Category Archives: Homeschoooling

carnivals, Homeschoooling

Carnival of Homeschooling Open House

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Hi all welcome to our NerdFamily Home. Yes, Christmas is starting a little early around here but I just bought that last weekend and I wondered why I would hide it for 2 weeks;).

That group over by the bookshelves are sharing some great resources! Barbara Frank shares a book with us all with Thomas Edison, Homeschooled Innovator. Crack the Egg is sharing a great book in Girls and Horses: A Book For Your Cowgirl. I am always looking for books for my kids to read!! Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers are sharing Top Ten History Resources. I see my favorite on there! Alasandra’s Homeschool Blog has a book review on Jesus, Interrupted. Bachelors Degree has the 50 Best Poetry Books for Kids. It looks like an interesting list. Mothers of Boys has a Boy-Friendly Gift Guide -Preschool.

Over on the couch we are just sharing our journey. Best Family Adventures shares what happens When Homeschoolers Go Unsupervised. I love it! It is nice to know that it isn’t just my kids who go find their own learning experience. Homeschool and Etc. is talking about Mathematics and Homeschooling. They are looking for a little insight about their challenges. No Fighting, No Biting tells us all on your mark, get set…for angst. Home Spun Juggling talks about Happy (Learning) Days.

At the kitchen table we are talking about how we are learning! Homeschool Mo is talking her Weekly Wrap-Up for November 12, 2010 and some awesome charts. Sweet Diva is talking about how they built Sweet Memories They Will Cherish with 5 in a Row. Let’s Play Math has the secrets on How to be a Math Genius! I want to be a math genius!!! Blogging to Learn has all of our Favorite Fubblerules of Grammar. So much fun and educational too. Five J’s has a great Homeschool Weekly Assignment Planner. The Thinking Mother is talking about Enjoying Teaching Other People’s Kids. Sage Parnassus talks about Mistaken Identities and Mistaken Assessments.

Over in the kitchen we have some hands on activities going on. Blah, Blah, Blog is looking at Sweet Science. Who doesn’t love candy science experiments? The Legacy of Home is talking about Heavy Cleaning and teaching Home Ec. Creating Nirvana shares a great hands on project with Homeschooling: Box Assemblage. Introducing the World is doing Copywork with Graph Boards.

That group over by the piano are talking politics and overall theories. Sometimes these are the most fun;). The Common Room is talking about Children are Born Persons (Part 5). Parenting at the Helm is talking about Public Educations Permeated by a Cheating Culture. Henry at Why Homeschooling hits the highlights of Glenn Reynolds’ recent talk on the Higher Education Bubble. Marmee’s Pantry is talking about Growth in the Christian Homeschool.

Looking out the back door we are chatting about the world around us. Corn and Oil is sharing their Local Perspective. Free Market Mommy has an interesting idea with Sell Those Lesson Plans to make a little money and share what we do with other teachers. Mrs. Mama Hen talks about their first field trip in an Alaskan Field Trip. Remember we aren’t the only homeschooling carnival. Adventures in Mamaland is hosting the Jewish Homeschooling Blog Carnival #2. Go check them out!

And that brings our visit to an end. I hope you all have had a great time. I have loved every minute of our visit! Next week there will be a new carnival over at Mrs. Mama Hen so make sure you submit your blog posts by next Monday! Make sure you go read all the great pieces we have featured here and make sure you comment to let them know you are there! Please help us out and tell others about it!

education, Homeschoooling, science

Cosmic Mysteries in Your Kitchen

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By User Zeimusu on en.wikipedia, via Wikimedia Commons

People worry that you can’t really teach your kids science without a school lab. Well, try these on for size;)!

You can simulate a white hole in your kitchen sink. Wired has a great article on not only how to do the white hole but a great break down of what it really is.

Then you can pop over to OrbitingFrog to read how to measure the speed of light. All you need is a microwave, a microwave safe square (or rectangle) dish and marshmallows or chocolate chips! It is an awesome experiment!

