The main topic of this year's science rotation in our homeschool is physics, so I'm preparing a few unit studies that lend themselves well to experimentation and exploration. This light and sound unit study will be first in the line up and is just perfect for 3rd-7th grade students. It's packed full of meaningful, practical activities that won't waste anybody's time. Great informational books and biographies set the stage, while project-based and research-based activities allow for deeper learning on certain topics of interest. Get a downloadable copy of this unit study below! This post contains affiliate links. Light and Sound Books As with all our unit studies, books pile up in stacks ... Read More
How To Identify Rocks and Minerals During Nature Study
Why would you want to identify rocks and minerals during nature study? Heck, why would you even care to observe rocks when there are so many other things to see in nature. Rocks are boring. They're dull and colorless. Once you've seen one, you've pretty much seen them all. Be honest. You've thought some of those thoughts before, haven't you? When we first began nature study in our homeschool, I held off learning about rocks for quite some time because - well, I didn't know what in the world were we going to do with them. But I soon realized that we just hadn't quite learned how to look at them with eyes of wonder and excitement yet. I received free products and compensation ... Read More
Why Nature Study Is Powerful For Children With Special Needs
Have you ever considered the idea that special needs children may thrive through regular time spent in nature? Nature study has so many benefits beyond the obvious academics. It's hands-on, active, and loud - as much as it's detail-oriented, calm, and peaceful. It allows for fresh air, sunshine, and exercise to break into the school week. And, it can bring joy to even the worst homeschool day. These benefits are for every single person who explores. But, as Shawna Wingert shares below, they may be especially helpful for children with special needs. Please welcome Shawna. As you read her story about special needs nature study, I hope you have a couple of light bulb moments like I ... Read More
Discovering Pond Habitats: How To Do Nature Study in Real Life
Have you ever been to the same nature study destination so many times that you almost forget there are always new things to discover? My friend, Tracy, and her children had visited the same ponds many times over. They never really got tired of exploring, but she found a way to refocus their attention in a simple way that led to new observations and new learning. Please welcome Tracy as she shares the most delightful post about her family's quest to learn about pond habitats. Our love of nature study began at a pond. I had my children rambling around the pond as toddlers and preschoolers, my youngest just an infant and strapped into my baby carrier. We made some fond memories ... Read More
Homeschooling Without a School Room? It Can Work!
When most of us begin homeschooling, we want (or even believe we need) a dedicated homeschool room. We see bloggers posting pictures of their Ikea-style rooms with desks and shelves, cubby holes and colorful decorations, and we envy them. For whatever reasons, we believe we need a room like that in order to be successful at homeschooling. But do we? Special thanks to Michelle Cannon from The Heart of Michelle for today's guest post here at Our Journey Westward! The first thing I've learned is that we need to be content with what we have. (That's an important lesson for our children, too!) What else have I learned? I've learned there are more important things in life than a ... 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
6 MORE of Our Family’s Favorite Picture Book Authors
Our family's favorite picture book authors earn "forever spots" on our bookshelves. Those spots don't just go to any old books. Nope. To earn a coveted spot on our shelves, a book has to be pretty special. While bunches and bunches of authors have found a space or two on our shelves, there are only a handful who have large spaces dedicated to several of their books. Those are the authors I think you should know about, too, so your family can enjoy their stories as much as we have. This is the second of two posts sharing our favorite picture book authors with you. If you haven't already, be sure to make note of the authors from the first post, too. My children and I hope you love all ... 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
Six of Our Very Favorite Picture Book Authors
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 authors whose books we have consistently loved. Today, I'd like to share six of our family's favorite picture book authors with you. These are the authors I would always make a beeline for at the library and could be sure that we'd enjoy just about anything we piled into our overflowing basket. These are also the authors whose books became so dear to us that many of them found ... Read More