Tuesday Tips: Do Not Underestimate the Value of Life Lessons in Your Homeschool

Academics are important, but they are not the most important skills we teach our children.

Some of you are nodding your heads, and others are ready to stop reading and call me crazy. No matter which side you are on, hear me out.

Academics are important, and in our home, we strive to make sure that our children have an education that will allow them to pursue whatever options God might be calling them to, which could include entering a four-year university.

However, academics are only third on my list of overarching goals for our homeschool.

To teach my children about Jesus and help lead them to a saving relationship with Him.
To give my children the skills they need to be independent and productive adults.
To prepare them academically for whatever path God leads them to pursue.

What Do You Mean Life Lessons?

In this context, when I say life lessons, I am speaking about learning life skills. This could include any number of skills. For example, cooking, cleaning, making phone calls, setting up appointments, and laundry.

In our home, it also includes our homestead tasks. My children learn to garden, care for their chickens, raise animals, and more. This teaches them skills needed to help provide for themselves and their families, responsibility, work ethic, and more.

Home and car maintenance and repair also fall under life lessons. Car maintenance might be as simple as teaching them to pump gas. I once had a dear friend who owned a car and made it to college without knowing how to pump her gas, which made things very challenging for her.

Life lessons can also include less tangible skills like visiting those who are grieving or sick and sending cards to people who are lonely or going through a tough time.

There have been times when we have been going through difficult family times, and we rarely opened our textbooks. When my grandfather was dying from cancer, and we spent as much time as possible with him, when our town flooded and we focused on hurricane relief work, and the weeks right after our youngest children were born. However, my children learned life lessons far more valuable than we find in textbooks in those times.

How Do You Teach Life Lessons in Your Homeschool?

Sometimes when I hear people talking about something else I need to teach my children, I start stressing about adding another curriculum or one more thing to our daily to-do list.

However, you do not necessarily have to plan life lessons in your homeschool, you certainly do not need a curriculum, and they will lighten your load over time.

Include your children in your day-to-day activities. Have them help you in the kitchen, fold clothes, start the laundry, gather the eggs, or whatever other chores are required.

Over time, they will do the tasks more and more independently, which benefits them and your home because you do not have to do it all.

As you help those around you or deal with challenging situations, make sure to include them. This will look different for different children and different ages, but children learn so much through being involved.

Resources For Life Lessons in Your Homeschool

If you want a curriculum to help you be more intentional about life lessons in your homeschool, SchoolhouseTeachers.com (aff) has some great electives for home economics, money management, cooking, homesteading, and other life skills.

Do not underestimate the power of simply living life with your children and including them in daily tasks. They will learn skills that will benefit them throughout their lives.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

Resource Library

This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

Back To School Traditions Blog Hop

I love traditions! We have traditions for holidays, traditions for weather events (snow and hurricanes), but today I want to talk about traditions for ‘back to school’.

*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *

First, I want to clear up a common misconception about traditions. I often hear people talk about being overwhelmed by the prospect of having so many traditions because they feel like it is a lot of work or that traditions need to be big and elaborate events. While this may be true with some, it does not have to be! Most of our traditions are quite simple and were often created to make life easier. For example, when there is a hurricane foretasted we make rice krispie treats to have for breakfast. This started because I wanted something fun and easy for breakfast that would not need any electricity. So, someone takes five minutes the day before the storm and whips up a batch to eat the next morning. Breakfast solved! It brings excitement and familiarity to a time that could otherwise be a bit scary.

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We have four simple traditions that my children have come to expect when it’s time for ‘back to school’. First, in addition to whatever curriculum we need, they all get some basic back to school supplies. There is nothing like a box of fresh pencils and new crayons or markers to help us get excited for the new year. This time of year is a great time to buy all your school supplies for the year (and pick up a bit extra for Operation Christmas Child boxes) because they are on sale at some of the cheapest prices we normally see all year.

Last year’s date with out kindergartener!

Helping make the pancakes!

Second, while our family does a sit down breakfast most every morning, we almost always have chocolate chip pancakes and bacon on the first day of school. It is the breakfast that everyone loves and it makes for a tasty start to the day. While we are talking about food, we also take each child out on a special date before kindergarten. We started this with my oldest the week he started public school kindergarten but have continued it with our other children after we started homeschooling. They get to pick the restaurant and it is a great chance for us to spend some special time with them and talk about how proud we are of how they are growing up.

Third, I need those back to school pictures, even though they aren’t really going to a different place. I love being able to look back through the years and see how the children have grown from the beginning of each year. I simply print off sheets that say First Day Of ____ Grade and have them hold the papers for an assortment of pictures before we start our lessons.

Finally, we start the day after Labor Day. We enjoy spending time swimming and playing at the river each summer and didn’t want to cut that time short. We also generally have the opportunity to spend some time with family towards the end of August, so it works well for us to hold off our start date. The children love that they get to wait and get in that last bit of summer fun before settling down to the books.

Remember that traditions should be a fun way to make memories together. They do not need to be difficult or stressful. It is also important to remember that they can change and that is okay. For example, this year my younger children are still starting back after Labor Day, but in order to make my high school student’s schedule work better he is going to begin some of his courses the week before Labor Day.

I would love to hear about some of your home school traditions. Tell me about them in the comments.

Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses shares Homeschool Traditions.

