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Kids play a game on the floor. For a blog post about logic and critical thinking.

20 Excellent Resources for a Homeschool Co-op Logic and Critical Thinking Class

At co-op this year, I have the privilege of teaching two logic and critical thinking classes – one for high school and one for middle school. We’re having a great time together! I promised a little look inside that class, so here goes. This post contains affiliate links. The Main Content I’m doing similar things for both…

Small tree branch for an image about the study of a twig

The Study of a Twig

The Study of a Twig: Botany Nature Study My middle school son has been enjoying a fabulous study of botany.  Today’s topic was the twig of a deciduous tree: What is a twig? Where are twigs located on trees? What grows on twigs? How do twigs grow? We first learned about the terminal bud, which…

Renaissance Festival

I’ve wanted to attend the Ohio Renaissance Festival for years.  Since this is our last medieval history cycle with Mahayla (boo hoo), visiting the festival was now or never.  What a fun experience!  (A little gypsy-like at times, but fun nonetheless.) We attended on their special school/homeschool day.  While I didn’t like dealing with the…

Parts of a Flower

While Mahayla takes a formal, high school biology class this year, Caleb (6th grade) and I (along with the interested 4-year-old) are studying biology using a variety of resources like Considering God’s Creation, Lyrical Life Science, Vol. 1 and, of course, NaturExplorers studies. Botany has been first on our list and we’ve been having so…

Jr. Master Gardener Class

You cannot even imagine how wonderful our Jr. Master Gardener class (aka Botany Lab) has been.  Our horticulture extension agent rocks! We’ve only had four classes so far and have covered tons of topics –  plant parts, flower parts, soil types, the water cycle, ecology, organic pesticides and fertilizers, insects and pollination!  Everything has been…

2011-12 Curriculum and Schedule

High School, Middle School and K4.  Wow.  This year will surely test my homeschooling grit!  (Like the others haven’t, right?)  I’ve finally pinned down curriculum for the year ahead.  We’re all really looking forward to diving into some new materials, as well as some of our comfortable oldies-but goodies. I’ll get right down to business…

Blog image about simple field guide hints with an image about blue birds in a field guide.

Simple Field Guide Hint

Here’s a simple field guide hint that will work for all ages from preschool through adult. We started using this little trick before our children were even readers and we still use it to this very day. Simple Field Guide Hint Get out the stickers! Before they could write, or even draw very well, I…