Homeschool Learning Through Routines and Extras

It’s so hard to get back in to the groove after a vacation. The last thing we wanted to do was head back to homeschool. But this week, we turned to old routines and found ways to learn from our “extras”, and it turned out to be a fantastic, learning-packed week! 

Fun Parts of the Homeschool Routine

My kindergartner had a few play dates and I can see that those are going to be our redeeming feature of our days. My daughter really does need those free play times, with other people. Raisin also has his co-op classes, homeschool karate class, and in-person homeschool Spanish class as well to keep him busy.

My kids also started back up with swimming lessons. I’m hoping their swimming will continue to improve (especially Raisin’s since he wants to join swim team). But even if their swimming doesn’t improve significantly, at least they are swimming at least one day a week! We often try to get to at least one open swim a week as well.

Co-Op is Part of Our Homeschool Routine

When my son was in kindergarten I taught a “literary elements writing workshop” to lower elementary school students. Our first week, we talked about the writing process. The co-op as a whole was perfect for

My son also had a science class at the co-op. His first class he took home a bean to grow (a project he did with his summer science class in May and June this year) and he will be learning about plant life.

“Field Trips” Become Part of Our Homeschooling Extras

The fact that the first science co-op class was about botany was perfect for this week. A different homeschool group of mine had a field trip this week to the Apple Orchard! I was surprised to find, as we traveled there, that my kindergartner could not remember where the seeds are in an apple! I always cut out the core so Raisin and Strawberry rarely see the seeds when I give them apples.

Our apple orchard field trip was very educational. We learned how essential bees are for the growth of healthy and large apples. We even saw some bees busying around a hive and pointed out the queen bee! We also learned about the various stages of an apple tree’s growth and how every apple contains the seeds needed for more trees.

In honor of our apple orchard trip, I wrote up some information about the apple tree life cycle. Strawberry (who is now Kindergarten) found it funny that there was no start or end to the life cycle.

“But, is the tree first or the seeds or the apples?” she asked when I first showed her the life cycle spinner. You can get the Apple Tree Life CycleSpinner free when you sign to be a Line upon Line Learning VIP.

Applesauce Homeschooling (Or, Learning from the Homeschooling Extras)

We enjoyed learning about the apple tree life cycle as we ate our homemade applesauce! Yep, you got that right! My mom and two of her grandchildren made applesauce after our field trip today! What could be a better culmination to the busy-ness of the week?

Making applesauce helped the kids see just where the food they eats comes from. It also was lots of fun to watch the apples be turned into mush. I was grateful that my mom spearheaded that learning project.

I think we’ll make some more apple crisp now. I’m craving more apple-cinnamon taste.

The awesome part of homeschooling is that all of this also counts as school learning!

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