Yvie @ Homeschool on the Range shares 20 Best Educational Subscription Boxes (we let the kids choose a new one at the beginning of each school year)

Vickie B @ Tumbleweed News shares Homeschool Traditions {NOT Back-to-School Blog Hop}

Adrienne B @ Practicalmindedness shares on Traditions that seal the heart.

Teresa B @ Teresa Brouillette shaes Homeschool Traditions.

Annette V @ A Net in Time shares Starting a New School Year.

Kristen @ A Mom’s Quest to Teach shares Homeschooling Taditions for the New Year.

Lori @ At Home: Where Life Happens shares Traditions for Back to School.

Yvonne @ The Life We Build shares Our Homeschool Traditions.

Deals and Freebies

SchoolhouseTeachers.com is doing an amazing sale this month! Buy One year get One Year FREE! We use this for several of our courses and one price covers all the students in your home for as many of their over 400 courses and you would like to use.

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Enrichment Studies has a great free fine arts memory match game this month!

Free Help Your Child’s Memory Book from All About Learning Press!

Our Ninth Grade Curriculum Choices

matthew sailing

I have a high school student!!! How did this happen? It feels like just yesterday we started this homeschool adventure when he was in first grade. There have been ups and downs over the years but I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to homeschool him and we are looking forward to the joys of high school. I know there will be challenges but there will also be joy and celebration.

*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *

I think I have spent more time contemplating (and sometimes agonizing) over our choices for this year, than ever before. It feels like such a weighty decision when you realize that these courses go onto transcripts that will follow him to college. However, I came to realize that I still had lots of flexibility and I could still change things up as needed. I did not need to add more pressure to myself or to him.

We decided to try a modified block schedule this year. Each semester he will complete three full courses. In addition, he will be working on music and physical education all year. At the end of the year he should have eight courses completed. We liked the block scheduling for allowing him to focus on fewer courses at one time. However, for music and physical education we felt that spreading the hours over the full year would make it easier to complete and show good progress.

First Semester:

During his first semester my son’s three main courses will be literature, biology, and financial literacy. Literature might be the course I am personally most excited about because we are going to work through that one together. We are doing British literature, but not just any British literature, we are focusing on the Inklings. (He will do another year of British literature later to catch all of the other wonderful British authors). For this course he will be studying C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and his choice of two other Inklings. He will read a variety of novels from these wonderful authors and participate in round table discussions about their works. He will also complete two papers related to the novels. I have chosen about half of the books and he will be able to choose the other half based on the author.

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For biology, we were blessed to be able to review Experience Biology: Upper Level and we loved it. Since we reviewed it this summer, he gets to start biology five lessons ahead when we jump into our studies in a few weeks. This will give him some flexibility to have a little smaller load during a few busy weeks of the semester. We truly loved this program from Journey Homeschool Academy. It was a great mix of well done video lectures, online quizzes and tests, and hands-on labs. I love that he was getting a strong college prep course from a Christian perspective and that it only took me about ten minutes a week to check the assignments that needed to be checked by a parent. If you want to know more you can also check out my review: Journey Homeschool Academy High School Biology Review.

Finally, he will be completing Dave Ramsey’s Foundations in Personal Finance: High School Editionfor his financial literacy course. Years ago, my husband and I read Dave Ramsey’s book and completed his Financial Peace University course. We love the sound, Biblically based advice and feel that it will set our children up to be good stewards of their money. I like that this course was already set up for high schoolers and is done digitally so he can read the information, watch the videos, and complete the quizzes online. He will also be keeping a journal and responding to journal questions. To prepare for this course and to help him start high school with the right mind set, he and I both read Debt Free Degree, by Anthony O’Neal and I highly recommend it if you have a student middle school or older.

Second Semester:

In his second semester he will be studying Ancient History using Drive Thru History and Geometry with Mr. D both with SchoolhouseTeachers.com. He will also be doing a Bible Apologetic course.

Drive Thru History!

Our family loves Drive Thru History and they are lots of fun just to watch, but I am excited for my son to be able to go through and use them as a high school history course. SchoolhouseTeachers.com has created worksheets with short answer and essay questions to accompany each video. In addition, I will have my son do a capstone project showing what he learned throughout the course.

As we reached the high school years I found it was best if math instruction came from someone other than myself. It has been a ‘few’ years since I took many of these courses and I have forgotten quite a bit of what I once knew. We were excited to find that the Mr. D Geometry course was included with our SchoolhouseTeachers.com membership. This course provides quality video instruction for geometry and my husband will also be available to help him if he has any problems.

Last year, I had the opportunity to review the Unbreakable Faith course from Pilgrim’s Rock. This is a high school level apologetics course and my son completed the first portion of the course during the review. This course is set up with readings and video and includes quizzes and tests that are computer graded. Matthew will be finishing this course for an elective Bible credit.

Year Round

For his other two elective courses this year, we chose music performance and physical education.

For physical education, he is working with my husband to create a weight lifting, running, and circuit training routine. He will track the hours he completes each week as well as his progress on several physical fitness goals.

For music performance, he is taking lessons from Mrs. Sarah VanKleek at Practice Monkeys. He is currently taking violin lessons, but as they are getting ready to start guitar lessons he may switch instruments. He will track his time completed in both lessons and extra practice and also track progress based on assessment lesson results. In addition, he will be performing with his youth group band and if things open back up from the pandemic he will also continue to perform at a local nursing home. To round out his music course he will participate in monthly SQUILT Music lessons. Our family has been enjoying a subscription to SQUILT Music this summer and plan to continue to use it throughout the year. These lessons will help increase his knowledge and background in the music appreciation aspect of music.

