You may have heard me say before that we follow a four-year cycle of chronological history in our homeschool. Well, we used to. My littlest man will be in 3rd grade this coming school year, and we’re just now getting into ancient history – year 1 in a four-year cycle. I still plan to follow…
Teaching simple machines through hands-on, experimental lessons is a hit for children. While gathering materials takes just a bit of time, the engagement factor makes this quick and simple unit study worthwhile. This post includes affiliate links. Simple Machines Unit Study Before reading the first book about simple machines, set up some little centers for self-discovery….
We follow a four-year cycle for teaching science. In the elementary years, science picture books have helped me introduce and explain scientific topics so well that I consider them as much curriculum as anything else we use to teach science. How We Learn Science While we do use the occasional science textbook during the elementary…
These data picture books will help your preschool, elementary, and even middle schoolers understand sorting and graphing. Sorting is a skill that is also called categorizing, ordering, classifying, or organizing. It’s simple enough in many cases for preschoolers to do and complex enough that scientists sometimes form teams to figure it out. Either way, it’s…
If there’s one subject that seems to befuddle homeschoolers more than any other, it’s writing. I hear it during homeschool consultations and casually talking among homeschool friends. Plus, I see questions about it all over the internet. People are often surprised when I tell them I don’t formally teach writing until middle school. Really, I don’t. And here’s…
The study of astronomy with my 7 and 10-year-old children was surprisingly fascinating! As usual, we used bits and pieces of this and that, with lots of living literature, a field trip, and projects to learn tons about our solar system. I hope you find something useful to add to your astronomy unit study! This…
Living math is wonderful, especially the kind that involves living literature. So many people think math and literature connections only make sense for the elementary years, but middle school students still benefit very much from the connection! This list of living books for middle school math is perfect for making those connections and bringing some excitement…
No matter what has changed in our homeschool over the years or how old my children have grown, one thing has remained constant… read-aloud time. My children still remember so many of the books we’ve enjoyed as a family – and so do I! Sometimes snuggled under blankets on the couch, sometimes lounging on a…
Now that I’m a “boy-only mom” (because my daughter is in college) choosing read-aloud books requires a new consideration. Will the potential book appeal to my boys? I can’t get away any longer with reading books that have any sort of girly-girl flavor. Lucky for me, there are TONS of wonderful living books to fill…
Winter is the perfect time for snuggling up with books – and lots of them! Over the years, we’ve gone back to certain books time after time during the winter season. I thought I’d share our winter book list with you and give you an idea of some of the book extension activities we’ve done…
One thing I love about nature study is its ability to make connections across so many subjects. Without a far stretch, it’s easy to connect art, language arts, math, history, and geography. As a teacher, I’m always on the lookout for perfect opportunities to join two subjects. That’s what’s happening in the idiom nature study…
These Thanksgiving and gratitude living books have been favorites around our house for years. Some help explain the history of our Thanksgiving celebration, while others are just sweet stories with a Thanksgiving theme. And, yet others really have nothing to do with Thanksgiving, in particular, but focus on a spirit of gratitude that’s such an…
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