I cannot believe that next week ends my son’s high school years. He will be graduating and moving on with his adult life. I honestly cannot believe we made it all the way through high school.
I promised myself that when we started this journey that I would see it through all the way. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would actually make it.
We started this journey in 6th grade, and while times have been tough and I have wanted to pull my hair out (especially when we were doing Math), I can say that I would not trade it for anything in the world.
Because we are finishing school, it’s time for a graduation celebration. Not sure how to put one of those on for your graduating homeschooler? Here are some tips that I have done to prepare for my son’s graduation party!
- Get a list of all of his closest friends: You will definitely want to invite all of his closest friends to his graduation party. Make a list of them now and start calling all of them.
- Set the date and time: Make sure to choose a date that is not a conflict with your teen. Be sure to check with jobs, social life, etc. Nothing would damper a party more than to have your teen be busy the night you plan his party.
- Cook his favorite foods: This party is all about him or her so be sure to make their favorite foods.
- Create a story board of their life: This is always my favorite things to put together. Kayla and I are working on Robert’s this week that will include tons of pics of him growing up. I know I am seriously gonna cry — I hope not.
Robert and some of his closest friends.
- Graduation Diploma: Present your teen with their very own diploma. You can go as fancy as you want or as simple. I looked online and found some for around $50, but settled on one for around $15 that looked as amazing as the other one.
- Graduation video: Choose their favorite song and put together a graduation video.
- Fun, Fun, Fun: Plan for an evening of fun — basketball, the movies, bowling — whatever seems fun to your graduate — go for it!
Those are my tips for planning a very fun graduation party for your teen. What tips do you have for graduation?
Who’s excited about Monsters University that comes out next month? I know I am? If you have any little ones at home, check out the free printables to go along with the movie.
Simply click on each photo to download the pdf for your little monster. Hope they enjoy the fun. 
“Like” MONSTERS UNIVERSITY on Facebook: http://facebook.com/PixarMonstersUniversity
“Follow” Disney/Pixar on Twitter: @DisneyPixar
Visit the website: http://www.Disney.com/MonstersU
MONSTERS UNIVERSITY comes to theaters on June 21st!
Note: No compensation was received for sharing these kid-friendly activity sheets from Disney/Pixar.
With all of the tragic events that have happened over the last couple of years, many children might have their faith and lives shaken up. In a world that is so uncertain to begin with for kids, it can be even more uncertain when tragic things happen. If you are a teacher, many times, you are the the first adult a child will come into contact with when tragedies around the world strike. Many of these tragedies happen while they are at school, so here are some tips on how to talk to your students about tragedy.
- Setting Their Fears to Rest: Many kids will become fearful and act out because they hear things on the news. Be sure to reassure them that they are safe and you will do your utmost best to protect them at all costs. As long as they child feels secure, they will be fine.
- Find Out Exactly What They Know: Instead of sharing all the details that you have seen on the television or the news, ask them what they have heard. This way, you can help field the info that they do know and leave out any gory details that they may not need to hear.
- Give a Simple Explanation: Many parents shield their children from details such as tragedy, so do your best to share a simple explanation — just enough to get them through the school day so that their parents can talk to them in depth when they get home.
- Listen to a Child If They Need to Talk: Many children just need to talk through what they have seen. Be sure and listen and again reassure them that they are safe with you and that you will protect them.
- Remind Them That Not Everyone Is Bad: Remind the child that not everyone is bad, just some people have problems which cause them to do bad things. This way, the child does not think that everyone he or she comes in contact with is bad.
For more tips like these, visit a new website that I recently discovered — TeachHUB.com.
I spent some time browsing the Teachhub.com website and found a lot of great information that would have come in handy when I was teaching in public and private school before. TeachHUB.com provides the latest in education technology, news and tools. It’s a great free resource for all K-12 teachers.
TeachHUB.com is a free resource for teachers and parents who want the latest in education news and technology. You can see the latest articles from TeachHUB by subscribing to their Facebook page or following them on Twitter.