In addition to these programs, he will be doing Bible study with us each morning and listening to some of our read alouds. As we move forward, we will see how timing is going to determine how much of our other morning time and extra activities he participates in with us. He knows that he will have to focus and work hard with this course load, be we want to continue to make time for life learning and fun.

What are your favorite high school resources?

Deals and Freebies

SchoolhouseTeachers.com is doing an amazing sale this month! Buy One year get One Year FREE! We use this for several of our courses and one price covers all the students in your home for as many of their over 400 courses and you would like to use.

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Enrichment Studies has a great free fine arts memory match game this month!

Free Help Your Child’s Memory Book from All About Learning Press!

Scheduling Ideas Part 2: But What Do I Do with My Younger Children?

Keeping my younger children (especially toddlers) occupied while I taught my older children has probably been one of the biggest challenges for our homeschool. It is even harder than Algebra (thanks to video lessons and a helpful husband). However, with some work and creativity you can make it all work. Also, keep in mind that these years are short and they grow up fast. These challenges are not forever.

*Some of the links in my posts are affiliate links see below for more information. *

Last week I shared some ideas for scheduling your school days with little children. This week I want to focus on ideas that you can use to keep your young children safely occupied for short times while you work with your older children. I have broken the ideas up in to toddler and preschool ages, but use whatever works best for your situation and child.

Toddlers

First, utilize nap time. I know that sometimes means waiting until after lunch if they have dropped the morning nap. However, it can be worth it to get a little bit of uninterrupted time to focus on subjects that need direct attention. For us the two that are hardest with a toddler, are math and spelling. My children need more of my time and more quiet focus for those subjects so those are the ones I would do during nap.

Second, if the weather is good, think about working outside. We all enjoy the fresh air and sunshine and the outside toys and sandbox occupy the toddler for longer than anything on the inside. We can bring our books to the picnic table or on a blanket in the backyard and work while the toddler plays.

Never underestimate the power of a snack. I can put my toddler at the table with a slow snack like cheerios or cut up cheese and fruit. This will occupy him for ten or fifteen minutes while I work with the older children.

It can also be a good idea to have a few special toys that you only bring out during school time. This keeps them a little more interesting and helps keep them engaged longer. For one of my children we actually had five small plastic tubs with different toys and games. The tubs were labeled Monday through Friday and only came out on that day during school time. It wasn’t anything fancy of expensive, puzzles from yard sales, blocks, lacing boards, etc.

Finally, audio books can be a great way to help keep them entertained. Typically, they don’t have the attention span for a chapter book, but there are many picture books on audio. They can enjoy listening to the short stories while they play. As they get older, they can follow along in a real book.

My friend Tricia over at HodgePodge has a great article on Morning Room Time to keep toddlers and preschoolers entertained. We have not yet used this idea but I am working on getting it set up to use with my toddler soon.

Preschoolers

Many of the ideas that work with toddler will also work with preschoolers. In addition, they are much more able to sit and focus for longer times and engage in the day to day activities of your home and school.

First, I find that if you can spend time with them first, they are less disruptive to your day. They crave that attention and are not yet able to really understand the need to be patient. So, if I spend 30 minutes with my preschooler before to get to work with the older children, his need is meet and he is better able to play independently.

Some preschoolers love the idea of ‘doing school’ like their older siblings. For those children, I highly recommend having a school bag with worksheets and manipulatives that they can use. One that my son really enjoyed was pattern blocks. He could take out the papers and the blocks and work through them independently but felt like he was ‘doing school’. You can also pick up inexpensive workbooks or print off papers where they can trace letters or numbers.

Art projects are another big hit with preschoolers. We do a combination of structures art from You Are An Artist and just giving them a bucket of art supplies and letting them be creative. It is amazing what they can come up with when you give them paper, crayons, glue, and scissors. We also like to add in fun surprises like googly eyes and stickers to keep it fresh.

We also enjoy using the activities from the Activity Room both for me to engage with them and for them to work on independently. They are fun and educational ideas that are perfect for them developmentally.

Finally, don’t under estimate how much they can learn and participate in family activities. If you are reading history with your older children, they can listen while they play with blocks or color. If you are doing a science experiment, they can watch and help by handing you materials. Their minds are learning and growing so much just by hearing what is going on in your home.

Overall, do not be discouraged by your younger children. Expect to work in small increments and have plenty of ideas to keep them busy. Also, keep in mind that they are growing and changing. What works this year might not work next year, and even though something didn’t work this year it might work next year.

What are your favorite tips and tricks for keeping younger children occupied and engaged during your homeschooling time?

Ideas and Suggestions From Other Bloggers

Homeschooling with a Preschooler and Toddler (Teaching with Faith)
J is for Jewel Box (At Home: Where Life Happens)
R is for Routine (My Full Heart)
Multi-Age Learning (My Full Heart)
Homeschooling with a Toddler (My Full Heart)
Teaching Multiple Ages (Hodgepodge)

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Deals and Freebies

HUGE Tuttle Twins Sale for the Lock Down, get the entire set and LOTs of extras for only $60.

Evan-Moor is offering their Daily Fundamentals book FREE right now to help out during this time.

