At Mt. Rainier last month we got to see the perfect example of something we read about in Long’s Elementary Geography book – how rivers grow. We got to see this beautiful place where the snow on the mountain will melt and form a river that will be joined by smaller brooks and streams from … Read more
This has been the summer of birds for our family, and all because I was eager to learn myself. I’m amazed at how this plays out in real life and am now convinced that my own self-education is necessary in my efforts to homeschool my children. We’ve been keeping our Bird List and got these … Read more
Nature Study is a huge and important part of a Charlotte Mason education. It’s not more important than all the other subjects included in “the feast,” but it’s one that doesn’t come as naturally to me to incorporate into our school day and our life. We school for three terms and go from about September … Read more
We learned about the Maya and did some of our own weaving as a supplemental activity. I love actual skill building activities like this for my kids – it gets them using their hands and heads together and learning actual skills that may come in handy some day! Or at the very least clue them … Read more
We’re using The Story of the World curriculum for history this year (and forever because we love it!) and just finished up our study about Christopher Columbus. We found several wonderful books about him I wanted to share with you! Some of these are chapter books, some are easy to read picture books, and others … Read more
I was in charge of teaching a little dynamics lesson last week at our Family Choir class so we played a little game. It’s very easy and the kids had a great time. It works for all ages too! To play you’ll need dynamics printable 6 sheets of colored construction paper glue stick an arrow … Read more
Science has turned out to be our favorite subject to study at home together. My kids love science and no wonder! It’s all experimental and hands on. As far as I’m aware, the new nation wide Common Core standards have taken science and history almost entirely out of early elementary school classrooms. It’s such a … Read more
I’m getting organized! And I’m determined to keep an organized record of my kids’ schoolwork. We’re starting out following The Well-Trained Mind schedule/model and she recommends this kind of record keeping system, so we’re going for it. It’s working out great so far – I keep all the papers we complete on a clipboard in … Read more
We’ve been working our way through children’s classics each night before bed time. It’s a wonderful way to end the day as a family enjoying fabulous literature together. We’re reading Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi right now and this edition, illustrated by Robert Ingpen, is my all-time favorite (published by Sterling Publishing). It’s a beautiful book with thick, … Read more
After our Cloud Unit Study we wanted more cloudy fun. I found 20 awesome cloud activities, experiments, and projects I wanted to share! Here’s my list of 20 FREE Cloud Activities: 1. Cloud Hunt Bingo from Green Grubs Garden Club 2. Cloud Dough from The Realistic Mama 3. Glove Puppets from Love and Lollipops 4. Clouds and Rainbows … Read more