Teachers can find encouragement from other real teachers, but they can also find lesson plan ideas, articles that will help them cover topics in their classroom and find new ways to teach those sweet little children that rely on them every day.
A Really Cool Infographic
TeachHUB.com recently put together an infographic on things that kids want in the classroom. I was pleasantly surprised at the things that kids wanted and loved from school. Take a look below:
Be sure to visit the TeachHUB.com website today to gain encouragement for yourself and to find tips, tools, and ideas for teaching the children in your life. Homeschool Moms could definitely find this site helpful as well.
I was selected for this opportunity by Clever Girls Collective, and content and opinions expressed here are all my own. To learn more about the TeachHUB.com, visit their website. #CleverTeachers #NLW13
I live in Kentucky, so it is definitely a must that this year, my daughter and I might catch the Kentucky Derby when it comes on. It usually happens the first Saturday in May. While I won’t bet on the Kentucky derby I thought I might use this time to teach my daughter some things about horses and make some delicious well known food in the state of Kentucky.
To some, horse racing is about betting and money, but to “horse-people”, like my daughter — it is all about the horses. She has loved them since she was a little girl. I started doing some research online to see what I could find and here is what I came up with:
- Homeschool Share has a great lapbook study on The Kentucky Derby.
- Tip Junkie lists 23 different party ideas for the Kentucky Derby.
- Teach.com has lots of resources such as songs, recipes, crafts, and more to learn about the Kentucky Derby.
- Follow the daily prep for the Kentucky Derby by visiting the site.
- Make your own crazy Kentucky Derby party hat — the hats are always a treat to look at.
I think we are going to have a lot of fun learning about the derby and how it got started as well as creating some yummy recipes! On the menu, we are going to work on making Kentucky Hot Browns, a non alcoholic Mint Julep, a new version of tea (because the south is known for their tea), and hopefully I will make some Fried Green Tomatoes.
We will also be spending some time at the library getting books about horses — and will definitely have to take a field trip to go riding!
How would you study the Kentucky Derby?
This is a guest post.
The idea of a child leaving the nest and attending college can be daunting for everyone in a family. Taking steps to ensure your child fully understands the application process, and is ready for the challenges and life-changing decisions ahead, will make a huge difference to how everyone copes. It’s best to start preparing him or her for college as early as possible, and prepping should be a constant and ongoing process. Here are a few tips on preparing your child for college.
It’s essential not to go overboard, but attempting to gently ready your college age child in the years leading up to a college application will make the whole process run more smoothly. Simple steps, such as encouraging him or her to manage homework efficiently, and to enroll in a small but varied selection of extracurricular activities before the senior year, will help teach the fundamental skills required to succeed at college, while also helping to build a natural résumé that has not been insincerely rushed together at the last minute. Your child’s future ambitions should also be discussed informally as they progress through the education system. This will help to give some focus to academic decisions they make. Remember some kids simply need longer to decide which path they wish to take, however, so don’t push.
2013 is the year to start applying for colleges. Your child should be sure to apply for several different institutions to keep options open, even if there is a clear favorite. Visiting campuses both in state and out of state will give a range of different options further down the line. In addition, asking teachers for letters of recommendation in the child’s junior year will strengthen their applications.
It is, of course, also essential to do everything possible to get a good score in the admission tests. ACT test dates can be found online, and it’s often worth helping a child by financing extra tuition. This will guarantee they receive all the act test prep they need, understand the significance of the exams, and are able to do their best. Tuition can be focused any on area where a child is lacking, and be personalized to suit the chosen college application strategy. Taking act tests in the junior year will mean that your child can retake them if necessary the following year.
Finances also need to be considered well in advance, and may ultimately influence which school your child selects. The aid package each college offers may play a role in the final decision, but remember these are often negotiable. Most college freshmen have never had to manage their own money before, and need help with this side of independent living.