Homeschool Complete is offering a special 10% off discount to my readers! Just use code: SWAG

Little Women is only .99 on kindle right now! (Amazon prices subject to change always check before purchasing.)

FREE Baby Yoda Art Lesson from Nana!

All About Learning has released the best deal of the day: A FREE Snowman Pack with reading and spelling activities for a variety of ages.

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Scheduling Ideas for Multiple Children (Part 1)

One of the most common questions that I am asked about homeschooling is how I manage to homeschool with little ones. I would be lying to you if I told you that it is always easy and Pinterest perfect, but there are some tips and tricks that make it easier. First, I need to be clear that what works for one family or child may not work for another. If you are trying one plan and it doesn’t work, just keep adjusting until you find something that fits your needs.

If you have a baby or toddler that still naps, especially if they take multiple naps a day, I highly recommend using some of that time for schooling older children. That can be the time you provide them direct instruction in areas like math or spelling that may need more focused attention.

Another tip that really helped our family was spending time with the little ones first. This is especially helpful with toddlers and preschoolers. They crave our attention and will often be disruptive until they get it. If I spend a little time playing or working with them first, they are more apt to play independently for a few minutes while I work with my older children.

Often younger children have a fairly short attention span, so they may only play independently for a few minutes at a time. In this situation, you can have them playing near where you are working on school. Instruct your older children in a subject for five to ten minutes and then while they are practicing the skill you can spend time with your younger child. You are available to answer questions but still giving your younger child attention. Then you can have them play independently again for a few minutes while you instruct the next subject. We tend towards a Charlotte Mason approach, and so our lessons are fairly short. This also has the benefit of helping your older child learn independence while still having you available and involved.

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If you have more than one school age child, they can take turns playing with the younger children while you work with the other child. We have utilized this for subjects that are independent and more challenging for the older child. For example, there have been times when my older children struggled with math and needed more help.

This is not an option for everyone, but it has been an amazing help for me. If you have a grandparent or other family member that is willing to help, they can come once a week and visit with the younger children for a few hours while you work on the areas of your school that need the most focus. This gives the double benefit of giving your younger children some wonderful time and memories.

Also, remember that you do not need to do school all at once. While it can be nice to start in the morning and work straight through until you are done, in some seasons it is easier to break it up into small chunks throughout the day.

Finally, do not under estimate how much younger children can be engaged and involved in various subjects. You can go on nature walks to work on science with your older children and keep your younger kids active, young children can listen to you read aloud while they color or play with quiet toys, preschoolers can join into history crafts and art lessons.

There are challenges to having small children while you homeschool older children, but there are ways to make it all work. In the end, remember that you are creating a lifestyle of learning and they will all benefit from learning together. Next week I will share specific ideas for keeping toddlers and preschoolers busy (and hopefully out of trouble) during that independent time. Please be sure to check out all of the great ideas from some other bloggers and how they make their schedules work. What are your favorite scheduling tricks for managing younger children and older children?

Ideas and Suggestions From Other Bloggers

Homeschooling with a Preschooler and Toddler (Teaching with Faith)
J is for Jewel Box (At Home: Where Life Happens)
R is for Routine (My Full Heart)
Multi-Age Learning (My Full Heart)
Homeschooling with a Toddler (My Full Heart)
Teaching Multiple Ages (Hodgepodge)

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Deals and Freebies

Evan-Moor is having a special sale this week on their Teacher File Box! TeacherFileBox is a subscription to digital lessons from over 450 Evan-Moor books including ALL grade levels and ALL subjects

Little Women is only .99 on kindle right now! (Amazon prices subject to change always check before purchasing.)

FREE Baby Yoda Art Lesson from Nana!

All About Learning has released the best deal of the day: A FREE Snowman Pack with reading and spelling activities for a variety of ages.

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Adding Fun Into Your Homeschool: Cooking

I don’t know about your house but in my house, everyone seems to expect at least three meals a day! When someone is in a growth spurt, you can add in second breakfast and several snacks. This means that I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. My children love to be in the kitchen with me, helping cook and ‘sneaking’ samples. I decided years ago that I needed to make the most of that time.

*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *

When I allow and encourage my children to join me in the kitchen it opens up lots of opportunities for fun and learning to happen, all while we are completing a necessary task. When they are young they are working on fine motor skills while they stir, crack eggs, and chop up fruits and vegetables with their special knives. As they get older the opportunities multiply.

Young students learn about fractions as they use measuring cups or double recipes. They can also practice various forms of measurement with tablespoons, cups, pints, and quarts. To incorporate math into cooking with older students you can look at the nutritional information, cost per serving, or other factors to use real-life math applications.

Incorporating Cooking into Your Homeschool

We have had the opportunity to incorporate cooking into a variety of our science curricula. When we did Apologia’s Swimming Creatures, we tried to cook something that applied to each chapter when possible. We had fish, clams, oysters, shrimp, and crabs. The children really enjoyed it.

We have also used cooking to study chemistry. You can study how yeast makes bread rise, or how different things react to lemon juice. You can make salad dressing with and without an emulsifier and see what happens. You can make ice cream in a bag with salt on the ice and without, seeing the effects of the salt. For more examples of chemistry in the kitchen, you can check out this post at A2Z Homeschool.

