During my workshops about creative homeschooling and living math, I often talk about incorporating games into the school schedule. If your family has an established game night, you probably already know how educational many board and card games really are. Math, language, history, science, logic and so much more can be practiced without your kiddos…
On Fridays, I attempt to plan a simple object lesson to go along with Bible study. Since we have been studying knights of the Middle Ages lately, I thought a lesson on the Armor of God made a nice tie-in. The lesson is quick, but powerful. Armor of God Object Lesson Materials: two oranges a…
My 6th grader just finished a mini French and Indian War unit study that was a great pit stop in our regular history studies. I just love the slow and steady pace we’re taking to go through the Story of the World curriculum this time around. I used to follow pretty strict 4-year cycles in…
Eli and I have certainly enjoyed a meandering pace through Story of the World for history. Because we’re never rushed to move on to the next chapter, it provides plenty of time for rabbit trails when he shows special interest in a topic. One of those special interests this year was the Vikings. We had…
This momma has a huge affinity for picture books. Over the years, we’ve read more than I would want to count. I promise you that I don’t regret a moment spent inside these books with my children! While we certainly have a long list of favorites from many, many different authors, there are just some…
Do history textbooks ever fit into a living literature-based homeschool? Of course they do! But, if we’re being honest, they often don’t fit in very well because dry text isn’t the name of the game in the Charlotte Mason style. Think about this, though. If we only used living literature when teaching history, for instance,…
When I was in school, I learned a lot of piecemeal history. While I could remember small bits of the lessons, I always felt like history was some giant puzzle that I would never put together – and I hated it. That’s the main reason I decided our homeschool would follow a four-year cycle of…
(This post contains affiliate links.) I’m a fan of research-based learning. This is learning that requires action from my children – not just pulling up rote facts or answering simple questions. In research-based learning, my children must dig deeper to determine answers. It forces independence and competence in knowing how to learn. While it’s not…
(This post contains affiliate links.) Analyzing the Themes from Amos Fortune I have a young man who would be perfectly content if he never had to read or write another day in his homeschooling life. Much to his dismay, he still has to read and write quite often. Occasionally, to dull the horrendous pain he…
(This post contains affiliate links.) Around the World: Mexico To see where all our “spine” learning comes from during this unit, be sure to check out our main resources for the Around the World Studies. Inspirational Books Look What Came from Mexico Off We Go to Mexico Diego Rivera (Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists) The Goat…
(This post contains affiliate links.) Around the World: China Be sure to see all the “spine” resources we are using throughout this unit study on the main Around the World post. Inspirational Books The Story about Ping The Five Chinese Brothers Three Pigs, One Wolf, Seven Magic Shapes Tikki Tikki Tembo Two of Everything Look…
Well, now…quite a lot happens in the time period known as modern American history! In order to cover everything from slavery and the Civil War to WWI, WWII and following, it would take a much bigger list than this. Rather than a Top 10, I’ve chosen to give you a Top 12 today. These books…