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Summer Fun School

May 20, 2013 by Valerie Mcclintick Leave a Comment

We no longer technically homeschool over the Summer.
Ever since joining a local charter school we’ve decided to try and stick to the Monday-Friday, September through June schedule, but that doesn’t mean we don’t learn over the Summer.

If you’re looking for some simple ways to encourage learning over the Summer break here is a list of some Summer Fun School activities:

Lately I’ve noticed that my children have been enjoying skits and plays. Sometimes in their Language Arts curriculum or with certain books they are encouraged to act out a story and they are so very happy to do so. I recently looked up some fun 2-3 person skits on Puppet Resources and thought I might keep a few on hand for those “boring” Summer days.


Summer of Photography!
Why not take your kids and your camera out on a daily hike with a goal. ABC’s in photos. Only pink things. Or have children arrange vacation photos with their own captions. There are some great ideas at Montessori-Now for using photography over the Summer.

penpals

Want to keep kids writing over the Summer?
Enlist a willing friend or family member to become Silly Story Penpals!
Initiate the conversation with your children writing a silly story then asking the penpal to return the
favor. This is a great way to sneak in some creative writing, penmanship, and basic language arts skills, all while having fun.

Space Crafts and Activities
Summer is a great time to learn astronomy! From Summer nights spent looking at the stars, to the Persides meteror showers in August, you’ll find some great Summer opportunities to learn all about our universe. We actually use this Meteror Shower Ap to keep track and be reminded of them.
If you really want to get into Space over the Summer, consider investing in a telescope, or participating in a local stargazer event.

museum

Don’t forget about your local and semi-local museums!
Here is a list of US Museums by State.
There are so many wonderful exhibits to see, and it’s a great way for children to get excited about learning.

Chalk Pastels
This Summer we’ve ordered A Simple Start in Chalk Pastels, which includes 45 step by step tutorials. I plan on pulling it out whenever we hear “I’m bored,” or “It’s too hot,” ect…
Maybe by the end of Summer we’ll have a nice collection of artwork to start the year off.

doodle art bible

If you’re not looking for a full on set of art lessons,
why not print out a few of these adorable Color-in-Quotes!
A set of pretty markers and a stack of these will go a long way on a HOT Summer afternoon!

summer reading chart

Summer Reading!
Here is a handy printable your children can use to keep track of their Summer Reading. We laminated ours and used a dry erase marker. A special follow up worksheet is included as well. At the start of Summer make a goal, and when it is reached have an ice cream night with the family!

Summer Science Activities
Our ES brought some fun Soda bottle science activities last week, and the kids were loving every minute. They made tornados, dancing raisins, and even a shooting rocket bottle.

These science books include so many different science experiments you can do with your kiddos over the Summer, and they won’t even realize they are learning!

I’m sure there are TONS of other ideas out there,
I love how relaxed learning can be during the Summer!

Siggy

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Filed Under: Homeschool Curriculum, homeschool printables, Reading Printables, Summer School Tagged With: activities, crafts, home education, homeschool, ideas, learning, printables, resources, summer, summer learning

Fungus….Ewwwwwe!

November 9, 2012 by Valerie Mcclintick 5 Comments

Even though we’re mid Fall,
recently I’ve been noticing lots of different colors pop up in the yard.

So today,
as crisp and cold as it was,
we donned our hats and gloves,
and headed outside for a small nature walk.

We brought cameras, a small rubbermaid bucket
and we quickly captured Fall life all around us.
They were all so pretty that we spent all our camera batteries just taking photgraphs!

Some Fall FUNgus for you:















You can imagine how excited the children were as they found each new specimen.

We immediately took off for the library and found this wonderful book
called, Mushrooms of North America and it was filled with beautiful photographs
and information about each different kind of mushroom.

Over the next week, we will be notebooking in our journals about the variety of fungus in our area.

How fun that we can just step outside and marvel at God’s creation.
So glad we got Math worked out so we can have some more days like today!


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Filed Under: Nature Crafts, Notebooking Printables, Science Crafts Tagged With: children, edible, fungus, homeschool, journal, learning, mushroom, nature walk, notebooking, outdoor, pacific northwest, poisonous, science, southern oregon

Our REAL Homeschool Classroom

August 7, 2011 by Valerie Mcclintick 23 Comments

 

Over the years we’ve had many different methods to our madness,
we’ve actually moved three times in the past 5 years so with each
move, came an entirely different setup.

But we’ve NEVER had an actual ClassROOM.

It’s always been school in our Kitchen and Living Room
which isn’t exactly ideal,
but with a few tips and tricks it’s definitely doable!

