Motivation Monday: A Letter to the Overwhelmed Mom

21366868_10154751055561373_1099460212502287100_o

Dear Overwhelmed Mom,

You are tired and overwhelmed, it feels like you can’t keep up and you aren’t sure what to do next. Maybe you have a baby and you were up last night, maybe it is a busy time of year and you are spinning lots of plates, maybe you are new to homeschooling or in a new season of your homeschooling. I don’t have a magic wand and I can’t make it all go away, but do want to encourage you and give you a few tips that I’ve learned along the way. These tips and tricks won’t make the baby sleep or all of your problems go away but they can help you feel less overwhelmed and more ready to press on!

Bring it to God!

First, even though it feels like you don’t have time take the time to bring it all to God. This does not have to be an hour of solitude and quiet ( I know that can be impossible to come by). But by simply taking a few minutes in prayer and Bible reading. This can be while the children are sleeping, while you nurse the baby, or even while you watch them play outside. The Bible tells us to, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” ~ Matthew 11: 28-30

Make a Plan!

Once you have taken the time to pray about your situation, I recommend stepping back from the busy and making a plan. It may feel like you do not have 10 minutes to make a plan but taking those few minutes will reap big dividends. Once you put it all on paper (or computer screen if you’d rather) it will free up space in your mind to start working through your plan. I like to start by listing out everything I need to do and then make a plan for what order of completion works best. Simply having that plan and knowing you do not have to remember it all because it is on paper can make a big difference in calming the overwhelm. Another component to this that is helpful to me is to get a lot of small things done and marked off my list. Sometimes I have multiple 1 or 2 minutes jobs that need to get done (e-mails sent, bill paid, respond to a text, etc). Taking a few minutes and being able to cross those things off the list is powerful.

One Thing At A Time!

Next, do one thing at a time and remember the most important things. There are many things calling for your attention and it is easy to focus on the urgent things or to feel like you can not get it all done and freezing up and not knowing where to start. When you feel that way simply start with the most important thing on your list and focus on that, then move onto the next thing. Always remembering that time spent with your children is important and it is okay to prioritize that time.

Streamline

Finally, streamline where you can and know that there are different seasons in life. I love to cook big meals and make homemade bread. However, some days or weeks I know that what is best for everyone is a quick meal thrown into the crockpot and a loaf of La Brea from the grocery store. Some days we can spend an hour reading and doing science and some days I need to play the audio CD that accompanies our text in the car while we travel to events or appointments. Think about what is most important in this day, this week, or this year and give yourself grace when you can’t do all the things that you want to do. The days are long but the years are short and soon enough you will be in a different season.

I am praying for each person who reads this post that you may have find and peace in the middle of whatever overwhelming season you find yourself. Take this verse to heart and remember that raising and homeschooling your children is hard work but it is good and worth the effort. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” ~ Galatians 6: 9

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.

Deals and Freebies

SchoolhouseTeachers.com is doing an amazing sale this month!

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)

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

You can click the image below for the main page or check out a few of the participants below!

Nicole @ Bless Their Hearts Mom
Patti @ Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy
Rebekah @ There Will Be a $5 Charge For Whining
Rodna @ Training Children up for Christ
Stacy @ A Homemakers Heart
Tess @ Circling Through This Life
Wendy @ Life at Rossmont
Yvie @ Gypsy Road

God Schooling: How God Intended Children to Learn (Book Review)

godschooling

This was our ‘summer of books’ so I was delighted to add God Schooling: How God Intended Children to Learn by Julie Polanco to my list when the review opportunity arose. As I share my thoughts on this book, it is important to note that I do not believe that education is one size fits all. There are many educational philosophies and different styles work for different families and sometimes even different children with-in those families. That’s one of the beautiful things about homeschooling!

This book does a wonderful job of explaining and exploring the unschooling approach to education. While I do not think that unschooling is the approach that best suits our family, I enjoyed hearing about what works for her children and the research behind that methodology. I also gleaned a lot of great information and tips that will work well for our family.

One of the points that really stuck out to me in the beginning is how she explained unschooling. Julie says, “Unschooling can be a very deliberate endeavor, not necessarily haphazard.” She spends a great deal of time explaining how she deliberately sets out to provide her children with a good education in this manner. Sometimes unschooling is assumed to be doing nothing but letting your children play video games all day while you go about your business. However, she talks extensively about how she interacted with her children and helped guide them while providing natural learning opportunities and plenty of time for play.