Working with a child to create a strict budget for each week in the years before college will ingrain the value of money management. Once accepted into a school, a budget can then be created to cover college fees, books, accommodation and any other expenses. It’s worth setting some money aside for parties, and other relaxing activities. College can be stressful, and some downtime is essential. If a child is likely to struggle with money when living away from home, using a financial advisor, or the college’s counselors is a wise move.
Are you preparing a child for college this year? What steps have you already taken?
I will be honest with you — this year has been a total fail with teaching my kids. My oldest is graduating, I am working full time online, and we have had to move twice in the last year. Suffice it to say — this year has totally blown, and I can feel the homeschool burnout setting in. It is a time as parents that we focus on our teaching abilities and how well, or in my case, how horrible we have done.
So what does homeschool burnout look like?
Tell me if this sounds anything like you.
- depressed
- every time you look at a homeschool book, you slam it shut and grumble
- you compare yourself to other families who are homeschooling
- you can’t remember what you are supposed to be studying
- you find it hard to focus when you are teaching
- you dread getting started in the morning
- you find yourself daydreaming about doing anything other than school
It is inevitable — at one point or another the homeschool burnout will set in.
So, how do we get past it and get back on track? Here are a few steps that I do when I feel that all too familiar feeling creeping up on my back door.
1. Take a break
If you find yourself on the verge of homeschool burnout, take a break. It could be that your schedule has been extremely rigorous, or you have just not been creative enough and have pretty much just burned yourself out. Word of warning — if you are burned out, most likely, your children are burned out too. Take a break from the regular routine and do something different: take a walk, go to the park, take the kids out to lunch, go play at the pond, or do something other than sit inside trying to do school.
2. Change up what you are learning
A lot of times, what you are learning is the source and cause of your burnout. If that is the case, switch it up and do something different. Try doing a hands-on unit study that will give you more flexibility and creative ideas. Sometimes, that is all it takes — just a change in what is being learned.
3. Set some subjects aside until the new year
My daughter has struggled a bit with her Science and history this year. We tried really hard to get started and off on the right foot, but with everything that has gone on this year — it just has not worked. So for her sanity and mine, we set those two subjects aside for this year and will pick them back up in the fall. That is totally OK and your child will not falter in their studies. If you look at what is being learned, every 4 years, you go back over what you learned in the previous years — just on a deeper level.
4. Get encouragement from other moms online
When I am discouraged and find myself on the brink of the burnout, I go back to the women online who gave me encouragement early on in my homeschool years, as well as other women who bring out the best in me. If you need that kind of encouragement, find ladies online who are dosing out the daily encouragement and offering you a semblance of peace. You will find out that you are not the only one going through homeschool burnout. We have all been there.
5. Pray
The last tip I am going to share with you is this — when you find yourself on the brink of burnout, lock yourself away and spend some time in prayer and worship before God. There is nothing like being refueled and rejuvenated by the Father. He does what He says He is going to do, and if you come to Him tired and weary, He will remove your burdens and refresh you once again.
What about you? Have you found yourself in burnout mode? What do you do to help get refreshed and moving forward?
Would you like to know how to prepare a high school transcript for your homeschool graduate?
Robert is graduating at the end of May and I have been doing quite a bit of research on how to make his transcript and diploma as official as possible. Even though he does not want to go to college right now, he might change his mind in the future, so I am doing everything I can to get that prepared for him.
Here are some tips I found when preparing and creating a high school transcript:
Know what your state requires for graduation. After talking to some of my friends, we have discovered that graduation requirements are different for every single state, so do some research and make sure that your child has the proper number of credits needed to graduate.
Do some course planning: If you are just starting out with the high school years, do some course planning. This will help you see the bigger picture here. FiveJ’s has a great free planner that she created for her own child and has shared it with all of us.
If your child is already in the middle or at the end of their high school years, just map out all the classes that they have taken in the past, because you will need that list to fill out and complete his or her transcript.
