Our Journey Westward » hands-on

Inventors/Inventions Unit Study

Cindy — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:36:18 +0000

I can’t believe we’ve knocked another unit out! I was somewhat dreading this unit because the topic seemed rather dry and dull, but I was in for a pleasant surprise once we dove in!!

The A Journey Through Learning lapbook was an outstanding spine. I had never used one of their lapbooks before, but it won’t be the last one! It was put together in a very organized, simple to implement way – refreshing!!

We also completed some of our own inventions using ideas from the Teacher Created Materials Inventions book. (You can find links to the books I’m mentioning below.) The kids LOVED creating their own inventions. I’ve put together a little slideshow of our lapbooks and inventions….

Below is the list of resources that have been in the sidebar. We read a few more great books from the library, too…Lights Out,So You Want to Be An Inventor?, I Is for Idea: An Inventions Alphabet, The Berenstain Bears Fly-It! Up, Up, and Away!

Inventors and Inventions

Lesson Idea Links from The Homeschool Mom

Lots of Links from About.com

Next stop, Simple Machines! You can find the resources for that unit in the sidebar very soon.

Magnet Unit Study

Cindy — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:00:04 +0000

Our study on magnets only took a week – but a fun, hands-on week it was!

Magnets

Lots of Free Lessons

Even More Free Lessons

Hands-On Homeschool Carnival

Cindy — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:00:14 +0000

Welcome to the July issue of the Hands-On Homeschool Carnival! I’ve been suprised by the number of wonderful submissions in the middle of the summer. How exciting – especially as our family is getting geared up to start again.

Since we’re all so busy with summer fun, I’ve made the post descriptions short and sweet! Enjoy!

Even though we haven’t been doing “official” school, our summer has been filled with lots of hands-on learning as we work in the garden and harvest the veggies, take extra field trips, play board games in the shade of the porch on a hot afternoon, and spend many lazy hours reading good books. Here’s a peak into our very hands-on VBS…A Trip to Rome!

Our Busy Homeschool shares how much fun writing in Colonial times must have been in her post titled Writing With a Quill and Ink. She also shows how much fun a dinosaur dig can be in Paleontologists and Climbing.

Homegrown Mommy shares a fun Biblical lesson her children presented and video taped in Here’s a Quick Lesson Plan for Samson and the Lion (Judges 14).

Homeschool Bytes put birthday party plans in the hands of her daughter in Give Kids Money and a Budget – Tuesday Tips.

Home4Skool shares how she and her children have been creating their own structures in Making Domes.

ToddlerCraft shares a simple, but fun idea for little ones in Learning About the Ocean.

Talking to Myself gives a very unique idea for getting children to cooperate in Studying New England – Part 2.

Roots and Wings shows you very clearly how to make a homemade planter in Topsy Turvy Tomato Tutorial.

School For Us shares a super hands-on artist study in Henri Matisse and Icarus.

Harmony Art Mom’s entire family had fun in Sculpey Projects – Great Summer Creative Fun.

Schooling Memoirs made a lesson from Story of the World come to life in Mummy’s.

Mountaineer Country celebrated our country’s independence in hands-on style as she shares in Our 4th of July.

Leaving Footprints has a wonderful hands-on idea for *moms* of preschoolers in Preschool Activity Box.

Thanks for visiting! I hope you’re making wonderful summer memories!! You can submit to the next Hands-On Homeschool Carnival (in August) by clicking here.

Chemistry Show

Cindy — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 14:53:00 +0000

This was our last official project of the 2008-09 school year. Besides finishing up some math and grammar, we’re done! WooHoo!! We’re taking the next couple of weeks to tie up the loose ends, write report cards and pack up our work. Of course, around here the learning never stops, it’s just less official. (And I get a lot more done around the house!)

Besides nature study, our science topic for the year was chemistry. After finishing the lessons from Christian Kids Explore Chemistry, I wanted to be sure they fully understand the concepts we covered. So, a project week was assigned! I wanted them to research, plan, organize, and present a project that came almost completely from them. As usual, they went all out and did a super job!

Here was the assignment:

On Friday, you will be presenting a Chemistry Show. You are expected to work together and be fully prepared for the presentation. During the show, you are to present (and explain) experiments or models to show you understand the following chemistry concepts:

mixtures
separating mixtures
solutions
solvents and solutes
reactions
matter – solids, liquids and gases
acids and bases
atoms
molecules

I handed them a small pile of science experiment books and the assignment paper and they took over!

Here are some random pictures from the “Crafty Chemistry Show”. Their shirts are “lab coats” and they rustled up some latex gloves and safety glasses for more authenticity.