She talks about how children, particularly children under eight, need a lot of free time and play. I wholeheartedly agree. They learn so much through play and exploration and if we are not careful we can fill up their days with school work and not allow them the time needed to play and explore.

Her chapter on children ages eight to twelve touches on many areas but I really liked what she had to say about entrepreneurship and service. In our family we believe that serving others is a Biblical command and we try to teach our children to serve from a very young age. During this eight to twelve range, they become capable of more complex service and taking more ownership in serving others. It is an important part of learning and development. Entrepreneurship is another important component of education for that age group. Learning to do meaningful work and contribute is a vital skill for successful adulthood. It is also a Biblical command and she shares several scriptures including 1 Thessalonians 4:11 and Ephesians 3:28 which talk about working with your own hands.

She also goes into experiential learning in that chapter. Children learn much better when they can experience that which they are trying to learn. She gives multiple examples from field trips and nature walks to living books and hands on crafts. These have been a vital part of our educational experience and I appreciated the encouragement to continue with this type of learning even as my children get older.

The section of the book that I needed to read most was probably the chapter titled, “Giving Teens Wings So They Can Fly”. My oldest son is twelve and so the teen years are very near for our family. Unintentionally, three of the books that I have read this summer have discussed how the modern age group of ‘teenagers’ is really a new lifestyle/category. Before somewhere around the late 1930s you did not see ‘teenagers’ as a separate culture. Most often once a child reached that age he/ she began working or contributing to the family in some way. Popular culture today paints teens in a negative light and holds them to very low expectations. However, Julie Polanco shares how she provided her children with opportunities to be involved in real life and contribute. It is important that we have high expectations for our teenagers and give them the opportunity to succeed and do great things.

If you want to know more about what unschooling looks like, especially from a Christian perspective or if you just want some encouragement and ways you can integrate more real life learning into your student’s education God Schooling: How God Intended Children to Learn is a great book. ** Also, she has a 1/2 price sale on the e-book version until August 22nd**

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Branch Out World Paddington Literature Study (Review)

20180807_123437

Our summer break was finally beginning and I was honestly not sure if I wanted to review the Paddington Bear study by Branch Out World. I asked my daughter how she felt about it, since it would mean doing school work on her first week of break. Looking back I’m so glad she said yes! I have loved the book Paddington for a long time but always thought of it as a book for young children so it had been several years since my 10 year old daughter had read the book. I was a little concerned that it would be to ‘babyish’ for her but my concerns were unfounded.

I used this study primarily with my 10 year old but also included my four year old son in many of the activities. We all enjoyed the book and they were excited to complete the activities. My daughter did more of the research activities but the four year old joined in for coloring and cooking. He also enjoyed looking at the pictures and talking about the book.

I was very curious prior to receiving the study about how much they would be able to do with what is a fairly short picture book but the study included geography in relation to the setting, science, vocabulary, pictures study/architecture, cooking, crafts and even math. There were a variety of activities to choose from and if you did them all this could easily have been your entire week’s school work. However, it was also laid out in such a way that you could pick and choose which activities worked best for your students. So if you had younger students you could choose the activities that worked best for that age and older students could do the more in-depth and research based ideas.

Once we read the book together, we started on our day one activities. The theme for the day was setting and the activities focused on learning about both London and Peru as they were important settings in the book. They included map work, flags, timelines, and even a lesson about migration. The study also included a tourist brochure project that students could complete to demonstrate reinforce the geography components of the lesson. My four year old enjoyed hearing about the areas and coloring the flags. My daughter went more in depth, using her atlas and other tools to research the area, find it on the map, and share with us what she learned.

20180807_104654

The second day focused on exploring words. We learned about the author, discussed the story using questions and narration, and worked with some vocabulary words. There was a lapbook style activity with the vocabulary words that my daughter enjoyed because she loves the cutting and pasting of lapbook pieces. We also could have done a great creative writing activity but skipped it since it was summer and she was on break. I may go back during the school year and assign the writing prompt because I think it was a great way to encourage creative writing. It involved them writing and adaptation based on the novel.

The third day involved learning about the illustrator, studying the pictures and then learning about architectural design and several artistic techniques that were used in the illustrations. There was an art activity, a lapbook component, and a game that could be used in working with these ideas and concepts. Illustrations are such an important but sometimes overlooked part of picture books and I was glad to see a day devoted to their study.