Create a high school transcript: Using the information that you collected, now you can just drop it right into a high school transcript. You can create your own, or use this free sample that can be found here. You can also sign up for this free webinar from Lee Binz, who is amazing when it comes to chatting graduation, high school credits, and transcripts.
Make sure to include all information on your transcript so it is completely official. Include all of your graduate’s important information: date of birth, address, phone number, date of graduation. Put the name of your homeschool at the top, sign the bottom, and have it notarized.
You now have a high school transcript!
In my next post, I will share with you how to make an official high school diploma for your homeschool graduate.
I cannot believe in just two short months I will be graduating my son. It seems so unreal to me that he is 18 and ready to go out into the world as a man — and a high school graduate.
When he started his freshman year of school, I did some searching on the Internet to make sure we knew exactly what we had to cover for him to graduate. I noticed that most states have their own list of credits, so be sure to check that list to get the correct credits. However, a well-rounded high school program would include the following academic courses that are considered the core program:
- 4 years of English
- 2–4 years of Math
- 2–4 years of Science
- 2–4 years of History
- at least 2 years of a Foreign Language
- Electives (these will make up your remaining credits needed)
If your child intends on going to college, you definitely will want to make sure that you have covered all of the above subjects and then some. If they are not intending to go to college, then you can focus more on the general academic studies with focus on a trade. For my son, he has opted to not go to college, but to follow in the family trade and work with his dad in construction. For his last year of school, he has pretty much been his dad’s right hand man — and he is really loving it.
What classes will my child need to take for college?
The following is a list of classes that your child will need to take for sure if he or she is planning on going to college. You need to make sure to include a physical education class somewhere in there.
English:
English I, English II, English III, and English IV. This must include strands of reading, writing, speaking, listening, observing, inquiry, and using technology as a communication tool. English must be taught every year of high school.
Math:
Algebra 1. Algebra 2, Geometry, and one higher learning math class. The courses should include teaching on number and computation, geometry and measurement, probability and statistics, and algebraic ideas.
Science:
Earth Science, Life Science, and Physical Science. The courses should include teaching on lab-based scientific investigation experiences and include the content strands of biological science, physical science, earth and space science, and unifying concepts.
History:
American History, World History, World Geography, and a Civics and Government course (the civics and government courses are half semesters but we had so much fun learning them that we stretched each one into a year long study). In Kentucky, only three credits are required but must include teaching on historical perspective, geography, economics, government and civics, and culture and society.
Foreign Language
The most three popular foreign language courses are Spanish, French, and Latin. My son chose Latin and took 3 years of it.
Electives
There are tons of great things that homeschoolers can use as electives. I will be covering that later in the month. The electives will make up whatever total number of credits your child is lacking.
Have you already started tackling this list of credits with your child? If not, it’s time to get started!
My daughter hates to read, so I try to find every way I can to get her into the classics when it comes to literature. I was recently sent the following infographic on audiobooks that are FREE — meaning no money involved which equals free homeschooling for your literature class!
They were excited that I wanted to share it with you, so find below 20 free audiobooks for your homeschool.
I still cannot believe that I just wrote that, and yet — my oldest will be graduating this year! Since I have to go through the entire process of graduating him, I thought I would share that journey with you all in a series of posts called “Graduating Your Homeschooler” coming up in March on the blog.
During each week in March, I will be tackling subjects that surround graduating your teenager. I have had all of these questions myself and have done research, so I am quite excited to share with you in hopes it will help alleviate any stress you may be feeling about going through the graduation process.
Graduating Your Homeschooler
Topics that will be covered are:
- What Do I Need to Prepare for Graduation: I will be discussing things like credits, graduation requirements, knowing if your child is ready for graduation and more.
- Creating a High School Transcript: A lot of people stress over this one, however, it is really very simple to create if you have the right records from grades past.