Cooking and History

Our favorite way to incorporate cooking into our homeschool has been in our history and geography studies. I first got the idea when we were using Story of the World for history and they occasionally included recipes with the chapters. Most of them were recipes from the region and time periods we were studying, such as a Japanese tea and Apache fry bread.

Sometimes they were projects that related to the lesson through a creative idea such as using cookie dough to make the Parthenon. We began adding food to as many history lessons as possible because we found that the children really enjoyed it and the sensory experience of a meal made it easier for them to remember what they learned.

Just this past week we enjoyed a Polish Christmas feast. It was complete with a poppy seed cake based off of the study of Chopin in the music appreciation course that my daughter is currently working through. She baked the cake, made beet soup, perogies, kielbasa and sauerkraut. I never thought I would use cooking to learn about music but it just shows you that you can weave a seemingly mundane everyday task into just about any subject.

Have you ever incorporated cooking into your homeschool? Do your children enjoy getting in the kitchen and helping with meals and snacks? For more ideas about getting your children involved in the kitchen check out Homeschool in the Kitchen. Don’t forget to check out all of the other blog hop posts and check back tomorrow for more fun ideas.

UPDATE: Check out the subscriber library for free summer cooking challenges for young children and teens!

CREW @ Homeschool Review Crew – 2019 Annual Not Back to School Homeschool Blog Hop

Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses – ABC of Homeschooling

Dawn @ Schoolin’ Swag – Adding Fun to Your Homeschool Day

Erin @ For Him and My Family – Large Family Homeschooling

Lori @ At Home Where Life Happens – Learning Life Skills

Monique @ Mountain of Grace Homeschooling – Homeschooling the High School Years

Monique D. @ Early Learning Mom – Homeschooling With Autism

Yvie @ Homeschool On the Range – 5 Days of Upper Grades Homeschooling

Abby @ Making Room 4 One More – Time Management for Homeschool Moms

Amanda @ Hopkins Homeschool – 5 Days of Homeschool Questions

Amy @ the WRITE Balance – Year-Round Schooling

Annette @ A Net in Time – Homeschooling.

Betty @ Lets Get Real – Homeschooling High School

Cassandra @ My Blessed Mess – Eclectic Homeschooling
Kimberley @ Vintage Blue Suitcase – Roadschooling with a Teenager

Yvonne @ The Life We Build – 5 Days of Relaxed Homeschooling

Destiny @ Some Call It Destiny – Encouragement for the Homeschooling Mom

Karen @ Tots and Me…Growing Up Together – A Peek into Our Homeschool

Cassie D @ Deputie Tribe – Homeschooling 6 Taking Care of YOU

Kristen Heider @ A Mom’s Quest to Teach –Theme: A Quest for a Great Homeschool Year

Patti Pierce – Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy – My Favorite Homeschooling Things

Wendy @ Life on Chickadee Lane – 5 Days of Nature Study

Jacquelin @ A Stable Beginning – Homeschooling my final 4

Christine @ Life’s Special Necessities – Yes! You Can Homeschool Your Special Needs Child

Sally M – Tell the Next Generation – Tips for Homeschooling Struggling Learners

Kim @ Good Sweet Love – Last Year of Elementary

https://www.linkytools.com/thumbnail_linky_include.aspx?id=293886

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Deals and Freebies

SchoolhouseTeachers.com is doing an amazing sale this month! Buy One year get One Year FREE! We use this for several of our courses and one price covers all the students in your home for as many of their over 400 courses and you would like to use.

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Enrichment Studies has a great free fine arts memory match game this month!

Free Help Your Child’s Memory Book from All About Learning Press!

Adding Fun Into Your Homeschool: Games

When we talk about incorporating games into your homeschooling, many folks automatically assume that we are only talking about early elementary school. It is easy to think of games that teach colors and shapes or other basic concepts. I will mention a few of those games today, but I also want to think about games that can be beneficial for our older students.

*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *

One of our favorite types of game to play as a family is history related games. My husband loves history and will often join us for those types of games. My children have been really enjoying American History Timeline. You are dealt cards with various events from American history and each time you have a turn you have to place one of those spots in the correct place on the timeline of cards. Once you have placed the card, it is turned over to reveal the date. If it is correct, the game continues to the next player. If the card is in the wrong spot the player puts the card at the bottom of the deck and draws another card. The first player to successfully place all of their cards wins. We also really enjoy the history games from Home School in the Woods. She has a variety of file folder games that you can print and play focused on various time periods and historical locations. They are a great way to add a little fun to your studies.

In addition to history, there are several options to use games to work on geography. My children received Ticket to Ride for Christmas and have really enjoyed playing it. As they make connections and complete routes, they become more familiar with the United States and various major cities across the map. They also have a variety of other boards and expansion packs, so you could have maps of Europe and other locations. I certainly wouldn’t use it as my only geography study but it is a fun way to help cement knowledge or peak interest. Scrambled States of America is another great one that is even more directly educational while still being lots of fun. In this game you learn about the fifty states, their capitals, mottos, and other interesting information about each state. If you like computer based games, Stack the States is a lot of fun.

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There are a variety of opportunities for math games to add in a little fun. Some games such as Telling Time Bingo and Frog Pond Fractions were created with the express purpose of teaching math skills. While others are a bit more subtle in their math lessons. For example, Yahtzee and Monopoly both require players to use various math skills as they complete the game. My children also enjoy Life on the Farm and Act Your Wage, and I find both of those games to be more enjoyable than Monopoly and not quite so lengthy. When I asked about games on my Facebook page last week someone also mentioned, Smath which is like scrabble for math. I have not yet tried it, but I have added it to my wish list. You can also check out my post on using card games to help with math concepts.