The fourth day was exploring science. There were several fun science experiments in this section, even one that was edible. I think edible components tend to always be the favorite in this house! There was also a nature study component which I really appreciate. My son enjoyed observing nature and then telling me all of the things he saw that he wanted me to write in his nature journal (since he is four and not yet writing on his own). We are planning on expanding that study over the next few weeks at various locations to talk about how different places have different plants and animals.

20180807_112300

The final day was exploring maths, crafts, and more. This was probably our favorite part of the study. There were several activities with math from learning about parallel lines to finding numbers in the illustrations (a great activity for my young son). Another activity that my son loved was the packing activity. He had to work on packing a suit case and deciding what he would need and what would fit. It actually worked out beautifully to coincide with an overnight trip that we were taking. Then came my daughters favorite activity: baking. They had a recipe for Strawberry Tart. She worked on these and made them as a special afternoon treat when her grandmother came for a visit.

There were a variety of other activities from field trips, tea parties and other fun snacks. Some of them were quite simple (popcorn) and others were a little more involved. I will note that this is a British company and since we are in the United States there were a handful of supplies and ingredients that I had to adapt or look up to determine what they were as they were terms (and spellings) not commonly used here. This was a great learning opportunity for the children and did not hinder our ability to use the study.

This was a fun unit study and I think we would enjoy using other literature studies in Branch Out World‘s Picture Book Explorers series would be a great way to bring a little excitement to our school year. Check out their site and let me know which study sounds like fun for your homeschool and don’t forget to click below to check out the reviews done by other Review Crew members.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

What About Preschool?

20180716_111636

I find myself in an interesting position this year. I have a four year old that really wants to ‘do school’. When my older children were his age I believed that earlier was better and that we needed a strong academic emphasis when they were young. However, over the last few years I’ve come to realize that less really is more when it comes to academics and young children. Children learn through play and exploration. However, I also want to support his desire to learn. To that end I’ve decided on a few academic activities that we will do each week as his ‘school work’. I will also provide him with plenty of opportunities for free play and exploration.

20180803_112421

Math: In addition to working with numbers in everyday life we are going to use 1-2 lessons per week from the Schoolhouse Teachers Preschool Playground Numbers, Patterns, and Cognitive Skills class. These lessons are short and fun and will give him varied exposure to age appropriate topics. I am also going to do a calendar notebook that we can do together each day. In this notebook we will work on numbers as we talk about dates, months of the year, days of the week, weather and seasons. Some of the calendar printables are coming from Schoolhouse Teachers and I am adding in a few freebies. This will be a great chance to start this habit and next year I will build upon that with more concepts included in the calendar notebook.

Reading/Phonics: He has been interested in learning all of his letters (thanks Letter Factory) and so we are going to work on a different letter each week. I found the book Eating the Alphabet Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z to get us started. Each week we will do four activities with the letter of the week. One day we will work on tracing and writing the letter, one day we will have a snack with foods that start with that letter, another day we will put pictures of objects that start with that letter into our sensory bin to play with, and the fourth day will be making the letter with Play-Doh or some other sensory material. I am creating the sensory bin cards for each letter and will have the available to download from the blog each week as we get to that letter.

Preschool Picture sensory cards

In addition to the letter of the week we will be reading lots and lots of books together. He loves reading and we will continue to read old favorites and introduce some new books. I am blessed that my older children also enjoy reading to him, so he gets extra reading time. If he wants a little more practice (or just to do a craft) we may do some of these free ABC Crafts from All About Learning.

Bible: He participates in our Bible Study Guide for All Ages studies and sits and plays while we listen to the Daily Audio Bible App.Schoolhouse Teachers

Science: He really enjoyed the sensory science bins from Schoolhouse teachers last year so I may keep some of those on rotation. We love hiking and doing nature study and I am going to give him his own nature journal this year to draw and narrate to me.

He loved helping me get is stuff ready for school next week. It all fits nicely into his tub.

Art: He loves doing chalk art pastel lessons with Nana at You Are an Artist and their Clubhouse Membership includes special preschool lessons that are a perfect fit for him. He also tries doing the lessons that the older children complete, but the preschool lessons give him his own special time.

Life Skills: He loves helping in the kitchen so we will continue to allow him to help and learn in the kitchen. He will be learning how to complete some new chores this year like making his bed.

