?

The Better News: Not every class or subject must be taught every day of every year.

How can you fit it all in?

First determine your essential classes.  What classes do your children need?  The bulk hours of homeschooling are filled with these essentials.  Only have time for a few classes one day?  Essential classes are the ones you will most likely complete.  Math and Language Arts are usually found on most need lists.

Next, brainstorm with your children about elective classes.  Which ones would they like to take?  What skills do you want to share with your children?  What opportunities are in your area?  Fill these classes into your schedule on a weekly or monthly time period.  Art, Music, and Poetry may be in this category.

Finally, the fun extras happen occasionally.  You can't always go on field trips every day.  However, you can go every once in awhile, and maybe even once a week, depending on your homeschool choices.  Decide what items, events, or extras your family wants to include over the course of your homeschool year, and make time for them.

 

The Best News: With a little planning, you can fit what your family needs and wants into your homeschooling days.

Creating a Homeschool Space

When we first started homeschooling, we lived in a house with less than one thousand square foot living area. We were very limited on space.  Our homeschool area consisted of a shelving system, our dining room table, and the living room sofa.  That was all we needed.

Fast forward eight years, and now we live in a house more than twice that size with a designated room for homeschooling.  It is a blessing.  However, you might be surprised to know, I don't think it is essential for homeschooling.  No, indeed, I know you don't really need a specific homeschool room to successfully teach your children.  And, you definitely don't need the cutest, most current organizational methods and devices which 'guarentee success.'  For I have witnessed many families homeschool with so much less, and dare I say it, perhaps have done a better job than those with so much more. 

The truth of the matter is...

To homeschool, you only need a few things in regard to physical space. 

Perhaps your homeschool area is a designated room or part of a room.  Maybe you see your whole house as a homeschool setting.  Or, for your family, the world is your classroom.  Regardless of your situation, you still have a need for a physical space for homeschool supplies, books, and important papers.

Three Essentials for a Homeschool Space, Area, or Room...

• Shelves or Storage Area - I think we can all agree that some kind of housing or location for all your books and supplies is needed.  Whether you store them all in one room or throughout your house in convenient point of use locations, this is one way to personalize homeschooling.
• Place to Work - Depending on your homeschool style and preferences, this place to work could be a desk, table and chairs, clipboards, sofa, or bean bag chairs.
• Box, Drawer, or Binder - Important papers like state regulations, lesson plans, attendance records need to be kept in an easy to find location.  You may never need to prove your child's homeschooling experiences, but having the documents in a secure, easy to find location, can be a benefit if you do.

Four Things to Remember When Creating a Homeschool Space...

• Organize your space to respond to the needs of your family.  Don't try to copy someone else's space.  Try any organization method you think will work for your family, but don't keep using it just because someone else recommends it.  If it doesn't work for your family, try something else.
• Remember why and how you homeschool.  These two factors will greatly determine how you set up your homeschool area.
• Your homeschool space can contribute to the success of your homeschool, but it does not determine it.  It can be wonderful to create an organized space or room of beauty and comfort to use for homeschooling.  It is a blessing to give our children {and ourselves} this, if we are able.  However, many homeschool families successfully homeschool with less.  The latest organizational gadgets or the biggest homeschool rooms do not guarantee homeschool success.
• What works this year, may not next year.  Homeschool situations change.  Circumstances, the number of children you homeschool, or the way you homeschool may change over time.  Your space might need to be altered to accommodate these changes.

Five Fun Extra Items to Consider Adding to Any Homeschool Space...

• Color and Patterns - Make your space a little more personal and fun with color and/or patterns.
• Containers - All sizes and shapes can help organize almost any homeschool area.
• Pictures, Posters, and Children's Art Work - Decorate your area with visual aids, pretty pictures, or original works of art.
• Animals and Plants - Live plants and animals can add vitality to an area.  Most children are fascinated with observing living things. 
• Unexpected Items - Just because a space is designated for homeschooling, doesn't mean everything in it has to be functional. Some items may be included for fun or beauty. 

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Dorie enjoys being outside, photography, art, writing, a strong cup of coffee, and good conversations seasoned with much laughter. She and her drummer husband, Jerry, share a life built on faith in Jesus, love, and grace. They have been blessed with four active children. Each day, whether easy or trying, is a wondrous part of this grace filled journey, and Dorie blogs about them all at These Grace Filled Days. Their homeschooling adventures can be found at Homeschooling Just Next Door.