First let me say that while I’m thoroughly jealous
impressed with all the amazing photographs of homeschool classrooms I see online,
I simply cannot do that to our Living Room.
(I want to. I DO. but I think in the long run I’d go insane)

So, since our living room cannot LOOK like a classroom 24 hours a day,
I try to keep things tucked away, or disguised, or even integrated
into our living space.

And it took me a while to find a method that I liked,
with things hidden but not so tucked away that it takes a ridiculous
amount of time to get through the day.

So our setup is a bit different then what you might expect,
but it works for us!

Oh! And as I take you through our classroom,
I also thought I’d include a few TIPS to share with you.
Small, Handy little things to keep in mind as you’re planning
out your own school space. Nothing magical….take em’ or leave em’.
(Feel free to leave me your Living Room School tips too, I love new ideas!)

So anyway, without any further ado,
Here is where it all goes down:

The kitchen table.

I put One big kid on each side.
with Mom and Monkey in the middle :)
Baby is on my lap, in a walker, or just maybe even napping!
TIP: Keep kid who needs the most help to the right side. Left if you’re left handed

And here is how I hide organize all of our different resources

Current workbooks and projects are stored in this amazing “Apprentice” desk organizer. I first saw this over on Educating Layton and Delightful Learning and I rushed right out to buy one. (Note: Staples as since discontinued this product).

It was well worth the money. This thing holds everything Sissy and Bubba are doing for the day, as well as basic supplies and tools. It Spins, and has handles on the sides so you can pick it up and throw it in your closet when you’re having people over.
Which is exactly where I put it:

TIP: Spend a few moments during the first week of school teaching children where to put their new things back. Do NOT clean up for them…..teach a man to fish is a much better concept. Break time doesn’t start, Lunch isn’t served, and the school day isn’t over until every last paper and pen is put in it’s PROPER place. Eventually it becomes second nature.
(Okay, that’s a TIP for me….wonder how long my house will stay this clean…hmmmm)

Okay on to the school closet:

This is the closet that I recently cleaned out, remember the before pictures? Yup, still clean….Yea me!! And Yea children!!

Our school closet has quite a bit to it:

The bottom levels are dedicated to Monkey (2) who has lots of themed “Big Boy Boxes” I suppose these are like Workbokes, except they have LIDS. Do workboxes have LIDS? I dunno. But these are not really workboxes. They are FUN boxes! These are boxes he can pull out (one at a time of course) and work on while the kids are busy with their school work. Monkey LOVES his Big Boy Boxes, and he is being taught to clean up before he “trades” for another. Yes. A Two-year old boy can be taught to clean up after himself. I didn’t believe it at first, but it’s true.

Some of the different themes I have for him are:

Puff balls w/Ice Cube Tray
Alphabet Magnets
File Folder Games
Blocks
Animals
See & Spell
Board Books
Counting Bears & Cups
Matchbox cars
Education Cubes
Alphabet Matching Game
Wooden Puzzle Pieces

TIP: One trick I only recently learned was to keep his wooden puzzle pieces all together in one box. Then I can easily just slide the boards into the side spaces and not have to worry about the pieces falling out or getting lost or causing mass confusing in the closet area.

Above all of Monkey’s Big Boy Boxes are Sissy and Bubba’s boxes. Some of the different resources I have in those are:

Leveled File Folder Games
Base 10 blocks
Flashcards
Math Manipulitives
Unifex Cubes
Geo Shapes
Rocks and Minerals
Science Tools
Tangrams
Dry Erase Cards
Crayons/Markers/Pencils
Table Top Pocket Chart

TIP: When organizing buy enough containers that you can all of the same color/size. They fit together better, the look nicer, it will give you peace. Got mine from Walmart, $1 each, big ones were $3. $30 makeover.

And let me just say that I love having things organized this way.
It makes it SO simple to grab the necessary tools as we need them.
I labeled each container with laminated flashcards
(Using my awesome new laminator)
and it takes me all of two seconds to find just what I’m looking for.

Okay, that’s all nice and pretty, but now
I’m sure you’re wondering a few things:

Where does she keep all her Teacher Supply books?

Isn’t this THE CRAFTY CLASSROOM….Where are all the craft supplies?

What about all the resources that will be used later in the year?

Where do the children do their online activities?

Where are all the children’s BIG projects, ones that don’t fit into anything.

And for the Love of Peanut Butter what about blogging?

And Here’s the short answer to all of the above: In the Living Room

Okay, that’s sort of a cop out eh?
So Here’s the long answer:

This is my desk. MINE.
Don’t sit in my chair, Don’t mess with my papers,
Don’t put your toys, your books, your trash or your sippy cups
anywhere near my computer and NEVER EVER NEVER play hide and seek
anywhere near this entire corner of the living room.