This may seem like a long list but the ‘seat work’ portion of the list should not take more than about 30-40 minutes total four days a week. I believe this will be enough to keep him excited about school but still give him plenty of time for free play and exploring. As always I will see how this system is working and adjust it as needed.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Deals and Freebies!

You Are An Artist Clubhouse Memberships are now Open for enrollment!!

YA3-Summer-Camp-640x640-416x416

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 ABC Mouse Trial: Looking for a little summer education for your children when it is too hot to play outside? ABC Mouse is offering a FREE 30 day trial. This is a great way to give it a try and see if it works for your child.

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!

What Are We Using For 5th Grade?

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

20180529_121120

My daughter is in the 5th grade this year. This is my current plan for next year. As always, it is a flexible plan that we will adapt as needed throughout the year. I will also be supplementing with various Review Crew products.

Reading: We had the chance to review Home School Navigator last year and my daughter really enjoyed it. She requested to use it as her primary reading program for this year. I love that she can complete in fairly independently and feel like it is a good fit for this year.

Writing: Writing for my daughter will be a bit of a mix. She will complete some of the writing included in Home School Navigator as well as some real life projects such as pen pal letters, Junior Historians projects, and 4-H Project Record books.

Spelling: All About Spelling We struggled for years to find a spelling program that worked. When I used traditional lists he could often spell the words correctly for the test, but none of it seemed to be translating into spelling correctly in his writing. I tried non traditional curriculum, word walls, and copy work but nothing was improving his spelling. All About Spelling has been such as blessing as we’ve used it over the last 3 years and I have seen steady improvement his his spelling. One thing we added last semester that made managing the program a lot easier is the All About Learning App which means that we can use the kindle instead of magnetic tiles. The magnetic tiles are a great option for many learners but our preschooler kept getting into them.

Math: We started using Math For A Living Education last year and will continue this year. She actually requested that I go ahead and purchase the book this spring when she finished the fourth grade one and she is working in it a little bit here and there throughout the summer. She is excited to be moving ahead and feels like this program works well for her.

20180301_195556

Science: We will be finishing up both Apologia Physics and Chemistry and Apologia Anatomy. We did parts of both of those last year and will be finishing them up this year.

Art: You Are An Artist Clubhouse Subscription I need to be honest and say that I’m not always (read never) the best at making sure art happens in our home school. At least I was not before I found a way to have art done for me in an easy relaxed way from the comfort of my home. We love these lessons because they are simple and easy to follow. She enjoyed the lessons and likes to use her pictures to send to grandparents and other family members. I like the subscription because there are lots of options for the whole family, but they also have a lot of great courses that you can purchase independently.

Bible: For Bible we will be listening to the Daily Audio Bible App as a family during our morning basket time and working through the Bible Study Guide For All Ages as a family. In addition he will be going through the Sibling Challenge Journal by Not Consumed which includes Bible study on sibling relationships.

History: We will be beginning our second cycle of Story of the World this year with Story of the World Volume 1. We are excited to be going back to Ancient History and looking forward to going deeper into our studies. I will also be supplementing Story of the World with some great games and resources from Home School in the Woods. I will be posting a chapter by chapter list of resources for Story of the World Volume 1 as soon as it is completed.

20180215_101824

Typing: My daughter went through Bytes of Learning UltraKey Online last semester and we saw a great deal of improvement in his typing speed and accuracy. She is looking forward to working through it again and trying to get even faster.

In addition to these studies we will be completing our morning basket time and ‘Evening Education’ (more on this in a blog post next week) as a family. These times will include poetry, missionary studies, artist and composer studies, and read alouds. Once I have ‘finalized’ my morning basket plans for this year I’ll share what I have in the basket as a separate post.

I would love to know what curriculum you are using this year. Are you still searching for that perfect fit or have you found something you love?

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Deals and Freebies!

You Are An Artist Clubhouse Memberships are now Open for enrollment!!

YA3-Summer-Camp-640x640-416x416

Free ABC Mouse Trial: Looking for a little summer education for your children when it is too hot to play outside? ABC Mouse is offering a FREE 30 day trial. This is a great way to give it a try and see if it works for your child.

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!

Join Us For An Adventure Through Ancient History!

As many of you know we spent the last year focusing on US History. We are now ready to begin our second four year cycle through world history. We will be using Story of the World as our spine and adding in fun activities, literature selections, and lots of tasty food to make this a fun and engaging family study. I will have a 7th grader, 5th grader, and four year old tag-along this year as we work through Ancient Times.

