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 lively discussions. We've been gently prodded to build our character and define our values as we've learned from great victories and tragic mistakes of the characters in our books.We've been planted knee-deep in historical time periods and come to know and love each era because of it. We've turned around on the other side of science books and seen just how much new ... Read More
How to Build a Hands-On Homeschool. It’s Easy!
These days, it seems like hands-on homeschool is a buzzword of sorts. What's all the fuss about? Let's define hands-on first. It's best to define hands-on first because I think it's overall meaning might surprise you. You see, hands-on learning can actually mean several things. Most obvious, hands-on means "touching" things during lessons. For instance, rather than reading about simple machines, you actually use simple machines to learn about their characteristics. Or, when learning about the rock cycle, you make your own rocks by taking them through a rock cycle simulation. Similar to the definition above, hands-on can also mean learning by doing. When you learn about Colonial history ... Read More
40 of the Best Ways to Homeschool in the Car
Do you find your family 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 seemingly wasted minutes or hours. Did you know this car time doesn't have to be "down" time? It most certainly can be down time if you like, but there are lots of wonderful schooling and enrichment activities that can keep your children educationally engaged, too. In this post, you'll find more than 40 ideas for to have productive homeschool in the car! Homeschool in the Car We live in a rural area where just a trip to the grocery is a ... Read More
25 Creative Candy Math Activities To Make Learning Fun
I don't know too many children who aren't motivated by candy math activities. In fact, most of them beg for math when candy is involved. How many times do you remember your kiddos begging for math otherwise? Ha! When those regular math lessons begin to make everyone weary, take a break and add in a little candy math! Besides bringing a few smiles to your homeschool, you might be surprised to find that the hands-on nature of candy math actually does a great job of teaching certain troublesome topics, too! Has your child been struggling to read graphs? Build graphs from the ground up with candy! Has your child been struggling to understand multiplication of fractions? Help them to ... Read More
Using Picture Books to Teach Expository Writing
Why would anyone use picture books to teach expository writing? Because picture books are written by master authors who can teach us clearly through their examples. Not to mention, it doesn't take long to read through most picture books, so you can share examples and get right to the work of writing. What is expository writing? Expository writing is a fancy name that simply means writing that conveys information or ideas and offers explanations or evidence to back up said information or ideas. Informational children's books, textbooks, autobiographies, magazine articles, and newspaper articles are all examples of expository writing. This post contains affiliate links. That sounds ... Read More
Your Children Will Love Funschooling with Candy Heart Lessons
What kid wouldn't love a break from the regular schedule of homeschooling to enjoy a funschooling day full of candy heart lessons??? Mom, I promise that your day won't be wasted and you'll be able to check off just about every box in your lesson planner! Teaching with Candy Hearts Grab a big bag of candy hearts from the Valentine aisle at the grocery and you have just about everything you need for a full day of STEM candy heart lessons and more. K-3rd Grade Candy Heart Lessons My little guy was five when we completed these activities, but they are very appropriate for children through 2nd grade. Pictured Above: 1 Given a small a pile of hearts, Eli had to figure out how many ... Read More
Free Nature in Your Notebook Winter Printables
One of the best ways to perk up the school year during the winter is to get outside. Yes, you heard right - get outside! I know it's cold, but I also know what "going stir crazy" feels like and how {even cold weather} nature walks can rejuvenate the spirit. Not to mention, there's a world of nature waiting to be studied during the winter! Nature in Your Notebook To get you started in your nature explorations, I've created THREE fun notebooking pages that will guide you on walks from Valentine's Day through those first sweet signs of spring. To download them, simply click on the graphics. Lovely Winter Walk: Valentine's Day is just around the corner, so how about ... Read More
Your Favorite Posts from 2016
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 to oblige you with more in the year ahead! Your Favorite Posts from 2016 #12 Human Body Unit Study "Considering God’s Creation has been the spine curriculum for our 6th grade human body study. As always, I added a few things here and there to amp things up a notch. So, besides the {wonderful} notebooking pages that come with Considering God’s Creation, we did the activities and worksheets ... Read More
12 “All Boy” Gifts Your Son Will Love
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 can grow up to be men. With that in mind, I've watched with an anxious heart on many occasions. Whittling with sharp knives. BB guns aimed at doves. Slingshots aimed at squirrels. Overnight fishing trips. Fort building with real tools. Frog gigging. Deer hunting. Chopping wood. Backpacking trips. Shooting skeet. Riding horses bare back. Climbing trees. Starting fires. While some moms may wonder why these ... Read More
Using Picture Books to Teach Text Structure
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 the comprehension of the material. (Bonus!) Learning to identify text structure from the prospective of a writer can help you learn how to become a better writer. Picture books make great mentor texts for teaching the six basic types of text structure: cause and effect, compare and contrast, sequence, enumeration, problem and solution, and description. I ... Read More