Elementary

  • Renaissance Study

    Our final unit study of the year turned out to be a great one – even if it was on the lighter side of book learning.  We had just finished an intensive study of the Middle Ages, which naturally covers a lot of Renaissance history.  So, the main purpose of this study was to tie…

  • Haircuts and Flowers

    Yesterday was a b-u-s-y day!  Between a 15-month checkup with shots (ouch!) for little one and his first haircut, we really put Eli through the ringer.  I’d been waiting until we got the new camera before taking him for his first haircut and this picture shows just how badly he needed it.  🙂 You’ll see…

  • Our First Creation Club

    Even with almost half of our club missing due to a funeral/illness/traveling, the first ever meeting of our Creation Club was a BLAST!  This month’s theme focused on why we study God’s creation and how God has perfectly designed plant and animal interdependency through food chains and predator/prey relationships. The meeting started with a reading of Psalm 95:…

  • Kids and Money

      Teaching Biblical Stewardship and Allowances This topic can go so many different ways based on the preferences of parents.  I’m offering just a brief overview of how we handle kids and money in our house.  I’d love to hear some of your ideas and thoughts about raising money-wise, generous children. God tells us to…

  • Habit Training – Chores

    I found the following quote on the Formation of a Habit page at www.charlottemason.com. “Charlotte Mason taught us that when you find yourself always telling (your children) to do the same thing, you have not trained them in the habits you wish they would perform.” Boy, do I find this to be true.  And before I give…

  • President’s Day Math

    I just wanted to share what a hit this math activity was last week. Using the information sheets that the website provides, the kids had to fill out a chart to show how many presidents have come from which states.  Then, they used graph paper to create a bar graph to show the information from the chart.  Fun…

  • Learning in the Car

    (This post contains affiliate links.) No Guilt Required Do you find your family to be in the car more often than you care to admit? Whether you’re on the way to co-op, ballet, music lessons, ball practice, chess club or doctor’s appointments, all this car time can make a mom feel quite guilty about the…

  • Toyota Field Trip

    There’s a Toyota Plant not too far from us.  For years I’ve been wanting to go on the free tour they offer,  but my children have always been too young.  Children have to be at least 1st grade with a parent chaperone for safety reasons.  Anyway, this year, we left baby toddler Eli with Grandma and…

  • Library Scavenger Hunt

    Enjoy Language Arts at the Library Here are some ideas for a scavenger hunt at the library that will build all sorts of academic muscle.  Questions can easily be altered for younger or older children.  This was planned for my 5th grader and it will probably take a couple trips to finish.  (By the way, the…