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

I have created a page of extra book recommendations. I have started with the first ten chapters but will be adding to that each week until I have finished all forty chapters of Volume 1 (and I plan to add the other volumes as we get to them). I have also created a resource list for each chapter that will include books, art, websites, food, movies, and other resources. At the end of this post you will find a free download of the resource lists for the first ten chapters. I will add the other chapters to the blog once they are finished.

We will begin Story of the World in September and I will be sharing with you the various ideas and projects that we use along the way. There will be extension ideas for the older children (literature, writing, research) and fun ways to include younger children. We will cover roughly one chapter per week, though there are a few chapters we will spread out over two weeks and a few that we will combine. In addition to Story of the World and the Activity Guide, we will be using some resources from The Productive Homeschooler,(formerly Notebookpages.com), You Are An Artist, and Home School in the Woods. I have also found many free websites, videos, and printables to round out the program.

You Are An Artist has a wonderful art curriculum that combines history and art together. We have the You Are An Artist Complete Clubhouse Membership that allows us to use both the history art lessons as well as dozens of other courses including maps, hymns, nature and more. However, if you just want art to go along with your history she offers a history subscription or the Ancient History Course. You can even try out the Coliseum video lesson for free!

This is our second time going through Story of the World and my two oldest children remember many of the lessons with great fondness. They loved making apple mummies, Lego pyramids, and cooking ‘ Elephant Ears’. We will repeat some of these activities but also look to go deeper into some of the studies. There are ideas and suggestions for a variety of learning styles. I look forward to sharing this Adventure through Ancient History with you and hope that you will join us in learning about ancient cultures and people.

Volume 1 Resources Chapters 1-10

Volume 1 Chapters 11 through 15

Volume 1 Resources Chapters 16-20

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Deals and Freebies!

You Are An Artist Clubhouse Memberships are now Open for enrollment!!

Apologia 25% off and $5 Shipping Back to School Sale!!

Alice in Wonderland on Audible for less than $1!!

Give Your Child The World is on sale on Kindle for less than $1.

$0.99 for 3 Months of Kindle Unlimted (limited time offer)

FREE: Check out this great new FREE resource for classical and Charlotte Mason education! Classical Christian Education & Charlotte Mason. Great for folks already homeschooling or if you have friends that are looking into it!

FREE Fantasy & Fairy Tales StoryBuilders from Write Shop!

Help! I’m Homeschooling!: Helpful Habits for the Heart of Homeschooling (review)

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

When I agreed to review, Help! I’m Homeschooling!: Helpful Habits for the Heart of Homeschooling I was hoping it would be a good book that I could recommend to the folks that look to me for help in getting started. However, what I got was so much more. I do recommend this for new homeschoolers but honestly it is a great book for veteran homeschoolers that need a bit of encouragement or refreshment.
37740280_10216496568155946_6143305419566612480_o(1)

Trica Hodges uses each short section to talk about a different homeschool habit that was helpful in their homeschool. She has suggestions that range from spiritual to practical and from young children to high school.

One of the habits that I want to try this school year is morning room time. I love the idea of a time for the younger ones to play independently while I accomplish a few things with the older children. I think the thing I most love about how she makes it work is that the little ones get to hear her voice and work on learning during that time so it is almost like she really gets to be in two places at once (and don’t we all wish for that at times).

This year I will have a baby, a preschooler (who desperately wants to be included in school work), and elementary student, and a middle schooler. Time management is going to be critical for us and I love how she has a variety of time management ideas. What works during one season may not work in the next but she has a variety of ideas that can implemented to help with time management.

There are many other ideas and habits included in Help! I’m Homeschooling!: Helpful Habits for the Heart of Homeschooling. She packed a lot of great information and easy to use ideas into less than 100 pages of text. This book can be read in its entirety or you can simply choose the habits that you feel you need to work on. She recommends (and I wholeheartedly agree) that after reading you choose one or two habits to work on and not the whole book. If you are homeschooling and want a little bit of help with habits and making things flow more smoothly, you are just getting started, or you are considering making the change I highly encourage you to check out this short but powerful book.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Deals and Freebies!

You Are An Artist Clubhouse Memberships are now Open for enrollment!!

