To challenge my children to step outside of their reading comfort zone, we’ve been working on the Badges for Books genre reading challenge. Badges for Books is a simple way to encourage a diverse diet of reading, and I’ve found it allows my children to each choose books at their own reading level to complete […]
The Best Poetry Anthologies for Children
It’s poetry month! I love poetry, and I’ve found some wonderful resources for children that my son also loves. Here are a few of the best poetry anthologies for kids. Find more of my favorites on my Amazon page!
Picture Books to Inspire Unique Story Organization
I had a lot of fun considering favorite picture books as I considered the variety of ways one could organize a story. So many times in elementary school kids are given a prescription for writing and they must follow that. Writing is more fun when students are free to organize their thoughts or ideas creatively. […]
Hands-on Multiplication Review Activities and Games
Multiplication is something that comes up again and again and again. My memories of elementary school math revolve around the horrid timed practice tests we had to take each and every week in third grade. So that’s why, for my kids’ sake, I want to make sure that use hands-on multiplication review activities and games […]
Archimedes Water Displacement Science Lesson
We’ve learned how to find the volume of a cubical object (such as my son’s bedroom). But how does one find the volume of something as odd-shaped as a rock? Using Archimedes’ story as an example, we made our own kitchen Archimedes water displacement science experiment to understand the concepts and reach our own “Eureka” […]
A Homeschool Mom Schedule is Not for Wimps
“It’s morning, Mommy!” As usual, I start the day with my 4-year-old daughter’s cheerful greeting. After a hug and a kiss, she runs off to get ready for the day and “make her bed,” and I hop in the shower. Since my homeschool day with almost 9-year-old, 4-year-old, and almost 1-year-old kids (Raisin, Strawberry, and […]
Homeschool Curriculum Choices for Fourth Grade for 2016-2017
It’s that time of year again: time to examine what homeschool curriculum choices we have for fourth grade for 2016-2017. In our busy house, self-directed learning is paramount! With a fourth grader, a preschooler, and a soon-to-be toddling baby, it’s sure to be an active year. Using various tools for self-directed learning is a key […]
Story Outlining and Retelling Using a Wordless Book
The Red Book by Barbara Lehman is a wordless picture book, so it may not be the first to come to mind when considering a book to “read aloud” to a class. However, because the illustrations tell the story, The Red Book can be an ideal book to use as students practice outlining and retelling […]
4 Surprising Lessons from Our Gross Sewage Treatment Plant Tour
Last week, my son was playing with a fortune teller that he found in an activity book. It predicted what amazing vacation he had in his future. It had destinations like Disney World and Paris, but his destination ended up being “A smelly sewage works.” This was hilarious to us because last week we actually […]
Review Area and Perimeter with a Flower Garden Plan
We are working on multiplication a little bit each week these days. I also discovered this week that my son could not remember the difference between area and perimeter! This week, I decided to give him a design challenge: plan a flower garden. It turned out to be a fun way to review area and perimeter!