In addition to academic subjects, I think games can be a great way to work on character traits as well as critical thinking. Games such as Clue and Guess Who? can be fun ways to work on those critical thinking skills. There are also a variety of cooperative games that are available. In these games children are working together to achieve the goal instead of competing. I find that these can be helpful with siblings who might be struggling with attitudes towards each other. We particularly like Wildcraft as a family and my five-year-old son enjoys Count Your Chickens.

For the preschool crowd, there are dozens of wonderful options for teaching cooperation, colors, shapes, letter, and beginning math concepts. I could write an entire post on the options but I will just share a few of our favorites with you today. When my older two children were preschool age, Leap Frog had a Letter Factory game. They spent hours playing that game and learning their letters. A favorite that has been around since I was a little girl is High-Ho Cherry-o. I also highly recommend pattern blocks, even though they may be considered more of a toy than a game.

There are so many ways to add fun into your homeschool day through games. I would love for you to share your family’s favorite games in the comments and tell me how you incorporate games into your homeschool days. Don’t forget to check out all of the other great blog hop posts today!

CREW @ Homeschool Review Crew – 2019 Annual Not Back to School Homeschool Blog Hop

Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses – ABC of Homeschooling

Dawn @ Schoolin’ Swag – Adding Fun to Your Homeschool Day

Erin @ For Him and My Family – Large Family Homeschooling

Lori @ At Home Where Life Happens – Learning Life Skills

Monique @ Mountain of Grace Homeschooling – Homeschooling the High School Years

Monique D. @ Early Learning Mom – Homeschooling With Autism

Yvie @ Homeschool On the Range – 5 Days of Upper Grades Homeschooling

Abby @ Making Room 4 One More – Time Management for Homeschool Moms

Amanda @ Hopkins Homeschool – 5 Days of Homeschool Questions

Amy @ the WRITE Balance – Year-Round Schooling

Annette @ A Net in Time – Homeschooling.

Betty @ Lets Get Real – Homeschooling High School

Cassandra @ My Blessed Mess – Eclectic Homeschooling
Kimberley @ Vintage Blue Suitcase – Roadschooling with a Teenager

Yvonne @ The Life We Build – 5 Days of Relaxed Homeschooling

Destiny @ Some Call It Destiny – Encouragement for the Homeschooling Mom

Karen @ Tots and Me…Growing Up Together – A Peek into Our Homeschool

Cassie D @ Deputie Tribe – Homeschooling 6 Taking Care of YOU

Kristen Heider @ A Mom’s Quest to Teach –Theme: A Quest for a Great Homeschool Year

Patti Pierce – Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy – My Favorite Homeschooling Things

Wendy @ Life on Chickadee Lane – 5 Days of Nature Study

Jacquelin @ A Stable Beginning – Homeschooling my final 4

Christine @ Life’s Special Necessities – Yes! You Can Homeschool Your Special Needs Child

Sally M – Tell the Next Generation – Tips for Homeschooling Struggling Learners

Kim @ Good Sweet Love – Last Year of Elementary

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Deals and Freebies

SchoolhouseTeachers.com is doing an amazing sale this month! Buy One year get One Year FREE! We use this for several of our courses and one price covers all the students in your home for as many of their over 400 courses and you would like to use.

If you missed the sale last month, Tuttle Twins is doing a 50% off sale in honor of back to school! Simply use the code: SCHOOL

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Enrichment Studies has a great free fine arts memory match game this month!

Free Help Your Child’s Memory Book from All About Learning Press!

Adding Fun to Your Homeschool: Contests/Competitions

Intrinsic motivation is a wonderful thing, but sometimes a little contest or competition can get students excited and motivated to do their very best. I have found that when I can tie schoolwork into a contest or competition my children will work harder and turn in work that is above what they typically do for a ‘regular’ assignment. There is also generally less grumbling and excited planning.

contests

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While not every assignment can or should be a competition, there are lots of available options. Writing is one of the easiest subjects to incorporate this strategy. There are quite a few writing competitions available for a variety of prompts and genres, many of them are free to enter. We personally participate in writing competitions with the North Carolina Tar Heel Junior Historians and the North Carolina State Fair. The 4-H program also offers some great writing competitions. Having these prompts and directions can help students be engaged and excited about their writing. It also gives them the opportunity to get feedback from someone outside of the home about their writing. I found that this was particularly helpful to me when one of my children thought that I was too harsh of a critic. The feedback on their entries helped them realize that correct spelling really was important and noticed by other people.

Science is another great area to incorporate competitions. You could participate in a local science fair (or start one) and allow them to work through the scientific process. You could also work on things through Science Olympiad which would allow them to compete on a team in various science activities. Another option that we utilize are 4-H competitions. My children participate in Avian Bowl, Poultry Judging, and Poultry Skill-a-thon as well as other livestock and chicken activities. They also offer competitions in robotics, horticulture, and many other science areas. Students learn to be subject matter ‘experts’ in their fields and spend lots of time studying and learning together.

