Middle School

Image for a blog post about a renaissance unit study with homemade soap carvings, drawings, and boy sitting under a tree sketching

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:…

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…

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 free printable advertisement.

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…

KY Project Presentations

Last week we finished up a short, but successful unit on our state.  I think all involved liked the change of pace this time around.  Mahayla practically completed her readings, worksheets and projects on her own, while Caleb and I tackled his work at our own pace.  Here are just a few highlights. Kentucky Notebooks Using several…

Painless artist study image with photo of art supplies on a purple background.

Painless Artist Study

(This post contains affiliate links.) Cheating Just a Little Okay, so my Charlotte Mason friends may raise their eyebrows to this post.  I can get overwhelmed with all the “stuff” that’s out there to teach.  Good stuff like artists, composers, Latin….  Things that just seem to slip by the wayside sometimes when the phonics and…

4-H Lap Robes

Have you ever heard of Warm Fuzzies for Cancer Patients?  I hadn’t either, but our 4-H extension agent did some research and found this wonderful program for us to take part.  Groups (or individuals) make fleece lap blankets and donate them to cancer centers.   So, that’s what our 4-H group did this week.  Our blankets…