Academic Progress at Their Pace

There is freedom in homeschooling.  We choose curriculum, or opt to use outside resources like classes, tutors, or co-ops for some subjects.  When needed, we can alter lesson plans to suit our families, or change directions when something isn't working.

In any given school year, many choices and decisions are made, but probably one of the most daunting responsibilities is determining the pace a child progresses through their academics.  As a homeschool teacher, you can allow a child to progress at their ideal pace for them, but what if this is far outside the norm? 

Typically, a child finishes the school year and they are promoted to the next grade.  They have completed satisfactory work and progress to a harder level.  However, not all children do. 

A child who struggles greatly may need remedial work or increased tutoring time over the summer break.  Perhaps, they need a different academic approach or some specific interventions throughout the coming year.  Lightening their academic load by concentrating only on core subjects may help.  Sometimes, they may even need to repeat a grade level in one or more subjects.

On the other hand, a child may excel quickly through their academic work.  This child sails through all your lesson plans, completing near perfect pages with very little evidence of effort.  Perhaps, they need a more challenging approach or a few extra courses in the coming year.  Sometimes, they may even skip a year to reach a more challenging level.

No matter what the situation, both children need their academic progress paced in some fashion. 

Regardless of what curriculum or method you use, the pace you employ is vital. 

A child who struggles should not be expected to complete as many lessons in as short of time as a child who excels academically.  We all understand this innately.  However, what about when your child only struggles with one aspect?  Maybe multiplication or sentence diagramming presents difficulty for your otherwise good student.  Do you progress at the child's pace, slowing down for their understanding, or do you press forward, trying to complete the curriculum on someone else's schedule?

Recently, I was reading through a book which cited the literal meaning of curriculum as 'to run a course.'  Wanting to determine the validity of that statement, I checked out the definition from Oxford Dictionaries on line.   This is what I found.

Curriculum - noun (plural curricula or curriculums): the subjects comprising a course of study in a school or college; origin - early 19th century: from Latin (see curricle)

Curricle - noun historical: a light, open, two-wheeled carriage pulled by two horses side by side; mid 18th century: from Latin curriculum 'course, racing chariot', from currere 'to run'

{definitions from Oxford Dictionaries}

Curriculum is the course set before the student.  There is an end in sight, but there doesn't have to be a standard speed.  Children walk it at their own pace, finishing as they are able.  As parents, who happen to be teachers, may we continue to encourage and lead them along the way to progress at their own pace. 

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Dorie enjoys being outside, photography, art, writing, a strong cup of coffee, and good conversations seasoned with much laughter. She and her drummer husband, Jerry, share a life built on faith in Jesus, love, and grace. They have been blessed with four active children. Each day, whether easy or trying, is a wondrous part of this grace filled journey, and Dorie blogs about them all at These Grace Filled Days. Their homeschooling adventures can be found at Homeschooling Just Next Door.

Summer Reading - Book Series

Summertime is a time for fun, games, playing outside, swimming, and relaxing.  For our family, it is also a time for reading.  We always participate in our local library's summer reading program and visit the library often to return and check out more books.  During these frequent visits, our children are given a bit more freedom in reading choices.  They have no assigned reading during summer, and often select books from series they enjoy to fill their reading logs.  Series my children enjoy include:

Book Series For Boys*:
Sugar Creek Gang, by Paul Hutchens
Concord Cunningham, the Scripture Sleuth, by Mat Halverson
The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien
Ten Boys series, by Irene Howat
The Hardy Boys, created by Franklin W. Dixon

Book Series For Girls*:
Little House series, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Nancy Drew, by Carolyn Keene
Ten Girls series, by Irene Howat
American Girls, historical series with various authors and time periods
Rachel Yoder, by Wanda E. Brunstetter

Book Series For Both:
Christian Heroes: Then and Now, YWAM Publishing
The Chronicles of Narnia series, by C.S. Lewis
Childhood of Famous Americans
Magic Tree House books, by Mary Pope Osborne
Box Car Children, created by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Book Series For Younger Readers:
Animal Friends, Janette Oke
The Lighthouse Family series, by Cynthia Rylant
The Three Cousin Detective Club series, Elspeth Campbell Murphy
Jigsaw Jones mystery series, by James Preller
Magic School Bus chapter books


* For the most part, these titles can be enjoyed by either boys or girls, but the two categories are for readers looking for a gender specific suggestion.

Please Note: Each title is linked to the series or a book in the series for reference and your convenience. 



What is your child(ren)'s favorite series?