the road to inspired learning
This post is sponsored by my favorite homeschool convention, Great Homeschool Conventions. This post also contains an affiliate link. My favorite series of biographies for children is The Childhood of Famous Americans books. One reason I like this series so much is because they include men and women of all colors as the heroes of the […]
in 2010 I created this LEGO Lapbook for Elijah when he was in 3rd grade. I fixed all the broken links and videos it in 2012, but it was due for another update so I fixed all the links again (8/19/15). On 3/17/20 I updated the PDF with new fonts and images and a few […]
One simple CD. Elijah wanted to learn about Ancient Greece. He's been asking and asking and asking. But I hadn't take the time to find quality, living books for him. So he's been waiting and waiting and waiting. And then I found Heritage History. One simple $25 CD complete with 46 good books. I did […]
L. Frank Baum was born May 15, 1856 in New York. He is best known for the book he published in 1900, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, an American fairy tale. I read this book to my boys when Elijah was in first or second grade. A few months later we went to a play, […]
The boys received a microscope for kids for Christmas from their aunt, and they were immediately curious about all things microscope. As a result, we've spent a few weeks this semester learning about microscopes — using a microscope, preparing slides, scientists who used microscopes, microscopic life, etc. One component of our study was reading The […]
After reading The Lorax, Elijah was concerned about pollution and animals. We had discussions about ways to protect different species. He wanted to learn more, so I decide to make a set of notebooking pages about endangered and extinct animals. Endangered Animals Notebooking Pages were designed to go with Almost Gone by Steve Jenkins. Elijah […]
January is National Soup Month! How did I know? The Homeschool Share January Calendar told me so. So, I skimmed through the lessons on Homeschool Share, and decided Simon and I would read and compare various versions, use the nutrition lesson, discuss food sources, talk about sharing (and honesty!), and measure/weigh fruits and vegetables. This is […]
Elijah's country choice this year was England. I will share photos of the entire fair tomorrow, but today I will highlight some of Elijah's hard work. Elijah labeling and coloring a large map of the United Kingdom. Finished map! The beginnings of a double-decker bus. Elijah designed Big Ben from LEGO bricks. Elijah starting to […]
One of Simon's Five in a Row co-op classes last fall was based on Mr. Gumpy's Motor Car. We found England on the map and learned a little more about that country across the pond. Coloring maps and flags. We made trifles. Listening to Mr. Gumpy's Outing and eating the terrific trifles. A field trip […]
We had a rich learning experience last week with The Legend of the Candy Cane unit study from Homeschool Share. Elijah's overlapping candy cane art ~ Both boys helped bake these Candy Cane Snowballs (sweet and yum). Here are some pages from Elijah's notebook. Elijah learned about alliteration, synonyms, legends, idioms, and he searched a […]
I {heart} this tale– The Story of Ferdinand. We started the week at co-op. I tried to give the kids a simple introduction to Spain. We talked about kings and queens and made crowns; we practiced bowing and curtsying {which was great fun!}. We learned Spanish color words and made little books. We also had […]
Winter is snowflakes and hot chocolate around here. The real deal. And my children love it! To celebrate winter last month, we used Download N Go's Winter Wonders unit study. We painted with ice cubes. We created ice sculptures. We took daily nature walks and found lots of animal tracks (including squirrel, cat, dog, […]
Elijah (who appears a tad bit loco in the photo above) chose Mexico for the Geography Fair this year and Simon tagged along. The very first project he completed was a salt dough map. Simon helped mix up the dough. I traced an outline of Mexico on to the cardboard. Elijah took over after that. Elijah used […]
Another exciting week of learning with Download N Go. Elijah's choice this week was Goofy Gecko. Elijah is measuring his foot (yes, on my desk!) to see if his foot is longer than a Madagascar giant day gecko. Download N Go does a great job making things relevant for kids. Here are some pages from […]
Another week filled with Download N Go fun! After Chocolate Challenge, Elijah decided that we'll do all the food studies (so we'll eventually get to Hoppin' Popcorn and Crunchy Cookies too!), and this week it was time for a Pizza Party! We started this week off with breakfast pizza (something we've never tried before). Elijah […]
Study chocolate? Oh YES! This was our second time enjoying this rich topic. We briefly touched on it when we studied the rain forest. This time was better because we devoted an entire week to chocolate. Yum. This is our third Download N Go experience, and I must confess– I heart Download N Go. Try it, […]
We have a winner! Congratulations to Gwen from Homeschool Ramblings! We hope you enjoy this study as much as we did! Thanks to all who entered. We had so much fun with Sunny Seashells. . .I want to share the love! I have two things to help you along on a fabulous summer unit study. […]
We had a fantastic week using the new Download N Go study, Sunny Seashells! My boys have been asking to explore the topic of seashells for a few months. Books We Read Gramma's Walk by Anna Grossnickle Hines One Small Square Seashore by Donald Silver Science Nature Guides Seashells (a great book for identifying shells!) Slugs […]
Simon loving his conch shells. His favorite, though, are moon snail shells. Literature Here are the books I read to Simon during our shell unit. For Simon, the focus was on animal homes & shells (not just seashells). Are You a Snail? by Judy Allen Jenny’s Surprise Summer by Eugenie A House for Hermit Crab […]
One element of the Sunny Seashell Download N Go is to have a PARTY on Friday. I decided we would make some cupcakes and use some seashell candies to decorate the tops. Here is what we did. First, I had to find some seashell molds. I found a small kitchen specialty shop that let me […]