- The High School Diploma: The diploma is one that stumps a lot of parents as they are really not sure what is accepted and what is not when it comes to that. I will show you different ways to provide your student with an authentic looking diploma that will be accepted by any work place and any college or vocational school.
- Electives: What electives can I include and what can be used as an elective. There are SO many day to day tasks that can be transferred as electives for your child’s graduation report and transcript. I will show you what you can use and how to describe them.
- Preparing for a Graduation Party: I get asked all the time how my son is going to graduate. In this post, I am going to share my tips and tricks and what we plan on doing for Robert in May.
I look forward to sharing all of these posts with you starting on March 1st, so be sure and head back here on Friday for the first post!
Do you have any tips and tricks for graduating teens?
A couple of years ago, we had to read God’s Smuggler for our homeschool. Now — you an download a free copy of it from Christian Audio.
About God’s Smuggler
As a boy he dreamed of being a spy – undercover behind enemy lines. As a man he found himself undercover for God. Brother Andrew was his name, and for decades his life story, recounted in God’s Smuggler, has awed and inspired millions. This bestseller tells of the young Dutch factory worker’s incredible efforts to transport Bibles across closed borders – and the miraculous ways in which God provided for him every step of the way.
This story is reintroduced in a 35th anniversary edition with a new foreword and afterword. Brother Andrew’s story remains as inspiring today as it was thirty-five years ago, and with this new release it will motivate a new generation to risk everything to follow God’s call.
One of our favorite holidays to study about is Martin Luther King Jr Day. We have always done all kinds of cool crafts and things during the week leading up to the day, with a very special activity on the day of the memorial holiday.
I love what Martin Luther King Jr stood for, and what he was trying his hardest to do — bring people together to love one another and to be there for each other, without all the hate and animosity. That is what I want my children to learn as well.
Here are some free resources that you can use to teach your children about this amazing man of God who truly believed the best in people.
- Research the life of Dr. Martin Luther King and use this cool freebie to take notes with.
- Sort statements to decide if the problem is just or unjust (great for logical thinking)
- Talk about and write down your dreams for the world
- A Kindergarten drawing activity about dreaming like Dr. King.
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My Dream Handprint Craft by Mrs. Moore’s Busy Bees
-
Handprint Peace Flower by Craft Ideas for Kids- Artists Helping Children’s Blog
- Let your child make their own ” I Have a Dream” speech
- Create an I Have a Dream Poster
- I Have a Dream Snowflakes
- Free 40 page mini unit
- Watch this video from Brain Pop about Martin Luther King Jr
- Crossword Puzzles about Martin Luther King JR
- TON of resources here for Martin Luther King Jr
Do you have any great resources for teaching your kids about Martin Luther King Jr day? I would love to hear them. Leave them in the comment section below.
Robert is graduating this year. WOW. I cannot believe that my baby boy will be done with school period. In fact, he pretty much has become a full time hand with his dad learning the family business. For him, he has decided he would rather pursue other options and not go to college. And ya know what? I am totally okay with that. If your teen wants to go to college though, you might want to check into private scholarships as a way to save money.
What is a Scholarship?
A scholarship is a grant of money designed to pay for the costs associated with higher education, such as college, graduate school, or professional school.The best thing about college scholarships and grants is that you never have to repay the money that you’re awarded. Scholarships are generally awarded based on financial need or merit.A private scholarship is a grant given to a student by any other individual or organization for any purpose. Mos times, private scholarships have very specific criteria for eligibility, such as the student is a member of a certain race, religion, gender or field of study, while others have no specific guidelines. Generally a student must have displayed superior performance in some area–such as athletics, academics, volunteer work, essay writing or other extracurricular activity–to secure a private scholarship.
What Kind of Student Can Get a Private Scholarship?
Here are some of the factors that typically boost an applicant’s chances:
- Higher grade point averages
- Higher ACT/SAT scores
- Majoring in engineering or science
- White
- Attending private high school
- Participating in community service
If you are interested in finding out more about getting a private scholarship, click here.