Free ABC Mouse Trial: Looking for a little summer education for your children when it is too hot to play outside? ABC Mouse is offering a FREE 30 day trial. This is a great way to give it a try and see if it works for your child.

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!

Project Passport: Ancient Egypt (Review)

IMG_20180724_190059_070

How do you know you have found an awesome product?

When the children enjoy working on a review product even though it is supposed to be their summer break.

I knew that we had enjoyed the history game that we reviewed from Home School in the Woods this spring and was excited to try out one of their Project Passport World History Studies. I knew that we were going to be doing ancient history this fall and so I thought that the Ancient Egypt one would be a good fit.

The Project Passport World History Studies are exciting history studies that include 25 lessons or ‘stops’ that you would complete over 8-12 weeks. These ‘stops’ include Guide Book Text which is the reading for that particular topic, a ‘travel itinerary’ which gives you all of the projects and directions for each stop, and the masters that are needed for the projects. There are also audio components at eight of the stops.

38180795_1757730590961716_7193681650813763584_n

38086075_1757731454294963_531520967592116224_n

38085067_1757731087628333_1958387512246272000_n

At first glance, this can seem a little overwhelming. There are so many files and so much information. However, once you understand the system it is actually very simple to use. There are two different ways that you can get the information that you need. I started by extracting the files from the download and then going into the PDFs and printing what I needed. This works fine and is the preference for some people, but I think it is why I was a little overwhelmed at first. After we had been using the study for awhile, I realized that there was a start ‘button’ in the extracted files. This was a total game changer because when you use that link, it opens up a page in your web browser that has each ‘stop’ on the itinerary and clickable links for the files you need for that stop. This helps keep all of the files and information organized and was a great way for me to access what I needed.

While we are talking about overwhelming, I think it is important to note that it is not necessary to complete all of the activities with each stop. There are multiple options for projects which is a great way to give your students the opportunity to choose the ones which appeal to their interests. I do suggest taking a look over the course before you get started and gathering materials that you might need. Most of the materials were basic school/office supplies that you may already have on hand but there were a few things that I needed to find and looking ahead gave me the opportunity to have those ready when they were needed.

The first stop is mostly about getting everything set up. You do get a little background information about Ancient Egypt, but this is the lesson where you set up your notebooks, passports, and other materials that will be used throughout the lessons. One of our favorite parts of this lesson was the ‘luggage’ that they made using simple folders. It looked like so much fun that even my four year old had to make one. These are used to store materials and completed projects throughout the study.

During the second stop and beyond it is much more focused on the history components. Each ‘stop’ includes reading about the different components of Ancient Egypt that are being studied. For example, some lessons were on everyday life such as clothing and food. Other lessons were on agriculture, famous women, kingdoms, and religion. Once you have completed the reading there were multiple projects and activities to choose from. You student could be working on completing a lapbook and there were various lapbook activities included throughout the stops. They could also assemble a notebook with different projects. One of the projects that we enjoyed throughout the study was the timeline. We printed off the pages of the timeline and placed them in our notebooks but they could have also been connected together as one long timeline. Then with each stop we would cut out new timeline components and glue them onto our pages.

There were postcards that had letters already printed on them from someone the students had learned about in the lesson. The students would then design a picture for the front of the postcard. There was also a mapping component that they could add to at each of the stops.

While the children enjoyed those other components the hands on projects and activities were the highlight of our study. Our whole family enjoyed an ‘Ancient Egyptian Feast’ using recipes from the cookbook that they made in one of the early lessons. Both of my older children chose recipes to make for dinner one night and then I helped the four year old make a salad from the recipe book as well. He was determined not to be left out and had so much fun making his salad.

20180724_183537

My twelve year old son enjoyed making bricks using mud and a straw/mud mixture. It was hands on an active, but what I liked most about it is that it helped him see how what were learning in history connected to the history he learned in the Bible. This program consistently showed how history and the Bible are connected without taking away from the face that it was a history curriculum.

If making bricks doesn’t excite you, you could dress a paper doll Egyptian woman, build an Egyptian temple, make a flip book, or even design a newspaper. There were a wide variety of projects which I find especially helpful as a mom who was using the study with multiple children. My children can use this program together but still chose projects that are more tailored to their interests. My daughter enjoys lapbooking projects, but my son does not. With this study I could have them each chose elements that they enjoyed while having them cover the same material.

