Brave: Unit Study Ideas

Brave was released on DVD yesterday. I know this DVD was highly anticipated by my little girls. We first saw Brave when it came out for my youngest daughter’s birthday. We all loved it. I have two girls that have hair like Brave so it was fun having so many comment on our way in and out of the theater. I saw a lot in the movie that I liked or at least much more I liked than didn’t like. I also thought the movie was perfect for a unit study. So, once it came out on DVD, I went … Continue reading →

Literature Study: Mary Shelley

Mary Shelley: Brief Biography Mary Shelley was born in Somers Town, London, on August 30,1797. Her mother was a feminist and philosopher who died 11 days after Mary was born. Her father, William Godwin, raised her and her older sister. William Godwin was a political philosopher that firmly believed in the rights of the individual. In 1814, Mary began a romance with a political follower of her father, Percy Shelley. Percy was married when he and Mary, 17 at the time, travelled through Europe with Mary’s stepsister. By the time they returned to England Mary was pregnant. The shame followed … Continue reading →

A Trip around the World

I was brought up with homeschool, and I have very fond memories of taking trips around the world. Not in real life, but on paper. First, we chose where we wanted to go. It could be anywhere—the sky was the limit. My favorite trip was to England. Then we would get a book about that place and decide what we wanted to see while we were there. Now, with the advent of the Internet, you don’t even need to go to the library—all the information is on your home computer. After we decided where we were going, we’d think about … Continue reading →

Learning Unit – Japan and Natural Disasters

We have all watched the news reports from Japan with horror and sadness. Some of us have children old enough to understand the ramifications, and some of us have children too young to comprehend. I suggest using this monumental event in our world’s history as a study unit in our homeschools. Geography –pull out maps or our globe and discuss where Japan is, what its major cities are, and learn what other countries surround it. Social Studies – learn about the culture of Japan and what makes it such a strong, proud country. Learn to make some traditional Japanese dishes … Continue reading →

Books for Kids Who Love to Take Care of Animals

Right now, the room behind me is full of the sounds of chirping. There are the chicks, the little ones whom we’ve been incubating for three weeks. Over the last couple of days they have been hatching, and it’s been wonderful. My daughter loves to take care of animals, although I do need to manage the overall care of all of our pets. We also enjoy books about kids who love animals. If your child also wants to be a vet or a wildlife rescue person, here are a few books that you might like to read. The Salamander Room … Continue reading →

The Very Hungry Caterpilar Unit Study

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle is a much loved book by little ones and parents alike. In fact, it was my son’s favorite book when he was little. This book is beautifully illustrated and teaches lessons that you can apply to your little student’s homeschool curriculum. If you intend on teaching from a literature based approach or simply want to add in book studies or unit studies to keep your child interested, here is a way to incorporate use this book for those purposes. A great choice for a number focus for this book is seven based on … Continue reading →

Keeping An Art Journal

Notebooks are a wonderful way to keep track of science, language arts, history, creative writing, and other assignments. It keeps things neat and tidy, and there aren’t loose papers all over the place. I quickly discovered that having one big three-ring binder filled with notebook paper and dividers just didn’t work out well. The papers often tore out and they were heavy and clumsy for my kids to use. Instead, by purchasing color-coded notebooks and writing each child’s name on the front with a big permanent ink marker, it kept things more organized. My kids didn’t feel as overwhelmed as … Continue reading →

History Across The Curriculum

In previous posts I mentioned how I try to get as much “across the curriculum” learning out of a subject as I can. Why have separate reading, history, art, writing, and science projects when you can take one subject you’re studying and make it work for all areas? This is being frugal with your time and kids can really immerse themselves in the topic at hand rather than having their minds jump from one completely different subject to another. Another positive aspect of taking one topic and applying as many assignments to it as possible is that you can often … Continue reading →

Why Drama is Important in Homeschooling

As I mentioned in the last homeschool blog post, Carnival of Educators -Drama Club Edition, I am in the middle of tech week for my kids Drama Club which is an extention of their once a week homeschool program. As a quick refresher, my kids attend Artios Academies which is a once a week homeschool program where kids learn about a different time period each year through the arts. (This post explains the program in more detail. You may notice there was a name change for the “school” my kids attend.) They study visual art, music, drama, dance, etc, of … Continue reading →

What are you teaching on Inauguration day?

I realize that Barack Obama was not the presidential choice for homeschoolers as a whole. Read: Homeschool Legal Defense Association Stands against Obama Homeschoolers Worry about Obama Will President Obama have a Negative Effect on Homeschooling Still, the fact is that Barack Obama is becoming the 44th President of the United States and that this change of hands is worth noting. In my kids homeschool circles, they tell me that other kids spend a great deal of time complaining about Barack, even now that the election is over. This clearly comes from the households. While I don’t condemn anyone for … Continue reading →