I have always been against year round homeschooling. I did not understand the concept of working almost every single day of the year — especially homeschoolers. I have followed this feeling of mine the last 6 years we have homeschooled.
Until this year.
This year, both of my kids decided that year round homeschooling would be a better fit for us. So how did we come to that decision? How did we decide it was right for us this year and not all the other years.
Here area few things that made us realize that year round homeschooling was and is the right choice for us from here on out.
- Life Happens: This year, we have had a lot of life stuff happen — moving, going on lots of blogging trips, stomach issues causing us to be sick, and extremely busy. The good thing is this — when those times come up, we can just take a break in between all the life stuff. There is no guilt involved because you will be picking up right where you left off when the time comes.
- No More Calendars to Keep Up With Last year was horrible as I made the kids rush through a lot of their work because we were off on the days. In order to be done in time with the public school system and have the whole summer off, we had to stay on task. That mean that some days we did 3 days of school in one. Year round homeschooling helps us to not have to worry about that. If you are less dependent on a calendar to tell you when to finish and when to start, you feel more at ease with allowing the children to go at their own pace and no more having to do 4 days in 1.
- The kids retain what they are learning better: There is a reason most books have about 30 lessons of review — summer steals all that they worked hard to remember the year before! We are actually able to skip about 30 lessons in some of our books because we are homeschooling year round. This is wonderful news for both mom and children!
Creating a Schedule for Homeschooling Year Round
There are as many ways to create a schedule for year round schooling, as there are ways to homeschool. There is no right way to do it and how and what you choose really depends on your family’s lives and the structure you’ve built. However, one thing that is certain, is that you must plan for time off. Schooling year round doesn’t mean that you never take a vacation.
Some families homeschool four days a week year round leaving the last day of the week for errands, appointments or co-op type activities. Other families school for three weeks per month taking the last week in the month off.
Varied Vacations
Most families still take eight to ten weeks of vacation-but simply don’t take them all during the summer. A week here, or a week is just enough time to get yourself organized to keep going. This type is well suited towards unit studies where the family does a unit study then takes a few days off.
Four Day Weeks
Some moms find that taking one day off a week is a great way to schedule year round learning. All errands, major house cleaning, etc. is done on the “off day.” This can be a very relaxed way of learning and helps avoid burn out. (This is our method of homeschooling by the way)
By Quarter
Some families spread it out their homeschooling over twelve weeks instead of 9 (one quarter of a year) making for a lighter load. You can essentially take off fifteen days for every twelve weeks of school.
So how often exactly do you have to “do school
While there are many ways to consider scheduling here are a few points to keep in mind based on a 180 day curriculum:
- Many states require a six hour, 180 day year or 900 hours of elementary instruction. You can do three hours a day of “official” school work, and still finish in 300 days with 65 days to take off during the year.
- If you were to do official school work, six hours per day for 180 days per year, your child would be able to finish two full curriculums! Of course that would only leave five days left over for vacation! However, suffice it to say that you can potentially get more done by schooling year round.
- If you alternated between doing three day and four day weeks year round, you would finish the entire year with 182 days of school under your belt.
- If you took off every Friday, year round, you would be doing 208 days of school per year. If you wanted to stick with 180 days of schooling, you could still take off every Friday and have twenty eight days leftover for vacation.
Is Homeschooling Year Round Right for You?
Just as there is no right curriculum for every family, there is no right method of homeschooling for every family either. While there are numerous advantages to year round homeschooling, you should also consider the needs of your children.
- Your child’s public school friends will be getting together over the summer and hanging out. Make sure that you allow plenty of time for them to play with their friends if they want otherwise your child may resent schooling in the summer.
- Do you have teens? Summer is a great time for employment for many teens. You might want to consider doing just one subject during the summer so that your teen has enough time to hang out with friends, work, and study.
- Schooling year round does require discipline and some planning. Some moms find that they just do better by following a traditional school schedule.
