Author Archive
MUSIC REVIEW: Hope Harris, Cousins Jamboree
March 8, 2012 | 
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I am happy to say that after many months of no new cds to recommend (after many submissions), I’ve finally got another great kids cd to share with y’all!
Let me tell ya, I get a LOT of cd submissions for review…and VERY FEW are what I would deem worthy of a recommend. Some are just awful, most are just eh. This one is very cute!
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My advice to new homeschoolers
I recently posted this on an online homeschool group, in response to a mom that was just starting out at homeschooling and asking advice. She had mentioned that her son was concerned about not seeing his friends and she was having some difficulties getting him excited about homeschooling. After posting my response, I thought “Hey! That’s pretty good! I should keep that!” 
So I’m posting it here to share with other new homeschoolers as a sort of “words of wisdom” from someone who has been homeschooling a little while (NOT a veteran homeschooler, by any means!) and has learned some things…
I think one of the most important things us homeschoolers do is to connect with other homeschoolers. We all know how important this issue is and how silly the question of socialization is BECAUSE we are all VERY aware of it…and typically homeschoolers (especially those of us that have been doing it awhile) are very good at making this a on-issue by providing many social opportunities for our children.
Tags: BOOK REVIEW: Who’s That Stepping on Plymouth Rock
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This is a really cute, quick read about the infamous Plymouth Rock. It talks about the real story of that rock in a fun way. From 1620 to current times, the story of Plymouth Rock was really interesting for even me! I read this aloud to my kids in probably under 30min, and they weren’t interested in it when I started. But they were enjoying it as I got into it! Then afterwards, I Googled and we looked at actual photos of the rock and the structure that was created to put around it. Some day we’ll visit that area of the country and make sure that Plymouth Rock is on our list of places to check out. It doesn’t seem to be a big deal in and of itself, but added to a tour of that area, I think it would be fun to see. Even if it really wasn’t stepped on by the pilgrims (No one really knows! As the book will tell you!)
Big words from little kids
Ok not a BIG word, but it was impressive to me! My 6yr old just was discussing with us how to get the cat out from under the bed: “We need a string so we can lure her out.” Yes, my 6yr old said “lure”, and correctly! Gotta love homeschooling!
BOOK REVIEW: Many Creatures, A Song about Animal Classifications
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This is a cute little picture book that details all the animal classifications: mammals, amphibians, fish, birds, reptiles, and insects…to the tune of “Clementine.” There’s even a website that you can download the song for free off of: www.capstonekids.com/sciencesongs (among others).
Cute pics, cute song, cute book! Check it out!
Science, art, music timelines?
I’ve decided that I’d like to integrate as much of our studies as I can, around our history lessons…so I am in search of some good resources for science, art and music timelines…Any suggestions?
What I envision is sticking with our history books as our “spine” (for my daughter, that is the “History of US” series by Joy Hakim, currently the 2nd book…for my son, the “Story of the World” series by Susan Wise Bauer, currently the first book…And yes, I really want to have them both in the same book/time period to simplify things…but I’m not there yet, and that’s a whole different story for another time.) And with those as a reference, I’d like to add in the scientific discoveries/inventions and scientists of the time frame…art/artists/art periods…and music/musicians/musical periods. As relevant to whatever they are studying. Maybe even sprinkle in some mathematicians (as age appropriate).
Make a rain gauge out of a soda bottle
So I’m working on geography with my 6yr old, using a method that is supposed to be something Charlotte Mason would have approved of (it came out of the core book that I bought on this page)…and we need a rain gauge. So I thought it would be great to make one ourselves. And we just happened to have a 2liter plastic soda bottle (something we pretty much NEVER have, because we so rarely have soda…but just so happens that my hubby and I splurged on a recent date night at home.) …
So I let my fingers do the walking and Googling immediately turned up this: http://www.weirdsciencekids.com/RainGauge.html
VOILA! That’ll work! So I’m going to update this post after we get a chance to make it. I’ll post pics at that point.
I don’t expect rain anytime in the near future, but October is kind of a weird month in our part of California (Central Valley) so you never really know.
BOOK REVIEW: The Peaceful Classroom
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This is a curriculum book that no preschool teacher (or homeschooler) should be without! Each activity even includes what center it could be used at! (Circle time, Art area, etc.) It lists words that you can introduce to the children through the activity, as well as what to do, what you need, what to do for more, & involving parents! Age appropriateness is cited, and the table of contents breaks the activities into themes. A very useful tool!
The “Exchange Change” Game
Here’s a great game for helping children learn about the value of coins. I’ve successfully used this with my daughter in the past (she’s now nearly 11), and now with my 6yr old son.
I wrote out the instructions on an index card and saved it and all the coins mentioned in the instructions in a zipper bag with one die.
Here’s the game:
To play this game with 2-3 players, start out with 10 dimes, 6 nickels, and 15 pennies. The first player will roll the die and what ever number comes up from 1-6 they will take that many coins. If they roll a six they can take six pennies, but then they have to exchange 5 pennies for a nickel. After a few times of having to exchange them they’ll learn to pick a nickel and one penny. The next player will do the same and take the allotted amount. On the players next turn they take the allotted coins, but if they end up with five pennies they exchange them for a nickel and if they have two nickels they have to exchange them for one dime. When all the dimes are gone the game is over and all players count out their change. The person with the highest number wins. For the next level of learning money combinations add 10 quarters and then the next level you can add dollar bills.
Update on the Smith Family
Just wanted to pop over here and write a quick post to update everyone on our homeschool experiences.
This year, as mentioned in a previous post, we decided to try out a local homeschool charter. Let me tell you…this has been the BEST decision I have EVER made in regards to homeschooling! Its been everything I’ve ever needed/wanted, and then some!
What I needed, apparently, to get me to where I wanted to be, was just a little accountability. I’ve always done a lot of a things with and for my kids…but never was I happy that I was getting things in their path regular enough and working through specific curricula has just been such a struggle to stay on task. I was forever frustrated with what we WEREN’T getting done, that I really wanted to be.
