Ah, fall. Beautiful weather, fun festivals, football…and the beginning of “sick season.” It’s the perfect time of year to teach middle and high school students about germs through some cool bacteria science experiments! I’ve harped to my son for years about the importance of hand-washing to prevent illness. Now that he has actually seen bacteria…
If you asked me to name a few things that have made THE most impact in our homeschool over the years, one of the answers I would give without hesitation is living literature. Many precious hours have been spent together around books. Those moments have built strong bonds between us, created warm memories, and sparked…
We veered off the “typical homeschool path” this year to teach out-of-the-box homeschool high school chemistry instead. This isn’t the first time we’ve chosen a different path for our son, who is a smart kid but doesn’t thrive in the textbook world of science. Do you remember how we chose an out-of-the-box biology course last year? Because…
As I sat down to plan what to write about this coming year here at Our Journey Westward, I took a peek to see what your favorite posts of 2016 were. As you’ll see below, it’s pretty clear you like living literature and creative teaching ideas. And, since I love those things, too, I’m happy…
Do you have a rough and tumble son? Me, too. Two of them, in fact. It’s always been hard on this momma to watch them “do what boys do” without cringing. While I certainly would rather keep them perfectly safe, my husband has convinced me that boys really do need to “be boys” so they…
It’s time for another post in my series about using picture books to teach writing to middle and high school students! Today’s topic is using picture books to teach text structure. What is text structure? It’s how the information written in a text is organized. Learning to identify text structure as a reader can greatly improve…
Well, these children of mine keep getting older and I find myself with a sophomore in college, a high school junior and a 4th grader. My homeschool became a boy school last year – and I’ve come to enjoy planning with active boys in mind! Take a peek at our homeschool curriculum and slightly improved schedule……
Homeschooling works. It just doesn’t always look the same from one child to the next. Sometimes even the best intended plans fail and adjustments need to be made. Our latest major adjustments were made in the subject of science and I’ve shared our success story here in hopes that you will be encouraged not to give…
Whether you currently enjoy nature study time with your children or not, being part of a nature club is a great motivator and provides hours of fun learning time! 1. What is a nature study club? Quite simply, it’s a small or large group of homeschoolers who meet together for the purpose of studying nature…
Does your child seem to have, um, selective hearing? You tell him (or her) to do this or that and you’re very lucky if one little smidgen of it gets done? Yeah, that can be infuriating to a momma. Ask me how I know. It turns out that there can be an honest-to-goodness reason and maybe,…
Economics. It’s about earning and spending money. It’s how businesses grow. It’s using resources to satisfy needs and wants. It’s taxes and interest rates and credit cards and savings accounts. It’s in everything from local production to global trade. The study of economics is as important for the “average person” as it is for the…
You know how near and dear brain training is to my heart, right? It’s been such a game-changer in our homeschool that I take it very seriously. We do some sort of brain training every. single. school. day. One day might find us playing a quick card game to building working memory. Another day might…