This curriculum is designed for use with grades three through eight and in general I’d say that is a good age range, but I do think if you have children both in that age range and younger that you can certainly include the younger children. My four year old certainly did not complete all of the projects, but enjoyed cutting and pasting the timeline figures, listening to me read, coloring pictures, and making dinner. I found that he learned quite a bit from being involved.

We have not yet completed this study but are really enjoying it and plan to finish it up in September when we start back to school (the kids would finish it now but mom needs a couple weeks completely off before we start back). I believe Project Passport World History Studies would work well as a stand alone history curriculum, or can be used to provide a hands on supplement to other programs. In addition to Ancient Egypt they have Ancient Greece, The Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation and their newest product Ancient Rome. These studies are also available as a bundle!

Home School in the Woods also offers a wide variety of other hands on history products and timelines. The Review Crew had the opportunity to review quite a few different products and I encourage you to click the link below to check out all of the different reviews to see which products might work well for your family.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Pocketful of Pinecones

IMG_20180702_141150_127

Pocketful of Pinecones (aff) had been on my ‘to-read’ list for quite some time. I purchased it months ago and finally had the chance to read it. I often describe our schooling style as ‘Charlotte Mason-Eclectic’ and I love nature study. Even with my love of nature study we don’t do it as often as I’d like so simple easy ideas are always welcome.

Since my reading time has been more limited over the last few years I’ve tended toward nonfiction titles that I felt were beneficial to my growth, but I’ve missed the fun fictional books. This book was the best of both worlds. It is a book with ideas and thoughts about nature study woven into a fictional story.

The story is set in New England in the mid 1930s. It shares the story of Carol and her children as they embark on their first year of homeschooling. The book is divided into seasons and each chapter is a diary entry from the mom sharing what they did that day. The chapters are short and easy to read, making it a great choice for a busy mom that may not have long stretches of time to read.

She shares ideas of how they found various things to study in their nature study, working on their nature journals, books for learning more, and great quotes and copy work. At the end of each chapter there is at least one question to help you follow up and apply that chapter to your own nature study with your children.

While I really loved this book, I do feel like I should mention that it was a little unrealistic in a happy ‘hallmark movie’ kind of way. While they had a few difficult situations, everything always wrapped up very nicely and more simply than what I tend to experience in real life.

If you are new to nature study this is a great book for giving you ideas to get started and understand more about what nature study might look like in your home. If like me, you have been doing nature study for awhile this book can help give you fresh ideas and reignite that excitement about sharing nature with your students.

The author, Karen Androla has another book about this family, Lessons at Blackberry Inn (aff) which I’m hoping to purchase and read soon. She also has a non-fiction text, A Charlotte Mason Companion (aff), which I have found to be very useful in understanding the Charlotte Mason educational philosophy.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Deals and Freebies!

Alice in Wonderland on Audible for less than $1!!

Give Your Child The World is on sale on Kindle for less than $1.

$0.99 for 3 Months of Kindle Unlimted (limited time offer)

This might be my favorite deal, 66% off a 3 month subscription to Audible. If you have not tried it, now is the time!

Homeschool Homestead: Canning and Preserving

Every year we plan a couple of big ‘canning days’ and every year about half way through I say I’m never doing it again. Then we finish up and have all the yummy food ready for us all winter and I realize yet again that it was worth the time and energy.

If you are new to canning you should know that you don’t have to go crazy like we do and try to can ‘all the things’. Pick one or two things that you have an abundance of or are readily available at your local farmers market and try a small batch. You can work your way up from there!

We enjoy using canning as a part of the homesteading and homeschooling process. The children learn about food preservation, fill our pantry for the winter, learn about nutrition, and practice math skills (measuring, weighing, multiplying and dividing recipes). It’s also a great way to give responsibility to older learners. While there are parts of canning that need to be handled by a responsible adult or an older child, there are many parts of the process that are suitable for young children. My little ones tend to especially enjoy peeling tomatoes or peaches and shucking corn! I will answer some of the most common questions I hear about canning below to help you get started!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

What do you can?

We can a wide variety of things from tomatoes to peaches, salsa to turkey broth. We also enjoy pie fillings and jams for sweet treats in the winter months. We even can strawberry lemonade concentrate which is like a little burst of sunshine during cold winter. Just about any produce can be safely canned, some might need a little sugar or acid, but there’s loads of recipes here.

Is it better to use a water bath canner or a pressure canner?