So now that you are better informed, do you feel that year round homeschooling is what your family needs to do? It’s never to late to start!
I am looking forward to next Friday when Wreck-It Ralph hits the theaters. I’m gonna be standing there with my Vanellope shirt on waiting to see the movie!!
In the meantime, I’m gonna have fun with some friends coloring these cool FREE coloring sheets.
Which character is your favorite?
We have been serving the Lord now for 13 years. We have tried to make it a point to always help Robert and Kayla learn as much as they can about the Bible (and us too.) As a Christian, it is important to have a solid grounding in God’s word. That is how we are able to flee from sin according to the Bible. Here are my 5 tips for teaching your kids about the Bible.
- Bedtime Reading: When Robert and Kayla were little, we used to always keep a stack of books by their bed of all of their favorite Bible heroes. At night when it was bedtime, we would snuggle them up and then proceed to read from those books until they fell asleep. This is a good way to not only get some extra snuggle time in, but also to help get those Bible stories in as early as possible.
- Movies: Another thing that helped both my kids and ME learn was Veggie Tale dvds. I cannot tell you how many of these we have watched over the years and really walked away with an understanding of a Bible story. We also loved Bibleman!
- The Children’s Bible App for Ipad:This app is really cool in the fact that you can record your voice for your child to listen to. If you do a lot of traveling, this would definitely come in handy.
- Board games based on the Bible: We have a few of these that we use from time to time and really quiz our kids with. The older they get, the harder I have to make the game.
- Drawing Pictures: When my kids were little, I always had them draw me pictures of the preacher’s sermon. It let me know if they were listening or not. You would be surprised at what they remember!
About The Childrens Bible App for Ipad:
This app contains 84 books, different well-known children’s Bible stories. They are all beautifully illustrated, in a classic naturalistic and colorful style, with sound effects and music. They are also made into movies, and you can record your own audio for reading so the child will hear the father, mother or grandparent reading the story. These stories have already been sold, in printed form, in over 8 million copies in more than 110 languages and countries. (See the list in the App.) It is still reprinting 300,000 to 600,000 each year.
Check out the 3 free complete books and 3 free sample books. These are all stories from the Bible for different age groups from +0 to teenagers and even adults. They are faithful to the BIBLE, but shortened in some books.
Check out more from Scandanavia Publishing.
Enter to win a cool Bible Book Set
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I received compensation for writing this post. All opinions listed are my own.
I have been a major procrastinator this year with choosing what to use for homeschooling. For the last couple of years, we have done A.C.E. and while it was great for that season, I just do not see us continuing on. For one, I miss the hands on that we used to do. The kids have gotten bored and I totally miss the field trips. So — what are we using for our homeschool curriculum this year?
Bible:
Our Bible homeschool curriculum this year is going to be Athletes in the Bible from Amanda Bennett Unit Studies.
It looks to be very promising. We are going to supplement it with a study on the Holy Land from Drive Through History. My desire is that after we finish the video, we are going to take a family field trip to Orlando and visit the Holy Land Experience Theme Park!
Math:
We are of course, continuing our trek through Math-U-See. I can never say enough good things about Math-U-See. It is the ONE piece of our homeschool curriculum that has stayed the same all throughout our years of homeschooling. The kids love it, it’s working, and the support I get when I don’t understand something is AMAZING! Robert will be doing Geometry this year and Kayla will begin Pre-Algebra.
Science:
Robert is a senior this year and has all his Science credits in, so Kayla and I will be using Apologia’s Exploring Science through Anatomy & Physiology.
She will be notebooking her way through and doing some really fun Science experiments. If we get done with this and need something else to study, I’ve downloaded some cool freebies I found recently through CurrClick.
History
For History this year, since this is an Election year, we are going to study the American Government, the Election process, Kentucky State History, and read a few biographies on Presidents. I remember reading about George Washington when I was in school and it really made an impact on me and wanting to learn more about the men who led our country.