So go, learn and have fun with science!!!

frugal homeschooling, Homeschoooling, organization

Responsibility and Education for a Dollar

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I have 4 kids, 3 of which are in school. I needed an easy way to set out lesson plans for them and let them know what they are expected to do. I wanted to keep some sort of record that I could file also. I found these planners at the Dollar Tree and it totally fit the bill!


It is great because once a week (Sunday night usually) I enter in all their assignments and anything going on for the week into their own planners. Then I can adjust their math is they worked ahead or fell behind without screwing up an entire year’s worth of lesson plan.

Then they can refer to it to see what work they have to do. They can also pop it into their backpacks when they go do work at church independently or just see about that playdate or when Awana starts. They mark off their assignments after they are finished and graded. That is it! So simple!

Homeschoooling, Kid Creations

Cave Paintings

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This is what homeschooling is about! A little art that teaches a point. The kids only got a couple of basic colors to make some caveman art. They took brown bags and crinkled them up to make it look like a cave wall. Then they were told to make basic black outlines with fat brushes and they filled them in! Super easy and fun.

Homeschoooling, house management

A Day in the Life

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This week is the last week in Heart of the Matter’s Not Back to School Blog Hop. The subject is A Day in the Life. I fully take advantage of the flexibility of homeschooling so no 2 days really look a like;). But my week’s do have some familiarity. The only things we do for school every day is a math exercise and a 5 problem grammar exercise, but that is only for the 4th grader and the 2nd grader. So here are the basics!

Monday and Wednesday are big school days. I try not to have any errands those days. We do breakfast and then after clean up we jump right in. I try to get a little of my work done when they are doing their independent work;). Then we do a little group work, like reading our history. Then on Mondays we head off to dance! Then we have afternoon reading time. After that you just do stuff you haven’t gotten too!

Tuesday and Thursday are crazy days. We have choir and science on Tuesdays and I have Bible Study on Thursdays. In the off times from their activities they are in the homeschool room doing independent homework.

Friday is a day I try to keep light. Every few weeks we have a play date and we finish up any left over work.

Saturday is activity day! This is the day we do art project or experiments, so on and so forth! Then NerdDad is home to help with the chaos and have some fun!

Sunday does have a little homework. The older 2 have to read the section in the Bible that Christian Studies will focus on!

So that is our life, what does yours look like?

headlines, Homeschoooling, Video

The Valedictorian’s Take on Public School

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The text of this young lady’s speech has been floating around for a couple of week’s but I just saw the tape today. I remember when I came out of high school, that was the moment when I knew that there had to be a better way. I had wasted 4 years and there I was watching my siblings starting the journey down the hole.

One of the things that makes it so delightful to see a valedictorian come out against the current school system is that no one can claim that its because she was a failure;). This is similar to when John Gatto came out against public school on the heels of being name the best teacher.

So what do you all think?

Homeschoooling

The SchoolRoom Conundrum

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Would a schoolroom be nice to have? Yes. Do we have space? Yes. Do we have an official schoolroom? No.

Now my best friend has a super cute schoolroom. She has her desk for her craft projects and a table for the kids. She has shelves with all their stuff and even has toys in there. I love the idea of it but it just never seems to work out here. I think we just don’t lean towards isolating while we work. I mean I have an office yet I am typing this in my great room while one kid works at the kitchen table and the rest of them watch Cyberchase;).

So instead of a schoolroom we have school areas. We have a nook with the kids’ computer and book shelves, a bookshelf that holds all their school books and special papers in the office, and a craft cart that has all their crafting supplies. We tend to do the reading on the couch or in bed;). Then the actual book work happens at the kitchen table. So we don’t contain ourselves to just a room;).

That is the joy of homeschooling! You can do what ever works for you and yours! Will we ever have a school room? Probably when the kids can handle working more independently but not quite yet.

Where do you do school? Do you have an official school room? Let me know!