That depends on what you want to can. I recommend starting with a water bath canner BUT some things are not safe to can in a water bath canner. In general, most fruits and pickles are water bathed and meats and vegetables are pressure canned but you can find out for each specific item on the websites in the resources below.

How do I learn how to can?

I recommend doing some research before you get started canning. If you like books the Ball Canning Guide is an authoritative resource as is the National Center for Food Preservation (USDA). Many people learn better by watching or participating in a hands on class. Check with your local cooperative extension as they often offer free or inexpensive classes on canning. Also, many people that enjoy canning are happy to teach their friends and neighbors. If you have a friend or neighbor teach you, please make sure that you choose someone who is following the recommended safety procedures; there’s lots of ‘old timey’ techniques that aren’t necessarily safe

What resources do you need?

Canner: Water Bath or Pressure (depending on what you want to can)

Canning tools (jar lifter, magnet, canning funnel) These sometimes come with water bath canners like the set above and are also sold separately.

Jars and lids: Jars are reusable and typically cheaper locally than online due to shipping. Always make sure you use canning jars as other jars may not be rated for the heat. Metal lids are one time use, but the rings can be used multiple times. There is a little more of a learning curve but once you are comfortable with the canning process you can use Tattler Lids which are reusable, but cost a bit more.

Recipes: Unlike much of cooking you it is not safe to freelance on your canning recipes. Canning recipes are specifically designed and tested for safety. There are many resources out there with recipes but not all of them have been tested for safety. Two of the most used and recommended resources that are tested and trusted are the USDA and Ball. If you intend to enter canned goods into a fair, many require recipes to be from one of these two sources.

What are your favorite things to can?

As my friend Crystal would say, “Can all the things.” Really though we enjoy canning a variety of different items. Pickles are one of my favorite even though they are little time consuming the rewards are great. We also really like corn salsa (we canned over 50 jars of corn salsa this week). For starting out I recommend jams or fruits as they tend to be simple but delicious and easy to do in small batches.

Why do you can?

We can for several reasons. We love to know where our food came from and support local farmers, we like controlling the ingredients, and enjoy the team building aspects of family canning. We also love to see the children engaged and contributing to the household.

Do you have to grow a huge garden in order to can?

Absolutely not! While growing a large garden is a great way to get produce to can, we often purchase produce in bulk from local farmers in order to can enough for our family’s needs. You can find local farm stands, u-pick farms, or even barter with a neighbor that might have an abundance.

Is it safe?

A quick Google search can lead you to horror stories of canning gone wrong. There is a very real danger to inappropriate canning. Botulism is nothing to play around with, however, as long as you are following safety-tested recipes and procedures canning is very safe. Follow the correct recipes, canning times, and canning procedures and your food is just as a safe (or maybe safer) than what you are buying in the store.

Key Safety Points:

Follow a tested recipe
Use the appropriate canner (never water bath a low acid food that should be pressure canned)
Make sure you have a good seal

What homeschool skills are taught/reinforced?

In addition to it being a valuable life skill in and of itself, there is a lot of math that we use in canning. Measuring and weighing ingredients, multiplying or dividing when we need to halve or double a recipe, elapsed time when determining what time the canners will be done, we’re even considering getting into pH calculations and specific gravity as their chemistry advances to those skills. It is also a good lesson in nutrition as you talk about needing fruits and vegetables all year and preserving them for the winter when they are not able to be grown locally.

We just finished up over 50 jars of corn salsa and 11 jars of plain tomatoes this week. I’m hoping to get a chance to can more tomatoes this summer and my daughter wants to make some blueberry jam to enter into our state fair. Canning is a lot of work but it is very rewarding work and we enjoy spending the time working together as a family. Leave me a comment with your favorite thing to can or any canning questions that you might have.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Deals and Freebies!

Alice in Wonderland on Audible for less than $1!!

Give Your Child The World is on sale on Kindle for less than $1.

Amazon Prime Day is coming up next week with LOTS of great sales. If you are not an Amazon Prime member you can get a free 30 day trial to take advantage of the great sales.

$0.99 for 3 Months of Kindle Unlimted (limited time offer)

This might be my favorite deal, 66% off a 3 month subscription to Audible. If you have not tried it, now is the time!

FREE Poetry Pack from Write Shop! 20 Printable Activities and Worksheets, including: Practice exercises, brainstorming worksheets, poem planning worksheets, word banks, and colorful lined writing pages