My desk is not only where I work, but it’s also where I keep upcoming
projects and resources for our homeschool.

It’s also where I blog.
Picture me ignoring that my desk is a mess,
Picture me paying no attention to the gigantic pile of books
that have accumulated across the top
Picture me sipping a homemade Iced Vanilla Latte,
and conjuring up all sorts of funny, inspirational things to tell you about.

Picture me Rollin’
(Sorry, that was a Shout Out to my Bomb-Diggity friend Erica ;)

Sometimes I just can’t help myself.
Ahem.

Moving on…
My children also have their own desk. To share.
(that makes two desks in our living room are you keeping track here?
I swear we have regular furniture too)

This is a smaller desk where the kiddos can do all things on the computer.
Their own computer. (i.e. Not Mine)
They’re happy, I’m happy, Happy computer using family.

TIP: Having a second workstation can do wonders for quieting down your classroom and keeping people happy.

Next to the desk is a junk drawer file cabnient which has become my “catch all” for things
that don’t exactly have a place yet. I repeat this is a “Catch all”, and NOT a Junk Drawer.
Catch – ALL

Come along now…

Most of the current Teacher books that I have are piled on my desk or hidden in this handy little cupboard next the the kitchen table.
TIP: When shopping for furniture, look for things that can double as hidden school storage!

Next to the cupboard is our Kitchen hutch. When my kids do good work on a lesson, I display it on a shelf inside, which has plenty of room for all their craft projects.

They LOVE having their projects displayed this way, like cherished keepsakes….and whenever Grandma comes she knows where to look to see what her little stinkers have been up too.
Me?
I love that my fridge looks like a fridge.

I cannot stand watching art projects slowly slide down the fridge door with each successive slam.
Like nails on a chalkboard.

Is that OCD?
Do you think I’m crazy?
Hmmm….Maybe I should delete that last paragraph before I publish.

(TIP: Keep past projects in a rubbermaid, great to revisit for upcoming lessons…but only keep a few choice items. YOU Seriously don’t need to keep every little dried up corn kernel your kid glued to a empty yogurt container. You’ve got to chuck some of that stuff….lest your neighbor submit your homeschool classroom to A&E’s Hoarders or something.

(I do not speak from experience.)

And finally on to the Crafts. Craft Resources are strategically kept out of the house. I’m so over trusting my children NOT to get into the finger paint, glitter, glue, colored sand, fill-in-the blank with any other craft material you don’t want logged in your carpet, toilet, pillowcase fill-in-the blank with anything that belongs to you and was expensive.

This method ensures harmony and an overall feeling that Life is good.

Okay so that is our entire classroom this year folks!
Hope you found these tips helpful,
or easy to ignore if you didn’t.

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Filed Under: Homeschool Curriculum, Homeschool Tools, Life Tagged With: home, homeschool classroom, learning, organization, school, setup, workbox

Buggy Boards: Fun Printable Math Mats!

July 8, 2011 by Valerie Mcclintick 7 Comments

Got Boys?

Do they Like Bugs?
(nevermind. Silly question)

Need to work on Math?

Check out these Super Buggy Boards!

buggy boards

And these Super Buggy Number Cards!

math printables

Designed to appeal to your little men, while sneaking in a bit of math
like vegetables in a ice cold smoothie.

printable math mats

They’ll be rolling and counting, and checking out all the different bugs
that they’ll never know what hit them.

printable bug

Poor, unsuspecting little men.

These are pretty versatile, Check out all the Game Ideas I posted too!

Okay, ya got me.

I only posted like three ideas….
How would you use these with your little ones?

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Filed Under: Bug Crafts, homeschool printables, New Posts Tagged With: bug printables, bug unit study, bugs, file folder, games, homeschool, homeschool printables, insect printables, learning, math, math mats, printable, summer, thematic units

Landform Diorama

May 3, 2011 by Valerie Mcclintick 4 Comments


We are wrapping up our lesson on Landforms!
We have been using Beginning Geography which took us though basic map reading, animal habitats and landforms. I can’t say enough how much I loved this e-book, and how much my children loved doing “maps” during school.

This week we decided to put all of our knowledge to the test by making 3-d models of the different landforms we studied.

And of course I took photos and jotted down instructions if you want to make your own!

This was a great way to wrap up our unit and prepare us for our next one: The 7 Continents!

And we are headed Down Under first,
so stay tuned for some AUS-ome crafts!

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Filed Under: Geology Crafts, New Posts Tagged With: crafts, educational crafts, geology, landforms, learning

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