In addition to writing projects, my children participate in a variety of history projects through the North Carolina Tar Heel Junior Historians program. They are able to make models, film movies, create scrapbooks and more all while learning about North Carolina history. This is a great incentive for them to do their very best. I also appreciate that this particular program is really good at making them cite their sources and learn about good research. There are junior historian programs around the country and I highly recommend checking to see if you have a program local to your area.

If you have a budding artist or photographer there are lots of opportunities for competitions in these areas. My daughter has just gotten into photography after purchasing a camera at a local yard sale. She is going to be using the 4H photography curriculum and the photography courses from SchoolhouseTeachers.com to help her grow her skills and then entering her pictures into our state fair, Tar Heel Junior Historians competition, and a 4H spring competition. There are dozens of other small art and photography competitions that your student could enter to display their work and get expert feedback in order to continue to improve their work.

Last but certainly not least, I want to take a minute to talk about public speaking. I believe that public speaking is a skill that is important for students no matter what their career or life goals. As adults they need to be comfortable speaking to a variety of people in a variety of situations. We have found that 4H presentations have been a great way to improve my children’s comfort levels when speaking in front of a group of people. My oldest son has been participating in presentations for about seven years and I have watched him not only get more comfortable during presentations but also flourish in a variety of speaking situations. He can interact with people in a confident and clear manner. This was a major benefit last year when he was running a supply trailer after Hurricane Florence. He interacted with volunteers, disaster victims, and the people and companies bringing in supplies. More than once people sought me out to tell me how impressed they were with his communication skills. I truly believe that 4H presentations are a big part of that success.

Contests and competitions are one way to add a little fun into your homeschool. Make sure to check back each day this week for a new way to add fun. Also, do not forget to check out some of the other great posts in this five-day blog hop. There is sure to be some help and encouragement for you.

CREW @ Homeschool Review Crew – 2019 Annual Not Back to School Homeschool Blog Hop

Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses – ABC of Homeschooling

Dawn @ Schoolin’ Swag – Adding Fun to Your Homeschool Day

Erin @ For Him and My Family – Large Family Homeschooling

Lori @ At Home Where Life Happens – Learning Life Skills

Monique @ Mountain of Grace Homeschooling – Homeschooling the High School Years

Monique D. @ Early Learning Mom – Homeschooling With Autism

Yvie @ Homeschool On the Range – 5 Days of Upper Grades Homeschooling

Abby @ Making Room 4 One More – Time Management for Homeschool Moms

Amanda @ Hopkins Homeschool – 5 Days of Homeschool Questions

Amy @ the WRITE Balance – Year-Round Schooling

Annette @ A Net in Time – Homeschooling.

Betty @ Lets Get Real – Homeschooling High School

Cassandra @ My Blessed Mess – Eclectic Homeschooling
Kimberley @ Vintage Blue Suitcase – Roadschooling with a Teenager

Yvonne @ The Life We Build – 5 Days of Relaxed Homeschooling

Destiny @ Some Call It Destiny – Encouragement for the Homeschooling Mom

Karen @ Tots and Me…Growing Up Together – A Peek into Our Homeschool

Cassie D @ Deputie Tribe – Homeschooling 6 Taking Care of YOU

Kristen Heider @ A Mom’s Quest to Teach –Theme: A Quest for a Great Homeschool Year

Patti Pierce – Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy – My Favorite Homeschooling Things

Wendy @ Life on Chickadee Lane – 5 Days of Nature Study

Jacquelin @ A Stable Beginning – Homeschooling my final 4

Christine @ Life’s Special Necessities – Yes! You Can Homeschool Your Special Needs Child

Sally M – Tell the Next Generation – Tips for Homeschooling Struggling Learners

Kim @ Good Sweet Love – Last Year of Elementary

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Deals and Freebies

SchoolhouseTeachers.com is doing an amazing sale this month! Buy One year get One Year FREE! We use this for several of our courses and one price covers all the students in your home for as many of their over 400 courses and you would like to use.

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Enrichment Studies has a great free fine arts memory match game this month!

Free Help Your Child’s Memory Book from All About Learning Press!

Our 8th Grade Curriculum Choices

Some days I find it hard to believe that I already have an eighth grader! I started homeschooling him in first grade and it seems like it cannot have possibly been that long ago. We started with a class schedule that was slightly shorter, but much like the one I had as a classroom teacher. It didn’t take more than a few weeks for me to realize that I didn’t want to create school at home but I wanted to create a learning environment where we could thrive. We have had our ups and downs, good days and bad days but I think we have learned a lot and each year gets better.

*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *

He will be taking Algebra 1 as an eighth grader which means I have to start his transcript this year. We looked at several programs but settled on No-nonsense Algebra. It came highly recommended by some fellow homeschool moms and we gave it a trial run this summer. The simple and straightforward approach seemed to work well with my son, especially after we worked through a couple of lessons together and I ensured he was working out the problems as required. This program combines short online video lessons with well written and worked out example problems, followed by a short practice session (usually about 15-20 problems). Each lesson also includes about four review questions at the end to help with retention.