We will be using unit studies from Amanda Bennett and supplementing it with books from the library and videos that a friend let me borrow.
English and Literature:
For English and Literature this year, we will be using the Green Book from Learning Language Arts through Literature. I can’t wait to share my review with you at the end of September after we have used it a bit. I love the fact that they will be learning their English and grammar straight from the things we will be reading
Our first book is going to be Black Beauty.
So there you have it! That is our homeschooling plan this year. What homeschool curriculum are you using this year?
This week at CurrClick, grab a free homeschool ebook from CurrClick filled with activities on Volcanoes!
I’ve already looked through this fabulous study guide and am making plans to add it to our studies this year!
Grab your freebie today by visiting CurrClick.
This year in our homeschool, we are studying the election process. Since this is an election year, I figure what better way to do so, right? Here are a few election and government homeschool freebies you can use in your homeschool
Robert will be turning 18 this year. He is going to miss his first time voting by one month! However, that is not going to stop me from teaching him about the voting process. I want him to know WHY we vote like we do and how to choose the best candidate based on God’s principles and not man’s principles.
If you are a homeschooler looking for something fun to do with your homeschoolers, take a break from your every day studies and spend some time getting to know the candidates and the whole election process. Watch a few movies about Presidents and history — one of my favorites is of course National Treasure . Make yummy snack foods of red, white, and blue.
To top off our studies, at the end of the year, we are going to visit our state capital and ya never know — we might even visit Washington D.C!
- Symbols of the Us Government Activity Pack
- Presidents and Elections Unit Study from Oklahoma Homeschool
- How the President of the United States is Elected
- Create a Presidents Lapbook using this neat freebie from Homeschool Share.
- Play this Road to the White House Game.
- Government Social Studies Pack from Ms Chrissy B
- Presidential themed Math Unit from Teachers Pay Teachers
- Watch a video on the book So You Want to Be President
- Throw and Election Party and serve some of these delicious recipes.
- Tons of Election Day Freebies from Apples for the Teacher
- The Busy Teacher’s Cafe has a whole unit study on the Election Process
- Congress for Kids website
Do you have any freebies that we can add to this list for the election?
It’s Back to School time once again and time for me to focus on teaching my kids. I am always looking for free homeschool helps, so each week, on Thursday, I will be sharing freebies that I have found around the Internet.
This week we are focusing on Back to School Homeschool Freebies. Planners, free products, samples, coupons that can score you freebies– whatever helps you out, that is what I am looking for this week!
Here is what I have found:
- Download a free and frugal Homeschool Planning Pack from Holy Spirit Led Homeschooling.
- Free Family Binder printables from In Pursuit.
- Here are 13 weeks of free history lessons (this looks great) from Mom’s Mustard Seeds.
- Donnayoung.org has tons of Homeschool helps on her site and they are always free (I use the calendars, grades, etc)
- Homeschool Skedtrack is a schedule creator and tracker, especially useful for homeschooling teachers and private tutors.
- free E-Book: 101 Ways to Save Money on Homeschooling from Successful Homeschooling.
- Here is a free attendance calendar
- HIGH SCHOOL TRANSCRIPTS: Check out the various transcripts and save one to your computer. You can then fiddle with it to make it work for your homeschool.
) - HOMESCHOOL PLANNING SOFTWARE: Fill in the forms, Create and/or Edit your homeschool calendar, Track the hours you are actually schooling, Print REPORT CARDS and more…WITH
THE FREE VERSION! :O)
Hope you enjoy the freebies this week!
Hi! I am Jen--a wife to the most amazing man ever and a homeschool mom to one teenager. I just graduated my oldest.
I have been blogging since 2007. I love to watch movies, spend time in the kitchen, crochet, dance, drink coffee, and lay on the beach. Between recipes, reviews, and hilarious life story moments you'll find many helpful posts on this blog. Welcome, pull up a chair and stay for a while!
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