For language arts he will be using several programs. First, we are continuing to use All About Spelling. It is one of my favorite programs ever because it was such a game changer for our family. This program helped both of my older children to finally understand spelling and translate what they were learning in spelling to their everyday writing. My son could read years above grade level and make hundreds on traditional spelling tests but could not translate those words into his every day writing. We had tried multiple other spelling programs before we finally purchased All About Spelling. With-in just a few weeks I was able to begin to see improvement. Last spring, my daughter had the opportunity to try out Fix It! Grammar from IEW and we felt like it was a really good fit. The short lessons were effective without being overwhelming. I thought this would also work well for my son so I purchased another copy of the student book for my son to begin this fall.

check list

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to review Lightning Lit & Comp: Hewitt Homeschooling Resources with my son. We did the first two chapters and I felt like it was a good match for his personality. We are planning to finish that program for his eighth-grade literature, although I will be mostly using the literature components and not the composition because we will be using a different composition program. He started working his way through Sharon Watson’s writing program Jump In and we plan to finish that program this year to give him the skills he needs for high school level composition next year.

We will be studying North Carolina History as a family. We love history and have spent a good deal of time volunteering at our local historic site. My son turned 13 in May and was very excited to be able to join his father in volunteering with their NC Continental Line group. History is the subject he is most excited about and I look forward to helping him learn and grow in this area. I will be using a variety of books, our North Carolina Junior Historians program, the North Carolina Historic Sites, and a variety of other resources to take them through North Carolina’s history. We will also use State History from a Christian Perspective to get us started and get a good overview of North Carolina.

For science he will be using Apologia General Science . This was another product that I had the privilege of reviewing this summer. I had been looking for a science that would help him become more independent and give him a good review of a variety of concepts in preparation for high school next year. This program did an excellent job of that and is very well laid out. I loved how easy it was for him to know exactly what he needed to accomplish because of the checklists and reminders that are included in the student journal.

Cutting Grass

To further his goals of running and growing his own business we started working through The Kingdom Code . He is loving the program, enjoying having his own grass cutting business, and looking forward to continuing in that program. It is a great program that teaches entrepreneurship and economics from a Biblical perspective. I will be sharing a weekly journal on the blog about his progress through this program, so make sure to follow along.

In addition to these programs, he will be doing Bible study each day and our morning time which will include read alouds, music appreciation, missionary studies, and more. Of course, there will also be lots of free play, field trips, and hands on adventures to keep the real-life learning going. Over the next couple of weeks, I will be sharing more about what we are using for our morning time. If you have younger children you may want to check out Our Kindergarten Curriculum.

What are your favorite middle grades resources?

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Deals and Freebies

SchoolhouseTeachers.com is doing an amazing sale this month! Buy One year get One Year FREE! We use this for several of our courses and one price covers all the students in your home for as many of their over 400 courses and you would like to use.

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Enrichment Studies has a great free fine arts memory match game this month!

Free Help Your Child’s Memory Book from All About Learning Press!

Hey Mama! Homeschool Planner (Review)

Gena Suarez from The Old Schoolhouse® has created a wonderful new tool for homeschool moms! I was excited to get a chance to review the Hey, Mama! Homeschool Planner for 2019/20 Year and try my hand at using a paper planner. This is a beautiful 188 page spiral bound book with a variety of planning resources and devotionals included.

IMG_20190520_180737_067 — Homeschool Mom Planning Kit

*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *

The calendar portion of this planner begins with July 2019 so I was not really using that portion (though I did go ahead and plug in some important dates and events). However, this is not just a calendar; there are a variety of planning pages in this planner that can help you get your new year planned, goals set, and curriculum organized.

In the past, I have typically used my computer to plan and one of the first benefits that I saw with the Hey, Mama! Homeschool Planner for 2019/20 Year was that it was very portable. Instead of planning while sitting at my desk, I was able to take the planner with me wherever I wanted to go. Planning while sitting in a swing and watching the waves on the river proved to be much more relaxing than staring at my computer. I also took it along on a family camping trip and used campfire time to discuss first semester goals with my two older children.

This planner starts out with information for creating an academic transcript if you have a child that is in high school and then flows into annual calendars for the next several years. Then the really good stuff gets started, you have the first devotional from Gena Suarez. Each month has a one page encouraging devotional for mom before the planning page and two-page calendar spread. This pattern continues from July 2019 through June 2020.

After the calendar pages are lesson planning pages, each week is a two page spread offering spaces for up to five children and seven different subjects. These are undated which allows you to fill them in as you go and not worry about weeks off or changes in plans. There are also some great devotionals distributed throughout those pages.

The Hey, Mama! Homeschool Planner for 2019/20 Year finishes with planning pages for each child (up to five children). There is a blank page for notes, a curriculum planning page, attendance, Books Read page (my children are excited to track their books this year), annual goals and semester goals pages. I really liked how these were laid out and kept it fairly simple. We worked together on our goal planning and I think that having the goals right there in the planner will help us stay focused on them as I am reminded of them whenever I use the planner. The goals sheet was broken down into seven different areas to address the ‘whole child’ and not just academic goals.

Goal Areas:

Educational
Spiritual
Physical
Personal Talents
Life Skills
Financial
Relational

My older two children both chose similar physical goals and are looking forward to training for and competing in a 5K during the first semester. They have even picked out the race they want to run on Thanksgiving morning. I was most appreciative of the relational goals because we are working hard on their relationships with each other.

If you are looking for a homeschool planner I encourage you to check out the Hey, Mama! Homeschool Planner for 2019/20 Year from The Old Schoolhouse®. I think it offered a variety of resources that would be useful for planning for younger or older children and could help keep your home school year on track. I do need to mention that they are 98% sold out and do not plan to print any more until next year. If you want to find out more about how other families are using this planner make sure you click the link below to read more reviews.